I continued to ignore her, hoping that if I did it long enough, she would eventually get fed up and walk away. However, she just began to tap her foot impatiently against the marble floor, her shoes echoing obnoxiously, and I grimaced as I imagined the other customers getting annoyed by the sound.
She looked like she walked out of an 80’s music video with her teased hair brushed backwards showing off her pink stripe, bright yellow shirt that hung off on shoulder showing off the strap from the blank tank top she had underneath, super tight jeans, and a jean jacket draped across her arms.
The color of her lipstick was a bright shade of red that drew attention to her lips. She smacked her lips loudly against each other as she cleared her throat in an attempt to get my attention.
I wondered how much longer I could pretend that she wasn’t standing in front of me. Not long, considering my client was supposed to arrive in a few minutes, and I was trying to sell her on the idea of an elegant, romantic wedding.
Something in nude shades with freesias and jasmine. I could already picture it, and it reminded me of that scene in the movie The Wedding Planner.
Of course, I had no intention of falling for the groom, but I did plan on throwing a kick ass occasion just like the titular character. That much we had in common.
It would be a hard sell with Charity towering over us looking like Disco Barbie. It didn’t exactly scream prim and proper. Quite the opposite.
I liked Charity well enough, but she wasn’t the ideal person to have around for this kind of meeting. I sighed as I looked up and forced a smile on my face. “Hey, Charity.”
“Well, it’s about time. I was waiting for you to finish whatever important message or email you were sending out.”
She placed her hands on her hips and gave me a toothy grin. I gestured for her to come next to me, and she immediately obliged, plopping down next to me. The couch groaned in protest at the sudden intrusion before it settled.
“I’m supposed to be meeting a client, Charity,” I reminded her, gently as I clutched my mug in my hand and eyed her over the rim.
She waved my protest away. “Yes, yes, I know. Serendipity is a fancy café too, so I’m guessing she’s one of those upscale clients otherwise you wouldn’t be meeting her.”
“Yeah, I guess so.” I shrugged.
The venue was important to set a good impression, but I was the type of person who was open to trying new things. Whether it was up and coming and chic or small scale and boho.
“How did you know I was here?” I asked, confused.
“You mentioned it the last time we spoke.” She raised an eyebrow. “I did try to call instead of stopping by, but since I was in the neighborhood, I figured I’d drop in.”
“Charity. As I said earlier, I didn’t answer because I’m supposed to be in a meeting. I’m early, but I like the prep time,” I said, apologetically. “I’m sure you can understand why this is important, and it’s crucial for me to focus.”
Charity quietly studied my face, a myriad of emotions playing out across her own. She was coming on a bit too strong, but that didn’t mean I wanted to hurt her feelings.
“Okay,” she said, finally. “You are forgiven for not answering your phone.”
“Thank you?” It was phrased as a question because I wasn’t sure what the appropriate response to that should be.
“You’re welcome,” she responded, automatically. “However, to make up for it you have to come out with me tonight.”
“Tonight?” I asked, surprised. “I don’t know, Charity. I think I’ll be busy.”
With a flick of her hand, she dismissed my excuse. “Nonsense, you’re an event planner. That means you’re flexible, and I don’t think any event planning actually goes on at night.”
Damn, she had me there.
“I need you to come out with me and my new flavor of the month.” She waggled her eyebrows suggestively. “It helps to have another woman there.”
“But I—” I began to protest. She pressed her finger to my lips and shook her head.
“I won’t take no for an answer,” she said, her voice ringing with finality. “Anyway, I’d better go.”
She blew me kisses over her shoulder as she slipped on her glasses and flounced out the door.
14
Dean
I was so tired, I couldn’t even feel my body. The kind of dead tired where my feet were my numb, and I was practically shuffling like a zombie.
I blinked rapidly to keep the sleep at bay as I placed my hand over my mouth to cover my yawn. Even my clothes feel too heavy on my body, although I was wearing my usual jeans and t-shirt.
All I wanted to do is peel back the clothes and throw myself in front of a shower. I was too keyed up to sleep, but too exhausted to do anything besides just lay there and watch images dance on a screen in front of me.
I could already picture zoning out like that as I finished checking on my last patient for the day. Today was unusually busy, and it had been a while since I’d pulled a twelve-hour shift.
I’d almost forgotten how tiresome and nerve wracking they could be. It wasn’t like I could relax in the middle. No, I pretty much worked non-stop from the minute I set foot in the clinic when the sun shone high in the sky, bathing everything in yellow, and long after the sun dipped below the horizon, coloring the sky in shades of purple, pink and red.
I glanced down at my feet just to be sure they were still there. Aside from cat hair on my shoes, they looked relatively unscathed, which was strange considering I felt like they were about to fall off.
Nancy looked as tired as I felt as she scrubbed her hands across her face and pinched her arms to keep herself from dozing off. The clipboard landed with a thud on the desk in front of her, and she gave a start of surprise as she was jolted awake.
“Sorry to disturb you,” I said, sincerely as I envied her ability to just nod off.
“I’m sorry I nodded off, I didn’t mean to,” she responded, apologetically. Her eyes shining with guilt as she smiled tightly to suppress a yawn.
“It’s okay, Nancy. It’s been a long day today, and you’re only human,” I said, kindly as I scanned some forms she slid my way. I quickly absorbed the information and signed the dotted line.
“This isn’t normal, right?” she asked, dread coloring her tone. She was a fresh grad, so she wasn’t used to this, but she was also still not sure what she wanted to do with her life. I was pretty sure she took this job as a stepping ladder on her way to success.
So, she was trying to figure out how much energy and time she wanted to devote to something she probably wasn’t going to do full-time.
I totally got that.
“Don’t tell me we’re getting to you already,” I teased. “You ain’t seen nothing yet.”
“Really?” she asked, grimly as her smile wavered a bit.
I snorted. “No, of course not. Days like this aren’t normal. I’m a person, not a robot. Even if they wanted it to be, it simply can’t be done.”
The look of relief that washed over her face nearly had me laughing out loud.
“You did have like, three surgeries today,” she agreed as she leaned back in her chair, stretching out her muscles.
“That’s right. Remind me never to book back to back surgeries again,” I said, wryly. “The animals themselves aren’t hard to deal with. It’s the owners that drive me insane.”
“Especially considering you had an unexpected fourth surgery, and it was Mrs. Blevins,” she quipped as she rolled her eyes.
Oh, yes. I’d almost succeeding in wiping that memory from my mind.
One of Mrs. Blevins’ precious babies swallowed something that was stuck in her throat, and Mrs. Blevins insisted we operate rather than wait for him to pass it on through indigestion.
I advised against it because it wasn’t serious, but she planted her feet on the ground, pressed her mouth into a thin line and announced that she wasn’t going anywhere till her cat was better.
> I sighed as I slipped the surgical mask on and helped her cat go under. The surgery itself was fairly simple and straightforward. I was able to remove what the cat ate, an earring apparently, and I stitched up the cat again in no time.
The only problem was that it was my only free hour of the day, and I’d just given it up. Now, I was booked for the next few hours straight with a caesarian, an infected leg, and a natural birth.
“Don’t remind me. I’m going to have nightmares about that for a week,” I joked.
Mrs. Blevins looked mildly pleased when I handed her the cat and gave her strict instructions about the stitches. She gave me a long look when I asked if she knew how to manage it and didn’t even dignify it with a response. She just walked out the door, and I was left staring after her, an amused smile twitching at the edge of my lips.
“She is scary,” Nancy announced. “Well, if you don’t need me for anything else. I’m going to get going.”
“No, go ahead. You’ve earned it. Have a nice night, Nancy.” I gave her a warm smile as I headed back to my office to lock up and head home.
“You too, boss.” She called out, cheerfully as the door shut behind her. It took me a few minutes to put everything away since I’d already sent everyone else home. Lastly, I checked to make sure I had my wallet, keys and phone.
Once I was done, I slipped out of the coat I kept in my office, I had another one at home in case of emergencies, and I quietly shut the door on my way out.
I was on autopilot the entire drive from the clinic to my house, and I was thankful that it was only a thirty minute commute.
Somehow, despite my bleary eyesight, and the fact that I was barely aware of my surroundings, I managed to make it to my street, and I parked the car. I gave myself a cursory once over to make sure I was in one piece, and so was my car thankfully.
Relieved, I jingled the keys in my hand as I brusquely walked up the steps, already dreaming of the Indian food I was going to order, and whatever junk I was going to watch on TV. I could practically smell the food as I pressed my key into the lock and swung the door open.
I could hear Charity rummaging around somewhere in the apartment, so I dropped my keys in the bowl and called out. “Char, I’m home.”
I got a muffled response as a reply, so I shrugged and hung my coat up. “I’m going to take a shower and then we can order some food, okay?”
I strode towards the bathroom and immediately slipped out of my clothes once I stepped in. I waited for the water to heat up a bit before I got in and sighed in satisfaction as it began to slide down my back.
I braced both hands on either side of the wall as I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply. There were very few things that made a person relax like a warm and clean shower after a long day.
I had just squeezed some shampoo onto my hands and was lathering my hair when the door to the bathroom swung open, and the curtain was yanked backwards. A strangled sound escaped my lips as my hands flew to my private parts.
“What the hell are you doing?” I scowled as I reached out for the curtain, and Charity let me have it. She didn’t look the least bit apologetic as she stood there with her hands on her hips glaring at me.
As if I’d done something wrong.
“No, the question is what are you doing?”
“Taking a shower,” I said, obviously. “I thought we had an agreement that nobody would burst in on somebody else in the shower unless it was an emergency.”
“This is an emergency,” she insisted as she averted her gaze and turned her back on me to offer some privacy.
“Is the apartment on fire?”
“No.”
“Is there a flood?”
“Nope.”
“Earthquake?”
“No.”
“Tornado?”
“Of course not.”
“Ergo, not an emergency,” I said, frustrated. “Seriously, Char. I want to finish my shower in peace, so there’s no way for me to say this nicely. Get the hell out of the bathroom.”
“I will. I will,” she surrendered. “However, you need to hurry up.”
“Why?” I asked, suspicion lacing my tone. “What did you do now?”
She made an impatient noise in the back of her throat. “Just hurry up.”
The door slammed shut behind her, and I knew that if I didn’t listen to what she said, she’d just come back in here to pester me again. Charity was pretty cool when it came to a lot of things, but she was a stubborn as they came, and if she wanted something, she’d be hard pressed to let go.
Within a few minutes, I was done, and I’d barely wrapped a towel around my waist when Charity burst in again.
“Jesus. Is this going to be a habit with you? Should I start locking the door?” I asked, wearily as I eyed her.
She practically pounced on me, holding up a clean pressed button-down shirt, slacks, hair gel and cologne. I eyed the clothes in confusion before I dragged my gaze back to her.
“What’s that?” I asked, dumbly.
“Clothes. You know those things you wear to cover up the fact that you’re naked.”
I gave her a dirty look. “Yes, I know that. I meant why?”
“Generally, people wear them when they’re going out.”
She handed me a pair of boxer shorts and left the bathroom as she called out for me to put them on. Once I slipped on the underwear and slacks, I began to button up the shirt, but she rushed in and stopped me.
She slapped my hand away when I tried to intervene, and I was too tired to ward off her attack. When she was in this mood, it was best to just go along with it.
“So, are you dressing me up just to torture me, or what’s happening?” I questioned.
Charity gave me a long look but didn’t respond for a minute as she made sure she got all the buttons right.
“Can you at least tell me what we’re doing?”
She paused. “We’re going out.”
“Yes, I gathered that much,” I said, ruefully. “I meant, what are the plans for the evening?”
“We’re going out to get dinner,” she clarified as she gave me a satisfied once over. She watched carefully as I placed a small amount of hair gel to keep my hair in place, but not too much that it would like greasy and unclean.
“And dinner requires dressing up?” I raised an eyebrow as I looked at her in the mirror. “What are you up to, Char?”
“Nothing. I just don’t feel like seeing you in regular clothes, that’s all. I see that all the time.”
She handed me a pair of nice dark shoes and socks. I wordlessly begin to slip them on, huffing in the process. “You know I’ve had a really long day at work.”
“Yes, I know,” she said, sympathetically. “This is why you need a night out.”
“I’d rather stay in to be honest,” I admitted. “Not that I don’t appreciate the gesture.”
Charity made a noncommittal noise in the back of her throat as she kept a keen eye on me, her gaze sweeping over to make sure I haven’t missed anything.
“Can’t we just order take out?” I asked, hopefully as I gave her a pleading look.
She raised an eyebrow and snorted in response before she turned around and walked out.
Well, I guess that answered my question.
“So, you’re not even going to dignify my question with a response?” I called out as I resisted the urge to run my hands through my hair before she marched back in and made me brush it again.
This was as good as I was going to look under the circumstances, and I’d only stay for an hour, and I didn’t care if Charity sulked for a week.
I was not going to subject myself to whatever torture she had in mind any longer than was necessary. I emerged from the bathroom and sprayed some cologne on myself as I awaited Charity’s nod of approval.
Her mouth curved into a slight smile, and she bobbed her head up down before she spun on her heel towards her room. She was dressed casually compared to me, and I frowned.
> “Why do I have to dress up for this occasion, and you don’t?” I frowned as I stared down at my clothes and took in hers.
“Because I can make anything look great whereas you could be a homeless person were it not for the hygiene,” she said, dryly. “You just have to accept this about our lives.”
My gaze darkened as I crossed my arms over my chest. “You’re lucky I like you.”
“Oh, the joy,” she muttered sarcastically as she adjusted the collar of my shirt and ran her fingers over it to smooth out the creases. “Sometimes, I don’t know how guys function by themselves.”
“We don’t. We just like to pretend we’ve got all it covered,” I responded. “Just don’t tell anyone I told you that otherwise I’d be labeled a traitor to my own species.”
“My lips are sealed,” she deadpanned as she stood back and brushed imaginary lint off her outfit. When her hand reached for her keys, I gave her a blank look.
“Why are we taking your car?”
“Because you are exhausted, and it’s written all over your face. I’m making you go on this dinner, so the least I can do is drive us there.”
“Thanks, Char,” I said, gratefully. “I appreciate that.”
She shrugged. “Alright, let’s go then.”
She swung her keys around fingers as I followed in her wake, wondering about the sudden fancy plans we had.
“So, why are we doing this again?” I buckled in my seat belt and stared straight ahead. Once she slammed the car door shut behind her, she shoved a cup of coffee into my hands and ordered me to drink.
I took a tentative sip and felt instantly more alert once I did.
“It’s nice to shake things up every now and again, so I figured it might be cool if we go out to eat for a change. We rarely do that.”
The car revved to life as she peeled out of her parking spot and merged into her lane on the street. My hands immediately went to either side of the seat as I remembered why I usually refused to ride with Charity.
A Baby for the Vet (Boys of Rockford Series Book 4) Page 10