Her Forever Fling
Page 23
“I know it’s a lot to take in right now, Elijah, and I’ll give you the time to fully comprehend what was said, but I am very confident in my decision in choosing you as my successor. Throughout the years, you have assisted in teaching countless doctors who have made names for themselves, despite your young age. You’ve remained dedicated to your work, your patients, and the department, and worked hard to make a name for yourself and for BCMH. Your innovative thinking is precisely what is needed to keep the cardiothoracic surgery department number one in the state of Maryland.” He stood and walked around his desk, propelling Elijah to do the same. “There are a lot more details to be worked out, so we can set a meeting for later on this week.”
“Of course, sir,” Elijah said, over the deafening beating of his heart. He barely heard anything Dr. Simeon said after stating he’d gotten the promotion, but Elijah followed the cues, sticking his hand out when Dr. Simeon offered his and thanking him before leaving the office.
As Elijah walked toward the bank of elevators, he removed his phone from the pocket of his lab coat and sent Melissa a text message telling her the news. He then sent messages to his parents, godparents, and best friends. Tonight’s gathering was not only going to be an introductory dinner for the families but now a celebration of him being named Head of CT Surgery and Melissa’s promotion to charge nurse.
“Ah, Dr. Grayson.”
Elijah stopped and turned toward the sound of the voice, forcing himself to smile. “Good afternoon, Dr. Banks.”
Dr. Banks smiled, coming to a stop inches from where Elijah stood. “I guess congratulations are in order. I hear you’re the new Head of Cardiothoracic Surgery. While I wish it was me who’d gotten the promotion, you are a fine candidate.”
If Elijah didn’t know any better, he’d think Dr. Banks had something else to say, something snippy, as he’d grown accustomed from her since they learned of the position. Only nothing came. The smile on her face, though small, actually reached her eyes and looked sincere. Even her congratulations sounded genuine.
“Thank you, Dr. Banks.”
She waved a dismissive hand. “It’s not a problem. It took a while for me to see, but I honestly believe you’re the best person for the job. As Dr. Simeon listed his reasons for choosing you, it forced me to see I’d become the person I never wanted to be. I’d become selfish, putting myself and my determination to succeed before my coworkers and patients. That is not a quality fitting of the department head.”
It wasn’t, but Elijah would refrain from telling her what she already knew. Instead, he offered her a smile and said, “Sometimes the job can turn you into a person you barely recognize. I’m glad you were able to find your true self. Not many doctors ever recover.”
Dr. Banks nodded in agreement. “That’s true. Oh, before I let you go, Nurse Gaines is looking for you.”
At the mention of Melissa’s name, Elijah’s heart dropped in his chest. Why would Melissa be looking for him? Why would she ask anyone where he was? Elijah almost pulled out his phone, which vibrated in his pocket during his conversation with Dr. Banks, but he didn’t want to do anything to alert her to his relationship with Melissa if she were lying. His squinted. “Why would she be looking for me?”
Dr. Banks flashed him a knowing smile. “While I doubt she wants anyone to know she was looking for you, she came to the CTICU to return a book to Nurse Donovan. Everyone is talking about you and Nurse Gaines dating. Apparently, someone saw you picking her up a couple weeks ago. Then another person saw you two holding hands and kissing at Lovely’s.” She shrugged. “It’s not my business, but I thought you should know since they’re talking about it more now that Francine announced Melissa was taking her position as a charge nurse. Speaking of the devil.”
Her words were without malice or ill-intent, but still Elijah whipped around. His gaze connected with Melissa’s, who stood only a couple of feet from him with her hands on her hips and her lips pursed into a frown. Tension rolled in waves from her body.
Dr. Banks patted Elijah on the shoulder. “I’ll let you two talk. Congrats again, Dr. Grayson.”
He barely acknowledged Dr. Banks’ departure. His sole focus was on Melissa. The silence filling the space between them was deafening. Neither moved nor attempted to speak.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Melissa chuckled, though it lacked humor. “People know about us. Have known about us for weeks, but the moment I’m given a temporary position, they question whether or not I deserve it all because of my relationship with you.”
Elijah took a step forward. “Melissa, I didn’t do—”
Melissa held up a hand to stop him from continuing. “I know, Elijah. You didn’t do anything. We were careful. We kept our distance. Barely spoke unless we needed to concerning work. We. Were. Careful. Discreet. But look what happened. I walked into the ICU to side eyes and whispers, not knowing what the hell was going on until Nurse Donovan told me. They think you had something to do with me getting the charge nurse position. Never mind the fact my resume shits on everyone down there.” She shook her head, eyes narrowed, nostrils flaring. “I worked my ass off only to have my achievement negated by my relationship. I-I-I need to go.” Throwing her hands in the air, Melissa turned on her heels and headed for the elevators, but not before Elijah caught her.
He wrapped his hand around her wrist and pulled Melissa into the stairwell. The unshed tears glistening in her eyes ripped his heart to shreds. “I know you’re upset, Melissa, and I’m sorry this happened. But you’re taking your frustrations about the situation out on me when I’ve done nothing wrong.”
“I know,” Melissa whispered. “And I’m sorry. I don’t know how to handle this, Elijah. There are so many emotions going through my brain and body at one time, and I need to get away to sort them out.” She drew in a shaky breath, then looked at him. “I need time.”
Reluctantly, Elijah released Melissa. He understood what she was asking, despite her not saying the words. This was the woman he loved. The woman he’d fallen in love with when love was nowhere on his radar. Over the past six months, Elijah and Melissa’s relationship grew to the point of him being able to anticipate every one of Melissa’s wants and needs. It was how he kept her happy. According to Patrick, his devotion to Melissa made him a simp. Patrick clowned him many times, but Elijah didn’t care. He’d grown up watching his father cater to his mother in the same form, and finally found a woman who deserved to be treated like a queen.
Melissa was requesting time and space away from him to work through her conflicting emotions. She needed to take back the control having their relationship blasted to their peers took away from her. Melissa expected it in her life. She’d grown accustomed to, and relied heavily upon overseeing her own destiny. This was why she’d struggled to trust him in Chaud, why he’d allowed her to dictate the speed of their relationship. Right now, Elijah would have to bestow upon her the same courtesy, despite wanting nothing more than to take her in his arms, kiss away her tears, and alleviate her fears.
“If time is what you need, then it’s what I will give you.” Elijah pressed a kiss on Melissa’s forehead, and although his heart broke, he walked away without a backward glance.
“Can you stop pacing and tell us what happened?”
Melissa scanned the faces of the people she loved most and groaned. Explaining to her family why they wouldn’t be having dinner at Lovely’s or meeting Elijah and his family was the least she could do after arriving home almost three hours ago and heading straight into her room without speaking and slamming her door shut. At first, her mother, Joyce, barged into the room, ready to read Melissa the riot act, but she took one look at Melissa’s puffy, red eyes and snotty nose before kicking Melissa’s brother, father, and niece out of the condo with instructions to come back in a few hours. Now, she, Jayla, and Jayla’s mother, Evelyn, sat on Melissa’s bed, watching as Melissa wore a hole in her bedroom rug.
“I already told you,” Melissa whined.
“Okay, Melissa. Why don’t you start from the beginning and tell us what happened that resulted in you and your young man breaking up?”
Melissa plopped down on the bed next to her mother. She spent the next ten minutes explaining what happened earlier. “Apparently, people have known for weeks Elijah and I were dating, but once he was named department head, they believed he had something to do with my temporary promotion.”
“Did he?” Joyce handed Melissa a tissue from the box on the end table.
“No, I don’t believe he did, but the fact people are insinuating he did hurts. Like I can’t achieve things on my own.” She accepted the tissue and dabbed her eyes. “But you wanna know what makes matters worse?” She didn’t wait for them to respond. “He sent me a text telling me he got the position, and I didn’t even congratulate him,” Melissa wailed. “I recall the long hours, extra shifts, and nights of not eating healthy, but I was so upset with how the rumors made me feel that I didn’t think of anything but myself. Now, I feel horrible.”
“As you should,” Jayla snapped.
A collective gasp echoed throughout the room.
“Jayla!”
“What the hell?”
“Excuse me?” Melissa gaped at Jayla with her mouth hung open.
Jayla gave a nonchalant shrug. “I’m sorry, but I said what I said. Melissa should feel horrible. And before y’all get upset with me or think I’m kicking my bestie when she’d down, I’m not. I’m telling the truth. During their entire relationship, all Elijah has done was made compromises for Melissa without complaint because that’s how much he cares for her, how much he adores and loves her. And Melissa knows I’m right.”
Two pairs of eyes snapped in Melissa’s direction, and all she could do was hang her head low while ignoring the pain shooting through her entire body because Jayla had a valid point.
“Exactly. Look, Mellie, I’m not saying you don’t have a reason to be upset. You do. Like you said, your work is being discredited because of your relationship, but calling a time-out isn’t hurting the gossipers. It’s hurting Elijah. The man who has done nothing more than support you from the very beginning.”
“And Melissa, you should know regardless of what you do, whether it be good or bad, people are going to talk about you. Evelyn, your father, and I taught you, Markus, and Jayla to always work hard, to break down those walls and barriers people placed in front of you, and the importance of living your life for yourself and on your own terms. You may not see it, but this position was no different. The barrier was the amount of time you worked at the hospital, not your relationship with Elijah.”
Melissa agreed with her mother. She understood the logic, but for some reason, she couldn’t work past the looks she’d received earlier. It was as though nothing she’d done since working at BCMH mattered to those nurses and techs who’d regarded her as someone who slept their way to being promoted.
“Yeah, and them hating ass hoes at your job are in their feelings like Drake because they weren’t promoted.” Evelyn and Joyce slapped high fives, then cracked up laughing at the incredulous looks on Jayla and Melissa’s faces. “What?” Evelyn frowned. “Y’all think we’re too old to know the latest slang?”
“Like we don’t know what WAP, ‘capping,’ or what a ‘thot’ is.” Joyce shook her head, rolling her eyes. “It’s the audacity for me.”
Wrinkling her nose, Jayla shook her head with annoyance. “Anyways, let’s get back to the matter at hand—Melissa breaking up with a damn good man, and if I’m claiming he’s good, then you know it’s true.”
Melissa sighed deeply. Her eyes welled with tears she refused to cry. “You act like I don’t know he’s better than Steven, I do. I’m trying to process everything, and I…I don’t know how I feel or how to feel.”
“Oh, sweetie.” Joyce took her daughter’s hand in hers, giving it a reassuring squeeze. “It’s okay to be confused about what you’re feeling or even be unsure of what to do, but the only way to find a semblance of peace is to call your young man.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if Elijah never wanted to talk to me again. Y’all didn’t see how hurt and dejected he looked walking away.” An image of Elijah leaving the stairwell flashed in her mind’s eye, and Melissa squeezed her lids together, hoping to eradicate the painful memory.
But it was seared onto her brain.
“Honestly, you won’t know—”
The sound of the front door opening and closing interrupted Joyce. “That must be your father. He texted a few minutes ago, saying they were on their way back. I’ll tell him to give us a few more minutes.” She left the room.
Evelyn took the seat Joyce vacated and wrapped an arm around Melissa’s shoulders. “I think what your mother was about to say is—”
“Melissa, can you come here, please?” Joyce called from the front room.
Glancing between Jayla and Evelyn, Melissa stood and headed out of the room, following the sounds of muffled voices. One she knew instantly. The syrupy-sweet tone of her mother’s voice floated to Melissa’s ears, followed by the unmistakable sound of her laughter. But what surprised Melissa the most was the sense of familiarity she was hit with the closer she got coming from a male’s voice that sounded nothing like her father or even her brother. It sounded a whole lot like—
“Elijah?” Melissa said, rounding the corner to the living room. “What are you doing here?” She took in his deliciously hard body encased in all-black from his tailored pants, dress shirt, suit jacket, tie, and shoes that gleamed in the light of the fading sun. It was the outfit Melissa selected for him to wear this evening. He looked devastatingly handsome. Their eyes met and held. The intensity in his orbs robbed Melissa of her breath and forced her to divert her gaze, but not before noticing the hint of exhaustion and flicker of uncertainty. Melissa wanted nothing more than to cross the room and take him in her arms, telling him things would be okay and then forcing him to rest while she cooked him dinner. But she wouldn’t. Not now.
He turned slightly toward her mother. “Aside from introducing myself to your mother, despite these circumstances, I thought my intentions were clear.” When Elijah faced Melissa, his eyes appeared darker than usual and held her enraptured. “I’m here for you.”
Both Joyce and Evelyn quietly squealed while Jayla clapped her hands and said, “That’s right, Elijah! You better get your girl.”
Melissa gasped. She vaguely heard her mother mention privacy to talk and heard the introductory exchange between Elijah and her godmother. However, Melissa couldn’t process what was happening around her, much less form a coherent thought. She barely heard Jayla’s parting advice of not fucking things up, the sound of a smack on skin followed by scolding from Evelyn, or the closing of the front door. Her mind was consumed by the sparks of hope igniting all the way to her heart.
“And before you remind me of your request for time,” he glanced at the watch on his wrist, “I do believe I’ve given you enough to work out your fears and concerns.”
Six hours was not enough time to sort through the mess her anxiety, coupled with the lingering effects of her past relationships, created in her head, but she wouldn’t tell Elijah that. Folding her arms over her chest, Melissa tilted her head to the side. “You think so?”
“I do. But if you were to tell me it wasn’t enough and you needed more, I would understand. However, there’s something I need to say to you before I leave.” Elijah slowly walked toward her, the intoxicating scent of his cologne fully wrapping itself around Melissa with each step he took. “I didn’t tell you this earlier, but I should have. I love you, Melissa. Your beautiful mind tends to wander when things are left unsaid or when there’s a
gray area. The way I left you in the stairwell could be perceived in a couple of ways, but I need you to know I don’t want to live a life without you because you are the best part of my day.”
His declaration of love made her heart melt. Melissa opened her mouth to respond, but Elijah placed a finger to her lips, silencing her.
“Let me finish.”
Melissa fought back a whimper. Billions of electrical jolts zapped her nerve endings, frying them in the process. Her legs felt heavy, and her knees like jelly, but she forced herself to remain upright.
“I also understand your frustrations about what you overheard or what was implied about our relationship because they believe you being chosen for the position wasn’t on your own merits, and it was.” Elijah took a step back, and instantly Melissa missed the feel of his hand on her skin. “I don’t know what I can do to change their perception of you, Melissa, but the people who actually matter in this situation know you’re the best candidate for the job, and it’s why you were selected. It had nothing to do with me and everything to do with you.”
“I know.”
“You know?” Elijah repeated, his eyebrows dipped in confusion.
Melissa nodded, chewing on her bottom lip. “I overreacted earlier. Then again, I tend to do that a lot, as you know from experience. But something snapped inside of me when I walked into the ICU and overheard what was said. It was like I was hurled back in time, forced to relive the mirroring stares and whispers of my colleagues—although my mind may have overexaggerated those as well—just as I’d done with my ex. Only instead of people feeling sorry for me because my boyfriend cheated, they questioned my work ethic. So, I did what I’d done back in Louisiana. I ran. But instead of running from the job, I—” She looked away, her eyes falling to her bare feet.