Chapter 17
June
A lthough I hadn’t known Lucy for very long, I felt like we could be good friends. There was this Zen air about her. It made people feel calm, relaxed and at ease. At the same time, she wasn’t too Zen – so intimidating – that you felt like you were with a sophisticated Buddhist monk.
She was what my mother considered the perfect daughter.
On the outside, she had a great fashion sense, hairstyle and make up that my mother would consider on point for a wealthy and well-bred Asian woman.
Inside, well, that was not something I could judge.
But from what I’ve seen and heard so far, she was the perfect woman.
Sad maybe, that my mother still worshiped that outdated thinking. While the world had moved on from centuries of stereotyping, dictating how anyone should behave, I remained stuck. Always striving for my mother’s approval.
But then, who wasn’t?
I had tried for years to change her ways, but I knew better than to to hope she’d change. Sometimes, being happy with myself – finding happiness within was much more important than looking for the joy that was attached to the approval that I would never receive.
I felt sorry for Lucy finding Kai and me in that situation. It was awkward. The shock must have caused the poor woman to lose her ability to converse properly. It just wasn’t like her to say something so forward.
But that didn’t mean last night with Kai wasn’t fun. It was like having the chocolate bar that I had denied myself for centuries. My crush on him had lasted too long. And now that I finally had a taste of what it was like to be in bed with him. I wanted more.
But I knew it had to end somehow.
Ten dates should do it.
Ten minus one.
If we did what we did last night, having the same fantastic sex on each date, then it would definitely be enough. Maybe.
I forced myself to push all the dirty thoughts away – mainly what I wanted to do with Kai – and focus on work.
For the rest of the day, Kai waited outside patiently for me.
Needless to say, he had again moved his whole office over.
Camping at the corner of the waiting room, working on a coffee table.
I had pointed out that he could work at the cafe downstairs, but he refused.
I even suggested letting him use one of the empty private suites that was reserved for VIP patients, and again, he rejected the idea.
He said he just wanted to be near me.
Sweet.
And too cute, even for Kai.
I didn’t need him to do that. Though it did make my heart sing.
The other part of me couldn’t help but wonder what game he was playing. Chloe had warned me that men like Kai always have something up their sleeves – waiting to trick innocent women like me.
Was I innocent, though? People like to think that I was. Perhaps I was, there was no way for me to tell.
Word traveled really fast where I worked. The nurses loved nothing more than good gossip. Linda, the middle-aged nurse who had known me since I was a teenager, told me all about it over a short coffee break.
At first, they thought that Kai was some contractor that my father had hired for the hospital.
And I, as usual, had to manage the contractor while they were at work.
Things got a bit ridiculous when he donated his sperm.
They then said that I had started some kind of program where I promoted the sperm, by having the donor pose as a billionaire within my clinic.
Then it quickly escalated after someone confirmed that Kai had placed a bid at the charity event last night.
According to the office gossip, the sperm donor had fallen in love hopelessly with the fertility doctor.
There was more, Linda said, but she wouldn’t tell me to save me from rolling my eyes too much. All in all, the nurses were happy and enjoyed seeing a handsome guy around. Even if it was around my office.
I had no idea all this gossip was going on, and I didn’t like it. People never talked about me. Apart from how nice I was, or rather how big a doormat I was. Anyway, that meant I had to kick Kai out of my clinic.
Well, perhaps after I see this couple from Cheng Du, China.
“Hi, I’m Dr. June Bennet, nice to meet you.”
“You speak pu tong hua ?” The woman answered with a strong accent.
“No, I’m sorry. Dui bu qi, ni xu yao fan yi ma? ” It meant, ‘sorry, do you need a translator’?
Normally, for our overseas clients, we would ask if they needed a translator before the appointment. The language barrier somehow slipped through the cracks, but we’d soon fix that.
“Yes. Yes.” The couple both nodded at my question.
Immediately, I called our translator, but he didn’t pick up.
The couple exchanged a few words to each other, then the husband got up and left.
I couldn’t tell if he was angry that we weren’t prepared.
And he was partly correct, if he was, we should have done a better job at going over their file.
I made a note to discuss it with Siti before I called the translator again but it went straight to voicemail. Then I asked Siti to find him.
The wife stared at me with nothing but an awkward smile. And in return, I gave her an even more awkward smile, with an apology.
A few minutes later, the husband came back to the room with someone. I could hear as he approached the door that he was laughing at something funny.
Kai.
He shouldn’t be here.
“Oh no, no, no he’s not our translator.” I shook my head, feeling a little embarrassed that my patients had misunderstood me completely. “Siti, can you…”
“It’s okay, Dr. Bennet.” Kai put on a straight face and a tone that indicated there was nothing non-professional between us. Then he poked his head out of the room to let Siti know to ignore my last demand.
I watched Kai and the couple, talking and laughing among themselves.
They talked like they had known each other for years, like they were just a bunch of good friends catching up at a coffee shop.
I felt like a massive third wheel or fourth in this case, like I should take the hint and leave my own office and let them get on with their conversation.
Two very long minutes later, the woman said to me teasingly, “you lucky girl.”
Now I couldn’t wait to drill Kai on what they were saying to each other in Chinese.
“Dr. Bennet, are you aware that you have an award-winning actress and director sitting in your office?” Kai raised one of his eyebrows.
No, of course, I didn’t know. And I appreciated his knowledge on this matter.
I should have guessed, the couple were exceptionally attractive.
Especially the wife, she had one of those flawless, dewy Korean skin tones that was nearly impossible to obtain unless you lived indoors twenty-four seven all while never being exposed to the sun.
“Do I? I’m so sorry. It was very ignorant of me.” I said apologetically.
“No, it’s okay. This guy is more famous.” Mr. Song pointed his finger at Kai.
“He makes the news more than us.” Then he let out a hearty laugh. His English had a very strong accent, but it was perfectly understandable. It seemed like he had no problem understanding me either. We would have no problem having our session without a translator. Without Kai.
I made a mental note for Siti to do a little research on the internet for our patients from now on, just to make sure that we knew who walked through the doors.
Not in a weird spying, privacy-invading way – just the normal stuff that was widely available on the web.
We could have the president of some country sitting in front of me and I wouldn’t know, due to my lack of interest in following news or global political affairs.
“Have I seen anything that you made?” I asked, attempting to make conversation. And to test my patient’s English, to collect enough proof that we didn’t need Kai there.
“In Chinese mainly.” The man added.
More proof that he understood me, but did the woman?
They switched back to Chinese again like they were discussing something they didn’t want me to know.
“Oh, that’s a shame.” And I really meant it. I have never pointed at a TV or billboard at someone and said, oh I treated him or her. It was something that I never planned to do due to patient-doctor confidentiality. But it would be nice to have the fantasy though.
“Mr. Song said he will send you some links later.”
“Thanks.” I wondered if it would be weird to see my clients on the screen, knowing that I had seen their most private parts.
“And he said you should consider opening a clinic in China. He said he had many friends that came to you, and they all loved you. And many more of his friends were yet to pay you a visit.”
Well. That was exactly what the group had planned.
They wanted to send me to China years ago, but it fell through.
The project was shut down quickly after the pandemic.
I sometimes saw that as a blessing. If I had gone to China any time earlier than planned, I would have been stuck there for years, not knowing anyone there but Kai.
I wondered how many of Mr. Song’s friends that came to me before were famous and that I had no idea about. Would any of them appear in the movies that Mr. Song was going to send me?
“Thank you. It’s good to know.”
I had to get control of the appointment back.
The first part of the consultation had very little to do with the couple’s problem.
But I didn’t want to stop them talking either.
These sessions could be so daunting and stressful for the patients.
If a little conversation with Kai helped the couple to relax, then so be it.
I knew that it was really my subconscious trying to keep Kai here a little longer.