Chapter 27
aris
Me: Hey. Feel like I need to give you a heads up.
Noah: Oh no. Why do I have a bad feeling?
Me: Danielle, myself and Alexandra are on our way over to her daddy’s office to discuss you and your lawsuit.
Noah: Please tell me you’re joking.
Me: Nope. It’s gotten a little out of control, but let’s just say what Alexandra did yesterday set Dani off something fierce. And then when she learned what Alexandra does for a living…
Noah: Oh god.
Me: Exactly.
Noah: What do you want me to do?
Me: Ball is in your court, love, but Danielle plans on telling him that you’ll be suing for defamation if the newspaper publishes that you’re gay and behaved inappropriately at work. Alexandra didn’t say she knows about us, but I’m sure your dad has heard rumors. I’m…well, I’m a little worried about my own neck here too. And yours, of course.
Noah: Sigh.
Me: Alright we’re driving over now.
Noah: I’ll figure something out.
I put my car in drive and backed out of the parking space. Meanwhile, I noticed Danielle’s fingers were flying furiously over her phone.
“What are you doing?”
“Don’t worry about it,” came her reply.
“Dani, I think what you did back there is amazing, but you’re freaking me out, and I have to be honest with you—I’m starting to worry a little about my job too, you know. Mr. Bagby could also fire me. I work for Midwest Health too.”
She held up a hand. “Aris, I need you to trust me right now. I know what I’m doing. I have this all planned out. It’s like I’m directing the show. I have a vision, and I’ve set the stage with all the props we need.”
“Did you just turn this into a theatrical production?” I asked incredulously.
“Yeah, it’s called Saving Noah’s Private Life.”
We met Alexandra in the parking lot. I was surprised, in a way, that she actually showed up. But I was prepared if she didn’t. I had everything I wanted to say to Mr. Bagby all mapped out, and I wouldn’t be alone. I had recruited help.
Alexandra scowled as soon as we made eye contact. “Follow me.”
“I do all the talking,” I told her as Aris pushed me in the wheelchair.
She started to protest, but I cut her off, “That’s part of the deal. Do you want to keep your business?”
“You accused me of extortion? Well, you’re blackmailing me!” she whined.
Aris patted her on the back. “Just smile and look pretty, okay? We’re about to go by the security desk, and I’m sure everyone here knows who you are.”
I smiled at Aris as we passed the main reception desk of the Midwest Health executive offices. We stepped into an open elevator, and Alexandra pressed a button for the top floor. Of course, Daddy’s office was in the penthouse.
We all made our way down the hall to where another receptionist sat at the front of a rotunda. This building was insane. I couldn’t imagine how many millions of dollars it took to build it, when the hospital was falling apart. I’d just spent time in the emergency room getting my leg looked at, and it was not updated at all. It was dank and dingy, but of course, Mr. CEO was all decked out in a luxurious penthouse. Figures.
This was going to be fun. I couldn’t wait. Maybe when this was all over, I’d go to law school. Forget the musical theater degree. I’d go fight for the little guy using my silver tongue and my expansive repertoire of acting skills.
Alexandra breezed past the receptionist. “We’re going to talk to my dad.” She waved her hand dismissively.
“Uh, okay,” was all the middle-aged brunette woman said, shrugging.
Alexandra knocked twice and then opened the door. “Dad! These people want to talk to you,” she announced.
Mr. Bagby, whom I had seen briefly at the charity ball, turned his sharp gray eyes on us from his massive mahogany desk. He was wearing a charcoal-gray suit with a red tie, and everything about him screamed wealth and power.
“Hello. Are you two friends of my daughter’s?” he asked in a somewhat pleasant voice.
“Not exactly,” I said. “Do you mind if we sit down? I mean, I’m already sitting, but do you mind if my friend sits?” I gestured toward the chairs in front of his desk.
“Of course. Of course. Can I get you anything?” He was certainly a lot more polite than his daughter.
“No, just a moment of your time, please.” Aris sat down after wheeling me closer to the desk. Alexandra remained standing.
“Alexandra, dear, what is this about? Who are these people?” His eyes locked on his daughter, who stood wringing her hands a few feet from him.
“Father, you know about my lawsuit against Dr. Noah Evans,” she said.
“Oh, that’s how I know you!” Mr. Bagby clasped his hands together. “You’re the lovely young woman who sang at the charity ball on Saturday night.”
“I am.” I gave him a pleased smile, fighting hard to maintain my composure and accomplish this with as much grace and decorum as possible. Noah could thank me later when he didn’t have to worry about this bullshit anymore. “My name is Danielle Delacroix. I’m Noah Evans’s fiancée, sir.”
“Yes, I heard something about that.” Mr. Bagby scratched at his chin. “Alexandra told me he was gay after he and her friend broke up.” He raised his hand. “Don’t agree with it. But I hear he is a fine doctor and a gifted surgeon.”
“Daddy, you know what he did to me!” Alexandra shrieked.
“I know what you think happened,” he silenced her. “And I know you had to have a second surgery.”
“Sir, we’re here because your daughter is trying to force my fiancé into settling her case out of court. And she is using you for leverage, saying you’ll fire him for being gay.” I cleared my throat and settled my gaze on his. “I’m sure you’ll agree it’s a ridiculous and baseless threat. For one thing, Noah is an excellent surgeon, and for another, he’s not gay. He’s engaged to me, a woman! Now, I’m sorry that his relationship with your daughter’s best friend did not work out, but I’m sure we can all agree it has nothing to do with his surgical abilities?—”
“Now, who are you?” Mr. Bagby turned to Aris, who had been sitting there silently, listening to me handle this whole situation like a total boss.
“Oh, I’m Noah’s friend. And Danielle’s friend. Um, probably best man at their wedding.” He grinned, revealing his adorable dimples.
“What’s your name, son?” Mr. Bagby asked in that patronizing way older men sometimes spoke to younger men.
“I’m Aris Belevonis, sir.”
“Oh.” He sat there for a moment, brows furrowed and a confused look on his face.
“Daddy, he’s the nurse Noah has been seen with at his practice, you know, in the building that’s part of Midwest Health? The company you’re the CEO of?” Alexandra spouted off. She crossed her arms over her chest and shot us both a smug grin before turning back to her father. “Don’t you have a strict fraternization policy at Midwest Health?”
Mr. Bagby didn’t acknowledge his daughter’s comments. “Aris? Are you Dr. Riley’s nurse?”
“Yes, sir, but?—”
“And what is the nature of your relationship with Dr. Evans?”
I punched the elevator button for the top floor, hoping I wasn’t too late. When the car arrived, I rushed in, and suddenly I was surrounded by more people stepping on behind me. As I looked closer, I realized I knew these people. I knew all of them.
My jaw dropped open as I recognized my partner Jessica, Aris’s boss Dr. Meredith Riley, Lucy and Karla from my office, plus Elaine Greene, my patient we’d seen at the charity ball on Saturday night. And with her were several other patients who worked in the music and theater departments at IU.
There were no fewer than eight people on the elevator with me whom I knew in some capacity.
“And there are more on their way,” Dr. Greene said to me when my face morphed into what must have been a rather befuddled expression.
“We aren’t letting you go down without a fight,” Jess said, patting my back.
I swallowed down my emotions as the elevator door slid open, and we collectively marched toward the rotunda at the end of the hall. “We’re here to see Carl,” I told the receptionist, giving my boss’s first name.
“Oh, he’s uh?—”
“I know what he’s doing,” was all I said, and the entire crowd of us continued forward, opening the door and marching in en masse, right up to Carl Bagby’s desk just as Aris was about to speak.
“What is the meaning of this?” Midwest Health CEO’s thunderous voice boomed around us.
Danielle sat in her wheelchair, looking over her shoulder at the people assembled behind me. She arranged this, didn’t she? She brought all these people here on my behalf.
“Mr. Bagby,” Danielle said before anyone could answer his question, “we are all here to speak to Noah’s incredible skills as a physician and surgeon. And I’m here, as his fiancée, to tell you, despite whatever rumors have been spread about him, Dr. Evans is very much a model employee who embodies the family values you embrace here at Midwest Health.”
She shot me a look that said, See? This is working! But I’m not finished yet…
“Furthermore, I’d also like to bring to your attention the fact that I was recently the victim of an accident that occurred in your facility’s parking lot due to negligence on your part. The parking lot was not cleared of ice, which led to me breaking my leg. So, if we want to talk about negligence, let’s start there. I would be willing to forgo filing a suit against your company if your daughter is willing to drop her lawsuit against Noah.”
Gasps went up all around me as a proud smile crept across Aris’s face. I stood behind Danielle, placing my hands on her shoulders in support.
Carl Bagby stood up and looked over the crowd of people assembled in his massive office. His office was so big, it wasn’t even crowded with this many people here. And as he surveyed each face, the next elevator delivered six or eight more people, all either patients of mine or staff in the building where I worked, including the custodians.
“You can’t fire Dr. Evans,” Elaine Greene spoke up from the congregation of my supporters. “He’s the best ENT I’ve ever seen, and, as a vocalist, I’ve seen every single one between Indianapolis and Bloomington.”
“He has not only taken excellent care of me,” said another patient of mine, Tom Janssen, “but he also did an amazing job on my daughter’s tonsillectomy when she was eight years old.”
“He’s the best boss I’ve ever had,” said Lucy, my nurse. Karla, my scheduler, nodded in agreement.
Carl put his hands on his desk as his eyes darted from face to face before landing squarely on me. “Looks like you have a lot of folks in your corner, Noah.”
“I do,” I agreed. “I’m a very lucky man.”
“So,” Mr. Bagby said with a smile spreading on his face, “it’s not true that you’ve been distracted at work by having an inappropriate relationship with a male nurse in another doctor’s office? You’re engaged to be married to this lovely lady with the voice of an angel?”
“Tell him,” Danielle urged.
Aris looked back at me, trying to smile to cover up the hurt in his eyes. “Tell him,” he said, nodding.
“Sir, with all due respect, my sexual orientation has nothing to do with my job nor my skills as a surgeon or physician. I’m not involved in any inappropriate relationships. To be clear, my relationships are absolutely none of your business,” I stated.
“That’s right,” Dr. Greene said from behind me.
“However,” I paused and swallowed hard, “both of my partners are in this room with me right now, and I don’t think it’s fair that it’s ‘acceptable’ for me to be publicly engaged to one, but it’s not ‘acceptable’ for me to profess my love for the other in public.”
A little gasp sounded from somewhere, and when my head turned toward the sound, I identified Alexandra as the culprit.
“Sir, the truth is, I’m bisexual. I’m polyamorous. And I happen to be in love with a beautiful, talented woman—” I put one hand on Danielle’s shoulder, “and a smart, handsome, kind man.” I put my other hand on Aris’s shoulder.
I turned my steely gaze back to Mr. Bagby. “And if you want to fire me because of that, well…go ahead…but I’ll see you in court if you do.”
Danielle smirked. “And so will I.”
I didn’t get a chance to say another word because the entire room erupted in thunderous applause, and Alexandra ran out screaming and crying. But the best part was when Aris and Danielle both mouthed “I love you” to me at the exact same time.