Chapter 24
S omething has been sticking wrongly in the back of my head since I stepped on the elevator with Bianca.
A weird form of guilt. No, maybe not guilt necessarily.
I’m not even sure how to categorize it. It’s like being rubbed raw with sandpaper and flayed with a knife and I can’t shake it.
All through my surgeries. All through my morning.
Which is why when I got the phone call right as I finished scrubbing out, it felt like fate. A sign. It’s how I end up here.
“Thank you for meeting me,” Millie says with the pearly white smile and beauty queen sparkle she’s perfected. She’s all blonde hair and blue eyes and tiny button nose and minuscule waist and curves. Everything she was trained to be that turns me off completely.
“It was good timing actually,” I tell her, staring down at the menu. I hate being here. It feels wrong, but it’s necessary. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you in person anyway.” Since you haven’t gotten the freaking message via text.
“I feel bad I didn’t ask you sooner. Could have given you a chance to change.”
I chuckle humorlessly without sparing her a glance. “My scrubs offend you?”
“No. I mean… I don’t mind them. But this is a certain kind of restaurant.”
It sure is. One of Boston’s most expensive and exclusive restaurants.
I’m about to say something when the waiter picks this perfect moment to ask us if we’d like something to drink before lunch.
“Oh. What a lovely idea,” Millie exclaims, sitting up straighter. “Yes, Kaplan, let’s have a cocktail. Something to relax us a bit. I’ll have a glass of champagne, please. Or should we order a bottle? Cristal?”
My menu falls flat on my place setting. “Just water for me and I’m in a bit of a hurry, if you don’t mind.”
Millie’s flawless smile slips a notch. “Surely you have time for a drink first.”
Is she kidding me?
The waiter shifts uncomfortably, and I shake my head at him. “The water only please.”
“Yes, sir. Very good.”
The second he’s gone, Millie starts pouting.
“You realize I’m a surgeon, right? That means no alcohol while I’m on shift or call. Not to mention, you sprang this lunch on me and I have to get back. I have patients waiting. I only came here because we need to talk.”
She waves me away. “Oh, come on, Kaplan. What’s the big deal if you play a little hooky? I’m sure someone else at the hospital can cover for you.”
She would think that. A senator’s daughter, she’s never had an ounce of care or responsibility. Someone was always there to make sure whatever she needed got done for her.
“Millie, may I be blunt with you?”
Shifting in her seat, she crosses her legs and glances around.
She doesn’t like the way I’m speaking to her in public.
But in truth, if she had accepted all the ways I tried to blow her off after our one and only lunch meeting that was far from a date since our mothers set it up, then we wouldn’t need to be here in the first place.
Typically, I’m not this brash, but I want to get this done and get out of here.
I feel like my skin is on fire just sitting here.
Sliding up the sleeves of my long-sleeve shirt, I get ready to get down to business when she gasps. “You have tattoos?”
I stare blankly at her. “Yes. I have lots of them.”
“I didn’t realize.” She scrunches her nose and it is not nearly as cute as when Bianca does it. “Well, I’m sure you could have them removed.”
I laugh, leaning back in my seat. “I’m not having them removed.”
“They’re a bit low rent for someone of your station, Kaplan.
” I’m about to ask her what station she thinks I’m in when she springs up out of her chair.
“Caroline, darling. Oh, so good to see you. You look fabulous. That dress is stunning on you.” She air kisses some woman passing by. “You know Kaplan Fritz, of course.”
I give the woman a polite nod and half smile. Standing to greet her formally, I shake her hand.
“Yes, I believe we met at the Healthcare for The Homeless charity ball last year. Wonderful to see you again.”
“Yes. You too.” With a polite grin, I sit back down.
“I have to get going, but let’s do drinks soon, Millie. So lovely to see you.”
They air kiss again and then Millie sits back down. “Did you see her dress? Disaster. I can’t believe she wore something like that in here. It’s not vintage, just old and tired.”
And that’s it. I’m done. Because Miss Sweet Sunshine isn’t that at all. She’s a two-faced, stuck-up, social climbing, venomous woman. Sitting up, I drop my forearms, tattoos and all, onto the table.
“Millie, while I appreciate that you asked me to lunch, the reason I agreed is because there is something important I want to discuss with you. I know what our parents have been scheming, or maybe hoping for when it comes to us. I know you’re very much aware of it too.”
She sits up straight, an eager light hitting her eyes.
“Yes. I was hoping for a little time with you. You’ve put off all my requests until now, but I think it’s imperative we speak about all that our parents are cooking up.
” Her hand falls on top of mine, resting there and for a moment, I don’t stop the contact.
“I realize we’ve known each other most of our lives with our mothers being such close friends, but we haven’t spent a great deal of time alone together before.
That said, from the conversations I’ve had with my mother, who knows your mother quite well as I said, I think this truly will be a perfect match for both of us. ”
Shaking my head, I slip my hand out from beneath hers and inch closer. “No. You’ve misunderstood me, and I apologize if you’ve gotten the wrong impression about what this is between us. But… wait?” I tilt my head, curious. She said perfect match. “What do you think this is between us?”
She laughs as if the question is preposterous.
“Oh, come now, Kaplan. You know as well as I do what this is.” She leans in, glancing left and then right and then back at me.
“The start of our future. Our life together. An arrangement or betrothal if you require such absolute terms. A rather good one, if I do say so. I was not displeased when my parents presented it to me as I’m sure you weren’t either. ”
For a moment, I’m too flabbergasted to speak.
Because until this moment, an arranged marriage had only been mentioned. Suggested. Teased at from my end. And yes, Millie has been my parents’ prime candidate. But it had never been planned or pressed and certainly not forced. And it sure as shit hadn’t been fucking arranged.
Despite having to “marry a certain type of woman,” my parents have always valued love above that nonsense. Granted, they know nothing of Bianca and I’m not exactly using that word in terms of her yet—it’s too fucking new to even consider that. But…
I came here today to tell Millie that I’m seeing someone and that she needed to officially back off once and for all because I’d feel weird if she were to call or text when I’m with Bianca.
I assumed Millie believed this was our parents attempting to push us together.
Figured she was going to continue to be relentless in that because she wanted to be a future Mrs. Fritz.
That’s not something new for me and Millie is that sort of woman given who she is.
But this…
The waiter comes back with her champagne and my water. “Are you ready to order?”
“I think we need another few minutes,” I tell him, curter than I ever would be under typical circumstances. But I’m thrown and rattled. I quickly recover. “Thank you. Sorry.”
He leaves us and I take in a deep, calming breath. “Millie, I’m so sorry. I had no idea you believed things to be that way between us. An arranged marriage has never been in my plans, despite my family name.”
“What difference does that make as long as our common interests are aligned? You didn’t think you’d marry for love, right?” She laughs as if that’s the most absurd notion in the history of the world.
“Regardless, this isn’t going to happen. That’s not what this is between us.”
Millie’s blue eyes are clinging to me, her hand covering her mouth as if this news devastates her. “I don’t understand. Why not?”
Pressing my hands into the table, I give it to her straight.
“That first meeting we had was an ambush.” I have to take another deep breath to get control of myself.
“Look, you’re lovely, and my rejecting the notion of an arranged marriage is not a reflection on you personally.
I just never agreed to any of this and it’s not something I want or intend to do. ”
She shakes her head, her hands now on her lap, her back perfectly straight. “But we’re perfect together, Kaplan. Absolutely perfect. With my father’s connections and your family’s wealth, we can do anything together. The sky is the limit. You could run for senator. President even one day.”
“Which is not something I’d ever be interested in doing,” I counter. “I get the business side of this, how a match like ours would outwardly appear and how many zeros we’d have that we’d never be able to spend, but is that honestly what you want in a husband?”
She laughs as though I’m being ridiculous. “Of course.”
I stare at her, nonplussed.
“Don’t give me that look.” She waves me away, practically rolling her eyes at me. “I’m not some foolish girl. I’m not expecting love out of this, though if that happened, great. But primarily, I want power and money and the right social connections.”
“That’s…” I’m at a loss.