Chapter 13
‘Sorry, love, what was that? Diarrhoea? How long have you had the diarrhoea for?’
I squirmed in utter embarrassment over the pharmacist’s repeated loud use of the word ‘diarrhoea’ for everyone in the hospital pharmacy queue to hear.
It seemed as if my sickness had broken overnight and I’d woken up that morning feeling ten times better than the previous day.
Aside from a slight headache and a slightly runny stomach, I felt back to normal.
‘Sorry, could you lower your voice please?’ I said in hushed tones, as if I were an undercover police officer trying to score some heroin off the street. ‘I’ve had it for about fifteen hours or so, and it’s slowly going, but I just need something to help with the symptoms for a couple of hours.’
The pharmacist – who clearly paid no attention to my pleas of discretion – continued.
‘OK. Well, we’ve got Imodium – that really helps with a running stomach – but it depends on which one you want.
We’ve got Imodium classic, Imodium Dual Action or Imodium Instant Melts if you’re looking for something on the go. ’
‘I’d go for the Dual Action if I were you, love.’ I turned around to see an old woman behind me, smiling up at me warmly. This morning truly couldn’t get any worse. ‘The Dual Action treats wind and cramps too; may as well get two for the price of one, I say!’
‘Thanks so much,’ I muttered darkly, wishing the ground would swallow me up.
After purchasing the medicine, I hotfooted it to the staff elevator entrance corridor and made my way up to my floor, missing my daily cappuccino ritual.
Today was not a day to be playing around with dairy, of all things.
I had my date with Theo tonight, and I absolutely had to make sure that everything went according to plan, right down to my plumbing downstairs.
If it meant having to plug my bumhole with cotton wool for the night to prevent any accidental leakages, then so be it.
I’d arrived at work a full thirty minutes ahead of schedule, giving me time to log in to the computer and swiftly knock back a couple of the Imodium double-strength pills.
I prayed they would start working immediately; everything would be counting on how the next few hours would go.
Luckily, my work inbox was looking a little thin on the ground, meaning there wasn’t that much for me to catch up on outside of arranging the new patient appointments and scheduling the pre-operative assessments, which would probably take no longer than a couple of hours.
Just as I was starting to get into the swing of things, a gentle knock at the door pulled me from my focus.
I turned to find Jeff standing in the doorway, a faint smirk playing on his lips.
He wore a grey houndstooth tweed suit – something that seemed far more fitting for a day at Cheltenham races or a wedding than a shift at the hospital, but he looked great nonetheless.
‘Hey, Cassandra!’ he said brightly, entering the room and sitting in Kofi’s seat to face me. ‘Good to see you back in the office – how are you feeling?’
I’d never had anyone at work, bar Kofi, be so invested in my health and wellbeing before.
I would almost be touched if I didn’t find the situation slightly weird.
But again, maybe I was being the weird one and making our whole interactions weird thus far.
At that moment I decided to just give Jeff the benefit of the doubt and talk to him like a normal human being.
‘Thanks so much, Mr Paulson, I feel a lot better. I think it was one of those twenty-four-hour bug things where I’d eaten some bad food.
But I’m all good now – I’m just lining up your post-op appointments as we speak actually, so if there are any more patients you want to add on, you can email them to me throughout the day. ’
Jeff continuously stared at my lips as I spoke, which threw me off.
But, I had to tell myself that I was probably reading too much into it.
Maybe that’s just how he looked at people.
He was a surgeon, for God’s sake – surgeons had the reputation of being precise and meticulous. Maybe that was just his thing.
As I finished speaking, he wiped his glasses on his blazer and blinked rapidly.
Now I don’t know why this slightly turned me on, but it did.
He was so suave with his movements and body language and, in that split second, I found myself imagining him as my plus one for Mum’s wedding.
He would make a great plus one, to be fair: he was tall, refined, handsome, and most importantly, he was a surgeon.
I could already see him fitting in with my family.
His reply snapped me out of my very brief daydream as he put his glasses back on and looked up at me once again.
‘I’m glad to hear you’re feeling better, but if you do feel ill at any point in the day please do feel free to leave early – food poisoning can sometimes leave people feeling very weak for a while and you’ll need all the rest and hydration to make a full recovery, OK?
Hopefully your partner is taking good care of you, at least.’
Although grateful for his concern, I was probably going to take him up on that offer in order to have a couple more hours to prepare for Theo tonight.
I’d decided to order us a takeaway instead of stressing myself out by trying to cook something over the top and impressive.
That way, I could spend the time I would have used cooking to clean up the flat a little, take an ‘everything’ shower, and beautify myself even more.
‘My partner – yes. Yes, he’s … been very supportive, thanks!’ I said, trying to not let the panic reach my eyes. I’d completely forgotten I’d told him a fake story about having a boyfriend. ‘Thank you so much, Mr Paulson, I—’ Jeff held up his hand to silence me and said:
‘It’s Jeff, please.’
‘Jeff, please …’ I repeated, smiling up at him.
‘Sorry, yes, I’m … I appreciate you checking up on me, thank you so much.
I’m sorry we haven’t crossed paths lately by the way, I know you’ve been away for a bit so when you’re available at some point within the next week, it would be great to pencil in a quick catch-up meeting between us, if that’s OK with you? ’
It was nearly impossible to have a conversation with Jeff, his gaze fixed on my lips with an intensity that felt almost hungry.
For a moment, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was the star of his favourite TV show, with him watching me as though I were performing for him.
This whole exchange was filled with an unmistakable air of tension that I think we both felt.
Before Jeff had time to respond, Kofi walked in at that very moment, rucksack swinging to and fro.
He stopped dead in his tracks upon seeing Jeff in his seat, looking from Jeff to myself, his face full of concern.
‘Morning, Mr Paulson, hey Cassie – um, is everything OK? How are you feeling?’ he asked finally, as he patiently waited by the photocopier for his seat back.
This was so awkward. Jeff – finally realising that he’d been sitting in Kofi’s seat, awkwardly got up and began to slowly back out of the room, slightly tripping over a stack of files as he did so. It took everything in me not to laugh.
‘Yeah, Kof, I’m good! I was just asking Mr Paul – Jeff – if we could arrange some time over the next week for a quick catch-up over his schedule, is all!’ I came across way too excitable, which Kofi might’ve taken as me being awkward and uncomfortable – and, to be fair, I was.
‘Right … right,’ came from Jeff eventually, bordering the door frame now. He puffed himself up to his full height like a rooster about to challenge Kofi to a duel – minus the feathers, unfortunately. It was a weird sight and again, I had to cough to conceal my laughter.
‘Yes, Cassandra, we should get a date in the diary to go over some things. Check and see when I’m next free and you can book it for then – thank you so much.’ With that, he turned on his heel and left the office.
Kofi stared at me, baffled, before taking his seat. ‘What the hell just happened there, bruv? That was so awkward, man. Did he say something to you again?’
I shook my head as I went back to scheduling appointments. ‘Nah, he just wanted to see if I was feeling better and then I mentioned us having a quick meeting over his patients – and that’s when you came in.’
‘I see. He’s a bit of a weird one, that one. Anyway, how are you feeling, love? If you need to dip out early at any point, let me know, OK?’ Kofi was being extra nice today; he seemed to be in a good mood. I wondered why.
‘Thanks so much. I’m feeling much better and I’ve taken some meds this morning but I’ll let you know if I take a turn. Anyway, how have you been? Got any weekend plans?’
Kofi spun around like he’d been dying for me to ask what he’d been up to. A grin lit up his face, stretching wide until it turned into a full-on, all-teeth smile. I could already tell what he was about to say, and honestly, I was delighted for them both.
‘I’m seeing Sade this weekend; she’s actually staying over at mine tomorrow so we’re just gonna chill and stuff. It should be good,’ he said, now switching his demeanour to sound a little suave.
‘Oh, you guys are into each other DEEP, huh? To be honest, I can tell she really likes you because she’s been a little quiet on me lately. She’s normally like that when she’s into someone heavy; tunnel vision and all that. I’m loving this for you both!’
Kofi smiled again, his mouth spreading to the far corners of his face. You could tell that he was absolutely besotted with Sade, and to know that I had played a part in their impending love story/future marriage filled me with so much joy.