3. Jonathan
Jonathan
Lina Lee hadn’t even been working here for a full twenty-four hours, and my blood was already boiling.
Frustration and irritation pumped through my veins ferociously, making me so bothered and hot under the collar that I had to undo the first two buttons of my shirt.
Otherwise, I’d be sitting here, sweating like it was summer instead of a cold, cloudy January day.
The heater being on full blast didn’t ease the rise in my body temperature either.
As long as I didn’t look at the perfect Lina Lee directly in the eyes, I would be fine.
Just fine. One glance and I’d lose control over the emotions she riled up in me.
She always had a way of getting under my skin back in high school, and it seemed no different now.
Thankfully, Lina knew to keep herself far away from me and out of my peripheral vision.
Was I surprised to see she was still pretentious and rude? No. But was I surprised to be working with her? Yes.
When we were looking over resumes and applications, I was specific when I told John I had my qualms about Lina becoming our second, full-time staff pharmacist. With him retiring, and me being promoted to fill his spot, we needed someone who prioritized their responsibilities and the patients—and their personality needed to fit well with our team, too.
I was supposed to interview prospective candidates with him and have input on who we hired. But due to some scheduling conflicts, John ended up interviewing Lina alone while I was on vacation. By the time I came back from my trip to the mountains, John had already offered Lina the position.
When the day finally ended, I thanked each of my techs as they clocked out.
Lina was quiet. She continued to bag prescriptions even with the team leaving one by one.
She didn’t bother to say goodbye to them; neither did she spare them a single glance, probably too focused on being the center of the world.
It was dead silent between the two of us as I locked up the pharmacy. I kept my mouth shut after muttering about giving her a spare key to the pharmacy soon. There was nothing for me to say to her unless I wanted to be unprofessional.
“Thank you, Jonathan. For today—and for the shirt,” she spoke up as we were walking toward our respective cars in the nearly empty parking lot.
I came to a stop, glaring at her. She looked immaculate. Not a single hair out of place, not even an ounce of exhaustion on her face despite having a long day of tiring work. Then again, she arrived ridiculously late today, and with a dramatic flair, too. Without a word, I raised a brow at her.
“I’ll return it to you as soon as I can,” she added quickly.
I glanced at the blue shirt she was wearing and almost scoffed. “Please refrain from jumping in front of opening doors the next time you arrive to work, Dr. Lee.”
Her back straightened as she tipped her head, angling it in a defensive manner. “I’d prefer it if you just called me Lina. After all, we used to be classmates, and now we’re colleagues.”
Being short with her, I replied, “I’d rather keep things formal.”
“I believe that’s unnecessary.”
“It’s necessary when it comes to the likes of you, Dr. Lee, especially when I’m your pharmacy manager. I believe you need a constant reminder of your responsibilities to the team and your position as staff pharmacist.”
The hammering of my beating heart was the only sound I could hear as I stared down at Lina.
As expected, she was unmoved and entirely unbothered by my words.
Cool and icy as ever. No emotion tugged, pulled, or dragged across her face.
She stared back like a robot, like I hadn’t muttered anything.
Nothing I could ever say or do would rile her up, which infuriated me even more.
I couldn’t get under her skin the way she did to me.
I never could, I realized. In the heat of the moment, the words building in my chest hurled out before I had the chance to pause.
That was exactly what Lina did to me—she turned me into an entirely different person, someone I didn’t like being: an asshole.
“I never liked you, and I’m not looking forward to working with you, Dr. Lee,” I breathed. “I never wanted to hire you. But now that you’re here, you and I will make do with what we have until you leave.”
The moment those words left my mouth, my stomach coiled tightly. My throat practically swelled up close from all the emotions fighting to come up. I was breathing so hard I was almost panting.
Lina’s nostrils flared, the only indication that I struck a nerve. “Are you threatening me with your position and power, sir?”
I didn’t answer. I couldn’t.
She continued in an even tone, “Don’t worry, Dr. Lo. The feelings are mutual.”
I half expected another crack in her frosty exterior—a frown, or maybe an arched eyebrow to reveal the anger I had inspired in her. But nothing came. Instead, she turned away, walked toward an older-model car, and drove off. Standing alone in the dark parking lot, I sighed, long and hard.
“Good, Dr. Lee,” I said under my breath. “I’m gladly counting the days until you leave.”