Chapter 15
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Jelly
“Have a good day,” I smiled at the family leaving the office. They were the last patients before lunch, and I was ready to take my break.
“Hey, Jelly,” an X-Ray tech from down the hall stuck his head inside the office. “Can I take you out for that lunch I owe you today?”
I grinned at him. I didn’t even remember his name, but he didn’t need to know that. “Don’t even worry about it. I told you that you don’t owe me lunch.”
“Jelly.”
I turned at the sound of Paolo’s serious voice.
The X-Ray tech made a worried face and left.
“Yes?” I grabbed my purse and came out from behind the reception desk.
He didn’t say anything. I turned to look at him.
He was leaning against the wall, wearing his white coat, and had his muscular arms crossed over his chest. God, he looked hot as fuck.
He was stupidly, unfairly handsome, and I swear sometimes I found it difficult even to talk to him. “Is something wrong?” I asked.
“No. I was just… well, I noticed that several of the male employees seem to hang out in here since you started working here.”
I opened my mouth, then closed it again. “Are you saying I’m doing something wrong?”
“No.” He ran a hand through his thick, dark brown hair. “It’s not that. You know you can’t fraternize with other workers here at the hospital, right?”
I raised my eyebrows and tried not to smile.
“What?”
“I was told this week that rule only applies within each department. Not for the entire hospital.”
He frowned. “Oh.”
“Yeah. Well, I’ve got to get to the cafeteria before they run out of turkey Cobb salads.” I had my hand on the door when he spoke again.
“I’ve also had a few of the mothers complain that their husbands can’t seem to leave you alone.”
I stopped in my tracks and turned to look over my shoulder. “Is that so?”
“Yes.”
“And what should I do about that? Not speak to patients’ parents if they’re male?”
“You might address the mothers only.”
Anger washed over me. “Are you accusing me of something?”
“No, not at all. I was simply suggesting…”
“If my behavior is bothering you, let me know. Otherwise, this sounds like their problem, not mine. I don’t flirt with the dads. I don’t show preference for them over the moms. I don’t wear my scrubs tight or low-cut like some of the nurses around here. If you have something to say, just say it.”
He closed his eyes, sighed, and leaned his head back against the door. “You’re right. I’m sorry. You’re not doing anything wrong. You can’t help that you’re…” his eyes opened and locked with mine, “so beautiful.”
For just a moment, it felt like all the air had been sucked out of the room and there was just the two of us in the whole entire hospital.
Then I took a deep breath, shook my head to clear it, and said, “Right. Thanks for admitting I’m not doing anything wrong. I’ll see you after lunch.”
“See you.”
I barely heard him say it as I left to go to the cafeteria. Before I could get there, my phone rang. I saw it was the university.
“Hello?”
“Is this Ray Ann Pinkoe?”
“Yes.”
“Hi, this is Sally Goode from West Bay University’s PA program. I had a message to call you back about the requirements for the six-month internship, including clinical rotations, before you can graduate as a physician’s assistant.”
“Yes, I just… that’s a long internship to be unpaid. And the hours are so long it will be difficult to work every evening to try to make enough for my apartment, car payment, groceries—things like that.”
“Yes, we get this complaint a good bit. All I can do is to direct you to the office of financial aid. Most of our students take out loans for at least the last six months of the program because of this.”
“Is there no other way?” I asked, frustrated. I’d made such good money at Sugar I’d paid for school out of pocket so far. I didn’t want any loans, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to ask my grandparents for money.
“No, I’m sorry. If you don’t have the money from a source like a family member, the best thing we can suggest is financial aid.”
“Thanks.”
I hung up and stood outside the cafeteria, thinking.
What in the world was I going to do? I thought again about Carmen putting a little pressure on me to do the Cinnamon Auction lately.
Maybe that was the best thing I could do.
I closed my eyes and leaned against the wall, trying not to cry.
I knew it had worked out well for Nadine and Daisy.
I wasn’t looking to marry some rich guy from the auction like they did.
Of course, they actually fell in love. I knew the chances of that were slim to none.
That kind of thing just didn’t happen for me.
I wished there was some way I could control who ‘won’ me in the auction. I didn’t want to end up having to fuck some old guy for six months. Or an asshole.
“Jelly?”
My eyes shot open to see Paolo standing in front of me looking very concerned.
“You okay? I’m sorry if I upset you. I shouldn’t have said a word.”
I wiped a tear from my face quickly, hoping he hadn’t seen it. “No, it’s not that. It’s… something else.”
“Is it anything I can help with?”
“No.” I remembered that he wanted to do the auction.
He just didn’t want anybody like me as his Cinnamon Girl, though.
He was the whole reason for Carmen trying to get the Vanilla Auction off the ground.
That had pissed so many of us off. “No, you can’t help me at all,” I said, with an edge to my voice.
He frowned, and I could feel his eyes on me as I walked over to join the cafeteria line.
***
Still thinking about the conversation I’d had with the lady from the internship program, I trudged up the stairs of Cinnamon House.
Most days I still couldn’t approach the mansion in the exclusive Estates at South neighborhood without feeling awe that I was actually living here.
It was one of the most beautiful homes in the entire neighborhood, and I lived here rent free.
Utilities were paid for, as well as groceries.
There was a gym in the finished basement. It was… amazing.
But today, I didn’t think about any of that.
Thoughts of the internship and the auction weighed heavily on my mind.
I opened the door, walked through the house and into the family room.
Then I threw myself dramatically on one of the overstuffed couches I loved so much.
“What the fuck am I going to do?” I mumbled into the cushions.
“Uh… Jelly? Sorry to disturb you, but what the hell?” Glory sounded pissed.
I shot straight up. “Oh, shit. Sorry!” I hadn’t noticed her and had almost flopped down right on top of her.
She rolled her eyes, but she had half a grin on her face. She wasn’t really mad. “What the hell is wrong with you?” She tossed her beautiful, glossy curls over her shoulder. She had headphones on and was painting her nails. I swear, Glory changed nail colors every other day.
It suddenly sounded like a herd of elephants was coming down the stairs.
“What’s wrong?” Nia asked. Madeline, Bethany, Abbi, Nora, and Carly were behind her.
Glory and I exchanged glances. “I was peacefully listening to my new mafia romance, so thanks a lot for that,” she grumbled, gesturing to our roommates.
I chose to ignore her. There was nothing I could do about it now anyway. “I just found out my internship is unpaid.”
Madeline blinked at me.
“It’s six months long, and I don’t think there’s any way I can still work at Sugar, too,” I explained.
Bethany walked in and sat down beside Glory, putting her hands flat on the table in the way she always did when she wanted Glory to do her nails.
Glory sighed and started.
“What’s the big deal?” Bethany asked. “Just do the auction. Isn’t that why you’re living here? I mean, we’re all going to do it one of these days, right?” She looked around the room.
Neither Nora nor Abbi looked happy about that, but the rest of the girls seemed either excited or resigned to it.
“Girl,” Madeline said, hands on her hips, “you’re going to get paid a ton of money, get a house, car, whatever you want, and get your school paid for. All you have to do is have a bunch of sex with the same guy for a few months. Easy peasy.” She plopped down next to me on the couch.
Nora, usually the quietest in the house, spoke up. “I get it. I’m not exactly thrilled at the idea of the auction. But I’m going to have to do it,” she shrugged. None of us knew Nora’s backstory, not even Abbi, who was her best friend in the house. “I have a plan, though.”
Everyone turned and listened.
“I have several regulars, right?”
We all nodded. She did. There were six or seven guys who sat on the bar stools and talked to her every night.
“I’m going to work something out with a couple of them before the auction.
I’ve already hinted that I’m going to be doing it sometime soon, and a couple of them have already told me they plan to bid for me.
They’re good guys who I already know. I’ve known them ever since I started working at Sugar.
They’re handsome, they don’t have any major kinks that I know of, and they’re not married.
It’s a hell of a lot better than going in blind and getting some old guy.
Or a guy with a wife and four kids at home.
Or someone that wants to choke me til I pass out every night. ”
Even Bethany, who was probably the most sexually liberated of all us, looked a little intimidated at the thought of that kink.
“Good idea,” Glory said, tapping one of her dried nails on the table. She looked thoughtful. None of us knew her story, either, but it was clear she planned on doing the auction.
“That… sounds like something I could do,” I said.
“Who are you going to talk to about bidding?” Nia asked. She and Carly were the newest members of the house having replaced Nadine and Daisy as they’d moved out to do the auction. “Nico and Paolo are your most regular customers. Nico can’t do the auction, and Paolo only wants former debutantes.”