29 - GOOD DEED, PUNISHED
Lacey
I was at my desk staring at a referral note I'd read four times without retaining a single word. I shouldn't have lost my cool with this much on the line.
I texted Janice.
Can we have an early lunch together today? I need to decompress after that meeting.
Fifteen minutes later.
Sure! I can take an hour off in thirty. That work?
I brought up my schedule.
Yes, I can get there in thirty minutes. See you then!
One knock. Firm, brief.
Allison.
She stepped in and closed the door behind her. I set down the referral note, straightened in my chair.
"Allison, I want to—"
She raised one hand.
I stopped.
She stood in the center of my office and looked at me for a long moment.
"That worked just about how I thought it would," she said finally. The corner of her mouth moved. "Mr. Harrington would like to meet with you privately to go over the single most critical funding priority." She let it settle. "I think he's on board, Lacey. You may have moved him."
I stared at her. Moved him.
"That's—" Impossible? I stopped, started again. "That's great. That's amazing. I thought I'd—"
"Torpedoed the entire thing?" Her expression was dry. "Yes. I imagine you did." She tilted her head. "But you'd be wrong."
I sat back. The referral note was still in front of me, irrelevant.
I should have felt relief. Whatever had worked in that boardroom, I hadn't rehearsed. I'd lost control of it, and it had been the best presentation of my life.
"So, he's not—"
"He is not offended. He is not withdrawing his support. He is interested in a real conversation about what we need, rather than sitting through a presentation." She paused. "Which, if you knew him better, you'd recognize as a step forward. Derek likes assertive women." Her eyes twinkled.
Assertive women? Me?
"Okay," I said, sounding profoundly unassertive. "Where does he want to meet?"
"His home office," she said. "He prefers it there when it isn't a formal board context. You'll have his full attention without the audience." A beat. "You need to do this, whatever your personal feelings about the man. It's too important."
Personal feelings. What? Did I have personal feelings about Derek?
I nodded, on autopilot. "Of course. I'll call his office today."
Private meeting. His house.
Something shifted between my legs.
What the hell?
This was Derek. Tight-ass, controlling, professionally maddening Derek, who'd sat in that boardroom all morning looking like he owned it because he more or less did, who'd needled me in front of the board and then watched me with that crooked half-smile when I lost my temper.
Am I looking forward to this?
Strangely I thought I was, and I had no idea why.
"Lacey."
I startled and looked up.
Allison was at the door, one hand on the frame, already half-turned to go, looking back at me with an expression much more amused than usual.
"Once again," she said, "you performed well beyond my already considerable expectations." A small pause. "It's becoming a pattern."
"Thank you, Allison." She wasn't one for idle compliments.
"You deserve it. Remember I'm going to see my folks for two weeks starting tomorrow, so I'll want a full report when I get back.
" She started to walk out the door, then stopped and turned.
"Oh, you're off on that Wild Women in Medicine cruise, right?
You be careful, that's a pirate ship, for sure! " And she winked.
What had I missed? "Pirate ship?" I asked.
Allison grinned. "You know what pirates are always after, right?" She laughed as she walked out the door.
Gold? Treasure? I shrugged, then stared at the number Allison had given me.
Derek Harrington, re: MRI suite priorities.
His office, she'd said. Call soon.
I picked up the desk phone, set it down, picked it up again.
I dialed.
It rang once.
"Derek," he answered.
Not a receptionist, not an assistant. His voice.
My mind went briefly, completely blank.
"This is Dr. Bonds." I heard myself and winced. As though he might not know. "Sorry. Allison said this was your office line."
"It is." A beat. "My office is wherever I am."
Of course it was.
I pulled the legal pad toward me, the one with my notes from the presentation, something to look at. "I wanted to set up the meeting you requested. To go over the priorities for the suite. I have the full cost breakdown and the clinical case files if you want to go through them properly."
"I do." Papers shifted on his end, or fabric. "You don't work evenings?"
The question caught me off guard. "Not usually. Residency cured me of the rest of it. Why?"
"Weekdays are better for me than weekends.
Jessica. And I'd rather do this at my place than the hospital.
Easier to think without the audience." A pause.
"Dinner, then. Bring the data and your arguments.
I'll feed you food that isn't a boardroom sandwich.
" The next pause might have been amusement.
"Dress however you want. I'll probably be in sweats. "
I looked at my legal pad. The words cardiac MRI suite stared back, suddenly a little irrelevant.
"Okay," I said. "Dinner. What night works?"
"Next Monday. Eight. A little late, but Jessica will be asleep by then. That work?"
A week. "That works."
"Good. I'll send a car."
I started to say he didn't have my address and stopped. Of course he had it. Allison would have sent everything over.
"Right. Monday at eight."
And then he was gone, the line clicked quiet before I'd finished deciding whether the sweats thing was a joke.
I set the phone down.
It hadn't gone anywhere, the window I kept forgetting to close.
Derek Harrington, I thought, gathering my bag. Please, anyone but him, I pleaded with my pussy, which suddenly thought it was an independent country. Throb, it replied.
I looked at my watch. A little early, but I left anyway. I used to wish I had more interesting things to share with Janice. Be careful what you wish for.
I arrived first and caught myself rearranging the sugar packets and stopped. I had arranged them by size. They were all the same size.
The door swung open. Janice came in like she'd been shot out of a cannon, red coat, dark hair everywhere, already unwinding her scarf with one hand and waving at the server with the other, grinning at someone's dog through the window as she passed it.
She spotted me, crossed the room, kissed my cheek with a loud smack, and dropped into the chair across from me like she'd been aiming for it from the parking lot.
"Okay." She picked up the menu she never needed.
"I need you to tell me good news, because my nine o'clock cried for forty-five minutes and my ten o'clock—" She set the menu down and shuddered.
"You know what, you deal with children. Cute, cuddly, grateful children who draw pictures for you.
" She pointed. "I deal with—" Another shudder.
She laughed. "Never mind. Tell me about the board meeting. How'd it go? Did you murder anyone?"
"It went well." I wrapped both hands around my mug. "Mostly."
Janice's eyes sharpened. "Mostly?"
"The data persuaded them. Allison thinks Derek's considering funding a priority element. It's movement." I paused. "And I may have said something to him. In front of the board."
She put her latte down. "What did you say?"
"He made a dismissive comment. And I told him I wasn't there to entertain him."
The sound Janice made wasn't quite a laugh. She pressed both hands flat on the table.
"You said that. To Derek Harrington. In front of his board." She was grinning now. "Lacey Anne Bonds. Kick ass! You're my hero!"
"He told them to let me finish."
Janice sat back and looked at the ceiling like a woman receiving very good news.
"Of course he did. Of course he did." She looked back at me, eyes bright.
"So, you insulted the man whose checkbook you need, and now he's probably going to fund your suite.
" She shook her head slowly. "He's such a weird bastard, but only you, Lacey.
Only you." She pointed. "This is what I've been telling you for years.
Stop managing everyone. Just be yourself.
" Then, slightly wicked. "Apparently, yourself is extremely effective. "
I laughed despite myself. "It wasn't a strategy."
"The best things never are. So, what happens next?" she asked. "With the funding."
"Allison's handling the follow-up," I said.
The words were out before I'd realized it. True, technically. Not complete. There was a dinner I hadn't mentioned, with a man I couldn't stop turning over.
Janice topped up her latte even though it didn't need it.
"Right," she said easily.
Suddenly she grabbed my hand. "I'm so excited for the day after tomorrow, Lacey!" She did the "EEEE!" thing. "I can't wait! I can't wait to show you off to the girls, and to have you all to myself on the cruise! It's going to be so fun!"
I grinned. "Me too!"
I needed a relaxing few days.