Chapter 14
Jeremy thought about it for a second. Seeing Violet standing by the elevator thinking he had cheated on her was a nightmarish situation to say the least and at first it was desperately important he clarify the whole situation.
He wanted to tell her that Venetia had come by his office unannounced when everyone had left.
That she had followed him into his office with a pretense of gathering information for a friend who was suffering from a heart problem.
He started to gather some pamphlets for her when she started to openly flirt with him, telling him in a whisper she was dressed only in a bra and panties.
And he had realized there was no friend and she had set out to seduce him.
He was telling her to leave but then she grabbed him and started kissing him and that was the unfortunate moment Violet had chosen to drop by.
He made sure to not have even a spare second to himself because whenever he did, he found himself thinking of Violet; he thought of her musical laughter, her dancing eyes.
He could hear the sound of her voice, her cries of ecstasy when she lay quivering in his arms. Memories of them talking, walking and eating engulfed him, making it hard to breathe or function.
He missed her more than he had missed anything in his life and he couldn’t imagine going on for the rest of his life without her and Tanya.
So he forced himself to never think of her and consumed his life with medical work.
He became extremely diligent, second-guessing his every decision, still haunted by the death of Mr. Karim and waiting for the day when his widow would no doubt file a suit against him.
When he did finally hear from Mrs. Karim, she dropped another bombshell, which threw his world upside down yet again.
The receptionist came to see him when he was back in his office from doing his rounds at the hospital, “Mrs. Karim is here to see you, Doctor.”
“To give me my walking papers no doubt,” he said dryly.
“I don’t think so, she’s been waiting here for the last five hours.”
“She’s not agitated or upset is she?” he asked cautiously.
“No, she seems fine.”
“Okay, send her in.” he said sighing to himself, better get this over with it.
“I’ll keep security on standby.” Lynn offered.
Jeremy just shook his head and went into his office to wait for Mrs. Karim. She came in to see him, quiet, composed and looking deeply ashamed of herself.
“May I come in, Doctor?” she asked in a small voice.
“Please do.” He said courteously. She came in and sat down on the chair across from him, looking nervous. “What can I do for you today, Mrs. Karim?”
Wringing her hands in distress, she looked at him with troubled eyes. “I have come to apologize.”
Instantly his heart softened at her words and guilt washed over him. “There’s no need for that, Mrs. Karim, you owe me no apology. I’m the one who should be apologizing to you. I should have been more careful…”
“No, Doctor,” she interrupted him, “it really wasn’t your fault, the autopsy result came back and his death wasn’t your fault.
It was Al’s fault. You told him he wasn’t to drink while he was taking the medication but you see…
you see…” her voice faltered briefly before she gathered her emotions and carried on, “You see he didn’t listen to your instructions.
He was drinking secretly, I didn’t even know myself and when he took the medication you prescribed, it was a lethal combination and his heart stopped.
So you see, Doctor, it wasn’t you who killed him, it was Al, and me too, I should have been watching him more carefully. ”
Jeremy listened to her words almost in a trance, it wasn’t his fault!
He hadn’t done anything wrong! He thought of his conversation with Violet and what he had given up and he could have cried.
So much heartache could have been avoided!
But then joy took over, this meant he could be with her again!
As all these thoughts swirled through his head, he suddenly heard the guilt in Mrs. Karim’s voice and realized she was blaming herself.
Pushing aside his thoughts of Violet, he focused his attention on the old woman sitting across from him.
“Mrs. Karim, you must not blame yourself for anything. Al was old enough to know what he was doing and he was well aware of the repercussions of mixing alcohol with his medication.”
“But I should have seen it,” she protested.
“How could you have seen it if he was hiding it from you? A good wife doesn’t spy on her husband, isn’t that right?”
Her face brightened a little at his words, “You’re right, I couldn’t have known unless I was spying on him and that wouldn’t have been very nice now, would it.”
“Exactly. But thank you for coming and telling me this.”
“Well it was my duty,” she said and then launched into a long discussion about how much she missed him and how much she had loved him.
Jeremy listened quietly, letting the woman talk as much as she needed to.
At last when she had nothing left to say, she slowly got to her feet and looking infinitely relieved, she left his office, humbly thanking him for everything he had done.
Jeremy sat in his chair for a long while contemplating everything once she had left.
He was glad to not have Al’s death on his conscience anymore, but he knew he had to decide whether he could be successful in his career and still make time for love.
He looked back on the weeks without Violet in them and how empty they had been and he decided then and there no amount of success would mean anything if he didn’t have her at his side to share it with.
Like a shot he was out the door, rushing across the city to reclaim his lost love.