Chapter Nineteen #2
“Wait, why would he bring you lunch?” Reese asked as she stepped slightly closer to me, and all I wanted to do was put my arm around her.
Alana looked back and forth between us, and I could tell she was starting to piece something together. “We used to date,” she settled on.
This time, I didn’t resist the eye roll. “I wouldn’t count a blind date as us ‘dating.’” I hadn’t even realized that Reese had tensed up next to me until I heard her let out a small breath. “I’m here because I brought lunch for Reese.”
“But why?” Alana crossed her arms and looked at her, disgustedly.
My first impression of her was spot on. How she had fooled my sister into believing she was a decent person was beyond me. I was about to open my mouth to explain that Reese and I were just friends when Reese spoke instead.
“He brought me lunch, because Kelly is my boyfriend,” Reese said as she wrapped her arms around my waist.
I was shocked that she was claiming me in front of her coworkers.
“Your...what?” Alana’s mouth was practically touching the ground.
“I didn’t know you were seeing someone,” Erik seemed to shuffle slightly away.
“I didn’t think it was anyone’s business,” Reese stated, and I loved the small bite to her words. That was my girl.
“This is impossible! I was at your parents’ house two months ago,” she said, her over-plumped lips turning down into a frown.
“It’s really quite romantic.” Reese smiled up at me, mischief in her eyes. “He asked me out on one of my first days here. Kelly invited me over to his parents’ house for Sunday dinner. Doesn’t Kimo make the best burgers?”
Alana looked between the two of us before finally huffing out some sort of groan. “Whatever. Have fun with my sloppy seconds,” she stomped off without another word.
“I'd better get back to work,” Erik turned away. I had forgotten he was even there.
“We’ll catch up later!” Reese called after him. “Are you ready to eat?” she asked me.
Reese didn’t wait for a response before she grabbed my free hand, and I followed her through a maze of rooms until we were out of the ER and back into the main hallway of the hospital.
“Whoa. What was all that?” I asked, still stunned by what I had just witnessed.
“Gosh, sorry. Did I take it too far with Alana?” Reese’s ears had turned a light shade of pink, and I noticed for the first time that her hands were slightly trembling.
“No, not at all. I’m just shocked. I’ve never seen you talk to someone like that. And I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about her. I swear, nothing happened—”
“I believe you,” she said as we exited the hallway and entered a large room with an entire wall made of stained glass.
The midday light was peeking in, casting the room in hues of blues, purples, and yellows that draped over long tables and benches. She had brought us to the cafeteria, which was abandoned on a Saturday afternoon.
“Before we met, my sister invited Alana to the house as a surprise blind date. We didn’t hit it off—”
“Kelly,” her eyes were liquid gold in this light.
“You don’t have to explain anything to me because I believe you.
Alana is a mean girl—a bully. She has been nothing but nasty since I first met her.
I knew as soon as she said you dated that it wasn’t true.
You are far too good to waste your time on someone like her. ”
She released my hand, taking a seat on one of the long benches. I quickly took the seat opposite her.
“You think I’m good?” I smiled to myself as I started unpacking the homemade lunch.
Reese slugged me in the arm, even from across the table, and shook her head. “You know you’re good! Anyway, thank you for bringing me lunch.” She reached out for the musubi and held it up, clearly trying to figure out what it was.
“It’s musubi. It’s grilled Spam on rice, wrapped in nori. Kind of like seaweed. I know it’s not fancy, but I did make it myself.” Insecurity was rushing in, and now I internally cursed myself for not stopping to get her real food. I bet Dr. Handsome would have gotten her a real lunch.
“It’s perfect,” she said as she took a bite and sighed a little. “I owe you one.”
“I don’t mind at all. Anything for you, Topanga?” I said, seeing her ID badge for the first time.
She choked on her next bite and coughed a little, staring me down the whole time. Once she caught her breath, she said, “Please don’t call me that.”
“Or, what? You don’t want me to call you by your real name?” I teased, but I could tell this was a sore subject. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I don’t know,” she looked down at her musubi. “I don’t go by that name, so I didn’t think to bring it up.”
“Have you watched Boy Meets World?” I joked, wanting to see her smile again.
“Only like a million times,” she joked back, but her lips were pressed tightly together.
“Why do you hate your name? It’s definitely unusual, but I think it sounds pretty.”
“It’s never felt right. Even before I knew I was named after a TV character, it didn’t feel like me.
I used to complain to my mom about it, and she would just ignore me and tell me about the time she was put on bed rest during her pregnancy with me.
She had always been super active, so when she had to sit around for three months, she watched Boy Meets World on repeat.
They didn’t do reruns then as they do now, so she had my dad go out and buy up to the latest season on VHS.
She used to tell me how much she loved Topanga.
She saw her as this brave and outgoing young woman. And that never felt like me.”
“I think you’re brave,” I disagreed with her. “I don’t know a lot of people who could pack up every few months and start new somewhere else.
“I wouldn’t call it brave. I’m just...used to it. It’s a part of who I am now.” She took a big bite of musubi, glancing at her watch.
“Where did Reese come from?” I took a bite of my musubi. I knew she only had thirty minutes to eat, yet I wanted this to stretch for hours.
“It’s my middle name. My mom didn’t want to give up her maiden name, so she and my dad compromised and made it my middle name instead of hyphenating my last name. Her maiden name was spelled Reece with a ‘c’, so my mom spelled it the feminine way with an ‘s’ for me.”
“I think it suits you,” I said, and she held my eyes for a second before the corners of her mouth tilted up just slightly. It was almost a smile, and I wanted the whole damn thing. “Erik seems like a nice guy,” I said, changing topics.
“Dr. Taylor? He’s nice and a great doc, too. He was one of the first people who was nice to me.”
“Yeah, you guys seemed really comfortable with each other.” I couldn’t keep back the words even as they came out.
“I guess so?” She didn’t seem to pick up on what I was hinting at.
“You know, if you’re interested in him, you shouldn’t let me hold you back,” I said, and the words felt like poison on my tongue.
“Interested in him? No, it’s not like that. Dr. Taylor and I are just friends,” she said as she reached for the apple.
“Just friends? No way. He is for sure into you. How could he not be? I saw the way he was looking at you.”
“What?” Her eyes went wide, and her face flushed. “I don’t think that’s the case. Besides, it doesn’t matter. I’m not interested in him.”
I wanted to stand up and cheer or lunge across the table and kiss her.
“Well, if you were interested in him, or anyone for that matter, I won’t stand in your way.” I meant it, but it would kill me, very slowly every day, knowing that she was with someone else.
“Not going to be a problem. Like I’ve said before, I’m not looking to start a relationship with anyone,” she said, patting at her lips with a napkin, and I felt the color drain from my face hearing her say this.
In that moment, I wanted to confess my feelings for her. Tell Reese that I didn’t want to see her with anyone else. That she should be with me. That I needed her to be with me. But I didn’t say any of that.
She stood up and gathered our trash. I followed her back towards the main hallway, feeling defeated.
“I have something I need to tell you,” she said as we headed back to the ER. My hands felt clammy as I braced for the news. “I talked it over with my recruiter, and I have my next assignment.”
I nodded my head in acknowledgement of what she was saying, but couldn’t form any words.
Is this what it felt like to receive news you knew was going to be bad?
Any second now, she would tell me she had accepted a job in Nashville, Charleston, or any of the other places she had interviewed for.
She was going to tell me she was leaving, and a part of me would go with her.
“I decided to stay here and renew my contract,” she said calmly, like we were only discussing the weather.
I stood there, not fully understanding what she had just said, then it hit me like a ton of bricks. It was like I had been seeing in black and white, and now I could finally see in color. I scooped her up into my arms, twirling her around. She laughed and pulled me closer.
“You’re staying here?” I said, not truly believing this. It felt like a dream that I didn’t want to wake up from.
“Yes! Now put me down!” She giggled and was a little unsteady on her feet as I obeyed. I refused to let go of her as my hands clung to her arms.
“What about Nashville?” I asked, my voice sounding out of breath.
“It’ll still be there come wintertime. I’m having a great time here, and there’s still a lot I want to do. I can’t actually leave Hawaii until I can stand on a surfboard, you know? With me renewing my contract here, that means I don’t have to leave until the middle of January.”
I pulled her back into a hug, my face hurting from how big I was smiling. More time. I was going to get more time with this amazing woman. “I’m so glad you decided to stay,” I mumbled into her hair, breathing in the sweet smell of her minty shampoo.
“Me too,” her voice was muffled in the crook of my neck. She hugged me back tightly and then pushed back. There was a deep blush on her face as she separated herself from me. “Anyhow, I have to get back to work. Can I call you later?”
“Of course,” I said as she started to back up towards a secured door. I was smiling like an idiot, and I didn’t care who saw.
Reese pushed her badge against a card reader, and the door opened.
“Thanks again for lunch, Kelly.” She waved and then disappeared back into the ER.
Hearing her say my name right then and there awoke something deep inside me—something that had been asleep until this point.
This was the moment I knew I was going to use this time to convince Reese to stay.
The idea of her leaving left me feeling numb.
I was going to tell her how I really felt and pray to God that she felt the same way.