Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
Y esterday went so well, I’m sad that it wasn’t a three-day weekend, and I have to be back at work today.
We started the afternoon visiting Deception Pass State Park, and even walked across the Deception Pass Bridge. I’m usually not afraid of heights, and it wasn’t so much the height that bothered me, it was the closeness of the cars on the bridge that was unsettling. One false move from one of them and we were toast. We then got some fish and chips in Oak Harbor, and ended the day in Langley where we hoped to catch a glimpse of gray whales. We didn’t see any whales, but we had a great time browsing the shops. Justin and I parted ways once we got back to my house, and vowed to talk as often as possible during the week, and set up a date for this weekend.
As I sit here at my desk, catching up on all the voicemails left over the weekend, Alexis rushes in, leaving an icy cold breeze in her wake. She doesn’t bother to say anything to me and heads right back to her office. Fine by me. I don’t want her to ruin my good mood this morning.
With the phone up to my ear, the bell chimes on the door, and I go through my usual routine of telling the patient I’ll be right with them. When I look up, Wesley is standing at the front counter.
“Wesley, what brings you in?”
He smiles when he sees me. “I just wanted to say that I’m sorry again for how your weekend went. That restaurant was a bad choice.”
“Don’t worry about it,” I say, smiling back at him. “Although I do have a photo of you passed out in the bed, so if you ever step out of line, I can blackmail you with it.” A worried look crosses Wesley’s face. “I’m kidding, of course…about the blackmail part.” I give him a wink to keep things a little mysterious between us.
“I’ll make sure to be on my best behavior then.” He flashes me a grin. “I also came by because you forgot this in the car,” he says, holding up the Sasquatch tote he bought for me.
I take it from him and put it on my desk. “Thank you. That was nice of you to bring it in.”
“Dahlia, do you have the coffee ready yet?” Alexis says, interrupting our conversation. With her witch-like capabilities, she was somehow able to get to my desk without making a sound. I’m so far beneath her, she can’t even make eye contact with me, and instead would prefer to look at her phone. When I don’t answer, she finally looks up. “Wesley?” she asks, a thousand questions in her tone. “What are you doing here?”
“Since when did you start working here?” Wesley asks her, equally confused at seeing her here.
“Wait,” I say, pointing between the two of them. “You two know each other?”
Wesley nods. “Alexis and I used to date. We broke up about a year ago.”
I pause for a second, connecting the dots. Alexis must be the ex that Wesley was trying to forget on our date. I look to him for confirmation and his eyes say it all. I’m definitely correct with my assumption. And judging by how he’s looking at her now and how he acted on our date, the two of them may be broken up, but he’s clearly not over her.
“I’ve been at this office for almost seven months now. Are you a patient here?” Alexis asks.
“I’ve been a patient of Kim’s for a while, but only recently started seeing her again,” Wesley explains.
I notice that he left out the real reason for him coming to see Kim again—and that was to ask me out on a date. Perhaps he wants to forget the whole thing ever happened, or maybe he thinks she might get jealous.
“Do you have an appointment today?” she asks.
“No, I just stopped by to…” Wesley clearly doesn’t want to tell Alexis about us. Any brownie points he earned today by coming in here to apologize have quickly been erased by his inability to tell her the truth. I’m not going to help him out here. He can dig himself out of this one. “…to see if Kim was available to talk about something. Obviously, she’s busy, so I should probably get going.”
What a lame excuse.
“If you have a minute, I’d like to talk to you back in my office…where it’s private,” she says, glaring at me like I give a hoot what those two have to say to one another. As far as I’m concerned, they seem perfect for each another. They’re both conceited and pretentious people.
Wesley’s face brightens like this is the best news he’s going to hear all week. “I think that sounds great. We definitely have some things that should be discussed.”
The two of them head back to Alexis’ office, leaving me to actually finish the work I was trying to get done in the first place. Thirty minutes pass, then Alexis and Wesley are back at my desk, saying their goodbyes. Don’t these two have work to do?
“I’m so glad you stopped in today. It was great catching up, and I can’t wait to see you this weekend,” Alexis says in the sweetest voice I’ve ever heard from her. Since she’s only ever spoken to me with a disdainful tone, I had no idea she was capable of anything else.
“Our place then? Troy’s Boathouse?” Wesley asks.
Wait a minute. Their place is Troy’s Boathouse? The same place he took me for our first date? Was he trying to recreate his dates with Alexis the whole time he was seeing me? That’s just gross, and I can’t help the disgust that crosses my face. But the two of them are so absorbed in their own interaction they don’t see it.
Alexis nods and leans in for a kiss. “See you Saturday.”
All I can do is roll my eyes.
Once Wesley leaves, Alexis puts her icy demeanor back on and turns toward her office. “Dahlia, I’ll take that coffee now.”
Good to know she’s still a bitch and getting back together with Wesley hasn’t changed her.
That evening, I ask Lorelei and Chelsea if they’d like to go out to dinner with me, my treat. Nothing too fancy, because I can’t afford it. We settle on a Greek restaurant that’s not far from where I live. It’s the perfect casual atmosphere for our low-key outing tonight. After less-than-stellar outings at those fancy restaurants with Wesley, I’ve had my fill of finer establishments for a while.
“Thanks for buying dinner,” Chelsea says, biting into a gyro.
I pluck a few fries from our basket on the table and shove them in my mouth. “It’s my way of saying I’m sorry for missing out on our Twilight watch party.”
“Tell us again what was so important that you had to miss out on our event?” Lorelei’s mouth twitches, holding back a grin. She already knows why I wasn’t there. She just wants to hear it again so she and Chelsea can share another laugh at my expense. It’s fine. I deserve it.
“I was on a date and that date got so drunk, I had to call Justin to rescue me.” I wait for the laughs from the two of them to die down. “It’s not that funny,” I say with a glare.
“But it is. Will you show us the picture you took?” Chelsea asks.
I shake my head. Even though Wesley pissed me off today, I still don’t feel right showing everyone his passed-out-drunk picture. “You’re just going to have to believe me that it happened,” I say, then take a bite of my gyro.
Lorelei takes a sip of her soda, then polishes off the rest of her gyro. “So, are you and Justin back together then?”
Finally. Something I’m more than happy to talk about. “We are,” I say with a smile that could light up this whole restaurant. “We’re going out this weekend.”
“What are you going to do?” Lorelei asks.
“We’re just going to cook together at his house. Maybe we’ll go somewhere before the meal, but I’m not sure about the details yet,” I say.
Lorelei smiles, sensing my happiness. “That sounds sweet. And I think I speak for Chelsea too when I say that we’re both really happy for you. You waited a long time to put yourself back out there, and I’m glad you found someone who’s good enough for you. Because not just any guy will do. Tell us again what Justin does?”
“You mean you’ve never asked his friend?” I say, pretending to be shocked. “You’re usually nosier than that.”
Lorelei responds with a grin. “I can’t say that Justin has ever come up in conversation. We’re usually too busy talking about each other.”
“He’s going to be a doctor. He’s currently in his fourth year of residency,” I say.
Chelsea tilts her head. “What kind of doctor?”
What do I even say here? I don’t want to tell them the truth because I know they’ll find it weird that Justin would prefer to specialize in something that’s usually done by a woman. Not only that, but I don’t want comments about me being jealous that he’s going to be seeing women all day long. I really want them to meet Justin and get to know him before they find out. I feel like once they talk to him and figure out how nice he is, they won’t care what he does.
But on the other hand, maybe I should tell them the truth because it’s something to be proud, not ashamed of. And I’m proud of Justin and his accomplishments. I think he’ll make a fabulous doctor. “He’s going to be a general practitioner,” I say, chickening out. I can’t tell them yet—I just can’t.
“Sounds like you found a winner,” Chelsea says, rubbing her fingers together in a pay me gesture.
I roll my eyes. “You know I don’t care about how much he makes. That’s not what’s important to me. I care more about what kind of person he is.”
Chelsea holds back a smirk. “I was just messing with you. I know you don’t care about money. I mean, look at the car you drive.”
I throw her a look. “Well, maybe I do care about money after all. I care enough about it to not spend it on something I don’t need. My car works just fine, and I plan on keeping it until it dies. So, unless you’re paying for my next one, then hush.”
“Yeah, Chelsea. We can’t all have our dads buy us cars,” Lorelei chimes in.
Chelsea holds up her hands in a mock surrender. “Okay, okay. I get it.”
It’s time for me to grill them on their relationships. Lorelei has been really silent about her budding relationship, and I haven’t heard anything out of Chelsea since we went out on that disastrous double date at the bowling alley. I decide to start with Chelsea. “Chelsea, have you had any new dates that I should know about?”
“Honestly, no. Things with Ryder fizzled out. I was never going to be number one in his book. I guess bowling is always going to take that spot,” Chelsea says with a laugh. “No one wants all their dates to take place in a bowling alley, and that’s exactly what was happening.”“It’s a good thing you figured it out before you had your wedding in a bowling alley,” I say with a grin. “What about you, Lorelei? How are things going with your man? Can we call him your boyfriend now? Or do we still have to refer to him as Justin’s friend from the bar?”
Lorelei’s smile eats up her entire face. I haven’t seen her like this in a long time, so things must be going really well with this guy. “First of all, his name is Sam, and things are…well, they’re perfect actually.”
I wait for her to elaborate, but she stays silent. “That’s it? That’s all you’re going to say?”
Chelsea narrows her eyes. “Why are you being so mysterious? We want to know the details!”
“I don’t want to jinx it,” Lorelei explains. “I’ve stayed over at his place a few times, and we just get along so well. I’m not one to rush into anything, but I think he might be The One.”
“Really? How can you tell that so soon? It’s been what, like a month since you two started dating?” There’s no way perpetually indecisive Lorelei is ready to settle down.
“I’m serious. You two know me, and for me to say this so soon in a relationship is a big deal. I’ve never felt this way about any of my boyfriends before, so this is new territory for me. I’ve talked to my mom about it, and she said that sometimes you just know.” Lorelei’s eyes take on a glassy look like she’s about to tear up. She’s clearly smitten with this guy and feels passionately about him.
“That’s amazing. Dahlia and I are really happy for you.” Chelsea raises her glass and motions for us to do the same. “To Lorelei and her success on finding The One.” We clink glasses together.
“To Lorelei,” I say, then take a sip of my soda. “Just don’t forget us when the wedding comes around. Fern has already robbed me of one bridesmaid position by wanting to elope. I can’t have that happen twice.”
“Don’t worry,” Lorelei reassures me. “You two will definitely be by my side. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”