Chapter 7
Sebastian
Ara looked both annoyed and unsurprised to find me sitting in her boss’s office. She had to know ignoring me wasn’t going to make me go away. She knew me better than that. I wasn’t one who gave up on anything and I certainly wasn’t going to give up on her.
“Hello, Aracely. Thank you for joining us. Why don’t you have a seat,” Dr. Conrad said to Ara as she stood in the doorway.
“Sebastian Anderson. What are you doing in Dr. Conrad’s office?” Ara asked as she slowly walked into the office. She didn’t sit but looked at me.
Ara hardly ever called me Sebastian. I knew she was doing it to try to put some distance between us and to make her boss think we didn’t know each other. It was a little too late for that.
“Sebastian was just telling me about how you two grew up together and how close you were as kids,” Dr. Conrad said. She smiled at Ara before looking at me.
“You don’t say? How lovely of him,” Ara replied.
She smiled at her boss but she wouldn’t look at me. The smile was fake and a little too bright. I could see her shoulders tensing up as she tried to figure out why I was there and what I wanted.
I thought about making her sweat a little. It would be fun to watch her squirm but I didn’t want to piss her off any more than I already had. I had tried to be patient with her and hoped she would come to me. I had hoped she would give me the courtesy of at least thanking me for the gifts I sent her and her co-workers. At the very least, I thought she would yell at me to stop doing it and to leave her alone.
That she hadn’t done either told me I was affecting her more than she wanted. It also showed she knew exactly what I was doing. It annoyed me that she knew me so well that she could manipulate the situation. But she wasn’t the only one with that power.
I needed to talk to her, I wanted to spend time with her. I hadn’t wanted to use my name, my influence, or even my money to get what I wanted. But Ara had left me no choice. If I needed to go to extreme measures so she would talk to me, then I would.
“Yes, we were having a lovely talk. Dr. Conrad was telling me what a wonderful and gifted doctor you are. She thinks you would be the perfect candidate for me to shadow for my next role,” I said.
“A new role? Are you leaving the city so soon? But you just got here,” Ara said.
There was a fake pout as she looked at me. The smile was gone but there was a mischievous look in her eyes. She knew there was no role and I had only said that to spend time with her.
“It’s in the preliminary stages and wouldn’t begin until after I had finished my run here. If I ever do,” I said.
“Are you hoping to make New York your home? How wonderful,” Dr. Conrad said.
I hadn’t expected her to catch on to my veiled comment but I knew Ara had. While Dr. Conrad had been thrilled by the idea, Ara was not. It only reiterated that she thought I was going to be in town for a finite period and therefore not worthy of her time or attention.
“It’s also in the early stages. But I’m optimistic that everything will work out.” I held Ara’s gaze as I spoke but eventually turned to look at Dr. Conrad as I added, “But please don’t tell anyone. Can it be our little secret?”
She blushed like a school-girl and even giggled. I didn’t have to look over at Ara to see that she was rolling her eyes. I knew how to charm people when I needed to and Dr. Conrad had been an easy target. It helped that she and her daughter were huge fans of my work. While we waited for Ara to arrive, I had called and left a voicemail on her daughter’s phone.
“Of course, No. It will be our little secret.” Dr. Conrad even went so far as to pretend to lock her lips closed.
I smiled and laughed at her antics. Ara was not pleased and cleared her throat. I slowly turned to look at her and gave her the same dashing smile I had given her boss. Too bad Ara was immune to it.
“You two seem to be having a lovely time. I can catch up with Sebastian later. I’m sure he could follow you around instead of me. I really should get in.” Ara stood up as if to leave but Dr. Conrad stopped her.
“Sebastian specifically asked for you. Plus, I couldn’t do it. I have meetings most of the week. It would be too boring for him. And I can’t ask anyone else.”
“I have a very full load. I wouldn’t be able to give Sebastian the time and attention he needs. I wouldn't be able to answer any questions he might have or explain things to him in the manner he deserves. Plus, he will be a distraction to the patients. With all due respect, Dr. Conrad, I don’t think I’m the right person for this job.”
“Dr. Thomas. you’re the most talented resident we have in the program. There’s no one better who could juggle the demands of the job and make our guest feel welcome. It’s the little things that we all do that can make the biggest impact,” Dr Conrad said and gave Ara a knowing look.
Her comment had the desired effect as Ara shoulders fell as if in defeat. The comment about little things and big impact sounded like something that Dr. Conrad said a lot to her residents. It was good advice and I was glad that Ara was taking it. I also was even happier that it meant she was hopefully going to agree to work with me.
She looked over at Dr. Conrad and said, “Before I agree to this, could I talk to Sebastian alone? I just want to make sure we’re on the same page here,” Ara said.
“Yes. Of course. Sure. He and I have already gone through the orientation and got him cleared with HR. So, when you’re ready, you can start your rounds. I will be around if you have any questions. Sebastian, it was wonderful meeting you. I know you’re in very capable hands,” Dr. Conrad said and quit her office.
Ara didn’t say anything until Dr. Conrad had closed the door. Then she turned and glared at me. “What the fuck do you think you are doing?” She put her hand up and stopped me before I could answer. “Don’t. I know exactly what you’re doing. I know you can be a little thick-headed and you don’t always get the subtleties. So, let me be perfectly clear, I don’t want you here. I don’t want you in my life, I don’t want you coming to my job. I don’t want you sending me gifts. I don’t want you to cater my office’s breakfasts.
“What I do want you to do is what you’ve done for the last seven years, three months and two days. Leave me alone.” Ara spoke the last words slowly, getting louder with each word.
“No,” I said.
I wasn’t going to but when she threw back the exact time I had been away from her. It told me the comment had stuck with her. She wouldn’t have remembered it otherwise. She had missed me, too. It was just going to take her longer to admit it than me.
“You don’t get to say no. I get to say no, not you,” she said.
“If you do, you might piss off your boss and you don’t want to do that if you want a good recommendation.” I crossed my arms and smiled at her.
Ara stepped forward and put her finger in my face. “Don’t you dare try and imply that I need to do this for my career. I’m about this close to screaming and starting a whole bunch of problems for you.”
“Why would you do that?” I asked.
“Because you’re causing a shit ton of problems for me.”
“You don’t think this last week has been difficult for me?” I sat up and looked up at her. She was sexy no matter what she did, but she was even sexier when she was angry.
“I don’t care. Get out of my office.” She pointed to the door.
“This isn’t your office,” I said and smiled up at her.
She let out a frustrated groan and I couldn’t help it, I laughed. She stopped and glared at me. “Do you think this is funny?”
“Hilarious, really. And sexy.” I leaned back in the chair and looked at her.
“My life, my livelihood, my career, everything that I’ve worked for is not hilarious and it certainly is not sexy.”
“I don’t know. Intelligence and confidence always looked sexy on you. It’s only gotten better as you’ve gotten older.”
“Screw you,”
“Please,” I said.
It was my turn to put my hand up to stop her from hitting me, though I certainly felt like I deserved it. The words had come out before I knew they were there. She shook her head and turned away but not before I saw her blush. She might be annoyed with me but she was enjoying the banter as much as I was. She might not like me but she was still attracted to me. While I enjoyed her fighting with me, I had gone too far.
As much as I hated to admit it, she was making some very valid points. I might want to talk to her. I might have gotten used to getting whatever I wanted but I was going about it the wrong way. I shouldn’t have come to her place of work and demanded to spend time with her.
“I’m sorry,” I said after a moment.
“Wha—What did you say?” Ara looked visibly confused.
“I do know how to say I’m sorry. I can admit I’m wrong when I need to.”
“You can? This might be the first time I’ve ever heard of this. Tell me more.” Ara didn’t look as annoyed but more amused by me. It was still there, just not as prevalent. I could see I was getting to her, which was a first. She leaned back and sat on the edge of the desk and glared at me.
“You know, you drive me crazy,” I said after a moment.
“Are you saying you being an asshole is my fault?” Ara asked.
“Yeah, that didn’t come out right. I miss you. I want to see you. I think you want to see me but you’re too stubborn to admit it.”
“Again, blaming me.” She raised her eyebrows at me.
“I’m not the only one who can be stubborn. I’m not the only one who gets an idea in their head and won’t quit until it happens.”
“Okay. Still waiting for this apology you were so proud of moments ago.” She waved her finger in a circle as if to make me get to the point.
I smiled and nodded. “I might have taken trying to see you a bit too far. What can I say? I was willing to do anything to see you. To get you to talk to me. Can you blame me?”
“This was too far. You know that.” She continued to glare at me.
“Yes. I see that now. But I have blinders on when it comes to you.”
“What were you going to do? Come into the suture room with me? You hate the sight of blood. Come to think of it, I think I should make you follow me around just so I can take video of you fainting. I could make a lot of money selling that. I could probably pay off my college bills.”
“If you really wanted to do that, I would be willing.”
Ara laughed. “You would be willing to make a fool out of yourself so that I could make money off it? I doubt that.”
“If it would make you believe that I was sincere about wanting to talk to you, I would. I would do anything, Ruin my career. Eat mushrooms on my pizza. Whatever it took.”
“Mushrooms on your pizza? Wow. You really do want to talk to me.”
“I thought that was clear.” I stood up and Ara did the same. I ached to take her hands but I knew I couldn’t. “I keep screwing things up when it comes to you. I don’t know why I do, but I want to stop. Tell me what I can do to get you to have a drink with me, dinner, a walk through Central Park. Anything.”
“You are an idiot, you know that,” Ara said and shook her head.
“Only when it comes to you. I’m sorry. I screwed up. I’m an idiot, a fool. Let me make it up to you. Just tell me what you want, how you want, the way you want it, and it’s yours,” I said.
Ara looked away and shook her head. She didn’t say anything for a moment but then she looked back at me. The look she gave me told me I had won her over. My thoughts were confirmed when she smiled at me and said, “Why don’t you just ask me?”