Chapter 3
Chapter
Three
A mina stiffened, unsure of how to react to this sudden invasion of her space. Sure, she liked Dr. Han just fine. As bosses went, he was one of the better ones. But there had never been anything in their relationship that invited physical touch.
Too stunned to push him away, she remained in his arms. Her head barely reached his broad shoulders and she found herself face pressed against a chest that felt hard as a rock. His scent unlocked a memory she long forgotten. Like most surgeons, he didn’t wear cologne but the clean odor of his soap and shampoo coupled with a woodsy smell, suddenly made her heart pound.
She remembered the first time they’d met at her initial interview for the office manager position. Amina had recently finished her degree in business administration and this would be the first job she had in her field. Her first impression of Dr. Han was that he was quite possibly one of the best looking men she’d ever laid eyes on.
Men like him weren’t supposed to exist in real life. Amina reckoned he was at least 6’2 with a broad shoulder, swimmers build. He had a glorious head of jet black hair that fell just below his ears, high cheekbones and a square jaw. His brown eyes were warm and welcoming while his full red lips were created for sin.
His most arresting feature by far was his smile. He had the most perfect, even white teeth. From one glance, most would assume he was a model or actor and not one of the best neurosurgeons in his field. When Amina first saw him, she had been rendered speechless because of the beautiful specimen of a man.
Amina quickly came to her senses however because this was the type of man who one was meant to be admired from afar. He could probably have almost any woman he wanted without putting in the effort. Dr. Han was someone wouldn’t give someone like her a second glance, and she had been fine with that.
Besides, him being her potential boss, she was seeing a very sweet man she was quickly falling for. Someone who had been there for her while she was grieving the loss of her grandmother.
At least at the time she thought Mark was a good man.
As for Dr. Han, she placed him at a friendly distance, determined to keep their relationship strictly business-related, not that she thought it would be anything more. To Amina’s pleasant surprise, Dr. Han had been personable while remaining professional. He immediately put her at ease and she was able to relax in his presence. She received a call later that afternoon to inform her she got the job. Thus began their boss and employee association. He kept the same demeanor with her that he did with all his employees and that worked just fine for her.
At no point did he ever overstep the boundaries.
So where did this sudden hug come from?
Amina kept her arms at her side, uncertain of what would happen if she reciprocated his sudden burst of affection. “Dr. Han?” she questioned, to break the awkward silence.
He released her with a quick hop backward, red-faced. “My apologies. I…I guess I’m just happy to see you today.”
“I…” She wasn’t sure how to respond to that right away.
He waved his hands in a frantic motion while shaking his head. “I’m sorry. That was so out of line.”
Amina had never seen Dr. Han so flustered and it tickled her to the point where she started giggling. “It’s fine. There’s no need to apologize Actually, I didn’t mind the hug.”
“Even still, I touched you without your permission and that won’t happen again.”
She placed her hand on his arm in reassurance. “There. I just touched you. Now we’re even. Besides, I’m happy to see you too. It’s like today feels like a brand new start.”
He raised a thick dark brow? “Oh? Any particular reason why?”
She shook her head. “If I told you, you’d think I was a crazy person. But let’s just say I feel like the last several years of my life feels like one chaotic dream and I’ve finally woken up.”
“Hmm, that must have been some dream. To be quite honest, I kind of feel the same. This last year especially, I’ve been in a total haze. It feels like I’ve been on autopilot since you…now that you’ve mentioned it.”
Amina cocked her head to the side to give him a proper look, but his expression was inscrutable She was almost certain he’d meant to say something else but had suddenly changed course.
Deciding not to push the topic any further, she took a step back and pasted a smile on her face. Although, technically, she’d seen him yesterday according to the date, if she went by the previous timeline, it had been a couple years since she’d seen his face.
She’d almost forgotten how handsome he was, his scent, his smile and how her heart sped up in his presence when they first met. “Yes,” she finally answered. This day was already strange enough without the reminder of her initial crush on her boss.
They stared at each other in silence for several more moments before the peace was broken by a high pitched voice. “Good morning Dr. Han. I was wondering where you were.” Carole stepped into Amina’s office with a wide toothy grin she only reserved for the two doctors in the practice. She briefly nodded in Amina’s direction. “Amina.”
“Carole.” Amina returned the brief greeting with the same energy.
“Good morning, Carole. Was there something I could help you with?” Dr. Han greeted politely.
“Actually, I wanted to have a word with you about a chart I was going over. Can I steal you away for a minute? I’m sure Amina has a ton of work to do.”
Carole shot her a smile as fake as her boobs while she pointedly looked at the folders on Amina’s desk.
This woman always had a knack for rubbing her the wrong way, but in the name of office harmony, Amina usually allowed more than she should have to slide.
Maybe because of what happened to her the night before, Amina didn’t want to be accommodating to someone who had only ever been cordial to her when she wanted something or when one of the doctors was around. She placed her hand on Dr. Han’s arm and smiled at Carole.
“I’m sorry, Carole, but we’re in the middle of an important discussion. I’m sure whatever it is you need can wait ten minutes. The first patient won’t be here for another half hour anyway. Can you find something to do until then? Oh, and please close my door on the way out.”
The bottled blonde’s mouth fell open giving her the appearance of a fish on a hook.
“I’ll be with you shortly, Carole,” Dr. Han added.
Carole tightened her lips into a thin angry line and shot Amina a glare before stomping out of the office and slamming the door behind her.
As soon as they were alone again, Amina released a breath she didn’t release she was holding. “Oh, God, I can’t believe I just did that. I’m so sorry, Dr. Han. That was unprofessional of me wasn’t it?” She couldn’t quite meet his gaze, embarrassed for acting out her petty thoughts.
A deep, rich chuckle filled her office. Amina raised her head to see Dr. Han chuckling as if he’d been told the funniest joke.
“Now you’re just making fun of me,” she groaned.
He waved his hands, still in mid chuckle. “I promise I’m not. It’s just that I’ve never seen this feisty side of you before.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize. I like it.” He stopped laughing just when her eyes met his.
Something akin to an electric shock burst inside her chest like a defibrillator. Amina took an involuntary step back as she glanced away from his handsome face. “I really have no reason to keep you here and I’m sure you have work to attend to.”
“Actually, my first patient won’t be here for at least another hour and I’m not on call this week so I don’t have to go into the hospital unless there’s an emergency. In fact, I don’t have any surgeries for the next three days. So, I have some time. You and I don’t really get a chance to talk that much and I’d like to rectify that.”
If she remembered correctly around this time she would have been at this job for almost three years. She didn’t remember any significant interactions between herself and Dr. Han besides work related banter and surface level conversations about the weather. But thinking about how she’d distanced herself from her co-workers and never allowed anyone to get close to her once Mark entered the picture, she regretted it.
Maybe that is what compelled her to say, “Then maybe you should take me out to lunch when you have time in your schedule.” The second the words were out of her mouth, Amina wanted a hole in the floor to open so she could fall through it. Her face grew hot and she looked at her feet scared to see the reaction on his face.
“As I stated before, my schedule is fairly light this week, but I’d prefer to take you out to dinner. That way we don’t have to rush.”
Her head snapped back, and she scrutinized his face to see if he was fucking with her. A trill of nervous laughter tumbled from her lips. “I was just kidding Dr. Han. You don’t have to take me out to lunch or dinner.”
He raised a dark brow. “That’s a shame because I wasn’t.”
“You’re going to make me think you’re actually asking me on a date.” She chuckled to brush off the awkwardness of the situation.
“Would I be overstepping a boundary if I was?”
Her eyes widened. This wasn’t real life. It couldn’t be. Sure she found him attractive. Anyone with eyesight would. But there was absolutely no way this delicious God of a man was actually asking someone like her out on a date especially when he’d never given any indication of interest in her before this conversation. Besides, the gossip around the office was that he was causally dating the dermatologist on the first floor, a real beauty.
But looking into his deep brown eyes she was rendered speechless. She could only manage a wordless nod.
He grinned to reveal a perfect white smile. Her heart nearly leapt out of her chest. “Then how about this Friday night? There’s a fantastic new Caribbean and Asian fusion restaurant in town that seems worth checking out.”
He sounded serious but Amina couldn’t help but wonder if this was really happening. Was she dreaming? Or when she died, did she actually go to heaven?
“Um….I…” She didn’t know what to say. On the one hand if there was any possibility of any romance happening between them, it would make things very awkward around the office if things went awry. But this could turn out to be a pleasant experience. Before getting nearly beat to within an inch of her life by Mark and meeting her fate in the form of a speeding vehicle, Amina’s biggest regret was never taking any risks in her life.
Even choosing to date Mark had been a safe choice at the time, or so she thought. Technically she was still with him and she hadn’t figured out what to do about that situation yet. “Dr. Han…”
“It’s okay if you don’t want to. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”
She quickly shook her head from side to side. “Actually, I’d love to but…I’m kind of in a relationship right now.”
He raised a brow. “Kind of?”
Amina realized she would sound bonkers if she explained that she’d died the night before and how she woke up five years in the past. But she couldn’t let this opportunity slip through her fingers just in case this was real. “It’s actually not going so well.”
At this point in her relationship with Mark, that wasn’t all the way true but considering how things ending, it wasn’t a lie either. She couldn’t see herself remaining with a man who would eventually lead to her death.
“Are you not allowed to have dinner with a friend?” He closed the distance between them and stood so close she could feel his body heat.
This conversation was taking a turn Amina could never have predicted but she was already too far down this road there was no turning back. Her heart started to pound. “Are you saying we’re friends?”
“If we aren’t already, I’d like to rectify that.”
Before she could give this situation further thought, Amina said, “Okay. Let’s do dinner this Friday. Friend.”
He cracked a smile to once again reveal those perfect teeth of his. “Sounds good. I’ll go make the reservations. How does eight sound?”
“Sounds good.”
Their gazes locked and Amina’s breath caught in her throat. Dr. Han raised his hand and nearly touched her face but he yanked it back abruptly. “Sorry. I…ugh, thought I saw something in your hair.” He took a few steps back. “I should probably head to my office but we’ll firm up our plans later, okay?”
“Sure.”
When she was finally alone in her office, Amina released the breath she’d been holding. That man had no business being so damn fine. But was she playing a dangerous game getting involved with her boss. And what about Mark? Technically they were still together.
But if this morning was any indication, everything was going to play out the same way as it did in her previous life. There was no way she could stay with a man who not only repeatedly cheated on her, but disrespected and beat her.
She’d have to figure out a way to get Mark out of her life because now that she had a second chance to do things over, Amina planned to live her life to the fullest. Especially, if that meant getting closer to Dr. Han.