3. Olivia
“Can’t you just call the father?”
“The father’s a one-night stand, Janessa. We met in a bar and parted ways the same night.”
“So, you don’t have anything else?”
“I have his number.”
“Then call him, Liv.”
I sigh. “It’s a fake number. He gave me a fake number, probably not to let me down hard. I don’t know. I just know it goes to a restaurant when I dial.”
“Bastard.” My friend and old coworker, Janessa Parker, makes noises in her throat. “I’m sorry, sweetheart.”
“It’s not even his fault. We weren’t looking for anything in that place.” Except I thought there was a connection there, our souls intertwining as sex became much more than sex. He said it, too, eager to meet up with me another time after giving me his number. What a loser I am for believing him. “And he wore a condom. It’s just terrible luck on my end.”
“Still, this is as much his luck as yours. His responsibility, too.”
I take a deep breath, then shudder it out. Then I tremble all over as I look my friend in the eye, terrified. “Janessa, I’m a little scared.”
“I know, sweetheart.”
“I don’t know what to do.”
Sympathetic eyes meet mine. Then her hands take mine, squeezing hard and offering comfort…and strength.
“Liv, I’m here. So is your mom. We’ll be with you every step of the way.”
“Promise?”
“I promise.”
The memory is a painful one; my terrified, younger self flooded with the most worried thoughts and doubts. But Janessa kept her promise, supporting me during my pregnancy. She became the best godmother to Riley up until we left the city we lived in. Janessa still calls us from time to time and is my best friend now, while my mom, well, she was the best mother in the world for taking care of Riley whenever I had too much on my plate.
I realize that while I was a single mother, I wasn’t truly alone. I had a support system who loved me and Riley deeply, and that’s all one really needs.
Now I’m here in New York, on my own two feet, with no one to turn to like before. But it’s an adventure more than anything because Janessa and my mom—and Riley—have helped me become a better, stronger person.
“Hey, there you are. And starting off great, I can see.”
I break out of my reverie and look up to find Wanda sticking her head in the office—Luke’s office, where I’ve been sitting for the better part of the morning to do what he instructed. Thankfully, he hasn’t come back since, though that’s no consolation since I know we’ll be working closely together from here on out.
My nerves prickle at the thought. Damn it.
I paste on a smile, not wanting Wanda to see my worries.
“It’s just files. I’m organizing them.”
“Oh, but those are important files. You should know the story.” She grins. “I’ll tell you while we have lunch.”
I try not to be intrigued, but I can’t help wondering. When my stomach grumbles, I use it as an excuse and follow her out the door and toward the elevator. It’s empty, which gives me the confidence to lean in.
“What’s the story?”
“The story is that his previous medical assistant, Elizabeth Holmes, worked with him for years and has pretty much perfected his routine and his needs. But she got pregnant and decided to focus on her family, so she resigned. The medical assistant before you, Hannah Lewis, was a fresh graduate with top honors and was hired to contrast the older, stricter Liz. Hannah was nice, maybe too nice because she said yes to everything and got burned out too quickly.” Wanda sighs. “On her last day, she messed up a lot of files, burst into tears, and resigned on the spot, leaving Dr. Jennings with a mountain of patient and surgery schedules that needed to be postponed or reassigned—and those are all special patients and surgeries, mind you, because he’s the head and doesn’t handle the regular ones anymore.”
“What about computer files?”
“She accidentally deleted those, too.” Wanda shrugs. “Getting burned out sucks.”
I wince, then nod, understanding. I know the feeling because I experienced it years ago when I was stuck in an office that prioritized the boss’s needs and gave us too much work without compensation. It’s ironic that the night I met Luke was the same night I quit that job.
“Was she burned out because of Dr. Jennings?”
“Partly, maybe, but I think she just crumbled under the general work pressure. We’re here.”
We enter the cafeteria, get a tray, and load it up with food before we grab a table in a corner. I don’t get to ask Wanda about it anymore as a few people join us: a medical assistant named Jasper and a nurse named Maria—both good friends with Wanda. When she introduces me and tells them who I’m working with, their eyes widen.
“Shit. Really? You’re working for Dr. Grump?”
I turn to Jasper. “Dr. Grump?”
Maria elbows him. “That’s just wrong. He’s not Dr. Grump. He’s the Hot Dr. Grump.” She gives me a teasing smile. “You have to highlight everything, Jasper, otherwise Liv here will get the wrong picture.”
“Right. Fine.” Jasper shrugs. “To explain, that’s what we call him here. Not in his face, of course. Dr. Grump or The Hot Grump. Or Daddy Grump.”
I startle. “Daddy?”
“Yeah.” Jasper nods. “I don’t know why since he’s not a dad, but I guess it’s because of his age. Forty and up is a daddy and he’s forty-five.”
I relax slightly. “Right.”
Jasper continues. “Hot is self-explanatory as Maria here and pretty much half the population in this hospital would agree.”
“Not just half.” Maria shakes her head. “Everyone. Including the patients. Let’s just add Liv to the list.”
My heart skips a beat, recalling how he looked at me earlier. The initial shock had turned into a scrutiny, one that became so intense that I couldn’t breathe just being in the same room as him. But I must have more self-control than I expected as I managed to turn the situation around and made him leave the room without getting fired.
I still can’t believe it. Luke, the guy too connected to my past—hell, the guy who’s seen me naked and at my most vulnerable—is now my direct boss.
And there’s nothing I can do about it.
I shake my thoughts away. “What’s the Grump title for?”
“Self-explanatory, too, but you’d have to work here to know. He’s great with patients, but he doesn’t tolerate bullshit from them. And if it’s an employee or another doctor messing up…” Jasper clucks. “Grump immediately becomes Doctor from Hell.”
Nerves flit in, realizing what that means: either he’s an arrogant asshole or a perfectionist who won’t tolerate incompetence. I recall his last words to me.
Don’t disappoint me. Sort out those files. My previous medical assistant messed it up, so don’t do the same.
I gulp. “I see.”
Wanda rolls her eyes. “You guys are scaring her away. Don’t. I like her.”
“I’m not. I mean, I’m sure she’ll do well.” Maria grins. “She’s not even fazed over what we’re saying.”
If only she knew.
Thankfully, the topic shifts and I no longer have to think about Dr. Grump.
They weren’t kidding with what they said about him. I always thought reputations were built on a smidgen of truth and a lot of exaggeration, but apparently, I was wrong.
“Miss Davis, when I ask you to bring me a file, you’re supposed to bring all the files connected to it. Otherwise, what’s the point of me reading an incomplete one?”
I freeze, glancing at the folder in his hand before I note the frown on his lips. Grump, like they said. Then my body snaps into motion as I hurry to get the other files, frantically looking in the still-not-sorted pile until I find them.
“I’m sorry, Dr. Jennings. Here they are.”
He frowns at me, then takes the files. It feels like passing over a hurdle, but it’s not the only hurdle.
“The files should be by order of date and how they’re dealt with, not alphabetical.”
“Right away, Dr. Jennings. I’ll reorganize them.”
“I need everything on the table thirty minutes before the patient comes in. If not, it’s wasting my time and wasting their time.”
“Yes, I’m sorry, Dr. Jennings.”
“You have to be faster than this. You can’t do this at the same pace you did it in whatever workplace you came from.”
I grit my teeth through the last one, but I can’t say that I haven’t had worse comments. I remember my old boss—the one I had when I was still very young—calling me names and hitting on me simultaneously, while Luke is just commenting on work-related stuff.
“Of course, Dr. Jennings.”
He scowls at my extra polite tone like I’ve personally offended him. Then his expression shifts to a more pleasant one as a middle-aged male patient comes in, who he greets before they get to talking. I can tell this is a new patient from the way the man seems so nervous.
“I was told you’re the best at this, Dr. Jennings, so I want to ask you directly if I have a chance of making it through surgery.”
“Everyone has a chance, Mr. Thompson, but there’s always a risk with any surgery. It also depends on your body’s response. Can you let me know what your daily activities are and how your reactions to them have been this week?”
Luke listens intently, jotting down now and then without breaking eye contact with the patient. I realize he’s noting the symptoms without being obvious about it, which goes a long way to relaxing the patient until he’s no longer nervous. By the time Luke is done, the man is eager for a scheduled surgery, after some planned tests, and walks out of the clinic with a smile on his face.
I smile and open my mouth, wanting to remark how smooth that was. Then my smile drops when I find Luke’s gaze on me and remember who I’m working with now.
Dr. Grump. Right.
“Have you organized the files yet?”
The pleasant expression and tone are gone. I shiver at the coolness in his voice.
“I’ve arranged the ones this week?—”
“I already arranged that.”
I nod. “I also got started on the ones next week.”
“That’s it?”
I blink, recalling the stack I had to go through in the last three days—and that stack was only for two to three patients.
“It’s a lot of files, Dr. Jennings.”
“And it’s your job. Make sure you do your job.”
My back goes up. “I am doing my job.”
“Not fast enough.”
I grit my teeth again, my mind swimming with reasons why I’m not doing it as fast as he wants. Between assisting him with patients to get used to his routine and arranging files that end up with me reading them to know where to place them, I’ve barely had enough time for additional tasks. But I take a deep breath, understanding this is a test.
Whether Luke wants me fired or wants me to quit—or if he’s just a grumpy ass—is still unknown, but hell if I’m going down that easily.
“I’m sorry, Dr. Jennings. I’ll do it faster.”
Because I’m still holding on to the chart for his next patient, I slap it firmly across his table and walk away without another word.
“Davis.”
I freeze when I turn back around to face him. “What?”
“Don’t glare at my patients.”
Oh, this guy. I glare at him. “I’m not glaring at them.”
“Then what’s that look?”
“Same look as the one you’re giving me.”
He blinks as if he just realized that he’s glaring at me, too. Then he stands up. Just like that, the atmosphere shifts as he’s so much taller than me and I have to look up, which I hate.
“I’m just telling you how things are supposed to be. You know this is a prestigious hospital and you can’t be caught slacking off.”
I lift my chin. “And if you look closely instead of trying to nitpick every single thing I’m doing, you’ll see that slacking off is the last thing it should be called.”
He takes a step forward, gaze narrowed. “Are you saying I’m trying to find reasons to pick on you?”
“Your words, not mine.”
“Then what are you saying, Miss Davis?”
I don’t know what I’m saying. I don’t know why I’m still standing frozen while he keeps approaching until he’s inches away from me, our faces so close as we have a little face-off. But it doesn’t feel like a face-off.
It feels like looking into a man who can’t figure me out as much as I can’t figure him out. It feels like looking into someone who would have been so easy to catch feelings for back then, but he ruined it when he fooled me. But none of that should matter now, especially when too many things have happened and I should not be affected by him anymore.
My career’s the priority now.
And my child.
“Your next patient is here, Dr. Jennings. Please pretend I’m not here, so you can get to working smoothly while I assist from the background.”
He opens his mouth, but a soft knock on the door confirms my words. Luke glances at the door, then at me.
“After this patient, we need to discuss things.”
I clear my throat. “You have a surgery to oversee.”
“After.”
“I will already be out, but you can send me an email and I’ll make sure to complete the tasks needed. Thank you, Dr. Jennings.”
Brown eyes bore into mine, intense and taking my breath away.
But I give him the most professional nod there is and march toward the back.