Chapter Thirty Nine
Ophelia sprawled on the floor of Jade’s home as she played with Theo. He was getting so big and so close to walking. Ophelia couldn’t stand to see his leg rolls disappear as his body grew taller.
“Do you want anything to drink?” Jade asked from the kitchen.
“Got any more of that passionfruit tea?” Ophelia called.
“Yeah, give me a minute,” she yelled back. Theo’s chubby hand clung to Ophelia’s index finger as he tried to shove it in his drooly mouth.
“Hey, that’s my finger, lil guy,” Ophelia cooed and distracted him by tickling his belly. His little chuckle made Ophelia laugh uncontrollably, which in turn made him laugh harder. They were two giggling messes when Jade came back to the living room with two teas.
“What is going on in here, you little giggle monsters?”
“We just find each other hysterical,” Ophelia said.
“So,” Jade started as she sipped her tea, “you’re doing better.”
“Yes. Let me guess, you sensed that?”
“I did,” Jade smirked.
“Yeah, well, I’m going to therapy weekly, and I’ve started running three to four days a week again.
I feel like myself again. Kind of.” Ophelia reached out to the therapist Etienne referred her to, and she ended up being a good fit for her.
Ophelia had been working with her for two weeks, and it was going well.
“Seems like Etienne is really helping you,” Jade said leadingly.
Ophelia eyed Jade as if to say, Don’t you dare start.
“I’m just saying. You two are spending a lot of time together, and remember, I know how dreamy you think he is.”
“Blah, blah, blah. He doesn’t like me. Never has.
I’m not his type.” Ophelia focused her thoughts on carefully sipping her hot tea instead of Etienne.
After their last practice session, something had shifted in their relationship.
They started texting each other about random things, not just about scheduling practices.
She had learned more about Etienne in the past couple weeks than years of being friends.
He enjoyed running but preferred to play rec sports for exercise, if he could find leagues that worked with his schedule.
His older sister was a doctor and inspired him to become one.
He visited his grandfather the first Sunday of every month, and the biggest surprise of all was that he could draw incredibly well.
He didn’t tell her that, of course, but he texted her a photo of a doodle he made on the corner of a form.
In the drawing, he was running fast, and Ophelia was left so far behind she was pictured at the bottom of the page.
“He likes you. I know it,” Jade sang.
“Theo! Did you know your mother can read minds now, too?” Ophelia reached over to rub his round tummy.
“Ahem. I can sense feelings like lust or love.”
“Right. Well, let me know the next time you see us in a room together. You may sense my mixture of feelings. Just my trauma cocktail, a double shot of horniness and fear. But as for him, I hope you at least sense friendship. Actually, I think you will. We are friends. Just friends.”
“For now,” Jade countered with a smile.
On Tuesday afternoon, Ophelia wrapped up work with Healing Artists early and headed to Prytania Botanica to meet Etienne. She wasn’t scheduled to work, so she would have plenty of time to outline what she wanted to do with her Traiteur practice.
Ophelia arrived at the shop before Etienne and greeted Avery behind the counter. Avery was on his laptop, and a article titled “Did the Cutthroat Killer leave NOLA for good?” filled the screen.
“What’s that?” Ophelia asked, stepping closer.
“It’s been months since there’s been a killing in New Orleans. Police think the killer left New Orleans. Especially after…” Avery trailed off.
“Murdering my grandmother in Oakdale,” she finished with a lump in her throat. “Maybe he was passing through. Making his way to another big city like Houston.” Ophelia sighed. “We’re never going to know, are we?”
Avery hung his head. “Probably not.”
“Yeah.”
The door chimed as Etienne walked into the shop, pulling Ophelia and Avery out of their melancholy.
“Hey, E,” Ophelia greeted him.
“Hey, y’all,” responded Etienne as he leaned in to give Ophelia another one of those friendly hugs. “Avery, this place is awesome.” Avery and Etienne did one of those bro-clap-hug moves that Ophelia knew was supposed to look tough but always looked like a cute little made-up handshake.
“Thanks, man. When y’all are done, poke around, get a juice, and maybe pick up some beard oil for that ratchet mess on your face.”
Etienne stroked his perfectly groomed beard. “Ratchet, huh? What do you think, O?” he said, turning to Ophelia for her input.
Ophelia blushed and struggled not to ogle at his perfect face.
She was at a loss for what to say at first. All witty comebacks had completely fled her brain, so she decided to go with the truth.
“Your beard looks great. Dignified. Avery’s just jealous ’cause he can’t even grow a wisp of chest hair. ”
Avery tsked. “Don’t y’all have work to do or sumthen?”
“Yeah, yeah.” Ophelia rolled her eyes in fake annoyance. She grabbed her notebook from her purse and gestured to the office door behind the counter. “This way, E.”
The room was bigger than what one would think of as an office.
On one side of the room sat a large printer, random boxes for the shop, a filing cabinet, and Avery’s desk.
This was clearly the office side. The other side was dedicated to Voodoo rituals.
Avery had two comfortable chairs facing each other with a small table in between.
The room was lit by soft yellow bulbs in a vintage chandelier.
“This is it. We’re going to remove Avery’s desk since he says he barely uses it anyway. I want to create some type of nice storage area for his files and printer. Maybe even hide it behind a partition. Then I’ll have a couple of chairs on my side and maybe an exam table. What do you think?”
“Yes to the chairs and exam table. You’ll want a place for someone to lie down in case you need to treat the lower body.”
“Got it. I want it to be comfortable in here, not scary doctor office vibes. No offense.”
“None taken.”
“I’ll add some plants, and I was going to hang some of my Mawmaw’s old photos and paintings in here too.”
Etienne nodded, all business. “What about supplies? Have you started a list?”
Ophelia flipped through her notebook. “Yes. I’ll need cloths, candles, face masks, and sanitization products. I have a note that says to ask you what kind. But that’s as far as I’ve gotten.”
“Oh boy. Okay. Get ready to write.”
Etienne rattled off dozens of supplies like gauze, disinfectant wipes, different size Band-Aids, cleaning products, gloves, and more. All the supplies made sense, but then he dovetailed into more serious medical supplies like sutures, scopes, and scalpels.
“Scalpels?” cried Ophelia.
Etienne regarded Ophelia in seriousness.
“You realize I’m not an actual doctor. If someone requires the use of a scalpel, I’ll call you.”
Etienne smiled to himself. “True. Let’s stick with the basics for now, then.”
“Great. By the way, can you get me a pair of pink scrubs? I heard they give scrubs away at the hospital.”
A funny look flashed across Etienne’s face at her question. But he recovered quickly and crossed his muscled arms over his chest as a slow grin crept across his face. “I’ll get you your pretty pink scrubs after you treat your first patient here. Deal?”
“Deal,” she said triumphantly.