Chapter 6 Zoe #2
“Isn’t there anything you want that feels out of reach?” Zoe asked. “Anything that you dream about? Traveling, maybe?” She would certainly want to travel if she lived in a town like Islingburn. “Finding love? Becoming the champion of a specific cause?”
Nathan shook his head firmly. Then he paused, slipping his glasses back on.
“I suppose I would like to grow the clinic. I’ve been wanting to expand for years, ideally hire more staff and build an extension.
More patients are coming all the time, but we don’t have the capacity to help all of them.
I’ve had to turn people away and shorten appointment times, both of which I swore to myself I wouldn’t do. I just don’t have the funding, though.”
“Okay, then.” Zoe’s heart lifted and she leaned forward. This was it. This was her in. “I can help you do that.”
“How?”
“By expanding your online presence,” Zoe said. “Let people see who you are. Let them see what you’re passionate about. Let them see the great work you do in the clinic. And while you’re doing that, you’ll be earning the money you need to expand.”
Nathan sighed. “You’re a good saleswoman, Zoe.”
“Thank you.”
“That wasn’t a compliment.” He shook his head. “The last thing I want is to be someone like Doc Tory. She’s turned her practice into a circus, and I don’t know how she gets anything done.”
“Really?” Zoe asked. “The last thing you want is to be like her? Because Doc Tory doesn’t have to worry about funding. You say you care about your patients, right?”
“Of course I do. They’re my top priority.” Nathan’s blue eyes narrowed, as though he were annoyed that she even dared to ask.
“Well, doing this would help them,” Zoe said.
“You’d have enough funding for more staff, a larger premises, everything you need to give the best patient care possible.
I know you don’t want to be famous. I know it would be a sacrifice on your part.
But can you really turn this opportunity down if you want to help them? ”
Nathan began polishing his glasses again, and Zoe got the feeling that he was buying time to think about what she was saying. The glasses were plenty clean already.
“I’m sorry,” Nathan said. “I do want to help my patients, but I’m not sure this is the way.”
He still seemed very hesitant, and Zoe couldn’t help feeling like she was going to lose him. She couldn’t let that happen, not when she’d come so far and gotten so close. Not when her career was on the line.
“Anything that will help you help your patients is the right thing.”
“And are you really the person who can help me?” Nathan asked. “I’m sorry, but to me, you’re just a stranger who showed up in my waiting room.”
“I understand,” Zoe said, fighting more than a little annoyance.
She’d helped him clear the waiting room, after all.
“I worked with one of the biggest PR companies in New York City for almost ten years, including a lot of big-name clients. I have a proven track record of increasing engagement and selling book rights and TV series, as well as managing social media accounts.” This was all true.
During Zoe’s time at Vassallo Variety, the company her old boss ran, she’d worked with numerous clients on exactly this kind of thing. She really could do this.
“And you’ve worked with medical professionals before, right?”
Zoe froze, her chest tightening. She hadn’t.
She’d worked with everyone from makeup-tutorial influencers to reality-TV stars to the youngest mayor of a town in Delaware and a pro basketball player.
But she’d never worked with a medical professional.
And admitting that would mean losing Nathan when he was already on the fence.
“Of course,” she found herself saying. Her chest clenched at the lie, but it was too late to snatch it back. She was committed. “I’ve worked with Tory Stevens from the show Doc Tory, and Esperanza Ramirez who runs the Hope Clinic’s Instagram page.”
Another pang went through Zoe’s heart, and her chest grew tight.
Why had she just done that? She hadn’t even thought it through.
She’d simply seen that the scales were about to tip away from her again, ruining her last best chance of actually making something of herself, and she’d said something she shouldn’t have.
Now, Zoe just had to hope that Nathan didn’t know enough about either of the famous doctors to know that she was lying.
“That is impressive,” Nathan said quietly. “But you have to know that I have plenty of reservations about this. I don’t want to be recording content all day to the detriment of patient care.”
“Of course not.” Zoe tried to breathe through the tightness in her chest. He hadn’t called her out on the lie — at least not yet.
“I need some time to think about it,” Nathan said.
“I’m sorry.” Zoe shook her head. “But I have to advise you that that would be a mistake. We only have a short window here. Once it closes, it’ll be almost impossible for you to gain a foothold. I need an answer from you today.”
It was a gamble, asking him for an answer now, but it was the right move.
Nathan needed to commit to this, or both their time would be wasted.
She met his soft blue eyes across the desk, holding steady.
Nathan took a deep breath and began polishing his glasses for the third time in their brief meeting, his gaze breaking away from hers.
Zoe’s heart sank. He was going to say no, and she was going to go home empty-handed, again.
Worse, she’d spent a large chunk of her remaining savings on the flight and rental car.
She just couldn’t afford to keep going if this didn’t work out.
She’d have to go begging Carla for her job back, or switch to a different industry, neither of which were appealing options.
Zoe was tempted to keep talking, trying to sell Nathan on this collaboration.
She could tell him how much her dream of being a PR professional meant to her and how it was all hanging on this.
She could give him more facts and figures from her previous work to show that she could do this.
She could push him again to think about his patients, even if that meant gaining more fame than he wanted.
But Zoe didn’t say any of that. She wasn’t going to beg this man. She was strong, confident, and no-nonsense, and she would sit here, patiently, until he said something.
Even if that something was that he wouldn’t work with her.