4. Levi
Levi came into the clinic early to catch up on the work he’d missed from being on sick leave. The skin clinic was always booked to capacity, and his week off meant he would have to work overtime to make up for it. Which was why he was in his office, staring at this damned chart that didn’t make any sense. No, it wasn’t the chart that didn’t make any sense; it was his brain. He’d been sick, sicker than he’d ever been, but he still couldn’t work out if it had been a hallucination or if there really had been a strange woman in his apartment. Nothing was missing, so he hadn’t been robbed, and the woman from his memory definitely wasn’t his housekeeper. It could have been a fever-induced hallucination, but the weight of her body on his and the delicate scent of her perfume were too tangible to be a dream. In the days since he’d woken up in his bed in a wet T-shirt, he swore he could still smell her perfume. Not all the time and not everywhere. It was like a ghost, wafting into his orbit at the oddest times.
A knock on his office door caused Levi to lift his head from the chart he’d been unseeingly staring at. It was then he noticed the noise coming from the outer office.
‘Come,’ he barked, annoyed at the interruption.
Tessa, his assistant, opened the door a crack and stuck her head into his office. ‘Dr Beck? I think you need to come out.’ She looked over her shoulder. ‘Mrs Farnsworth is here, and she’s not happy.’
Levi frowned. ‘Nikki? I’ve already told her no more injections for two months.’
Tessa grimaced. ‘Well…’
Levi stood from his desk, his frown deepening. ‘Do not tell me she came in while I was sick.’
‘Okay, I won’t?—’
‘I want to see Dr Beck! Now!’ Mrs Farnsworth’s voice screeched through the office, and Levi sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.
‘Fuck,’ he breathed.
Straightening his shoulders, Levi stalked around the desk and across the office. Tessa pushed open the door and then scuttled out of the way as Levi strode through.
Mrs Farnsworth—Nikki—was standing in the middle of the waiting room, her face frozen in perpetual surprise, her eyebrows very nearly touching her blonde hairline. That was a bit of an exaggeration, but they were definitely higher than was natural. Not that much of her face was natural anymore. She had been Levi’s client for only a couple of years, but she had been coming to the clinic for more than a decade. Levi had been trying to wean her off her dependency on cosmetic injectables. Unfortunately, he had failed.
Administration and nursing staff along with a few early patients filled the elegantly styled waiting room. All eyes turned to him, and he stopped, crossing his arms as he glared at Nikki.
‘Look at me!’ she yelled, pointing a long, red-tipped fingernail at her face. ‘Look what you did to me!’
‘I did not do that to you,’ he replied, annoyed. ‘I told you no, which you obviously didn’t listen to.’
‘This is your fault! If you had been here last week, this wouldn’t have happened!’
‘If you had listened to me in the first place, this wouldn’t have happened,’ Levi retorted, his voice a steely growl.
‘Fix it! Fix it now!’
Levi exhaled slowly and silently counted to ten. He didn’t have to ask who’d done the procedure. He knew. His brother, Jonah. Conceivably, it could have been his father, but Rupert rarely did procedures anymore. Jonah probably hadn’t even bothered to look at Nikki’s chart. If he had, he would have seen Levi’s notes written in all caps and coloured red that said, NO MORE INJECTABLES FOR TWO MONTHS.
Levi didn’t judge a person’s decision to have cosmetic procedures, but he did know that there was a darker side. He saw his job as helping a client make the healthy decision, balancing the mental health aspects alongside the aesthetic ones. It was cliché to say, but Levi had followed his father and older brother into cosmetic surgery so he could help the people with disfiguring burns and scars. Unfortunately, the reality was, he barely got to treat patients like that.
Catherine Beckingsale glided into the waiting room. ‘How about we discuss this in the conference room?’
Levi’s mother and clinic manager smiled pleasantly at Nikki before holding out her arm to guide her toward the conference room. His mother was not immune to the occasional injectable, but she wore it well. Catherine had been the face of the clinic for many years. Now, of course, they used models who hadn’t stepped foot inside the clinic walls. Still, Catherine Beckingsale was the veritable poster girl for their procedures. She looked ageless, her glossy auburn hair in a sleek chignon, her skin flawless, her makeup perfect, and her office uniform a chic charcoal silhouette.
‘Discussing it will not fix it,’ Nikki said, no longer yelling but still very much perturbed.
‘Let’s discuss your options going forward,’ Catherine said, the smile still on her face but her words forced out through gritted teeth.
Nikki stared her down and then sniffed, tossing her long blonde hair over her shoulder as she lifted her chin. She stalked past Catherine, sky-high red stilettos clicking on the polished wooden floor, toward the conference room. Catherine shot a glare at Levi before following her. Levi pinched the bridge of his nose again and trailed after them.
‘Fix it,’ Nikki said as soon as Levi closed the door. ‘Fix it now.’
‘As I explained to you,’ Levi began in what he thought was a patient tone, but probably came across as more of a lecturing one. ‘Botox can’t be undone. You need to wait for it to wear off.’
‘I don’t believe that,’ Nikki snapped.
‘Yes, well, it’s science. It doesn’t care if you believe it or not,’ he muttered under his breath.
Catherine glared at him before turning to Nikki and smiling.
‘I understand you are upset?—’
‘Damn right I am,’ Nikki spat.
‘Unfortunately, Dr Beck is correct. The effects of Botox can’t be undone.’
‘So, what? I’m just expected to stay like this? For how long? How long will I look like this?’
‘Three to six months,’ Levi replied, his patience gone and the beginnings of a migraine tightening his scalp. ‘As I explained to you last time.’
‘I have to stay like this for six months?’ Nikki stood, her abundance of gold chains and bracelets jingling with the sudden movement.
‘The most likely scenario is just a couple of months,’ Catherine said, trying to placate her.
Nikki swung around to glare at Catherine, or at least try to glare at her. ‘The other doctor didn’t warn me about this happening. He told me it would be fine.’ She looked back at Levi. ‘He told me you were being over-cautious.’
It was Levi’s turn to glare at his mother. She ignored him, keeping her eyes on Nikki.
‘It is unfortunate, but there is nothing we can do?—’
‘That is unacceptable. Do you know how much money I spend in this clinic? Do you expect me to just hide in my house for the next six months?’ Her voice deepened to a snarl. ‘One post on my social media account and I could ruin you.’
Was it wrong that Levi wouldn’t be too upset if Nikki did ruin the practice?
‘Of course we will compensate you,’ Catherine said smoothly. ‘Why not take the opportunity to go overseas? The Maldives are beautiful this time of year. Take a couple of months away to relax and refresh, and when you get back, the clinic would be happy to set you up with some full body treatments. We have an excellent liposuction procedure, and I know you’ve been thinking about a breast lift.’
Nikki lowered herself to her seat and crossed her legs, smoothing her leather skirt. ‘Liposuction?’
Catherine’s smile widened, and Levi rolled his eyes. His mother knew exactly how to manipulate their patients. It was why the skin clinic had become so successful. It was now the leading clinic among the wealthy socialites—male and female. It was supposed to cater to the skin cancer and mole check clients, but they currently only made up about ten percent of their clientele. It made Levi sick. The family practice had prioritised money over health.
Levi stood. ‘If you don’t need me anymore…?’
Nikki waved him away, and Catherine shot him a look that said they would have words later.
He ignored his mother and left the room. He had work to catch up on.