Our Way

by Swan, T L

  We’re partners, him and me. Not sexually, of course, but we practically live together, rely on each other and are trusted friends.

  “Maria!” his voice blares through the intercom again.

  “Yes, Doctor?”

  “When Eliza arrives, send her straight in.”

  Marias eyes flicker to me. “Go away,” I mouth to the intercom.

  “Yes, Doctor.”

  Haley and Maria giggle. “Are we done?” I ask.

  “He’s all yours.”

  “Thanks… I guess.”

  I walk down the corridor to his office to find him swinging on his chair as he looks at scans on an x-ray box.

  “Hi.” I drop my bag onto his couch.

  He turns and gives me a broad smile. “There she is.”

  “Do you always have to be such a grouch with your receptionists? It’s embarrassing to listen to.”

  “Then don’t listen.” He looks me up and down, and then raises an eyebrow.

  “What?” I ask.

  “You look a bit sexy for an interview, don’t you think? Are you trying to get the job or trying to get laid?”

  I roll my eyes. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

  He stands and comes toward me. Grabbing my shoulders, he turns me away from him and inspects me up and down.

  “You like?” I smirk and give a little wiggle of my hips, knowing he’s about to lecture me.

  He exhales heavily, turns me toward him, and he fastens my top button. “I’m not sure about this job.” He mutters, distracted, as he does another of my buttons up. “Why would you want to work for Dr. Morgan when you could manage my office?”

  Here we go again.

  “You could manage Berlin from here. I could get you a nice office in San Fran.”

  “Nathan.” I sigh. “Will you stop? I am not working for my best friend. We’ve had this conversation before; it would be weird.”

  He goes back to his desk and sits down with a huff. “What’s weird is that you don’t want to work for me.” He yanks an x-ray out of the light box. “Do you know how many people would snap up an opportunity like this?”

  I place my hands on my hips. “If I worked for you, we would fight every day.”

  “Why?” He snaps incredulously.

  “Because you’re a grumpy ass, and I wouldn’t put up with it.” I undo my top button.

  He glares at me. “Do that button back up or I’m not fucking taking you anywhere.”

  I giggle and do as he says. I’ll undo it in the elevator at the interview, it isn’t worth the argument with Nathan right now. “You ready to go?” I ask.

  “Yes.” He closes down his computer. “What am I supposed to do while you are in this interview?”

  “Have a drink in a bar and google somewhere new to take me for dinner.”

  He rolls his eyes as he stands and walks toward me. “I’m not your personal assistant, Eliza.”

  I smile up at my handsome friend. His hair hangs over his forehead, and his big blue eyes hold mine. He’s too good-looking to be this intelligent. He should be a model on the cover of a magazine. I rearrange his tie, and I smile because I know I’m the only person who gets to boss him around. To the rest of the world he’s a bastard, but to me he’s a big pussy cat.

  “Yes, you are.” I rise onto my tippy toes and kiss his cheek. “And you know it.”

  He smirks and holds out his arm and I link it with mine.

  “Let’s go.”

  An hour later, I look up at the tall glass building across town. “Here it is.”

  Nathan’s eyes scan the tall building before they come back to me.

  I straighten my skirt and smooth it out. “Do I look okay?”

  “Yes.” He presses his lips together.

  “Are you going to wish me luck?”

  “Good luck.”

  “Do you mean that?” I smirk.

  “Not at all,” he mutters dryly.

  I giggle and kiss his cheek. “Where are you going to be?”

  “I’ll wait in the bar over on the corner.”

  “All right.” I bounce on the spot as I shake my hands in front of me. “Oh, I’m nervous.”

  He pulls me in for a hug. “Don’t be.” He kisses my cheek. “If you don’t get this position, it’s the universe telling you to work for me.”

  I giggle and step back. “Okay, I’m going.”

  He smirks and puts his hands in his pockets as he watches me. “Try not to trip over as you walk in. Not a good look.”

  My face falls. “Why did you say that? Now I will trip over. You just jinxed me.”

  He chuckles. “Goodbye, Eliza.”

  I hunch my shoulders in excitement. “Bye.”

  I walk into the swanky building. The foyer has been designed in black marble and beautiful timbers.

  I make my way to the lift and read the gold sign there:

  Dr. MORGAN, Level 7.

  I exhale heavily. Okay, let’s do this.

  I take the elevator up to level seven. Once there, I follow the signs to Dr. Morgan’s offices. The glass door is heavy, and his name is etched into the glass. Plush dark carpet covers the floor. This place is… wow! It looks more like a fancy bar or something.

  Cosmetic surgeon… of course. It’s all about the aesthetics and creating the perfect illusion.

  Well played.

  I walk over to the desk. “Hello, I’m Eliza Bennet. I’m here for an interview.”

  The girls behind the desk smile. “Hello, welcome,” they say.

  The pretty blonde stands. “I’ll take you straight through. This way, please.”

  I follow her down a corridor and into a consultation room. There is a round table in the middle, and a wall-mounted television screen.

  “Just take a seat, the doctor will be with you soon.” She fills me a glass of water. “Can I get you anything else?”

  “No, thank you.” She leaves me alone in the room, and I clasp my hands together in my lap. God, I hate fucking interviews. I haven’t been to one in ten years. I can almost hear my heart as it tries to escape from my chest.

  The door opens, and a young man walks in. “Hello.”

  I stand to shake his hand, and I’m shocked. He’s young… and very handsome with dark wavy hair and brown eyes, not at all what I expected. “Henry Morgan.”

  “Eliza Bennet.” I smile.

  His eyes glow as he takes a seat. “Please, take a seat.”

  He opens a folder that holds my resumé, and his eyes scan through it. “Your resumé is very impressive.”

  “Thanks.”

  He closes the folder and his eyes come to mine. “Why do you want this job, Eliza?”

  Oh shit.

  “Well, I’m looking to move to another field outside of the hospital.”

  “I see. And what made you want to work for me?”

  I smile awkwardly. “To be honest, I don’t care who I work for. I liked the position that you are offering.”

  He smiles broadly and I know he liked that answer. “The position is for a surgery manager. I see you’ve managed before having worked in intensive care, recovery, and paediatrics.”

  “Yes.”

  “Very impressive.” His eyes hold mine, and there seems to be a buzz in the air between us.

  Is he attracted to me?

  “Let me tell you about the position. You will be my right hand. I need you to manage the seven members of staff that I have, while also seeing to the recovery care for my post-op patients. You would need to be on call overnight on the days that I’m in surgery in case the patient is in distress and needs advice or pain management. I operate on Tuesdays and Thursdays. ”

  I listen intently.

  “You would be working out of this office. However, there will be times when you would need to travel with me to conferences, both interstate and overseas. ”

  Excitement fills me, this sounds fantastic.

  “How does that sound?”

  “Great.”<
br />
  “I would need you to start as soon as possible. My manager has become unwell and is currently unable to return.”

  “I could possibly start as soon as next week,” I offer. “I have some paid time off that I could take to allow me to finish earlier.”

  He sits back in his seat and crosses his leg. “You have an amazing resumé.”

  “Thank you.” I smile.

  “However, there is one small problem.”

  “There is?”

  “I’m not sure I would be able to work with you.”

  My face falls. “Why not?”

  “At the risk of being unprofessional, I have to tell you that I’m physically attracted to you.”

  “Oh.” What the fuck? “I don’t know what to say to that.”

  “I’ve never worked with someone I was attracted to before, have you?”

  “Umm.” Jeez, this guy doesn’t mince his words.

  “I’m very professional, and I’m in a relationship,” I lie. “You wouldn’t need to worry about that.”

  He smiles to himself as if liking that. “Well, that makes things easier. I’m a professional, too.”

  I clasp my hands in front of me.

  He stares at me for a moment, as if assessing the situation. “I have one more person to interview this afternoon. I will let you know tonight, by email, if you have been successful.”

  “Okay.” I smile.

  He stands and holds out his hand to shake mine. “Goodbye, Dr. Morgan.”

  “Call me Henry.”

  I force a smile. Oh hell, this interview is weird. “Okay, Henry, I look forward to your email. Have a lovely weekend.”

  “You, too.”

  I turn and walk out of the room, not entirely sure what position it is that I’ve just applied for.

  Who the fuck tells a person they are interviewing that they are attracted to them? What was that about?

  I smile to the girls as I walk through reception. Does he tell them that he’s attracted to them, too? “Goodbye.”

  “Bye.” They call.

  I get into the elevator and shake my head. “Wow,” I whisper to myself.

  Maybe he was just being honest. I mean, if he is a serial player or sleazeball, he wouldn’t say that to me in an interview, he would just perv on me while I worked.

  I shrug. It takes all types, I suppose. I walk out of the building, across the street, and into the bar to find Nathan.

  He’s sitting at a table in the back, scrolling through his phone with a glass of scotch in front of him.

  “Hey.” I smile as I sit down.

  He puts his phone down. “How did it go?”

  I shrug. “I don’t know. Fine, I guess. I find out tonight but the job sounds great.” I can’t elaborate on what Dr. Morgan said to me or Nathan will march into his office like a psycho. He’s a tad overprotective.

  “What do you want to drink?” he asks.

  I glance over the selection. “A glass of red, please.”

  “Okay.” He gets up and disappears to the bar. I take out my phone and text my two best friends. These ones are my girls—the ones I tell everything.

  Just got out of my interview.

  The job sounds great.

  Doctor was cute, and he told me

  that he was attracted to me

  I smirk and hit send. That’s something I never thought I’d write.

  A message bounces straight back from Brooke.

  What the fuck?

  I giggle and another message from Jo comes in.

  Are you for real?

  Serial sleazeball or what?

  I smile as I type.

  100% Call you later.

  Nathan comes back to the table with my drink, and I stuff my phone into my bag. “Thank you.” I smile. “What have you been doing?”

  He slides into his seat. “I think I finally found an apartment. I look at it tomorrow.”

  I roll my eyes into my glass of wine. “You don’t need another apartment.”

  “Your apartment is too small for us.”

  “You have your own gigantic apartment across town. If my apartment is too small, you can always go home, you know.”

  “Stop it.” He gives a subtle shake of his head. “I like to stay with you in your apartment with your things around us.”

  “But I’m happy where I am.”

  “What’s the problem? Your rent will be the same. Nothing will change for you except you’ll get to live in a bigger place.”

  “Yes, but that means you will lose out financially. Plus, we won’t always stay together. What happens when we meet someone? What happens then?”

  “Then it’s your apartment and I will stay at my place.”

  “I don’t need a bigger apartment.”

  “I do. I need an office and I need to be able to keep some clothes at your place. I need a treadmill so I can run if I get caught up at work late. Your apartment has one bedroom, Eliza; it’s way too small.”

  “You have all those things at your place.” I scoff, how many times do we have to have this conversation? “You can stay there if you want those things.”

  “Stop pissing me off, Eliza,” he snaps. “I’m not having this conversation with you. I’m finding an apartment, and I’m getting it, and you will fucking love it when I do.”

  I smirk against my glass. Controlling prick. If the truth be known, I really do want a bigger apartment but I don’t like the idea of him having to pay for it.

  “Oh.” As if remembering something, he reaches into the inside chest pocket of his suit and pulls out an envelope. “I got you something.”

  “What is it?”

  “Open it.”

  “I love surprises.”

  “Really?” He replies dryly. “I would never have guessed.”

  I take it from him and tear open the envelope. My eyes widen. Two tickets to… “Spain?” I gasp as my eyes rise to meet his. “What?”

  “Happy birthday, baby.”

  My mouth falls open in shock as my eyes skim the rest of the booking confirmation. “We’re going to Spain?”

  “Uh-huh, for two weeks.” He gives me a sexy smile. “Next month. I know it isn’t your birthday for a few months, but I can only take leave then.”

  “Nathan.” I smile. “Where in Spain?” My eyes speed read the document. “Oh my God, Majorca?” I gasp.

  “Pronounced Ma Yorker.”

  I hold the paper to my chest. “Last year you took me to Italy… now Majorca? You spoil me rotten.”

  “We can only go if you agree to move into a bigger apartment.” His eyes dance with mischief, expecting me to explode.

  “You would actually stoop so low to get your own way that you would bribe me with a trip?”

  He takes a sip of his scotch. “Undoubtedly.”

  “Fine, get the damn apartment.” I jiggle in my seat in excitement. “We’re going to Majorca.” My eyes widen. “Oh, but what if I get this job?”

  “You tell them before you start that you have a pre-planned vacation that can’t be refunded.”

  I smile broadly as I take his hand over the table. “I have to get it first.”

  He squeezes my hand in his. “You will.”

  Half an hour later, we are trolling the aisles of Nathan’s favorite bookstore. “It should be here…” He searches the shelves.

  “Are you sure it’s out yet?”

  “Yes, it should be, it released three days ago.”

  I smile as I watch him search the shelves, Nathan is an avid reader, and his favorite author’s new book has just come out. God help us all if they don’t have it in stock yet.

  “Just ask the shop assistant,” I say.

  His brow furrows. “If they did their job correctly, it would be here with his other books.”

  “Just ask. I’m not waiting here all night for you to try and find it.”

  He turns and looks for an assistant. “Excuse me,” he calls.

  The woman turns and her eyes li
ght up like it’s Christmas when she sees him. “Oh, hello.” She rushes to stand beside him. “Can I help you?”

  He gives her a charming smile. “Yes, I’m looking for Garaldi’s new book. Into the Woods. Do you have it?”

  “Oh.” She smiles sweetly, completely flustered by his good looks. “I’m sure I can find one for you.”

  I try not to roll my eyes. Honestly, it’s embarrassing the way women fawn all over him.

  “I’ll need two,” he tells her.

  “Buying one for a gift?” she asks to elaborate the conversation.

  “No.” He cuts the conversation short and turns back to the bookshelf to continue his perusing.

  I bite my lip to hide my smile, Nathan doesn’t engage in polite conversation. When he’s finished saying what he wants to say, the conversation is effectively over.

  “I’ll go look in the back,” she replies in a fluster.

  “Thank you.” He replies, distracted by the books in front of him.

  “You know it’s pretty pointless buying two,” I lean in and whisper.

  “I need one for your house and one for mine.”

  “But you hardly ever sleep at your house.” I widen my eyes.

  “Yes, well… one of these days I’m going to get sick of you hogging the bed and snoring, and I’ll return to the peace and sanity of mine.”

  “Promises, promises.” I reply flatly as I roam up the aisle.

  Two years ago, I broke up with my boyfriend. Nathan stayed with me for the night because he was worried about me. One night turned to two, two nights turned to five, and here we are two years later. He’s still buying two of every book he reads as if he’s going back to his house anytime soon.

  “Here you are.” The sales assistant smiles as she approaches us with two books in hand. “They hadn’t been unpacked yet, they just came in.”

  Nathan smiles as he takes them from her. “Thank you, much appreciated.”

  He marches to the front counter to pay like the cat that got the cream. Thank fuck they had it. He would have made me search the city for it tomorrow if they hadn’t.

  He pays the cashier, and we walk out into the street and toward the road. Nathan takes my hand in his.

  “I can cross the street on my own. You don’t have to hold my hand, you know. I’m not five.”