by T Gephart
Instead, we had just finished appetizers at an overpriced Manhattan bistro when Belle had received the 9-1-1 call from Hayley, her best friend.
“We were not going to sit in our apartment on a Friday night like a pair of old ladies, Zara. They made you a senior associate and gave you an office, it’s a big deal.”
She was right, it was a big deal, and it was taking me a step closer to making partner. I knew at twenty-eight I was still a few years from sitting at the big boy table, but I was well on my way to eventually realizing my childhood dream of becoming a Supreme Court Justice. I was also getting the attention from all the right people for all the right reasons, and not just because I was a woman.
“Well, if we had been in our apartment when Hayley called, I would still be there instead of being in this cab on the way to the hospital. I still don’t know why you’re making me come. I’m not her birth partner.” I sighed impatiently.
Hayley had recently decided my sister—who had the kindest heart of anyone I knew but wasn’t exactly the most responsible person—needed to be with her when she brought her baby into the world. The baby daddy was out of the picture, and she didn’t want a family member watching her deliver a watermelon from her vagina and then have to sit across from them at family dinners.
Honestly, I could understand that part. I loved my mom and my dad dearly, but it would be a cold day in hell before I’d let either of them see that. Assuming I had kids, which was a big if.
And of course Belle was only too thrilled at being selected, reveling in her appointed position like she’d been chosen for a lead role in a Broadway play. Which incidentally was her big dream, and where she met Hayley who up until getting herself in the family way had dazzled audiences as Christine in Phantom of the Opera. Belle had been one of the dancers, still working her way up the ranks.
“Zara!” she exclaimed dramatically. “You know I’ll get lost looking for the right place to go. I can’t read maps, and hospitals make me nervous. And Hayley needs me! I’ll probably end up in the janitor’s closet while she’s all alone, bringing a miracle into the world, and I’ll have let her down. I will hate myself forever for disappointing her. All you need to do is come with me, help me get to Hayley, and then you can leave. I’ll even pay for your ride home annnnnnnnd I’ll give you my undying, unending love and adoration.”
“I thought I already had that?” I laughed, her ability to still get her way after all these years never failing to impress me. “And I’m here, aren’t I? And you might want to dial down the drama. I’ve got a feeling there’s going to be plenty of that in the room without you.”
Belle nodded, her eyes shining with excitement as we got closer to the hospital. “Oh, shit! I almost forgot.” She dug into her large Mary Poppins handbag and pulled out a beautifully wrapped box. “I was going to give this to you when we were having dessert, but I guess that won’t happen now. Anyway, congrats!”
My heart swelled, feeling a little bad about being so cranky over being inconvenienced. “Belle, you didn’t have to give me a present. Dinner would have been enough.”
“Noooooooo. This is special, and you neeeeeeeeed it,” she insisted, pushing the box closer. “Besides, I had so much fun buying it for you and I want to see your face when you open it.”
The glint in her eye was slightly unsettling, the excitement replaced by mischief. My gaze flicked to the driver who was mostly ignoring us, the brightly colored box not giving me any clues as to what was housed inside. “Please tell me this isn’t anything embarrassing. It’s not from a sex shop, is it?” I groaned, knowing with Belle it could be anything. “And it better not be illegal either.”
Belle laughed, nudging my shoulder with hers. “Come on, would I do that?” Yeah, yeah she would. “Just open it already.”
Tentatively—because honestly it could be anything—I slipped off the red satin bow and lifted the glittery silver lid. Inside, nestled in a bed of crisp white tissue paper, was a beautiful wooden gavel, polished so evenly I could almost see my reflection in the lacquer. “Oh my God,” I gasped, pulling it out of its wrapping and letting the box drop to the floor. “Belle!”
It was beautiful, expertly carved with such workmanship that it had to be handmade and custom. I couldn’t stop looking at it, my vision getting blurry as I blinked furiously.
“Do you like it?” She grinned with expectation. “I know you’re not a judge yet, but my drama teacher always told us it’s good to have a visual cue. Something tangible to hang on to and remind you of your goal. I’m positive it’s how I landed my gig for Phantom; I’ve been carrying around the stub from when we went to see it years ago. Now look at me! I just know my big break is coming, and this,” she pointed to the gavel I’d cradled against my chest, “is coming for you.”
I was such an asshole.
It was possibly one of the nicest, most thoughtful gifts I’d ever received, and Belle was the best sister anyone could ask for. Even if she was crazy impulsive and often dragged me into whatever shenanigans she got herself into.
“I love it, Belle. It’s perfect.” I stroked it, testing the weight in my hand and imagining myself sitting behind a bench wearing a black robe. “Thank you so much.”
She nodded, thrilled I’d loved her present as much as she assumed. “I knew you would. Now we just need to find Hayley and you can go home and practice. You’re out of order!” Her little fist smacked her thigh dramatically. “Sidebar immediately!”
I laughed, shaking my head at her little display. “You’ve been practicing.”
“Always.” Her hands knotted, shoving them under her chin as she grinned.
There wasn’t any more time for conversation, the cab pulling up in front of Mount Sinai Hospital. “Here you go, ladies,” the cab driver called over his shoulder, tapping his fingers impatiently while Belle counted out the money for the fare.
My feet hit the sidewalk as we shuffled out of the car, the bustle of the city still very much in full swing despite the sun having set an hour earlier.
It was my favorite time of the day, the early evening hours when the lights lit up the city and the night was filled with possibilities. There was an excitement that crackled in the air, the slight element of uncertainty because of the dark, while the busyness of New York City cradled you in familiarity all at the same time.
“Okay, let’s get you up to labor and delivery.” I looped an arm into hers, still holding the gavel with my other hand.
Unlike Belle, I’d brought a more elegant clutch purse instead of a huge handbag to dinner which meant I had nowhere to put it. I’d accidently left the box in the cab in all the excitement, leaving me holding my new prized possession.
It was probably for the best anyway, I didn’t want anything happening to it and I would be on my way back home sooner than later. Besides, everyone in the hospital would be too busy to worry about me and my fancy accessory, so who cared.
We dashed through the main doors, our focus on finding Hayley before the baby crowned, laughing as we hustled our way to the site map.
“Edwin Carlisle, please report to the Nurses’ station. Edwin Carlisle.”
We both froze, the pop of the loudspeaker finishing its announcement as we turned to look at each other.
Belle gasped, pointing to the sky like she’d just heard the voice of God. “Did she just say—”
“No, we must have heard it wrong,” I responded, convinced there was no way the announcement contained the name of my fictitious boyfriend who apparently was supposed to be my soulmate.
I mean, it had been years since that stupid visit to Coney Island, and I’d almost forgotten about it entirely. Obviously not totally, because the minute the name was mentioned, my heart did a weird summersault I knew wasn’t healthy.
What the hell was that?
I didn’t believe that shit, why did I even react at all?
“What?” Belle asked, incredulously. “We both heard it wrong? I don’t think so.”
Fine
, I was willing to concede that the chances of both of us hearing the name—which didn’t seem to fit in the current century—were remote, but that didn’t mean anything. It was probably someone’s grandfather or some crusty old man who’d wandered off confused. And regardless of what Madame Delia had said, I was not shacking up with some guy who was ready to pick out a headstone.
Nope.
Not happening.
“Okay, so we heard it, but we need to get you to Hayley and I’m almost positive that whoever Edwin is, he is not the guy for me.” I tugged on Belle’s arm forcefully, hoping to move her feet which were glued to the floor.
Last thing we needed was for Belle to get sidetracked. While I knew first-time moms could sometimes take a while to deliver, the sooner Belle was sitting safely beside Hayley, the happier I would be. It would lower the chances of trouble as well, which at the moment were rating fairly high.
Belle shook her head, staying rooted in her spot protesting like she was chained to a tree ready for condemnation at the hands of a logger. “Zara, you have to go see him.”
“Belle,” I huffed, half exasperated and half unnerved. “It was years ago, and you have to know that woman was full of shit, right? You had plenty of boyfriends. Some have even proposed. If she’d been right, you’d be by yourself, knitting tea cozies, surrounded by cats. She was wrong about you, and she was wrong about me.”
Just as I’d predicted—without the aid of painted rocks—there’d been a long line of suitors who’d fallen under Belle’s infectious charm. First boys, then men—all of them captivated, making heart-eyes at my sister while pledging their undying devotion. Some getting down on one knee with a shiny diamond ring. Belle had turned them all down because as much as she loved the attention and was still a hopeless romantic, she bored easily and lost interest even quicker.
“But was she wrong? I’m still single.” Belle’s eyes widened, her hand anchoring on her hip as she refused my continued tugs.
“By choice!” I pointed out. “You have been in love more times than I can count.”
She waved her hand, dismissing me and the truth, and went with her own version of events. “Or maybe I wasn’t. Maybe I was just infatuated and deep down I knew I wasn’t in love which is why I broke up with them.”
Great, of all the times for my sister to decide to find logic.
“Belle.” I rolled my eyes. “What is it you expect me to do? Head to the nurses’ desk and say, ‘hi, you don’t know me but you’re the love of my life.’ We’re in a hospital. They’re going to think I’ve either escaped from the psych ward or they’re going to put me in it.”
Wouldn’t do wonders for my career aspirations either.
“And,” I continued, “he’s probably gone now anyway.”
“You promised. You made an agreement in writing. So whether or not he’s gone, you need to at least go see,” Belle insisted, pointing in the direction of the nurses’ desk even though—apparently—she didn’t know the layout of the hospital.
I scoffed, drawing in a sharp breath. “That stupid agreement was for you to be my maid of honor if I married him. It said nothing about me making a fool of myself in front of the medical staff at Mount Sinai.”
“And how are you supposed to marry him—therefore fulfilling the agreement to me—if you don’t meet him?”
She should’ve been a litigator.
Completely focused on finding whatever tiny loophole there was, even though to everyone else it was utterly unreasonable.
I was ready to continue my objection, prepared to argue like I was defending an innocent man on death row. But as ridiculous as the whole situation seemed, it was quicker to head to the nurses’ station, confirm Edwin Carlisle had left, and get the hell on with delivering Belle to Hayley. And while I’d never admit it to Belle, part of me was slightly curious.
“Uhhhhhhhhh.” I swore under my breath, my heels clicking on the tile as I almost jogged to our rerouted destination.
He wasn’t even going to be there, I’d convinced myself. Going through the charade purely because, honestly, it would take less time and less effort than arguing.
Belle followed closely behind, her smaller strides moving into an animated skip in an effort to keep up.
And then.
Both of us stopped short.
We hadn’t even made it all the way to the nurses’ station, the desk still a couple feet away, but I needed a minute before going any further.
With his back to us stood a man.
Tall—over six-foot by my estimation—wearing a tailored suit so well it was impossible to miss how outstanding his body was. Broad shoulders took up all that expensive real estate in his jacket like it was paying Manhattan rent, his strong back tensing within the fabric as he twisted. It was mesmerizing to watch, the incredible ass that I found when my eyes dropped, our reward for their journey southward.
Shit, I whispered internally, slightly embarrassed I was obviously ogling a stranger. It wasn’t my style, forcing my gaze back to his head where—I mistakenly thought—it was safe.
It wasn’t.
Thick black hair flirted with the top of his collar, the short waves just long enough that it teased at what would have been a conservative cut.
If he was a grandpa or some older guy, he was obviously doing some black-market drugs that had stopped the hands of time. And maybe I’d been too hasty in my declaration of not being interested. Senior citizens needed love too, and if his front was half as attractive as his back, then I’d at the very least need to take a look.
To confirm it was drug use, of course.
Belle cleared her throat, biting back her grin as she pointed to him. “Go on, I’ll wait here.”
Her words jolted me, the kick of reality I needed to shake whatever bullshit hormone imbalance I’d been experiencing, and remind me I was in a hospital, about to approach a stranger. A seemingly attractive stranger, but a stranger, nonetheless.
Shooting her a stern sideways glance to warn her off any typical Belle shenanigans of interference—her assurance to wait there wasn’t binding without a proper agreement—I took my first tentative step.
Only the first was tentative though, finding my confidence and straightening my back as I got closer. I wasn’t some meek and delicate flower who crumbled into a pool of hormones at the sight of a good-looking man. I also knew that being attractive meant nothing, he could be rude, obnoxious, and conceited, all of which would have me losing interest almost instantly despite that incredible package.
My nerves still buzzed even if I didn’t outwardly show it, my chin kicking up a little higher as I tapped him on the shoulder without hesitation. “Excuse me.”
I wasn’t the only one who hadn’t hesitated, the handsome stranger turning as two dark blue eyes met mine, his incredibly handsome face lighting up with an amazing infectious smile.
He was too beautiful.
With the kind of face you found in expensive, thick and glossy magazines, both sexy, seductive, yet so goddamn compelling.
If that was the work of dark web pharmaceuticals, then I wanted in.
“Hi.” I waved, having retrieved my hand from his shoulder before it did anything else more inappropriate. “I’m sorry to disturb you, have you got a minute?” My eyes darted to the nurse he was conversing with; the woman already having gone back to her computer screen. Whatever business they’d been discussing had either ended organically or I’d interrupted, and she was too busy to care either way. Good thing too, because I’d prefer not to have an audience.
“Surrrree.” The word was unnecessarily elongated as his lips edged into a teasing grin.
His head tipped to the side, moving away from the desk. It was maybe three steps, both of us edging closer to the wall which gave us as much privacy as we were going to get.
“Hi,” I said again. “I know this sounds really crazy,” it doesn’t just sound it, Zara, “but I was wondering, is your name Edwin Carlisle?”
There was no easy
way to ask, no subtle way to segue into a conversation where I discovered his name. And considering Belle still had to get to Hayley before she had the baby, I didn’t have the luxury of time to finesse it. Besides, the guy—whether he was Edwin or not—probably had a million things to do.
His eyes dropped down to the gavel I was still clutching, not having occurred to me to ask Belle to hold it. “Am I being subpoenaed, Your Honor?” The smile got wider.
There was a playful edge to his tone, like he was more intrigued by my sudden demand of his identity rather than annoyed. And if circumstances were different, I might’ve assumed he was flirting. But surely no one flirted with a strange woman in a hospital, did they?
“Ha!” I laughed, holding up the gavel and acknowledging it. “Actually, judges don’t serve subpoenas. But nice try.”
His beautiful dark blue eyes flicked over my body, studying me a little more closely than I thought was necessary. “A little young to be a judge, aren’t you?” His hand waved, not waiting for my answer. “Unless you’re some law prodigy. Is that what we’re dealing with?”
Wait. Was he flirting with me?
While it was usually Belle who got the attention, I’d had the occasional guy try to pick me up in a bar or club. But not just randomly, in the middle of a hospital. And not by a man who was so . . . delicious. That never happened. At least not until they at least got to know me a little better.
And something must’ve been very wrong with me because for some stupid reason, I was enjoying it.
The corners of his smile edged wider as his brow lifted, like he knew, tipping his head to the side and waiting for me to answer.
“I’m Zara,” I offered, sticking out my hand and attempting a proper introduction. “I’m a lawyer, but as much as I’d love to be a law prodigy, I’m not. This,” I waved the gavel in my hand, “was a gift from my sister for my promotion.”
“Pleased to meet you, Zara.” He shook my hand, neglecting to add his name. “Congrats on the promotion. Now, why don’t you tell me why you’re so desperate to find Edwin Carlisle?”
There was a familiarity over the way he said the name, like he’d said it a million times before. And if he wasn’t the guy we were looking for, surely he would’ve said.
