by Vivian Ward
“Yes, sir,” she says, making her way down the hall.
My phone buzzes with a text message from Leah. I unlock my phone to see what she sent and am delighted to see a picture of her tits that she just sent from the bathroom. God, I love it when she does stuff like that.
“Dr. Prior,” I hear my name again, and I’m so sick of hearing it.
“What is it now?” I snap, clicking the side button on my phone to lock the screen. When I look up, I’m startled to see Sandra standing in the doorway. “Oh, I’m sorry,” I quickly apologize. “How can I help you?”
Folding her arms across her chest, she glares at me. “I’d like to have a meeting with you, Dr. Thompson, and Leah.” Her narrowed eyes and pursed lips tell me that we’re all in trouble. This look is different from her usual bitchy look and I can tell that she’s pissed.
She knows.
“Is everything okay?” I play dumb, trying not to give off any signals that I might be in some sort of trouble.
“I’ll talk to the three of you tomorrow morning—before the clinic opens.”
I cross my eyebrows as though I’m confused. “I’m sorry, is something wrong?” I ask, trying to play innocent.
A long sigh escapes her lips as she rolls her eyes and brushes her away from her face with her hideously long fingernails. “We’ll discuss it during the meeting tomorrow, Dr. Prior. I’d rather not get into it tonight, especially since the others aren’t here to give their statements.”
Surprised at how direct she’s being, I’m not sure how to respond to her but I make an effort to calm her down anyway. “I’ll make sure the others get the message so that they don’t miss the meeting.” That is, if she hasn’t already said something to them, too.
“No need, Dr. Prior,” she waves her hand at me as though she’s dismissing garbage. “I’ve sent all of you an email. I’ll see you tomorrow at 8:30.”
Surely, if she would’ve said something to Chris or Leah, they would’ve messaged me to let me know about it. I bet they have no clue.
Without another word, she exits the doorway just as fast as she entered it. The three of us need to get together tonight to talk about this and discuss our options. If they don’t know about it yet, they will when they check their email and we need to be proactive rather than reactive. I decide to send them a text, asking them to meet me for dinner but offer no other explanation as I stop for gas on my way there.
Chapter 12
Chris
Brendan sent a group text with Leah and I inviting us all to dinner just after I’d already left the office. I’m not sure what’s going on but something about it didn’t seem right. It had a sense of urgency rather than the casual tone that he normally uses.
Pulling into the parking lot at a local Italian restaurant, I spot Leah sitting in her car, checking her makeup while she waits for us to arrive.
Tapping on her window, I smile at her. “You look beautiful no matter what you look like.”
Laughing, she cracks her window a bit to talk to me. “Get in! It’s freezing out there.”
The temperatures have plummeted over the past few weeks but I don’t mind the cold. However, I climb inside her warm SUV and sit beside her.
“Did you notice anything unusual with Brendan’s message today? When he asked us to meet him here?” I ask her.
“Mmmhmm,” she answers, applying a coat of lip gloss across her lips. Smacking them, she makes sure there are no smudges by running her pinky along her lip lines. “Yeah, it seemed like it was important or something. What do you think was up with that?”
“I don’t know,” I check the side mirror to see if he’s pulling in yet. “I kind of thought that it sounded urgent, like he was flustered or something.”
She sticks the tube of lip gloss in her bag and reaches for a hair brush. “I definitely noticed that he didn’t sound like his usual self,” she says, running the brush through her hair. “Do you think something’s wrong? Or maybe he was just having a bad day? I know he doesn’t like his assistant.”
Huffing, I agree. “Yeah, that makes two of us. Neither of us like having Tammy or Amanda working for us. We’d rather have you as our assistant because you know what the hell you’re doing.”
She laughs. “You’re just biased.”
I shake my head. “Not true. Even if we weren’t sleeping with the hottest assistant that Utah has to offer, they’re so subpar compared to you. You know your shit,” I say, reaching over, squeezing her thigh.
“I didn’t at first,” she admits. “When I first started there, Tammy and Amanda helped me quite a bit but, if I must admit, I am a fast learner.”
“Everyone needs help when starting a new job; it’s expected. I’m talking about your actual work. Your rooms are cleaner, your charts and records are more organized. Your methods are much more efficient and your personality really shines through.”
“Awww,” she rests her hand on top of mine. “Go on! Keep flattering me.”
Brendan appears at the driver’s side door, his breath visible in the cold air. “Let’s go in,” he motions towards the door. He seems grumpy and that’s not like him. Something is wrong, I just know it.
Leah and I climb out of the warmth of her vehicle and follow Brendan inside the cozy restaurant. We’re seated near the fireplace, which we’re all grateful for, and order a bottle of wine while we look over the menus.
The waitress returns with our wine and pours some into each of our glasses before taking our orders and disappearing into the kitchen.
“So,” I turn my attention to Brendan. “What was so eager that we meet you here? Your message didn’t sound how they normally do.”
Glancing at Leah, I can see that her eyes are glued on Brendan who’s been quiet ever since we arrived. I reach under the table and place my hand on her thigh again. She flashes me a warm smile before we both turn to him for an answer.
“Well,” he says, sipping from his wine glass. “Before I get started, let me tell you that I’ve already done a lot of thinking about this.”
“What? What is it?” I ask.
“Sandra came to my office after everyone had left for the day. She said that we’re—the three of us— having a meeting in her office tomorrow morning,” he stops, carefully eying us to see if we know why.
We do.
Leah’s mouth falls open. “Does she know about us?”
Brendan nods his head. “At least, I think she does. Her tone was very clipped and she didn’t give me many details but she said that the three of us are to report to her office before the clinic opens at 8:30 and that she would be copying us on an email so we’re all aware that we need to be there.”
“Fuck,” I mutter, keeping my voice low since we’re in a public restaurant. “So what are your thoughts?” I ask him.
“Well, we’ve been speculating that there was office gossip about the three of us—which is fine or whatever, but I’ve been thinking of the ‘What if’s’ just in case.”
“And they are?” I press him.
“Instead of being terminated from the clinic, we start our own private practice—the two of us. This way we never have a termination on our record if we ever decide to work for another hospital or clinic.” He pauses to gauge my reaction, but I motion my hand for him to continue. “I say we start our own practice and leave on our own terms. I’m sure a lot of our patients would follow us if we left the clinic because they value the care that we provide them with and it’s much easier to follow your doctor to a new location than search for a new provider. That would look much better on a resume than being terminated for misconduct or work-related relationships. And, if we did this—starting our own practice—and it doesn’t work out for some reason or another, it leaves us a wealth of opportunities for other places that we could go.”
He has many excellent points but Leah looks stunned because this would mean that we wouldn’t work together anymore and it still leaves her job in jeopardy.
“Wait a minute,” sh
e stops him. “That’s fine for the two of you, but what about me? I still need my job. What am I supposed to do? Or are we just going to deny all of it and you two leave so I can still keep my job?”
“No,” Brendan answers firmly. “We’d never leave you behind, baby.” His hand brushes mine as he reaches under the table and grabs her other thigh. “You’d come with us. We need you more than you can imagine—in more ways than you could imagine,” he adds, being perverted. “Doctors can’t survive without assistants and you’re our backbone, Leah. You’re very important to Chris and I. Isn’t that right, Chris?”
“Absolutely! Actually,” I replay his idea in my head. “I love the idea of having our own practice. We can set our own rules, make our own schedule, and continue with our work on the terms that we agree with. I say it’s a win-win for everyone involved.” I turn my attention to Leah. “But, do you think you could handle working for two doctors on a daily basis? Brendan’s right, you’re our backbone. We rely on you more than you know. Of course, even if you say or think you can and later find out that you can’t, we can always hire an extra person.”
Leah chews her bottom lip. “I don’t know. I mean, yes, I could handle it. I know that for sure, but leaving the clinic? I’m not so sure about. That’s a big step. What if the private practice doesn’t work? Then what will we all do?”
“Why wouldn’t it work?” Brendan asks her. “Don’t you trust us?”
She nods her head vigorously. “I do! But there are just so many possibilities. And how long would it take to find a space, get it set up, order all of the inventory, etc?”
That’s an excellent question—which I have no answer for. I turn to Brendan since he’s been full of so many ideas; maybe he’s thought this out too?
“I’m not sure,” he says as the waitress brings out our food. “Maybe after dinner, we can go back to my house and start looking for a place and we can look into some of the other things, like equipment and supplies.”
I raise my glass to toast. “Here’s to exploring the unknown and wishing us luck and success.” We all drink to that and even though Leah seems on board with all of this, the insecurity of it all is written across her face.
I don’t know that she’ll come with us. She says she’d like to but I also understand her concerns. Maybe she’ll think it over after we talk more about it later.
Chapter 13
Leah
My nerves are all over the place as I drive to work. As if the traffic wasn’t bad enough, we got some snow last night which is making it that much more difficult to concentrate on everything all at once as I try to maneuver the roads.
I know Brendan and Chris are intelligent, and I trust them but I’m also smart enough to know that not everything works out and that things can go wrong. They live in what I’d consider mini mansions that are nearly paid for but I live in a small townhouse with a monthly rent that’ll never end. I’m not set up like they are so if things fall through, I can’t take a hit like they could. What’s the worst that would happen to them if they were out of work for six months? They might miss a couple of payments that could potentially impact their credit score? If I miss any payments, not only would my credit be at risk but so would my livelihood. My landlord would put me out at the curb in no time.
After we left Brendan’s house and all parted our separate ways last night, I went home and spent a lot of time thinking about it everything. I must’ve soaked in the tub for over an hour as I weighed the pros and cons. I have to admit, not only am I flattered that they would include me and make me part of their practice but they would also be giving me a lot of responsibility. I would essentially do my job as their assistant, an office manager’s job, the front desk job, and basically run the whole place. Part of it sounds exciting to me but it’s a lot of work—and what if I fail?
Aside from the flattery and excitement, I’m very worried that if it all
falls through that I’ll be out of a job completely. Part of me wants to go into that meeting this morning and deny everything. I could lie to Sandra’s face and tell her that I would never do anything so inappropriate and beg her to let me keep my position but I don’t know what Chris and Brendan will think or what they’re going to say.
There are so many ways this could all go and I’m just not sure what to do or say about it. Before I know it, I’m stuck behind a salt truck whose paving the way to the clinic’s parking lot and while I’m grateful to follow the cleared path, it’s also put me a little behind.
Shit. I’m here.
I see Chris and Brendan’s vehicles, as well as a black sedan that I’m sure belongs to Sandra. Taking a deep breath, I shut off the engine and climb out of my SUV.
Making my way into the building, I quietly listen to see if I can hear any chatter but I don’t. I was hoping to see if they were already talking so I could just sit back but that doesn’t seem to be the case.
“Oh, I’m glad you could join us today,” Sandra says, her tone sarcastic.
“Sorry, I ended up behind a salt truck and it slowed me down a little,” I apologize as I slide out of my coat.
Sandra stands at the head of the table, almost as though she’s giving a presentation, before she begins lecturing us. “First, let me say that I thank all of you for coming in this morning. Rumor has it that the three of you are involved in a romantic relationship. Is that correct?”
She pauses and the room fills with silence. I’m not answering her so I look to Brendan and Chris.
“I’m not sure who would say such a thing,” Chris says. “We’re all aware of company policy.”
Good one. Answer her question without actually answering it.
“I see,” she says annoyed, knowing that he just avoided answering her. “But aside from the rumors involved, I’ve also had suspicions based on your interactions with one another which is why I assigned a particular assistant to each doctor.”
“Funny you mention that,” Chris says. “We’ve noticed the changes and aren’t happy with them and, actually, we’re glad that you called this meeting because we have something that we’d like to discuss with you.”
Oh God. Here we go.
“And what would that be?” Sandra asks, noticing that the mood of the meeting has suddenly shifted and that she’s quickly losing control.
“Chris and I are thinking of starting our own private practice,” Brendan says. “It’s something that we’ve been considering for quite a while and we’re currently looking into leasing an office space.”
“I see,” she runs her tongue across her teeth. “So you’re leaving us? Why would you start your own practice?” Her eyes dart to me but I quickly divert my attention to my shoes.
“Our patients,” Chris explains. “We’re limited to a Monday through Friday, 9-5 schedule here and some of our working patients can’t visit us during those hours because they’re at work. We’ve been pushing for Saturday hours here but, for some reason, the hospital is against having the clinic open a few extra days per month.”
Sandra shrugs. “Everything costs money, Dr. Thompson. Our budget is quite extensive and the hospital feels that if patients require urgent care during non-office hours that they be seen at the hospital to help keep our expenses down.”
“But see,” Brendan chimes in, “we disagree with that. Say a working mom needs a Pap smear or a prescription refill that requires her to be seen, she would have to miss an entire day of work to come see us right now. If we worked even just two Saturdays per month, she could make an appointment on one of those days when she’s off work so she’s not disrupting her usual schedule. We’re greatly involved in our patient’s lives and care about them.”
“Or, if that same mom comes down with a sore throat or doesn’t feel well—or if one of her children don’t feel well—they could visit us during the weekend to get check out instead of paying an emergency room visit for strep,” I add to the explanation to back up Brendan.
Sandra cuts her eyes to me. “And what abo
ut you? Are you planning on staying with us or would you be going with them?”
Now all of their attention is focused on me and I’m sitting in the hot seat while they all wait for my reply. I swallow, even though my mouth is dry, and try to think of what I should say.
I know that Chris and Brendan have always looked out for my best interest and they haven’t steered me wrong yet. Looking deep into their eyes, the words come out without thinking.
“I will be joining Dr. Prior and Dr. Thompson at their new practice. They value my services as their assistant and have asked me to help them run their new practice. I’m very excited for this new opportunity with them.”
Sandra’s jaw drops then she quickly snaps it shut. “Well! I see. So I call this meeting and the three of you drop a bombshell on me. Not only will we be losing two doctors but you’re also taking one of our assistants. I will need a written resignation from all three of you with your respective end dates so that I can contact the hospital about bringing two new doctors—and a new assistant—on board with the clinic as your replacements.”
Giving her something to make her shut up felt good but I’m still so nervous about leaving my job and starting something that none of us has ever embarked on.
“This meeting is dismissed,” he hisses as she exits the room.
Epilogue
Leah
Setting things up has taken us much longer than expected. We’ve spent the past nine months finding a suitable office space, ordering supplies and equipment, and contacting all of their patients from their old practice to get them switched over to the new location.
During that time, the three of us sat down to talk and discussed our situation. It wasn’t feasible for me to live without an income—despite my small savings account—during that time, so Brendan suggested that I move in with him. I was nervous at first but I’m so glad that I made the jump.
