Cosmic Trifecta

by Anna Lewis

  “Are you alright?” she asked, wanting to know how he felt instead of assuming feelings for him.

  “Fine.” He didn’t sound fine, he sounded like he was deep in thought, Shelly wondered what he was thinking about, did he want to break up with her because of the distance? Didn’t he want to be with her anymore? She knew long distance relationships required work to flourish, but she was willing to put in that work, wasn’t he?

  “Ok,” she said, scared to pry deeper in case he said something she didn’t want to hear. She had just given her heart to him, the thought of him rejecting her scared her more than anything else. That had been the reason she had said no to him in the first place, she didn’t like the uncertainty of being in a relationship.

  They went back to her apartment in silence, neither of them eager to break it, she had decided to press charges against Doris, she wasn’t about to let her go free without any repercussion.

  “Hungry?” she asked Tony when she pushed the door open.

  “No, I am fine.” he said.

  “Ok.”

  “Come here for a second will you?” he added. “I want to talk to you.” Was this it? Was this when he ended things with her?

  “I-I feel so sweaty, I need to bathe.” She fished for an excuse. “Give me a few minutes.” She rushed out of the room before he could come up with a reason why she shouldn’t go.

  Shelly closed the door behind her and leaned against it, her hands to her chest. That had been a close one, how much longer was she going to keep on avoiding him? She thought to herself, just as the door was pushed from the other side and she was flung to the floor.

  She had barely regained her footing when Tony walked in, looking at her suspiciously. “I thought you wanted to bath.” he said.

  “I do.”

  “So what are you doing dancing on your feet?” he smiled, the first real emotion he had shown since she had told him she was moving.

  “Oh right.” She turned around to escape into the bathroom, but she was stopped by Tony grabbing her hands and drawing her to himself.

  “Running away again?”

  She could hear the laughter in his voice, it made her relax a little, there was no way he would sound happy when he wanted to end things right?

  “You knew?” she asked.

  “It was kind of obvious baby.” he laughed.

  “Why didn’t you say anything?”

  “Because it was fun to watch.” He turned her around and kissed her forehead. “I want to ask you something.” Her heart beat a little faster. Was this it? Was this how they ended? She swallowed hard.

  “Don’t move to New York.”

  “What?” That had definitely not been what she had been expecting to hear.

  “Don’t move to New York,” he repeated.

  “Tony…” She tried to pull away but he wasn’t having any of that. “You know I have to.”

  “What if you didn’t?”

  Shelly studied him. He was speaking in parables that she didn’t understand.

  “What are you trying to say Tony?”

  “What if I sponsored your line, here in Atlanta?”

  “You would do that?”

  “I would do anything to keep us together,” he whispered, kissing her on her lips. Shelly kissed him back. She had been worried that this man was thinking of leaving her whereas he was thinking of a way to make sure they never stayed apart.

  Yes, she was in love and her future looked bright with him by her side.

  THE END

  = Bonus Book 6 of 20 =

  Never Yours -

  Medical Romance

  The bodies of the other new resident nurses crushed me from each side, which was annoying because I wanted to make an impression on this hospital, my first ever medical job, right away, but it was also kind of comforting. I guess it was nice to know that I wasn’t alone in all of this.

  “Oh my God, this is so exciting!” Nancy, one of the more immature girls from nursing school squealed to me. “Violet, aren’t you so thrilled to be here.”

  Of course I was, but I didn’t want to be seen as a sillier person, so I nodded sharply and kept my head fixed forwards. I’d always wanted to work in a hospital, the idea of helping other people drove me forwards, and now I would actually get a chance to do that. I was utterly thrilled, but consumed by anxiety at the same time.

  “Right, newbies,” one of the older nurses looked down on us, which instantly had my heart racing faster. “You’ve all been to nursing school, and you’ve all had your training, but today you start work for real. It isn’t going to be as easy as I’m sure a lot of you are expecting and you might not all be able to hack it, but that is something that we’ll soon find out.”

  I shot Nancy a nervous look, which she returned, but I was determined. I hadn’t gone through all those years of education for nothing. I would use my education in the right way, and I couldn’t wait.

  After that very…motivating speech, we were separated into groups and sent off to shadow other members of staff for the day. I was keen to jump in and to take over, which the nurse, Miranda, I’d been assigned to work with took gratefully. She actually let me insert IV drips and take blood. Okay, so it wasn’t necessarily life-saving stuff, not like they’d have in accident and emergency, but it was a good start. Probably better than some of the others.

  “Violet, is it?” Miranda asked me gruffly at one point as the day was coming to a close. I nodded unsure of why she suddenly sounded so grouchy with me. “Yeah, you’re gonna do well here. Most people fuck up on their first day.” I blanched at the use of an expletive, but since no one else in the room seemed bothered I couldn’t see any need to mention it either. “The fact that you haven’t speaks volumes. I’ll recommend you to Dr. Turner.”

  Dr. Turner, the one name in the world that had the potential to turn me into jelly. Of course, I wasn’t expecting this to be the same Dr. Turner, but I couldn’t stop my mind travelling back in time all the same.

  During my training, there were a lot of visits from working doctors to teach us specific classes, and Dr. Turner was just one of them. He was utterly stunning, with his dark hair, his chocolaty eyes, his high cheek bones, and his broad shoulders. I really paid attention in his class! Everyone liked him, but I liked him more than I had liked anyone else before. I dreamt about him, fantasized about him, thought about him all the time. The only thing that stopped me taking any sort of action on that, was the fact that he was my teacher and it’d be so incredibly wrong.

  It wasn’t just his looks that got to me either, there was something special about him. He had a charisma, a magnetism that drew me in. Urgh, he was just so wonderful. I didn’t think I would ever be able to find anyone that compared.

  “Right, thank you very much.” My chest swelled with pride. I knew I could do well here, but the fact that I was and that I’d been given a compliment made me really proud of myself. “That’s wonderful news.”

  “In fact…” she grabbed onto my arm and dragged me along with her. I couldn’t resist even if I wanted to, which admittedly I didn’t because I was so intrigued, “let’s go and see him right now.”

  I hopped anxiously from foot to foot as we stood outside an office with Dr. Turner’s name on a plaque on the door. I wasn’t sure how appropriate this recommendation was, and I certainly didn’t want the first impression that I made to be a bad one.

  “Come in!” a muffled voice called through the wooden door.

  Miranda shoved the door open and stood in my way, blocking my view. I was happy to hide behind her for a moment, just until I worked out how mad we were making this doctor.

  “Dr. Turner,” Miranda’s voice was warm now. “I have a great newbie here that I wanted to recommend to you. She’s probably come from one of the schools you’ve taught at, so you may already know her.”

  Wait…did she just say teach?

  My face heated up, my whole body began to tremble, I started to really freak out. There was no way…that
would be too much of a coincidence. Then again, he did work at some hospital and I wasn’t sure which one.

  Then Miranda stepped to one side, and my heart dropped to my shoes as I lay eyes on him once more.

  “Ah yes, Violet Green. I remember you.”

  He remembers me? Out of all the people he’s taught…why me?

  He stepped forward to shake my hand, which I allowed him to do…with a very open mouth. I really wanted to find something to say, anything to make me look slightly less like a dumbass, but I couldn’t seem to find the words anyway.

  Dr. Turner had me speechless.

  “So, you’re doing well are you?” he continued, ignoring my sheer awkwardness. “That’s wonderful to hear.”

  “Y…yes, thank you.” Urgh, did I have to sound like such an idiot? “Miranda has been great.”

  “Yeah well, Miranda is great. I’m more interested in how you’re doing…”

  With that, much to my relief, Miranda took over the explanation leaving me to wallow in shock.

  ***

  I stumbled through the rest of my first week in a bit of a haze. I kept up the amazing standard of work, which helped me to outshine the rest of the new staff members, but as for everything else I blended into the background.

  I just didn’t know how to act now. Not only was Dr. Turner here, working in this hospital (well, it seemed like he was practically in charge of this hospital!), but that he knew me. He remembered me, after all this time. My face, out of hundreds, was the one that he recognized.

  What did it mean that he remembered me? Surely it meant something! Then again, did it even matter what it meant, he was still above me in my place of work, he still taught me once, it was still wrong for me to even think about reaching out to touch him.

  “Are you coming out tonight after work?” Nancy asked as she caught up with me in the lunch room. “A big group of us newbies are going to a bar to blow off some steam. You up for it?” It was strange, we’d never really been close before, but something about this job was bringing us closer together, creating a friendship. I didn’t even find her as annoying as I once did. “There will be guys there. Cute ones too, I’ve been checking them out all week long.”

  As she wiggled her eyebrows at me, I wanted to screw my nose up at the idea. I hadn’t met any guy that’d had any sort of impact on me yet, except for the one that I needed to stop thinking about. That wasn’t going to be enough to encourage me to go out, but maybe I did need to blow off some steam. It could be fun, right?

  “Okay, sure, sounds good. What time are you leaving?”

  “Everyone will be at the bar at eight. The one near you actually, on the corner. Should be a good laugh.”

  Then she pinched my hip, smirked at me, and she walked off, leaving me alone to try and get myself in the mood for some much needed fun.

  ***

  I shouldn’t have come out. That was one mistake I never should’ve made. I knew it the moment I crashed back into my small one bedroom apartment that I wasn’t in the mood. All I wanted to do was fall into bed, to sleep the long, hard week off, but I didn’t. Mostly because Nancy kept texting me to insist it was what I needed.

  I pulled on the red dress that swung out at the hips, and I straightened my long dark hair. I even went as far as to put on some make-up, all to keep Nancy happy.

  And where was my so-called friend now? She’d abandoned me to make out with one of the guys on the dance floor. Actually, it had gotten to the stage now where it was almost inappropriate, it was slowly getting to the point where I might need to go and separate them before things went too far…

  I didn’t begrudge her having a good time, and I wasn’t even really annoyed that she’d left me by myself. My issue lay solely in jealousy. Ever since I’d seen Dr. Turner in the hospital, a fire had been lit in the pit of my stomach and I knew it could never be sated or dulled. I would love to think that he could walk into this bar, that he would make a beeline for me and he’d kiss me passionately, but that was never going to happen.

  I wasn’t in the classroom anymore, I couldn’t daydream about a relationship that was never going to happen. I was supposed to be more grown up. Urgh, what the hell was wrong with me?

  “Would you like to dance?” I was suddenly shaken from my thoughts by one of the other guys–Ted, I thought his name might be. “I mean,” he shrugged his shoulders awkwardly, “you don’t have to, you just look a little bored.”

  He seemed nice enough, he was cute in a preppy boy way, but there was no point in even considering it. He didn’t give me that spark, that instant burn, the pulse racing right through my body, and I was a great believer that meant everything. Without that, I didn’t think that any couple could last.

  “I’m sorry,” I told him regretfully. “But I’m exhausted. I think I’m just going to go home. It’s nothing to do with you, it’s just been a long week, you know?” He’d been through it too, he had to understand. “Will you make sure that Nancy gets back okay?”

  “I think Carl has control over that,” he smirked while nodding over to where they were now in an intense conversation, probably about whoes home they were going back to. “But sure. You have a good night.” Luckily he didn’t look too disappointed, I certainly wasn’t breaking his heart.

  “Yeah, thanks, you too.” I touched his arm, and got nothing. The mere handshake with Dr. Turner had me buzzing with electricity. That was what I needed. “See ya.”

  I moved through the crowd of dancing, sweaty bodies in the club, all of them just getting started as I was headed to bed, but I didn’t regret that decision. I needed to be by myself. As the cold air hit my face letting me know that I was finally outside, a smile reached my lips.

  It had been a long, confusing, yet fabulous week. All I needed to do was recover from the shock of seeing Dr. Turner. Once I got over that and I pushed my crush to one side, I could focus on going down the positive path that I wanted to be on. Things were going so well with work, I didn’t want to wreck it over some man I didn’t even know. It was too damn important for that.

  ***

  “Okay, you will feel a sharp scratch,” I told my new favorite patient, Mrs. Davies. She braced herself, so I waited for her to relax before I slid the needle into her arm. Mrs. Davies was eighty-seven years old and riddled with all sorts of health issues, but she had a positive outlook on life which I adored. We saw a lot of different people in the hospital, and it was always the positive ones that left their mark upon me.

  “Ooh you are good at this,” she commented with a happy grin, getting through this with sheer strength. “Are you sure this is your first time working in a hospital?”

  “Well I’ve done training, but this is my first time properly, yes.” I couldn’t stop smiling around Mrs. Davies, she just had that awesome aura around her.

  “You’re very good. Pretty too. Before my hair went grey mine was a little like yours.” She reached out and touched my hair with her liver spotted, wrinkled skin. “It was what attracted my husband.”

  I checked my watch, disappointment coursing through my veins. “I could stay here and talk to you all day long, Mrs. Davies…”

  “Please, call me Edna.”

  “Well, Edna, I have a lot of other patients to see this morning but if I get some more time later in the day I’d love to come back and hear more about your husband. I would love to know about the man who managed to make an honest woman out of you.”

  “Really?” She gave me a skeptical look that I understood fully. All the medical staff spent their lives rushed off their feet. They didn’t have time to sit and chat, but I needed to be different. I didn’t get into this job just to see everyone as a number on a never-ending train. “Would you?”

  “Of course.” I giggled and held onto Edna’s hand. I truly did like her, and I found her fascinating. I knew that she’d been in for a while too, with absolutely no visitors. She deserved a listening ear, and I believed that lifting someone’s spirits could aid with their recovery
. “I would love to, if you want to talk to me of course.”

  “Oh my goodness, that would be lovely.” Her face fell and my heart went out to her. “I know that I have to be here, but it does get lonely sometimes. I know that my family lives too far away to visit, but still I do feel all by myself.”

  I glanced at my watch again, not wanting to get behind schedule. “I will be back soon, I promise you.” I was utterly determined to stick to that promise. Edna needed me and I really wanted to get to know her better.

  ***

  I didn’t actually remember my conversation with Edna which culminated in my promise until the end of the day flew around and I was grabbing hold of my backpack. I hadn’t even stopped for lunch, it had all been a blur, but now that her face had filled my mind once more I knew that I couldn’t leave her disappointed.

  It was time for me to leave, my shift was over, but I wouldn’t be able to settle at home. It was worth taking an hour just to see her again. I knew myself well and there wasn’t a chance that I’d get any sleep knowing that I’d left her alone.

  I flew down the hallway, feeling terrible as I moved. Edna had probably been sitting around waiting for me all afternoon long. What if she’d stayed awake rather than resting, just on the off chance that I’d come back? What sort of person did it make me that I hadn’t? It was only because I got busy, I really didn’t mean to!

  “I’m so sorry,” I cried out breathlessly as I pushed the door to her room open. “It got crazy, but I’m here now.”

  “Oh, I wasn’t expecting you!” Her eyes widened in surprise. Edna propped herself up onto her elbows and she gave me a confused look. “Especially not this late. Aren’t you finished now?”

  “Not yet,” I lied so she wouldn’t feel bad. I sat in the chair by her bed feeling warm and fuzzy. This was definitely the right thing to do. “Now, let’s pick up where we left off earlier on.”

  “What was I talking about? The time I travelled across Asia on the Orient Express?”