***
Vicky sat at her desk, going over the list that she created on her personal laptop. She had been working on it all morning, and making good progress.
Liquidate assets – call bank and meet this afternoon - CHECK
Meet with lawyer to update will and assets - TO DO
Turn in leave of absence request to corporate - CHECK - email sent this morning
Rearrange positions so hospital is not left without a chief executive officer - IN PROGRESS
Call special board meeting to confirm choice and announce LOA - PENDING
Arrange for someone to house sit for me
Maybe I can convince mom and dad to sell their house and move in to mine. Aidan and I are probably moving to Boston anyway, if not, I’ll… we’ll just buy another one.
Say goodbye to Joyce
Tell Yvonne and Paul and the executive team that I’m leaving - DELAYED pending #4 completion
Send out staff announcement to employees - DELAYED - do that as the very last thing. Can’t face saying goodbye to them
Vicky leaned back in her chair, and let her mind drift to last night. Aidan had been insatiable, and Vicky moaned just thinking about all those orgasms. Bringing herself back to reality, she picked up her phone, and called Joyce.
“Hey, got a minute?”
“Well, I’m holding my patient’s heart in my hands, right now, but, sure, I can talk.”
Vicky knew that her best friend, Dr. Joyce McMillan, a nationally renowned cardiovascular surgeon, from New York, with a wicked since of humor, and a temper to match, would never break her concentration, no matter what else was going on around her. She believed that the patient always came first. And that’s why Vicky knew better, than to try and explain to her, something as big as going to Syria. It would be dangerous to the patient, because she knew that Joyce was going to be upset by the news.
“Oh, okay, I need to tell you something. Can you call back this afternoon, say around two?”
“Sure, what’s up?”
“I’ll tell you when you call.”
As soon as she hung up from Joyce, her phone rang.
“Hey gorgeous, wanna have phone sex?” a deep, raspy voice, asked on the other end.
“Maybe later, I’m waiting on a call from my lover right now. No one compares to that girl’s tongue. Have mercy!” Vicky blushed at her own joke, and let out a giggle.
Aidan laughed also, “So are you busy, I mean, other than lusting after my body?”
“I’m never too busy to lust after your body, honey, but actually, I’m making my ‘to do’ list, so I don’t forget anything. What about you?”
“Believe it or not, I was doing something similar. Want to meet for lunch and compare notes?”
The simple request to meet over lunch, sent tingles down Vicky’s spine. “Funny you should ask, that’s at the top of my list.”
“It’s a date then.”
“Oh! I like the sound of that. Our second date.”
Aidan thought, she’s right, they’d only ever been on the one date. But on that occasion, she didn’t remember who Vicky was, other than as her boss. The idea was intriguing to Aidan. Vicky deserves a real date, where she can dress up, and be treated like a queen. Especially after the way I screwed up, the other night.
“Tell you what, clear your schedule for tonight and we’ll do it, we’ll go out on an actual date, okay, kid?”
“A real date, or pizza and a movie at the house?”
“A real date. Wear a dress, make up, the whole nine yards.”
“Really?”
“Yes really.”
“Suddenly, I feel like a teenager again. Okay, now I need to add the beauty shop to my list, oh, and maybe buy a new dress, and some shoes.” Vicky laughed, but Aidan knew she wasn’t kidding.
***
The two lovers met for lunch, and compared their lists. Aidan was pleased with the progress they were making. But when she saw Vicky’s number one priority, she had to make one more appeal, even at the risk of another fight.
“I just have to say, again, that I absolutely hate the idea of you using your own money for this. I know you want to help, Vick, but you don’t have to do all this. I don’t want to feel like you’re buying my love, and I don’t want to feel like I owe you, because that’s how I feel right now, whether it’s true or not. Does that make sense?”
Vicky understood that her best friend and lover, was a proud, independent woman, who would give a person the shirt off her back, but wouldn’t take theirs, if her life depended on it. But this wasn’t about pride, it was about their future together.
“Aidan, I can’t dictate how you feel about my money. You have to come to grips with that on your own, because it’s not going to go away. But I do know that what is mine, is yours, just as it has been since we were kids. You shared my toys then, why won’t you now? I mean, you already own the most important thing I have. My heart. Do you think you owe me for that too?”
“Of course not.”
“So you need to get used to it, if we’re going to make our marriage work.” Vicky took a sip of her drink, and watched Aidan closely. “Do you even know how much I make in a year?”
“No, it’s not any of my business.” Aidan replied.
“Well, it is now. I make enough that I may not even have to sell anything. I may already have what we need in my savings, because you see, sweetheart, I pull in a little over $200k a year. I have no debt. My house is paid for, so is my parents’ house, and their winter home in Hawaii. My car, my parents car, everything is paid for. Plus, the job I was thinking about taking in Boston will pay $500k, so please, let this go.”
“But one of the things I love most about you, Vick, is your huge heart, and the way you help out those in need. I don’t want you to lose the ability to do that.”
Vicky blushed, and nodded her head, “Yes, I do enjoy paying it forward, as it were, and that’s where a lot of my money goes now a days. But, sweetheart, the worst loss of all to me, would be if I couldn’t help the one I loved the most.”
Aidan finally relented, on the surface at least, “Well, okay then…, you’re buying lunch.”
Winking at Aidan, Vicky felt relieved that the hurdle had been jumped. She playfully stole a French fry off of Aidan’s plate.
But just as she was about to grab her fry back, Aidan’s phone rang.
“Hello? Yes, this is Cassidy. Yes, I am interested. How much?” Aidan listen for a minute, her eyelids fluttered nervously, then she said, “Okay, thank you, I’ll be in touch.”
Vicky looked at her curiously. “That was them, wasn’t it?”
Taking a big gulp of her beer, she exhaled slowly, and said, “Yeah, that was them. They want $75,000 for nine weeks of training, and that’s uh, per person.”
“So we’re talking about $225k, right? Plus, I imagine we’ll have to buy our own equipment, and transportation, and whatever else we might need, so we’re probably talking at least $300k all totaled.”
Aidan’s mouth suddenly went dry, “Yeah, that sounds about right.”
“Okay, then, this is no problem. I’ve got almost that much in savings, and stocks and bonds, so let me get to the bank, and run some other errands, and I’ll see you tonight. Don’t worry, honey, I’ve got this covered.”
Vicky picked up the lunch ticket, and went to pay for it, while Aidan went to the bathroom. She checked underneath the porcelain doors to see if anyone else was in the stalls, and when she found no one there, she shut the door to her stall, and let her anger out. Damn it, how did this get so out of my control? I’ll pay you back, kid, somehow, some way, but I will pay you back.
***
***
“Hey, I’ve only got a minute between surgeries, what’s up?” Joyce called right at two, as she was told to do.
“Are you alone?”
She jumped up, and shut the door to her office, “Yep. Now what’s going on, Vicky?”
Vicky explained about Aidan’s e
x-fiancée, and what their plans were, for the next few months. As she expected, Joyce went ballistic.
“Oh, my God, Vicky, are you crazy?”
She laughed and replied, “Yes, crazy in love. What’s a girl to do, Joyce, sit at home and crochet, like the good little wife, and pray that her lover come’s back to her. No, that’s not who I am. Besides, I lost her once. I can’t take that chance, not again.”
“But, what if she decides she wants Sam?”
“I trust her, I know she loves me, and wants to marry me.” Vicky held her hand out, and admired her diamond ring, “Speaking of which, when I get back, will you be my matron of honor?”
“Of course I will, if I can wear blue jeans. But don’t change the subject. I’m worried about you, Vicky. It’s not like you. You’re more board meetings, and high society dinners with president’s and celebrities. Not crawling around in the mud, and learning to shoot a gun, or whatever the hell it is you’re going to be doing.”
“I don’t know what I’ll be doing exactly, but I do know it will help me to defend Aidan. And if that’s what it takes, I’m ready to crawl around in the mud to make it happen. Wouldn’t you do the same thing, Joyce?”
Joyce reluctantly admitted to herself, that she would feel the same way, if it were her wife. “Well, I guess it’ll be good for losing a pound or two, at least.”
“Oh, yeah, bonus! So, um, in your professional opinion, will I have any complications from my heart surgery?”
“Oh, so that’s what you really calling for, free medical advice.”
Vicky laughed, and replied, “You know me to well, Joyce.”
“Well, in answer to your question, no, I don’t think you’ll have any problems, not if the last films I looked at, are any indication. You’ve healed quickly over the last three months, and had no complications, so that’s in your favor. The scar from where the bullet entered, might give you some twinges. You might also have some shortness of breath, some fatigue, that type of thing, and if that happens, wait it out, don’t push it.”
“Okay, thanks, my friend.”
“And Vicky, your heart can’t take anymore trauma, of any kind. Understand?”
Vicky understood that her friend was asking her to be careful, not only of getting hurt physically, but emotionally too, “I understand, Joyce. Don’t you worry, nothing’s going to happen to us.”
***
She walked into a back alley watering hole, waited for her eyes to adjust to the dingy, smoke filled room, and then took a seat at the bar. Propping her boots on the foot rail, and her elbows on the bar, she ordered a beer. Pushing away the jar with boiled eggs in brown water, she pulled the peanut bowl toward her instead. Scooping up a handful of peanuts, she asked, “I don’t suppose you have any Cuban cigars back there, do you?”
“Nah, but I’ve got some stale American ones, if you want. Even give you a discount, you being a girl and all.”
“Yeah sure, whatever. Give me one.”
“That’ll be ten bucks, lady.”
Aidan dug into her jean pocket, and plopped down a crumpled ten dollar bill. The bartender grabbed it up, and sat the cigar box in front of her, then poured her a watered down glass of beer from the tap. She expertly lit the cigar, rotating it around, savoring the smoke on her tongue, before expelling it. Man, I’ve missed these. Letting the cigar smoke circle her head, she took a hit off of her beer, and swiveled her stool around, to survey the room.
“Where can a girl find some action around here?”
“Depends on what kind of action you’re looking for, lady?”
“Poker. Just poker.”
The bartender nodded toward the back room, “It’s not penny ante, ya know?”
Aidan pulled out a wad of bills from her billfold, and said over her shoulder, as she walked toward the room, “I’m not a penny ante, kind of girl.”
***
Late that afternoon, just as Ruth was coming through the hospital front doors, a horde of day-shift employees hurried out. She laughed to herself, remembering what quitting time felt like. She missed that. She made her way to the finance director’s office, and ran into Kate in the hallway. They grabbed a cup of coffee at the cappuccino bar, and sat down.
“I was going to talk with you earlier, but you kind of distracted me.” Ruth recited from memory, her speech, ending with, “So you understand, right? It’s nothing personal.”
“Oh, honey. You are so precious.”
“What?”
“Why get personally involved when you can have any one you want?”
Ruth raised her eyebrow, “Well, I haven’t given it much thought really.”
“I tried it once. Six months of bliss, a year of wondering what I was doing wrong, than an email saying so long, which tacked on another six months of heartache. No thank you. I’ve learned my lesson. Now I’m never lonely, always perpetually horney, and continuously, orgasmically satisfied.”
“You know, if they could bottle you up, we could corner the market on sex toys.”
“Oh, kitten, you have no idea. Listen, I’ve barely begun to show you where the delicate, secret hiding places are, that makes a woman scream with passion. You’re my clay, let me mold you. No strings attached.”
“Uh…, all right, I guess. But not on hospital premises, okay?” Ruth pointed towards Vicky, walking their way, “I don’t want my niece to catch us, and fire you.”
“Oh, God, you’re a woman with power too. That’s very titillating.”
“Kate. Kate, come back down to earth please. I have no power around here. I just respect my niece too much to use her office as your personal amusement park.”
“Oh, yeah, sure. I respect her too.”
Ruth chuckled, “I’m sure. She’s probably the only woman here, that you want, and can’t have.”
“Damn. You can already read me like a book.”
“Aunt Ruth, you’re back?” Vicky walked over to them, and shot Kate a look that had her excusing herself, and disappearing instantly. “Can I freshen your cup, Aunt Ruth?”
“No thanks, I’m good.”
Vicky ordered a coffee at the cappuccino bar, and as she waited she said good night to her employees, and as she always did, she thanked them for their commitment to their patients. Back when she was a novice CEO, she went out of her way to win the hearts of her employees with simple things like being there to say goodnight, or coming in on the weekends to provide afternoon cookies for their break rooms. It was little things like that, which endeared her to them. She missed having the time to do those things in person, but still, liked to provide them with treats, as the occasion warranted. Vicky smiled at the concierge, who was helping a lost visitor find her way. Then an idea presented its self. “Do you have time to chat, Aunt Ruth?”
After the first sip of coffee, that the world always had to stop for, Vicky and Ruth went back to her office for a “chat”. She introduced Ruth to Yvonne, as they passed by her desk, then Vicky led Ruth into her office, and shut the door. Another sip of the steaming fresh java, and Vicky got down to business.
“Aunt Ruth, I’m going to be away for a few months. I haven’t told anyone yet, so don’t say anything, okay?”
“You haven’t told me anything yet, either. Where are you going that you’ll be away so long? Is Aidan going with you?” Ruth didn’t usually push her way into her niece’s business, but the way Vicky said she was going away, as if she did that every day, made Ruth feel a nervous twinge. She had always been especially close to Vicky, as the child she would never have, but her business had kept her too busy or too tired, to even pick up the phone to call at times. She was hoping to make up for that now.
“I can’t tell you, I’m sorry. But yes, I will be with Aidan, so no need to worry.”
“You’re not eloping are you?”
Vicky grinned, the thought was inviting, but they hadn’t even talked about the wedding yet. “No, nothing as fun as that. Listen, I was hoping maybe you’d come to work here, sort of hang
out, while I’m gone. You could be the manager of the concierge’s who man the front door.” Ruth was about to laugh at her idea, but Vicky pressed on, “You’ve just lost what, sixty, seventy pounds? Look at you, you’re gorgeous. But no one knows it because you hide behind a computer screen at home. Running into Kate on your first outing was a sign.”
“A sign?”
“Yes, it told me that you need to get out and meet more people. I’m glad Kate could help with your immediate needs, but Aunt Ruth, she’s not…”
“She’s not my Aidan? Yeah, I get that. But she does have her uses, and to be honest, I have already learned a lot from her.” Ruth felt a twinge of excitement thinking about their first encounter. Could she be that bold herself. Probably not. Would she like to be? Absolutely. “But you see, my problem is that I don’t know how to approach women. You know, the kind of woman you’d want to take home to mother. Well, not my mother, or my sister, but you get the idea.”
“How about the kind you’d want to introduce to your only niece?”
Ruth smiled, the idea was very comforting to her.
“You could meet those kinds of women here, at the hospital…, oh my God. I just realized I’m turning my hospital into a pickup club.”
Ruth laughed at the consternation on Vicky’s face. “Don’t you worry, sweetie. I know how to be discrete.”
Remember, It’s You I Love: Operation Pink Knight Page 5
