I could still feel the heat in my cheeks as I desperately avoided looking at either of them.
The nurse shoved her hands on her hips. “Mr. Brodie, your mom needs you. You need to come now,” she said, her tone all business. Then she glanced at me, eyebrows raised in judgment. “And your girlfriend can come too. Get yourselves in shape and head to room 5023 ASAP.”
I blinked in surprise, processing the information that this work-obsessed, seemingly unflappable man had a mother in the hospital. A mother who needed him.
The empty room spun into another place and time, a different hospital room with beeps and yelling voices, with nurses pulling me away from the bedside.
Like those nurses, this nurse expected to be obeyed. She marched out without waiting for a response, leaving us standing there in stunned silence.
Topher shifted into action, his demeanor still sharp and focused, like nothing could throw him off. “There’s a program running on my computer. The Wi-Fi in this place is terrible, and I can’t risk moving the laptop, or I’ll lose the connection.”
His gaze landed on me with the same intensity he probably reserved for boardrooms and deals. “I’ll pay you five-hundred dollars to keep an eye on the laptop and bring it to room 5023 when the program’s done.”
I blinked, still trying to process the awkward collision, the nurse’s orders, and now this unexpected request. He didn’t waver, didn’t show a hint of anything but confidence, like he fully expected me to agree without question. There was no room for vulnerability or uncertainty in his world.
He paused for a moment, then added, almost as an afterthought, “Just so you know, if anyone tries to steal the computer or mess with it, the security system will lock it down and wipe everything.”
I didn’t know what to say. Part of me wanted to tell him to shove his five-hundred dollars and that he should figure it out himself. But five-hundred dollars was more than just a little extra cash. It was enough to cover bills I’d been worrying about for weeks, enough to buy me some breathing room. I hesitated, suddenly aware of how much I needed that money. It was like a lifeline I couldn’t afford to pass up. “Fine, I’ll do it.”
He gave a curt nod. “Just make sure it gets to room 5023 when the program’s done running.”
And with that, he turned and strode out of the room, as if it were just another day at the office.
I let out a sigh as the door clicked shut behind him.
So, let’s recap: I’d lost my job, my home, and my boyfriend, and I was taking cash from a guy who probably had a personal assistant just to open his emails.
A guy who probably thought “roughing it” meant staying in a four-star hotel.
A guy who probably had a team to help him pick out his tie.
Really hitting new heights here. Yep, definitely living the dream.
3
I sat backin the chair, the dull hum of Topher’s laptop filling the room as I waited for his program to finish. Bored, I pulled out my phone. The moment I unlocked it, a notification popped up, and my stomach twisted into knots. My loan payment was coming due, and the app’s warning flashed ominously in red. Great. Just what I needed.
With a sense of dread, I logged into my bank account, bracing for the worst. A negative balance glared back at me. I bit my lip, anxiety gnawing at my insides. I did some quick mental math. With the five hundred dollars I’d get from watching this laptop, I could barely scrape by and get my account back in the black. But that was just a Band-Aid, not a real solution. The looming sense of doom wasn’t going anywhere.
I sighed, trying to shake off the worry and focus on the task at hand. The program on Topher’s laptop was still running, lines of code or data, scrolling by on the screen. I had no idea what any of it meant, but it was clearly significant enough that Topher was willing to pay me to babysit it.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the program finished loading with a soft beep. I closed the laptop carefully, tucking it under my arm, and headed toward room 5023, where Topher’s mother was.
As I approached, I heard voices. I stood outside the door and listened.
“Mom, it’s probably nothing,” Topher was saying. “Just some headaches.”
“Topher, don’t brush this off,” replied a woman—I assume his mother—her voice laced with concern. “You’ve been working too hard, and stress can do terrible things to the body. You need to take care of yourself. What you need is a girlfriend, someone who’ll look after you.”
I leaned closer, trying to listen without getting caught.
“He does have a girlfriend,” the nurse from earlier said, her voice chipper. “I walked in on him with a gorgeous girl downstairs.”
I nearly choked.Gorgeous?Was she talking about me?Wait, does she actually think I’m his girlfriend?But before I could fully process that little bombshell, I heard Topher’s panicked response.
“Girlfriend? That’s… ha… No, she’s…” He sounded like he was about to combust on the spot.
“Oh, Topher! This is wonderful news!” His mother’s voice was practically bubbling with excitement. “I knew you’d find someone eventually. And she’s here?! Right now?!”
