When I’m done with my shift, I go to my locker and pull out my phone. He has texted me the driver’s number, and I notify the driver what time to pick me up.
The car is sitting at the curb when I step outside. The driver opens the door and I get in. On the seat is a massive bouquet of pink roses and a note.
I open the envelope.
Charlotte,
Don’t forget me.
XOXO,
Xander
PS - I miss you already.
Forget about him?As if that would ever be possible.
I glance at the time on my phone and know he’s on his plane, already in the air. I send him a text. “Don’t forget me. And I miss you, too.”
8
Xander
Eight Months Earlier
My flightjust landed in Columbus, Ohio. I remove my suitcase from the overhead bin and make my way off the plane and through the airport.
The air is warmer than it usually is in May, and the cab driver has all the windows rolled down.
“Hyatt Regency, please,” I tell him.
“You in town for the medical convention?” he asks.
“Yes.”
“You’re arriving late. Most of the doctors came in yesterday.”
“I was in surgery all day yesterday.”
Plus, I had to rearrange my entire schedule over the next two days.
We continue to chat until we get to the hotel. I quickly check in, take a quick shower then open the pamphlet the registration lady gave me regarding the conference.
I scan through it and find the breakout session I want to attend.
If I go now, I’ll catch the last fifteen minutes.
I throw on the lanyard with the conference badge I also received at check-in and quickly maneuver through the hotel and conference room.
When I enter the session, Charlotte is at the front of the room, using the laser to point out different pus pockets that can occur from orthopedic surgery.
I slide into a seat in the back of the room.
The conference is for doctors going through their residency. I’m way beyond that and would never be at it.
But she is here.
Yesterday, Charlotte texted me. “Guess who gets to spend three days in Columbus for two presentations.”
