1
OLIVIA
My crown is on,my sash that says “birthday girl” is draped over my shoulder, and I’m standing with my friends, in line to get into the club. The night is a little chilly.
Okay, a lot chilly.
Whose idea was it to go out tonight? Right. Mine.
My boss, Dr. Warrick, ordered me to take the next two days off for my birthday. He even said he needs proof that I celebrated, because I deserve to have fun with how hard I work.
He isn’t wrong. I know I work hard, but Dr. Warrick makes it easy. He’s the greatest boss in the world, and I love that he notices how much work I put in to make sure his day runs smoothly. Shockingly, making sure thathisschedule remains on track consumes my life, leaving me with no life of my own. But it doesn’t bother me like it should. I enjoy working. When I’m not, I don’t feel productive, so it’s hard for me to enjoy any downtime.
Since today is my birthday, I have no choice. I have tomorrow off, thanks to my boss, and I plan to make the best of it.
Hopefully, nottoomuch of the best of it.
Anytime I have too much to drink, I drunk text my ex-boyfriend who cheated on me with the woman he told me not worry about. Isn’t that how it always goes? It’s like I have this need to show him what he’s missing, and it never works out for me.
“Okay, so what’s the rule tonight?” Victoria asks, a puff of freezing-cold air leaving her lips.
I roll my eyes. “Not to drunk text my ex,” I answer, fidgeting with the crown on top of my head.
Amber fixes my sash, straightening the wrinkles in the silk. “Did you delete his number from your phone?”
His number is always deleted from my phone. The issue is that I know it by heart.
“Yes, it’s deleted,” I reply, slightly annoyed, but only with myself since my friends have to give me “the talk” every single time we go out.
“Okay, because you know what always happens,” Amber says, taking a step forward as the line moves.
Victoria begins to tell the tale of all my failures. “You always go on and on about how much you miss him, but then when you’re sober, you moan and groan about how much you hate him.”
“And then you have to deal with him texting you for days, telling you that he misses you,” Amber adds.
Victoria continues, “And then he tells you how much he thinks he loves you.”
They nail the play-by-play as if they’ve relived this story a thousand times.
“And how you guys can make it work.”
“And how he misses you waking up next to him every day.”
“And how he misses it when you bring him coffee.”
“And how?—”
I lift a hand to stop them from reminding me of how much of a bad idea it is for me to text him. “I know. I know. You don’t have anything to worry about. I’m not going to text him. I promise.”
Amber gently places her hand on my arm, a concerned smile curling her lips. “The common theme of the story there is that it was always about him. The relationship was always about him. Don’t you think you deserve someone who also takes the time to remember you?”
My ex was one of the reasons I jumped into my work. It figured since I was bad at relationships, I could throw myself into something I was good at. I’m great at taking care of other people, which is why working for Dr. Warrick is the perfect job for me. He needs someone to take care of him during his work schedule. The man is busy being a world-renowned surgeon and chief of surgery at Warrick General Hospital, which his parents own.
My boss is filthy rich and luckily pays me very well.
My phone rings and I dig it out of my purse to see Dr. Warrick’s name flashing across the screen. My brows furrow in worry, because he never calls me this late. Something must be wrong.
“Dr. Warrick? Is everything okay? Is it your wife?” His wife, Dove, is pregnant again, and for the majority of her pregnancy, she’s had to be on bed rest.
