It seems more like Justin will be her boss, which might be great, so long as they don’t break up.
“And with Hayley’s investment, we’ll be able to expand,” Justin puts in. “We’re planning to take over the unit next door, and with the extra space, we’ll be able to hire a couple of associates.”
“You’re buying into the practice, Hayley?” I ask. I’m pretty sure Hayley doesn’t have any assets to invest in a physiotherapy practice. Either she’s taken out a bank loan, or my parents are fronting the money.
Hayley blushes a little. “Yeah. I mean, Mom and Dad are lending me the money, but?—”
“We think it’ll be an excellent investment,” my dad puts in.
I paste a smile on my face. “That’s great.”
“If you ever want to come work for us, Ally, we’ll probably need to hire another admin assistant soon,” Justin says.
Drew’s hand finds mine under the table, and I clench it tightly.
“I’ll keep it in mind, Justin,” I manage.
“What kind of work do you do, Drew?” Justin asks.
“Neurosurgery,” he replies.
“Like . . . you do the operations?” my mother asks, looking impressed.
“Yeah,” Drew nods.
Justin immediately spots the networking opportunity. “You must refer a lot of people for physio,” he remarks. “Like, after traumatic brain injuries, intracranial bleeding . . . do you do spine stuff, too?”
“Yep.”
“I don’t think I’ve treated many of your patients,” Justin says. “It’s probably why I didn’t recognize your name at first.” He pulls out his phone. “Let me send you our clinic info. We can get people in really quickly, especially if they’re post-op.”
Drew nods. “I’ll keep it in mind.”
Justin’s thumbs hover over his phone screen. “What’s your number? I’ll text you a link to our website. And a referral form. We don’t technically need a referral, but it’s helpful to know what they’ve had done. And if there are any activity restrictions, that sort of thing.”
“I’m sure I’ll be able to find you online,” Drew says politely.
“Sure.” Justin finally gets the message that Drew doesn’t want to give him his phone number. “It’s Premier Physio, if you want to Google it. Feel free to tell your colleagues, too.”
“Of course,” Drew replies.
Things get a little easier when the appetizers arrive, since everyone’s distracted by the food. Dad launches into a rant about the laziness of Gen Z university students, which goes on until we’re partway through our main courses. Then my mother picks up the conversational baton and tells us about a friend of a friend who lost thousands in a romance scam.
When we’re finishing dessert, my mother pulls a gift box out of her purse and hands it to Hayley. It’s wrapped in distinctive turquoise paper with a white ribbon.
“A little something to celebrate your graduation,” Dad says, as my mother gives it to Hayley.
I feel Drew’s fingers press mine, and I glance at him. His jaw is set, and there’s a muscle twitching in his jaw.
“Wow,” Hayley says. “You guys—I didn’t expect?—”
“Go ahead,” Dad says, rubbing his hands together in expectation of the big reveal. “Open it.”
Hayley unwraps a delicate silver watch with a turquoise face. It’s gorgeous, and undoubtedly very expensive.
“I love it,” Hayley breathes, turning it around it her hands to examine it from every angle.
“What’d you get when you graduated, Ally?” Drew asks casually.
