As I’m considering this problem, Celine sweeps into the office and greets me with a nod.
“Good morning, Celine,” I say brightly. “Thanks so much for getting me a desk.”
“No problem,” she says briskly as she turns on her computer.
“I was thinking of grabbing a coffee,” I say. “Can I get you something? And maybe a muffin?” If I’d been smart, I’d have picked up coffee for Celine and Dr. Malone on my way in.
Well, herbal tea for Dr. Malone. I still can’t believe that man isn’t a coffee drinker.
“No, thanks.” Celine barely looks up from her monitor.
“Okay.” Strike one on making friends with my office mate. And now I have no excuse to make a coffee run.
Celine’s phone rings, and she spends the next half hour on the phone with patients.
“I’d be happy to help answer the phone,” I offer, when she finally gets a break. “I could help book appointments or make reminder calls, whatever you need. I used to work reception at a family medicine office.”
“I’m good, thanks,” Celine replies.
Strike two on making friends with Celine. But maybe she’s one of those people who are slow to warm up.
“Let me know if you change your mind,” I say pleasantly. “And Celine, when you have a minute, I was hoping you could fill me in on how Dr. Malone’s schedule works? So I can make sure his administrative responsibilities don’t conflict with his clinical work?”
Celine purses her lips as though she’s sucked a lemon, but she answers.
“He’s in the outpatient clinic Monday afternoons and all day Friday,” she explains. “Tuesdays and Thursdays he’s in the OR all day.
“Okay.” That actually doesn’t sound too bad. It’s less than a forty-hour week. “So he might be available for a meeting next Wednesday, then?”
Celine gives me a pitying look. “We keep Wednesdays clear,” she explains. “He’s on call most Tuesdays, and he often has to operate in the night.”
“Right.” I guess I can’t begrudge the man a day of rest. “So he’s off on Wednesdays?—”
“Oh, no,” Celine interrupts. “Unless he operates all night, he uses Wednesdays for research.”
“So the best time for a meeting would be a Monday morning?”
Celine’s brow wrinkles. “Probably not. He spends Monday mornings reviewing charts for the patients he’s going to see in the clinic that week. He also does teaching sessions for the residents sometimes.”
“Got it. I guess I’ll have to ask him for a time that would work.”
“Yep.” Celine turns back to her computer.
“Do you think he’ll be back here at some point today?”
“No. It’s Tuesday, so he’s in the OR all day.” Her phone rings again, ending our conversation.
Since I don’t have anything else to do, I spend the rest of the morning scouring recipe sites for lunch ideas for the boss. When that’s done, I start scouring the web for job postings, since I’m starting to doubt I’ll last long in this one.
Celine steps out around lunchtime, presumably to go to the cafeteria, and I pull my lunch out of my desk drawer. It’s the same lunch as the one I packed for Dr. Malone, except I have sour gummy worms for dessert instead of dark chocolate. Unlike him, I’m a big fan of refined sugar, especially when it comes in the form of sour candy.
And I’m biting into a gummy worm when the door opens and Dr. Malone strolls in. He frowns at the half-eaten candy in my hand.
“You don’t like gummy worms?” I ask him.
He raises an eyebrow. “Do you know what’s in those things?”
“Well, sugar, I guess,” I reply with a shrug. “And gelatin, probably. They taste better when you don’t think about it too much. Want one?”
