Out of all the girls that signed up, only two were serious: my two mentee babies, Jessica and Eloise. Both were sweethearts. Jessica wanted to be a pediatric surgeon. Eloise had yet to narrow down her discipline, but that was alright. She had plenty of time.
Since it was only the two girls, that allowed me to mentor them in more intimate settings with their parents’ approval. Waivers were signed, and I kept the parents informed of activities and locations at all times. Jessica’s mother was actually a nurse that worked in the hospital on the same floor as me. Today, we were at my family’s restaurant where their parents would pick them up from.
“As women with melanin, we will always be doubted. We can’t be bothered with those people. Frankly, we can’t be bothered with those who undermine us either. Our excellence will speak louder than their doubt and stupidity,” I assured them. “When I decided that I wanted to be a surgeon, people doubted me, so I decided that not only would I be a surgeon, but I would be the youngest, Black female surgeon in North Carolina. What did I tell y’all to do?”
In unison, they responded, “Give them hell.” We all laughed together.
“Okay, so I heard that you two aced your bones test in human anatomy.” My smile was wide. We studied hard on those bones. I was happy that our hard work wasn’t for naught.
Another condition of our program was that we had authorization to have access to their grades while they were in the program. There was a time, in the beginning, when we didn’t, and one of our girls forged her documentation. It was a sad affair.
They both smiled. “We did that!” Eloise said with a beautiful smile. She had some of her father’s features, but she was more of her mother. I wondered what the story was with her mother and father.
Eloise and Jessica bumped shoulders. They didn’t know each other before this program. Since they started, they started to hang out together at school. I loved that about this program as well.
I slid out of the booth after I told the girls that I would be right back. I got them both a special gift. I retrieved the gifts and was back at the table in no time. “I got both of you something for your hard work.”
I passed their bag to each of them. With excitement, they reached into their bag and pulled out the gift. Their eyes bucked as their cheeks rose. The three of us had something in common.We loved LEGO. My brothers teased me about my LEGO room in my house, but I didn’t give a fuck.
“Oh my God! How did you get these? They’re sold out everywhere!” Eloise bounced in her seat at the set that I bought.
I raised my shoulders to my ears. “I have my connections. Maybe one day you guys can come over and see my LEGO room.”
Both of their faces fell. Jessica leaned forward on the table. “Wait, you have a LEGO room? What does that mean?”
I laughed at her serious tone. “It means that I have a room in my house that is dedicated to building and displaying my LEGO art. It gives me peace.”
“Wow! That is so cool. I want to be like you when I grow up,” Eloise said.
Her admiration was cute. “Nope. I want you to be you when you grow up. Being ourselves is the one thing that we can do perfectly without any doubt.”
We sat and talked about various topics until Jessica’s mother came to pick her up. I loved her mother, Melissa. She was an amazing registered nurse. After she left, Alexander wasn’t far behind her.
Dear God, give me the strength of a virtuous woman.It was one thing to see him in his club attire. It was a completely different situation to see his chocolate, masculine, sexy ass in a five-piece tailored suit. I wanted to buy his tailor an Edible Arrangements because everything was right about the fit of his suit. I spotted him from the moment he climbed out of his luxury SUV. His ombre tinted aviator shades added another level of sexiness to him. He didn’t walk; he glided.
“Hey, Daddy!” Eloise greeted him as soon as he stepped into the restaurant. “Look what Dr. Hestia got me.”
I told her and Jessica that they could just call me Hestia. They insisted that they call me Dr. Hestia out of respect. I appreciated that.
Alexander took the LEGO set from Eloise. He examined the box, then looked at me. “Where did you find this? She had me all over the city looking for this damn thing.”
“What can I say? Don’t worry about it, mister. I have my ways,” I subtly flirted.
He gazed at me for a moment. With his eyes still on me, he addressed Eloise. “Did you tell her thank you, baby girl?”
“I did. Oh, she has a LEGO room. We need to talk about that because I feel like I need one too,” she said convincingly.
He chuckled. “Oh, okay. That could be something that we discuss at a later date.” He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her into him. “How about you drive us home today.”
Eloise’s eyes lit up. “Really! Oh, let me go move the seat up because I know it’s in the back seat.” She turned her attention to me. “Thank you so much for today, Dr. Hestia.”
“You are so welcome, sweetie. I can’t wait to see you next time.” She gave me a hug before she rushed out.
After she was out of the restaurant, Alexander moved into my space. “So, you have your ways? What ways are those?”
My skin warmed to him in my space. “Um, they’re my ways. Only a privileged few get that insight into my life.”
He nodded, then stepped back. “Okay, Dr. Basil. I guess my next step is to become one of the privileged few. You have a good day, beautiful.”
