I’ll be back because I need her, even if I can’t stand her.
FOUR
ANNIKA
“Uh… Anna?”
I pause in the hallway outside my office, tablet tucked into my chest, pen balanced between my fingers like a weapon. My notes are my go-to. I’ve always loved to study. Find patterns.
The clinic is quiet in that medical office way—cream walls, soft blue-gray carpet, soothing prints on the walls of landscapes and nature that look like they were chosen by someone who thinks nature can solve everything.
It can’t. Not the things that matter anyway.
Can it soothe you? Absolutely. When you need a good cry go sit by a stream and let the tears fall.
Can it fix you? No.
Jenna, my receptionist, clears her throat as she leans around her monitor with an expression that says she’s been dying to ask me something.
“Yes?” I ask, already knowing I’m going to regret it. She has that twinkle in her eye that spells trouble.
She lowers her voice dramatically, even though no one is in the office or the waiting room. “Parker O’Ryan is on the schedule today.”
“And?”
Jenna’s eyes widen. “Based on the way he slammed the door, and you yelled after him, you two must have ahistory.” She draws out the word history as she wiggles her eyebrows.
I let my lids fall shut for a long, patient second. “Jenna,” I warn.
“What? I’m just curious.”
“It’s fine. We do have a history of him being late and thinking the rules don’t apply to him.”
“So did you ever… you know? It might be considered a conflict of interest,” she asks with a slight lift of her chin.
“No.” It comes out sharp.
“So did you date?”
“No,” I repeat, even harsher, I hate that Parker is already annoying me and he isn’t even here. I should refer him somewhere else.
Jenna raises her hands. “Okay, okay. I just assumed…”
“That’s the problem. People assume and that’s how rumors don’t die.”
Her lips press together and I hate that I can see she’s fighting a smile.
“So, if you didn’t date. Didn’t have sex. What did you do? Because that man looked like he was ready to throw his career into a dumpster on his way out a couple of days ago.”
On a slow exhale, I come out with it. “I was his tutor in college.”
“Oh my God.” Jenna’s face lights up like I just handed her a private lap dance with Parker. “In what? Football?”
I deadpan. Is she serious? “Sure Jenna, I taught an O’Ryan how to throw a spiral.”
“Ok, my next guess is math.”
“Physiology.”
