Then, I hoped to go to sleep and be able to forget about Sam and her sexual indiscretions at work and the audacity she had to lodge a false complaint about me.
If only I could get so lucky…
CHAPTER 7
Around four thirty in the afternoon, we got the message that Drake wanted to Skype.
That meant it was eleven thirty in Nairobi. Drake must have had a long day in the OR and then with admin.
Sophie ran over to where I sat on the sofa and sat beside me as I got the iPad ready for our session. I clicked on the icon and on the screen appeared Drake, lying in bed with his robe on, one hand behind his head and a big smile on his face.
“Hey there, my two beautiful girls,” he said. “I missed you all day. Did you miss me?”
“We missed you, Daddy,” Sophie said.
“Blow me a kiss, then, and prove it,” he said with a grin. He blew us both a kiss. “Did you catch it?”
Sophie reached her hand up and pretended to catch his kiss then pressed her hand against her mouth.
“Caught it!’
We spoke for a while about the day and what Sophie and I did.
“It’s late. You must have had quite a day,” I said when Sophie tired of the boring talk and started coloring again.
“Yes, Michael and I met to discuss some admin issues relating to one Sam and her resident Paul and the medical staff code of ethics. Seems as if there is some skullduggery going on during business hours, if you catch my drift. Probably after hours, too.”
I frowned. He must mean that Sam was having an affair with her resident, Paul.
“Oh, dear,” I said and made a face. “Isn’t she a relatively new newlywed or have a number of years passed?”
“Relatively new. Just passed the newlywed phase, I guess. All bets are off.”
“So, you and Michael have to deal with that. Sounds uncomfortable.”
He sighed heavily and nodded. “Yes. Very. We had words. Very uncomfortable words. Michael will be reassigning Paul to another supervisor. You can imagine that Sam is not very happy with me since I was the one who found them in flagrante delicto.”
“Poor you,” I said. “Did you happen on them accidentally?”
“Yes, and believe me, I’d rather not know. But here we are. She is not happy, if you can imagine.”
“Stay out of her way as best you can. I don’t trust her one bit.”
“Same. What I didn’t tell you is that she lodged a complaint about me with Michael. Said I was sexually harassing her, making sexually suggestive comments to her. Michael didn’t believe it, luckily, but it’s par for the course.”
“Oh, that’s terrible, Drake. What a bitch…”
“Yep, that she is. You should have seen the look in her eyes when I saw her in the hallway talking to Michael. If looks could kill…”
We spoke for a while about my day and the work I had remaining before I could finish the article and take some leave. Then, we talked about us coming to Nairobi on Tuesday.
“Come as soon as you can. I’m busy — too busy — but I really wish I had my two girls with me. Life would be much better. Do you feel you have enough time to finish editing the article? I don’t want you to force yourself if you need more time. I’ll be here when you get here, even if it’s two weeks from now.”
“No, I’m sure. I have to finish proofing it, and then it’s off to my editor. Once it’s in her hands, Sophie and I will go to the island and stay overnight at the beach house with Daddy and Elaine. Then, on Tuesday, we’ll be on our way there.”
“Good. I can’t wait. When you come, I’ll be only two or three weeks away from being finished, if we have replacements, and everything is caught up. Then, we can go visit Liam’s grave, and maybe show Sophie some of the sights. A quick safari. See the elephants and giraffes.”
“Did you hear that, Sophie?” I said and turned to face her. “Daddy wants to take us on a safari to see the elephants and giraffes when he’s done. Would you like that?”