Page 7 of Examining Ella

She accepted the call.

“Good evening. This is Ella Grant.”

“Good evening, Ella.”

She nearly gasped as she instantly recognized the voice of Dr. Kirk.

Her excitement quickly wore off as she realized what an after-hours call from the physician might mean.

“Is there bad news about my test results?”

“Oh, no! I’m so sorry to startle you. I, uh, should have thought about that before I called.”

“No big deal. I guess I’m just kind of jumpy,” she said with a laugh.

“Hey, this is on me. I should have realized how it would seem with me calling you. I hope I’m not disturbing you.”

“No. Actually, I’m just looking online, thinking about that vacation idea you floated earlier.”

Floated was the right word, she thought to herself, as she kept her eyes on the image of the cruise ship. She kept that lame joke to herself, though. Along with what kind of cruise she was looking into. She sure wasn’t going to tell him that!

“Good. That’s actually why I was calling. I wanted to make sure you’re taking care of yourself. For whatever reason, I…couldn’t stop thinking about you today.” A moment ticked off the clock before he added, “And your situation. Just wanted to make sure you’re okay.”

Ella forgot all about the website. She gripped her phone tighter. There was something more to Dr. Kirk’s words. Something they both understood but weren’t acknowledging. Not aloud, at least.

Should she pursue it? Was this the perfect opening to get a date?

He doesn’t want the chubby middle-aged woman, Ella. He’s a wealthy, handsome doctor. He wants a young skinny thing. A trophy hanging on his arm.

Besides, she thought, are doctors even allowed to date patients? Not that it mattered. He wasn’t interested in her. He was just being a good practitioner, going above and beyond to check on his patient. She was probably just one of many on the list of calls he’d make tonight.

“I’m fine,” she said. “Thak you so much for checking.”

“You’re going to take my advice and do something for yourself?”

“I am,” she said.

“Good. As I mentioned, I’m leaving town. But feel free to call me if you need me. Anytime. About anything. This is my personal number. I hope you’ll save it in your phone and don’t hesitate to use it.”

That sent an excited chill down her spine as her lips curled in a devilish smile. But she quickly reminded herself that he was just being a good doctor once again.

“Thank you so much. I hope you have a great trip,” she said.

“And I hope whatever you do is great—and relaxing—as well. Take care, Ella.”

She at least waited until the call had ended before she giggled. She would definitely be making use of her magic wand again later. But that could wait. Right now, she wanted to see about this cruise.

The Little Star, as the ship was called.

She continued to scope out the site. A few minutes later, she saw something that caused her heart rate to increase. Excitement started in her core and spread throughout her entire body, causing even her fingers to tingle.

Bigs were encouraged to attend. They could bring their Littles. Or single Mommies and Daddies could book a cruise, hoping to meet their forever cutie. The cruise even had special events for single Bigs and Littles, such as dances and mixers.

This is too good to be true. Surely they’re full. You probably have to book this trip years in advance.

She went to the right page, plucked in the dates, and was shocked when it came back that they still had slots open for their departure two days from now.

She didn’t think anymore about it. She booked as fast as possible.

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