Page 44 of Doctor Enemy

“Wow. His care must have been really top quality if you’re calling him by his first name,” Olivia teases. “I’ve told you this before. I think that he’s a good doctor. He knows what he’s doing and—”

She pauses.

The strangest look crosses Olivia’s face. She brings the screen closer to her eyes, her brows pinched down. In a low, almost betrayed hiss, she asks, “Is that a hickey?”

I can practically feel the blush explode all over my face. My hand slides up to my neck, pressing against it. “It’s that noticeable?”

Olivia’s mouth drops open. She moves the phone away from her face, back to a decent distance. “Lori, tell me that you didn’t sleep with him!”

I push forward, asking, “It’s the money difference, right? I mean, look at this place and— And me. And then you’ve got Kurt, and his whole family… They’re all loaded. Something about that just feels weird. Like people are going to think that I’m just chasing him down for his money.”

“People aren’t going to care about his money,” says Olivia, aghast. I know that, rationally. It’s just easier to brush this off as being a rejection based on class differences than myactualworries. That I’ve let myself fall for a guy who’s going to take advantage of me again.

A burst of fresh misery runs through me.

In the face of Olivia’s statement, I find myself asking about my real concern, “You think it was just like, a one-night stand?”

“Lori,” says Olivia. She shakes her head, mouth pulled into a tight expression.

“I have no idea if he justsleptwith you, or if he wants something else. I wasn’t there. But I can tell you this. No one’s going to be looking at you funny because he’s rich.” Before even an ounce of relief can rise up in me, she continues, “They’re going to be looking at you because he’s old enough to be your father!”

I freeze. “What?”

“That’s weird,” insists Olivia. “It’s really, really weird to sleep with someone that much older than you.”

My mouth forms a soft, silentoh.

I hadn’t even thought about that. The age difference doesn’t bother me. At least, it didn’t bother me until Olivia mentioned it. Now I’ve gotanotherreason to question my interest in Kurt, and another reason to stand by my decision to not get dinner with him.

“He asked me out,” I say, softly. “Afterward.”

Sounding frustrated, Olivia insists, “Lori, there’s no way that you can go out with a guy that much older than you. It’s kind of gross, don’t you think? I mean, there’s like—eighteen years between you. What did Cara say he was? Forty-five?”

My lips purse. “Is forty-five really that much older?”

“Yes,” insists Olivia and waves her hand. It passes in and out of the camera’s vision. “Especially for someone that’s never wanted to settle down with anyone before. It’s a bad idea.” A pause, and then, disbelieving, “I don’t know why you would sleep with him.”

Embarrassment drifts up inside of me, adding to the potent cocktail of roiling, bubbling, and downright awful emotions that have been building up since I woke up.

Even though I have really come to enjoy talking with Kurt, and I’m already missing our late-night card games, there’s just too muchelsehappening. The guilt, the concern that I’m just another passing phase, and now this?

Whatwouldpeople think? The age difference might not be a big deal to me, but it’s definitely going to be a big deal to other people. Just look at how awful Olivia thinks it is!

Someone behind her calls out, “Olivia! This way!”

It sounds like a woman. I squint, trying to make out who it is. One of the EMTs, I think?

Olivia says, “Look, I’ve got to go. Just— Try to think about this before you make any more rash decisions, okay? He’s like, way too old for you.”

“Right,” I tell her, miserably.

Olivia stands up. The shift in angle lets me see the woman behind her. Josie; tall, pretty, dark hair and brown skin. She’s pretty much the smartest woman that I’ve ever met, and the best EMT on staff. She’s also got two tall coffees in hand, each one decked out in whipped cream, caramel sauce, and chocolate shavings.

“I’ll talk to you later,” says Olivia.

She’s clearly cutting me off short, despite being in the middle of a crisis. That’s never happened before. Best friends stopanddrop everything for a crisis. “Go lay down and get some rest. You’ll be thinking more clearly about this stuff later, okay?”

“Sure,” I say, frowning a little bit. It frustrates me that coffee with Josie is more important thanthis. And right after Olivia puts this worm in my brain about the age difference, too. I think that she must be embarrassed about my decision to have slept with him.

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