Page 13 of Not My Finest Hour

Fern’s eyes soften. “Iamon your side. I’m just trying to get you to see his side so you don’t spend the rest of your life hating him.”

I nod along, staying silent because I don’t have anything more to add. I wouldn’t spend the rest of my life hating him because our relationship barely got off the ground. And if I’m going to start putting myself out there again, I need to get used to having a few hiccups and heartbreaks along the way.

“Don’t let this derail you. There will be other guys. You’re just now putting yourself out there, and if nothing else, this just gives you a chance to meet other people.”

“I know. It’s just that he and I seemed like a good match. I really liked him. But it wasn’t meant to be, I guess,” I say with a heavy sigh. I slump back on the couch, resting my head against the back cushion. Silence spreads between us.

“Are you hungry? There are some leftovers in the fridge that I can heat up for you,” Fern offers.

I shake my head. “I’m hungry, but not hungry enough for dinner.”

“Hungry enough for ice cream?” she asks with a grin.

My stomach lets out an approving gurgle. “Ice cream sounds pretty good right about now. Is it chocolate chip cookie dough?”

She lets out a chuckle. “Is there any other kind?”

“Not in my world.” I get up from the couch and brush down my skirt. “Drowning my sorrows in ice cream sounds like the perfect way to cap off this shit evening. Let me go get changed.”

ChapterSix

The next morning, my stomach is swimmy with nerves as I make the drive to work. I had one job to do—take notes on a seminar Kim wasn’t able to attend. And I failed.

In the time that I’ve worked with her, I’ve never not delivered on something she’s asked me to do. Sure, I’ve been late a few times, but even Kim has been late before, and I’ve always had a valid reason for it. Making coffee is supposed to be one of my duties, but for the longest time, I couldn’t figure out the coffee maker, so Kim would make the coffee herself. So I haven’t been the perfect employee who has done no wrong, but anything extra she’s asked me to do, I’ve always come through without fail. Except for now. This will be the first time that I don’t have anything to show for the time I put in last night, and I’m sure she’s going to be disappointed with me.

But what do I tell her? Do I tell her the truth? That I got dumped last night and had to bolt because I couldn’t be in the same room as Justin? If I tell her that, she might start poking around and figure out that Justin is working under Dr. Tarlton, and it could get him in trouble. Which I don’t want. I don’t want to be the reason Justin’s medical career gets ruined. Even though he doesn’t want to be with me, I couldn’t do that to someone.

I could lie and say that my fear of spiders prevented me from listening to the speaker last night. I could tell her that there was a giant spider on the wall where they were having the speeches, and there was no way I was going to sit through the evening while that monster was crawling around. It could’ve landed on me and bit me, so leaving was the only way to ensure my safety.

Or I could say that I wasn’t feeling well last night, and after the third trip to the bathroom, I decided to call it quits. Otherwise, I would’ve spent the whole night in the bathroom and wouldn’t have been able to take notes anyway. Although that lie is more embarrassing for me, I think that’s the one I’m going to go with.

I pull into the clinic’s parking lot and notice that Kim’s car is already here, which isn’t surprising because she usually likes to arrive before me even though I have a key to unlock the place. I think she mostly uses the downtime to catch up on news and have her breakfast without a lot of chatter. Kim lives in a multi-generational household with her two young children, her husband, and her mother-in-law and father-in-law. I think the clinic is an escape for her, a place where she can be alone, and I think the time before any patients show up is probably the only quiet time she gets during the day.

When I enter the clinic, everything is quiet around me. I yell a hello so Kim knows I’m here.

“Good morning, Dahlia,” Kim yells from the back. “Give me just a second, and I’ll be up there to talk to you.”

My guess is she’s going to come up here and talk to me about the seminar because usually I don’t see her in the mornings until she comes out to greet her first patient. “You don’t have to stop what you’re doing for me,” I say in an attempt to hold her off.

“Nonsense,” she says, her voice getting louder as she walks toward the front. “I wasn’t doing anything important anyway.” Kim is dressed in her usual dress slacks and blouse, but this blouse is one I haven’t seen before. It’s blush pink with a floral pattern and complements her dark hair and olive skin perfectly.

“Did you get a new blouse? It’s really cute and looks great on you.” I ramp up the enthusiasm to distract her and maybe make her forget all about that seminar last night.Seminar? What seminar?

She looks down at her blouse and smooths it down. “You like it? I wasn’t sure about it, but it’s definitely growing on me. It’s a busier pattern than what I normally go for.”

“It’s adorable. Where did you get it?” I don’t really need to know where she got the blouse because chances are I wouldn’t be able to afford it anyway. Kim and I are on very different levels when it comes to money—she has it and I don’t.

“My mother-in-law got it for me for my birthday last year, and it’s been sitting in my closet ever since. She mentioned the blouse at dinner last night, and had everyone convinced that I got rid of it. So I’m wearing it this morning to show her that she’s wrong and I still have it,” she says with a grin.

“Dinner didn’t go well then?”

“Actually, dinner was fine. It went about as well as family functions go. We all managed to leave the restaurant in one piece. But enough about my dinner last night,” she says with a flick of her wrist, effectively ending any further discussion about it. “How was the seminar?”

Shit.I thought I’d have more time to prepare, but we might as well get this over with. “The seminar didn’t go well. I mean, I’m sure it went fine for everyone else, but I wasn’t able to take notes for you because I wasn’t feeling well and had to leave early.”

Kim’s eyebrows knit together. “Oh, no. What happened?”

“I don’t know,” I say with a shrug. “I think something I ate didn’t agree with me. Normally, I would’ve stayed and toughed it out because I know you were really excited about that seminar, but after the third trip to the bathroom, I thought it best that I leave.” There. That was easy enough to say. Now all I have to do is wait for the disappointment.

---