Page 18 of The Grumpy Doc's Surprise Delivery

For the first time since I got here, the day actually felt bearable. And that was in no small part due to Liam.

He was just as grumpy and argumentative as ever, but instead of butting heads, we used our competitiveness as a force to work together. It’s like we really did learn something in the forest after all.

And, as I promised, we went to dinner. He was a funny dinner companion; it turns out that once he gets over himself, he is exactly as charming as he pretends to be. He made me laugh all night.

It was almost a wrench to say goodnight. Almost.

Now we’re on the final day, and I’m almost going to be sad to say goodbye. Almost.

When I leave my room, I stand and wait for him. He’s later than I expected he would be, and when he finally emerges, he blinks in surprise when he sees me.

The surprise quickly gives way to a smile, though. “Good morning,” he says.

“Is it?”

He grins. “Well, yes. This course is almost over, thank goodness. And the fact that I get to spend the time with you is something, at least.”

“Have you had a fall? Do you need your head checked?”

“What, I’m not allowed to be nice now?”

“No,” I say, teasing him with a smile. “It’s weird.” And it is. After getting to know him as the asshole I’m forced to be with, recategorizing him as someone fun to hang out with is more than a little jarring.

“Let’s go and see what fun they have planned for us today,” he says, offering me his arm. I take it, playing along with his silliness.

Yet again, we find ourselves in the conference room, ready for whatever the final day is going to throw at us. Everyone else is clearly excited to see the finish line too, because the room is abuzz with chatter and feels lighter than it has since we began.

That doesn’t stop the collective sense of a groan when Bruno stands at his podium, ready to announce the day.

“Good morning, everyone! I amsoexcited to be handing you all your completion certificates later on today.”

“There had better not be a ceremony for that,” mutters Liam into my ear.

“Hush,” I whisper but don’t hold back my smile. I do agree with him, after all.

Bruno continues chirping on, announcing that we’re going to spend some time coming together as teams. After that, we’ll close the day with a reflective session where we’ll all present what we’ve learned over the last few days.

I don’t even have to look at him to know what Liam is thinking.

And even if this is trite and not what we came here to learn, I am a professional. I have a reputation to maintain. And I want the last thought these people have of me to be someone with standards. No doubt they’re excited to watch Liam and I tear each other apart, but I refuse to do that.

We will have a civil, measured conversation. We will show everyone that teamwork can prevail against all the odds.

We spend most of our group time talking about San Francisco.

Bruno selects pairs at random to go. The first few that present are extremely straightforward and don’t even bother dropping any jokes in their speeches.

I can feel Liam starting to fall asleep next to me as the fifth group finishes, but before I have a chance to elbow him and tell him to wake the hell up, Bruno steps up to his podium again and clears his throat.

“Thank you very much, Kylie and Catherine! Okay, let’s see. Mr. Randomizer says…” He hesitates, his perfect mask of enthusiasm wavering for the very first time. “Next up, Liam and Emma!”

We both jump to our feet as soon as we hear our names, like schoolchildren caught napping. The eyes of everyone in the crowd are on us, blazing like they’re ready to see how we descend into battle.

I glance at Liam, and he glances at me, and we play an intense game of “you go first, no you go first” with our eyes. Finally, our standoff annoys me too much and I march up to the square marked out on the floor, the so-called stage.

I clear my throat, trying to prepare myself for what I might say, because we definitely didn’t prepare, and I glance at Liam again. Then I smile at the crowd and open my mouth, ready to be surprised by whatever comes out.

“My main takeaway from this week, I suppose,” I say, trying to stall for time. “Well, I suppose it’s tolerance.” A small murmur of laughter goes around the room, and I ignore it, trying not to get distracted.

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