Page 59 of Only This Once
Charles fell into step beside her. He didn’t say anything as he pressed the button for the elevator.
She glanced up at his face. Normally he was smiling, but he never smiled in moments like this.
When the doors opened, she followed him inside, giving the two nurses already standing in there enough room. “Is this causing problems for you?” she asked quietly, studying his face again.
The nurses grew silent, glancing their way.
“You let me worry about that,” Charles said.
She swallowed, staring at the next floor that lit up. “If—”
“No, Julia. You’re the best surgical technician I’ve had, and you’re only going to get better with more experience.” His smile flashed this time as he stared down at her. “I’m lucky to have hired you.”
She blinked back the heat in her eyes. “Okay,” she managed to say, glad when the doors opened. She’d stayed professional so far, and she wasn’t going to let someone treating her kindly break that.
Julia finished sending off a message to her sisters about her shitty day when Jinx’s text notification popped up.
‘Do you want to hang out tonight?’
Imagining a smiling Jinx helped cool some of her frustration. They hadn’t seen each other since Sunday, though they’d been chatting back and forth all week. Nice and friendly.
‘Just as friends,’ he sent a second later, as if he thought she was worried about it.
He hadn’t pushed her about her one-time rule at all. She was the one who, the night before, had considered sexting him. What would he look like if she told him she’d pictured him while she used her favorite vibrator to get off? More than once.
She’d had daydreams about some of the guys she’d fucked before. Imagining scenarios while masturbating was natural and didn’t have to mean anything.
It was her own problem that just the thought of him made her toes curl even as it eased the knot in her stomach.
‘I’m not good company tonight,’ she responded. ‘Had a crappy day.’
She flipped to the chat with her sisters. Only Maria had responded, telling her she had handled the situation at work well and that she was sure things would get better soon.
Julia let the phone go dark. She wasn’t as optimistic as her sister, but that was nothing new. Maria was on a different level, to the point Julia worried her sister would get beaten down by the world. She should ask her about that guy again.
She didn’t. Instead, she curled on her side on the couch and stared at the TV’s blank screen. She got like this sometimes. The pills she’d been prescribed helped, but it didn’t take away the bad days completely.
Her phone vibrated near her hand, then repeated. She flipped it over, assuming Jinx was the one calling and already sitting up to take it.
That it was Phoebe retightened the knot in her stomach. She sighed, decided the evening couldn’t get any worse, and answered.
“Hey, Feebs.”
“Not avoiding me this time?” Phoebe asked, her voice including a snap of frustration.
“Did you call to slut-shame me again?” Julia asked, sinking back down on the couch for this conversation.
Phoebe sucked in an audible breath, then released it. “I didn’t mean it to come out that way. But come on, Jules, you sleep with a lot of guys.”
“It doesn’t mean I’ll sleep with anyone, though.” She got around, but she had standards on how she should be treated. The minute a guy broke them, she sent him packing.
Even John had treated her with respect at the time. It wasn’t until afterward that she realized what a prick he was. Especially if he was telling all the other doctors she was an easy lay. She wasn’t easy. She just actively pursued what she wanted.
“Maybe not anyone, but your experience is ridiculous. Did you really expect me to be happy you wanted to add my brother to your numbers?”
“No. I guess not.” She kind of had, though. Phoebe knew her. She would have said that Phoebe knew her better than anyone. Now, she wasn’t so sure. “You should know I’d never do anything to hurt him, though.”
“Not on purpose, no, and… I get it now. Jesse told me about—” Phoebe cleared her throat before trying again. “Well, that he had… you know.”
