Page 4 of A Cancer's Embrace
“Calm down. I didn’t agree to anything besides thinking about.”
“That’s enough for me.”
I laughed. “Alright, Gloria, I’ll be back. The lab tech should be in shortly to get some blood.”
“Okay, and Amina, thank you for at least thinking about it.”
“You’re welcome.”
I walked out of the room and sighed. I hated that I had possibly lied to Gloria, but I would do anything to make her feel better.
I chewedthe steak and moaned at how seasoned it was. I was a sucker for a medium, well-seasoned steak. That was why I was so thankful when Danita called and invited me to dinner at a new steakhouse.
“This is probably the best steak I’ve had in a long time.”
Danita smiled and nodded. “Facts. I might even get myself one to go!”
“Thank you for inviting me tonight. I really needed this,” I expressed, sipping my wine.
“You know what else you need?”
I rolled my eyes because I knew exactly where Danita was going with this. She always brought it up, even when it wasn’t warranted.
“And what is it I need, Danita?”
“A man, a fuck buddy, or a one-night stand. You need to have some male companionship, whether or not it’s serious.”
“Danita, please. Not tonight. I just want to enjoy my steak without worrying about a man, dick, or getting my socks rocked off.”
Even after I told Danita this, I knew it fell on deaf ears. Danita was combative, and her opinion was stated whether a person would like to hear it or not. It was a blessing and a curse for me. I loved my big sister’s strong personality. She always took up for me because of her protective spirit, but sometimes it was overkill. Despite all of that, she was still loving, and her intentions were good. Even after the passing of our mother, she grieved, but she was a lot stronger than my brother and me. To this day, I still don’t know how she did it.
“Nita, I’m too busy to entertain any man right now, and you know that. My biggest concern is my career and?—”
“Ugh!” She dramatically threw her head back, and I laughed. “You sound like Gio’s lonely ass. You’d better be careful before you end up like him—old, lonely, and miserable.”
I laughed. “Gio just wants to make sure we are successful. You know he felt like he had to take on the parent role once Mama died.”
“By choice. No one appointed him. Shit, we’re grown now and were then. He takes that big brother, ‘my sisters must stay away from men and be nuns’ shit too far.”
I laughed. “It’s ’cause he loves us.”
“That’s nice and all, but I’ll be damned if I don’t get my fill of dick.”
“Please change the subject.” I laughed, reaching for my wine.
“I guess we can shift. But speaking of work, how is everything going? Patrick still giving you a hard time? With his trash ass,” she mumbled.
I nodded. “Yep. I still don’t get how he got that role.”
“You should switch departments. You can work in any unit and be just as successful and strong.”
“I know that, but I’m so connected to the patients down there, it would kill me to leave them. I don’t want to leave them just because Patrick sucks.”
“Girl, seriously?”
I nodded. “I’m so serious. I love my patients too much. As a matter of fact, guess who I saw the other day?”
“Who?”
