Page 18 of Free to Love You
I chuckled. “You know they did. They offered me more money, but when I told them that they would have to go 15 percent more than what you gave and more vacation days, they looked at me like I was crazy as hell.” We laughed together. “They couldn’t believe that I was offered that much to begin with. A black private practice is making bank like that to offer me a salary like that.”
“Yeah, they have underestimated my practice as well as my wife’s practice for a long ass time. You would think that after all these years they know better. Failure is not an option for the O’Brians.” Croy’s voice held so much conviction.
I was blessed to be able to work with a practice that was about excellence. I loved it here. All the surgeries were scheduled, so I was able to better plan my life. I was the lead anesthesiologist that supervised two doctors, Dr. Shawn and Dr. Stanley. Dr. Shawn was fresh off his residency, so I supervised a few of the surgeries he participated in. He was a great and competent doctor, so after those few, I didn’t feel the need to any longer.
I picked my baby girl up from school more often, which she loved. Her mama was still begging my pardon. See, Hope knew that it would be detrimental to her lifestyle if she fucked with me the wrong way. We had an agreed upon amount that I gave her monthly which was a very nice chunk of change. It was more than what she would be awarded if the state placed me on child support. Her house and car were paid for courtesy of me. On top of that, she was always in my pocket for other shit that I knew had nothing to do with Ayriss.
Hope knew if I decided to pull my hand back that her ass would suffer. That extra would be cut, and I would more than likely put myself on child support through the state so there wouldn’t be any shit with her. She didn’t want that shit. My baby girl was well taken care of and would continue to be, no matter the avenue.
There was a knock on his office door. Seconds later, his wife walked in. Croy’s wife Fiona was bad as fuck. No matter how bad she was, everyone knew not to look too long. Both of their asses were crazy as fuck. I was a crazy nigga myself, but they were a special kind of crazy. Plus, the streets talked, and I was locked into what they said.
“Hey, Dr. Carson. How are you today?” She leaned down to kiss her husband. After she sat on his lap, she pointed at me. “You are actually just the person that I wanted to see.”
“I’m great, Dr. O’Brian. How can I help you?” I asked. Her practice was the leading gender reassignment practice on the east coast. The fact that she had a surgical practice and a recovery house connected to it made her a boss. Her recovery house was luxurious. I would stay there just because.
She glanced at Croy, then focused on me with a smile. “Well, I know you are the lead anesthesiologist here for my husband. I wanted to know if you wanted to be the intermittent on-call anesthesiologist for my practice?”
Damn! “What would that look like, Dr. O’Brian? With my position here, it allows me a lot more time to spend with my family. I don’t want to carve into that too much.”
“That is completely understandable and came up in conversation when I spoke to my husband about the opportunity. At the most it would be two to three surgeries a week. I have an anesthesiologist, but he is stretched thin since his wife is pregnant. I’ve interviewed a few and none of them were up to my standard, and my others on staff are good, but I need an intermittent lead,” she informed me.
I thought about it. Two to three surgeries a week weren’t bad. “Okay, I can manage two to three surgeries on a temporary basis. What would the pay look like?”
“With your experience, I’m thinking $230 an hour. How does that sound?” She looked worried like I would deny the offer. That was actually over the national average.
I hesitated for a moment because I didn’t want to be overzealous with the acceptance. “That works for me. When would you like me to start?”
Her head fell back. “Thank you, Lord! I didn’t want to interview another muthafucka. Let’s set up a meeting for nextweek so you can sit down with Dr. Shield. He will complete your onboarding. Once that is done, we can all sit down and set up some schedules. They of course won’t conflict with your schedule here and they won’t impede too much on the time that you spend with your family.”
“That works for me. I want to thank both of you for the opportunities that you all have put in front of me. I know that I don’t look like I should be a doctor, but Croy, you took me under your wing when you didn’t have to.” With Croy being a general surgeon, he could have just said hello and kept it moving.
Croy gave me a head nod. “You deserve it. I’ve watched you over the years and how you demand your respect. That’s one of the main reasons I was willing to take you under my wing. Yeah, you look like a straight ass Charleston boy, street nigga.” He chuckled. “None of that matters when you get in that operating room to do your job that you excel in.”
We spoke for a few more minutes. Fiona was sure to remind me about their vow renewal the following weekend. I had already RSVP’d for two. My baby and I were going. She didn’t know yet, but I was making a weekend of it. Love had never been on a vacation, so I was going to get her feet wet with a little staycation.
A Vow Renewal Weekend To Remember . . .
“You are so beautiful,” I said to Love before I kissed her neck.
We were at Croy and Fiona’s reception. They spared no expense for their renewal on Sullivan’s Island on the beach. The wedding was timed so perfectly that when Croy was told to kissthe bride there was a beautiful sunset in the backdrop. I knew the pictures would be gorgeous.
Love and I came to Sullivan’s Island the day before the renewal and checked into the house that I rented. My baby had never been to the beach. She shocked the fuck out of me when she told me that she wanted to go out to the beach. I thought she would just take her shoes off and be cool. When she came out of the bathroom in a one-piece bathing suit with a loose-fitting short dress over it, I almost lost my mind.
I asked her where she got it from and wasn’t surprised when she said Beyuna. My cousin made the decision a couple of weeks ago to move back to Charleston. Her job was cool with it, so she was gone. Her father was so excited that his baby girl was moving back home that he bought her ass a house. I loved that my cousin was here because she was my baby’s best friend. That was something that she never had. It was refreshing to see.
“Thank you, babe.” Every time she called me a pet name my heart palpitated and my dick got hard. At this point, anything she did that showed her new independence got my dick hard.
The renewal was an all-black affair. Love did the damn thing with her dress. It fit her in the best way but still managed to be modest. She was slowly but surely mastering how to be modestly sexy. “You want to walk on the beach after we leave here?”
Before she answered, Croy came over to our table with a group of men. “Aye, man, let me introduce you to my boys. This is T.J, Ned, Mega, Riker, and Draco. Y’all, this is Dr. Erygon Carson.”
I stood to dap each of them. All these men were in the wedding with Riker being the best man. All their wives were bridesmaids. It was clear they were a very tight group of friends.
“It’s nice to meet you all.” I reached my hand back to have my baby stand up. “This is my baby, Lovina.” They all greeted her.
“So, you’re like a M.D. or a PhD?” Mega asked. He put a hand up. “I’m not judging you because you look like the connect. I just want clarity.”
I couldn’t even be mad at him. I was used to it. Croy answered before I could. “Nigga, he’s a medical doctor. He’s the lead anesthesiologist at my practice as well as the on-call lead at Fiona’s.”
