Page 35 of Doctor Daddy

“You’re a grown woman,” Mark let go of me and rolled onto his back.

“I’m a grown woman who still lives with her parents. I’m still on their insurance, and I’m pretty sure I’m still technically their legal dependent for tax purposes. So, I need to go home and behave as if I haven’t been spending the past few hours having my brains fucked out by one of their good friends.”

“Yeah, brains are definitely gone. Drive safe. Text me when you get home.”

I’d text him, but he wouldn’t see the message until the morning. He was already back asleep.

It was closer to one in the morning than midnight when I got home. I made sure to close the front door loud enough that mom heard it. And then I quietly made it back to my room.

I didn’t bother changing out of my clothes, I just crawled into bed and went to sleep. It would be morning soon, and I had to be up and functional.

When my alarm went off, I was up but functionally was objective at best.

I stumbled into the kitchen, still wearing yesterday’s clothes. I needed coffee before I could face a shower.

“You were out pretty late,” Mom mentioned.

I grunted. It was too early for conversation.

“I don’t want you to wear yourself out. You know those bags under your eyes wouldn’t be so dark if you got some rest and drank more water.”

I knew she was just trying to be helpful, but her comments felt judgmental and condescending.

I was tired, I was burning the candle at both ends. It sucked, but the only time I got to be with Mark was after work and most of the time after dinner. And I had to be up early for work. Once I was up, that was it. I didn’t take naps. Those were for kids, not grown-ups. There was no time for me to find balance and get rest.

Mark looked clean and refreshed and well-rested when he walked in the glass doors at work.

“You forgot to text me,” he said as he leaned against my desk.

I groaned and closed my eyes. “I’m sorry. I was so tired when I got home, I fell asleep in my clothes.”

“Do you need to call tonight off?”

No, I needed to see him. It felt like he was rejecting me because I was tired. I blinked hard and looked up in an attempt to quell the sudden emotions.

“Hey, we’ll keep it simple tonight. Maybe a few episodes of that show you like, and then home to bed.”

Home to bed sounded like the best part of the plan.

We touched hands since there was no other way we could touch at work, and he headed to the elevators and up to his practice. I missed his touch, his arms, his comfort.

I missed my bed and sleep.

My day dragged on, seemingly longer than normal. I made stupid mistakes like hanging up on people I meant to put on hold. I accidentally sent a patient to the wrong floor. They let me know of their disappointment in no uncertain terms, and loudly in front of anyone who happened to be around.

All I could do was nod and apologize while they insulted my intelligence and threatened my job. It had been a simple mistake.

By the time I got home, all I wanted to do was curl up and hide. I felt completely defeated. I dragged myself upstairs to my room and collapsed on my bed. I only moved enough to drag my phone out.

I texted Angela. “I hate being an adult. This is exhausting.”

“Hard same,” she replied. “You wanna go to a movie this weekend?”

I couldn’t bear the thought of going to a movie with her and then heading over to Mark’s. But I wanted to do both. I wanted to see my friend, and I wanted to see my secret boyfriend. The struggle was very real.

“Do you think we could do a matinee?” I asked

“What kind of an old lady are you that you want to see a movie in the middle of the day. Only my grandmother does that.”

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