Page 84 of Total Ship Show

Me: I owe it to myself to try, right?

Dove: Hell yes, you do. Way to take action, Ade! Proud of you girl.

Me: Thanks. Wish me luck. I’m going in.

Dove: You don’t need luck. You’ve got this!

I stare at the main doors to the hospital where Aris said he works. It feels a bit crazy to me that people are coming and going from this area as if I’m not standing here staring at a building where, with any luck, I’ll find the man of my dreams and he’ll be surprised to see me and he’ll want me to be here and won’t want me to ever leave without him by my side.

A girl can hope, right?

“Good morning,” I say to the woman at the main desk. “I’m looking for Dr. Aris McElfry.”

The elderly woman smiles at me and types a few things into her computer and then looks up at me. “I’m sorry, I don’t think Dr. McElfry is in today.”

My heart sinks.

Did he take more time off to recuperate from the cruise?

Did he travel back east with his family?

Where can he be?

“Oh, okay. Umm, well, will he be in tomorrow?”

She taps a few more keys on her keyboard but before she can answer me, a man standing on the other end of the front desk speaks to me.

“Aris won’t be in tomorrow either, I imagine.”

I turn toward the man, taller in stature than Aris, with messy brown hair and dark chocolate brown eyes. The scruff on his face is attractive as well. Not too little. Not too much. He offers me his hand.

“I’m Dr. McKay. A colleague of Aris’s.”

I shake his hand. “Adrienne. Adrienne Hart. Pleasure to meet you.”

The man smiles and then laughs, shaking his head. “Oh, man. You’re Adrienne?”

My smile falters. “Uh oh. Yeah, I am. Why do you ask? ”

The doctor gestures for me to follow him away from the front desk and over to one of the empty lobby seating areas.

“My name is Kohen McKay. Aris is my best friend.”

Kohen: Sounds like you found yourself a rockin’ cruise call-girl.

“Kohen, right.” I nod and point to him. “The ass who called me a cruise call-girl.”

He bows his head. “I suppose I deserve that. My sincerest apologies. I never meant to hurt your feelings.”

“It was seeing that text that made me run from him, you know?”

He nods. “As he suspected. Look I’m really very sorry, but I hope you know, Aris was a mess about it. Pissed at his family too when he found out his brothers spoke to you.”

“Is that how Aris used to be?”

“Sure. Like ten years ago. We were all young and stupid then. We all thought we were hotshot doctors who owned the world. But that’s not who he is now. Not even a little bit. Aris was there for me when my brother passed away.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

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