"Oh, big news, Crystal!" Sarah said as she walked over to me.
"Yeah? What is it?"
She showed me her ring. The stone glistened under the overhead lights.
"Catherine finally proposed?!" I asked in excitement.
"She did!" Sarah said as the both of us held hands and squealed.
"I'm so happy for you, Sarah," I said as I stared at the ring on her finger, "It really looks beautiful. Catherine, you outdid yourself, you know?"
"Only the best for the best thing in my life," Catherine replied in a very smooth manner.
"Ooooh," Sarah and I cooed as we watched her bask in our praises.
"Wait! We should be careful with how much we praise her. Don't want her getting a swollen head now, do we?" Sarah stated.
"I want to find out if Adam has anything I can work on for him," I said.
"But you just got here. Why not take a moment and just find out what everyone else has been up to?" Sarah suggested.
"I know you want to get a whiff of his royal doctorness’s pheromones, but Sarah has a point," Catherine said.
"I just want him to know I'm here," I said as I got to my feet.
That was my second mistake.
Maybe, if I l had listened to them and stayed put, checking in with my colleagues, then maybe I wouldn't have seen it.
When I opened his office door and found the strange woman pressed up against him and his hand about to hold her head, the only thought that came to mind was...
See? I told you he wouldn't change that easily.
My blue-sky day came to an end just like that.
As I hurried out of his office and returned to mine, Catherine saw me and stopped me.
She took one good look at me and immediately knew something was wrong. I tried to speak, but I had developed a lump in my throat and my face felt wet. I didn’t even realize I had started to cry.
"That bastard," she gritted her teeth and let me go, "Sarah, no one sees her."
"I'm fine," I choked.
"You're not," Sarah said as she held my hand and returned me to my office.
"He was with another woman," I said.
"I'm sorry, Crystal," she apologized as she embraced me.
I hugged her too.
The only question in my mind was...how could you, Adam?
***
The next day at the hospital, I avoided Adam. His texts, his calls, his voicemails—they nearly ran my battery down. I couldn’t delete them, nor could I go through them.
"Crystal," he called as he tried to reach for me.