Page 64 of The Coworker
She’s right.
Tim is in love with me.
Chapter 36
PRESENT DAY
“Okay,” Tim says, “I’m going to need you to rate this birthday compared with all other birthdays you’ve had in your life.”
Tim and I are in the car driving back from the restaurant. After my freak out over the snowflake necklace, we ended up having a wonderful time. It was nice just the two of us. We could be as affectionate as we wanted without worrying about freaking out Josh. And Tim isveryaffectionate. Especially after a glass of wine.
“Rate it on a scale of one to ten?” I ask. It’s hard to break my habit from nursing school of rating everything on the visual analog pain scale.
“No.” He grins at me as we come to a stop at a red light. “I mean how does it rank compared to your other birthdays? Like, are we talking top five…?”
“Top ten,” I say.
“Top ten!” He looks affronted. “Itoldyou that you should have gotten the lobster. That would’ve definitely taken it into top five.”
I laugh. “Stop it—the chicken was great.”
“I just feel like…” He rests his right hand gently on my knee as he starts driving again. “I mean, you don’t remember your first, like, five birthdays. So really, top ten isn’tthatgood.”
“It’s pretty good.”
“Well, maybe I can do something else for you tonight that could take it into the top five…”
“Maybe you could…”
Although the real reason tonight can’t make the top five has nothing to do with dinner tonight, which was delicious, or with what he will do in the bedroom tonight, which I’m sure will be amazing as usual. The second he presented me with that snowflake necklace, the night was ruined. As much as I tried not to think about it, I couldn’t put it entirely out of my head.
“Also,” he adds, “I have some good news.”
“What’s that?”
“I got a great lead on a new job for you.” He squeezes my knee. “I have a friend who works at a primary care practice like fifteen minutes away from here, and he said they’re looking for a nurse practitioner. They’re desperate, actually. They want to meet you ASAP.”
“Oh,” I say.
“Isn’t that great? It sounds perfect for you. And then you wouldn’t have to work at that prison anymore.”
“Yes, but…” I tug at the hem of my black dress. “I have a one-year contract at the prison, so…”
“Oh, come on. They won’t hold you to that. Just give them like a month’s notice.”
“I don’t know…”
Tim turns to look at me at another red light. The whites of his eyes glow slightly in the moonlight. “You do want to leave that job, right? You don’t want to keep working at amen’s penitentiary, do you?”
I squirm in my seat. “It’s not as bad as you think. Most of them are just so happy to be getting medical care.”
“And not to mention,” Tim continues like I hadn’t even spoken, “the fact that Shane Nelson is a prisoner there. I don’t know how you could even work there knowing he’s around. What if you had to treat him?”
We talked briefly about the fact that I was working at the same prison where Shane is incarcerated. Tim was flabbergasted, but when I explained it was the only job I could find, he eventually calmed down. But I had to swear to him that I never treated Shane.
That is to say, I lied.
“If I had to treat him,” I say, “I could do it.”
