Page 106 of A Doctor for Daisy

Daisy laughed and the rest of the trip was taken with them just talking about work.

When they got to the restaurant, he parked and they made their way into the reception hall.

“Can you just sit where you want or are they assigning seats?” she asked.

“They assigned them,” he said. “Which is fine with me. I don’t like to just show up and ask or figure out where to sit.”

That awkwardness he felt as a kid always crept in. Some things you just didn’t outgrow.

They found their names and table. There were several from his department there already, but four open seats. Only two once they found theirs.

“Theo,” Ted Charity said. “We are so happy you could join us. And who is this lovely lady on your arm?”

“Dr. Ted Charity, this is my girlfriend, Daisy Jones. Daisy, this is Ted, he’s the Chief of Surgery for the orthopedic division for New Haven.”

“It’s very nice to meet you,” Daisy said, shaking his hand.

“This is my wife, Stella,” Ted said. Both he and Daisy shook hands and introductions were made with the other six people at the table. He’d met most of the spouses before at another event.

If he found it odd he was with the senior members of the team and not some of the doctors closer to his age or tenure, he pushed it off. It’s not as if he wasn’t used to this in his life and hoped Daisy at least had a good time.

When dinner was done, he made his way to the bar to get a club soda for himself and a wine for Daisy. She’d only had one during dinner, him one too, but now he was sticking with the club soda before they left. There had been some speeches done during the first course and there would be another when dessert came.

In his eyes this was a boring party but one he had to attend.

Daisy did seem to enjoy herself talking with the women. Many loved her purse, which opened up a conversation about where she got it and what she did for a living.

“Look at you rubbing elbows with the big wigs,” Marshall Wilcox said to him at the bar. Another surgeon in his department. The guy was in his forties he was guessing. Not someone he spent much time with if he could avoid it since they looked at their careers differently.

Marshall was all about hammering out the surgeries and bringing in money so that he could work his way up. He didn’t spend enough time with his patients and many patients had come to him complaining about Marshall.

He’d push it off because it’s not something he wanted to get in the middle of. Everyone had different personalities.

“I had no say over the seating arrangements,” he said.

“I’m sure you are used to getting special treatment your whole life,” Marshall said. “Just like everyone is laughing over the hot chick on your arm.”

He lifted an eyebrow at that. “Excuse me? Not sure what is so funny about that?”

“Oh, that the brainy geeky ones always get the sexy airhead trying to move up in life.”

He could choose to lose his temper, which he never did, or he could laugh it off and not be so serious as Daisy had brought out of him.

He was going with the second because he knew this all came from jealousy over his career and now his girlfriend.

“Daisy is far from an airhead,” he said. “It’s not my problem that is all you look for in a woman. But me, I want more substance to who I’m with.”

“Oh yeah, she has it,” Marshall said. “Again, the hot chick.”

“There is that jealousy again,” Theo said, smiling. “Don’t let it eat you up too much.”

“Just remember I warned you so you’re not a laughing stock when you find out you’re the talk of all the tables.”

He’d been talked about a lot in his life and wasn’t going to let it get to him. “I’m sure many have more going on in their lives than to worry about mine. Guess you don’t though. Have a good night, Marshall,” he said and grabbed his drinks and moved back to his table.

Daisy had her wounds from her past and so did he. The key was stitching them up and moving on and that was what he would damn well do with the help from his girlfriend.

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