Page 39 of Rules of the Heart

“Yeah. Anyway, your job sounds cool. What’s it like working with kids?”

“It’s really great! Teaching has always been my passion, you know? I love kids, and I feel like I’m really making a difference in their lives this way.”

Ella and Kate chatted for the rest of the train ride. Ella found herself smiling genuinely for the first time in a while. It was goodto talk to someone outside of work. She and Kate hit it off at once, and Ella was sad to hear her stop announced.

“This is me. Well, it was nice meeting you, Kate.”

“It was nice meeting you too, Ella. Would you… Would you like to exchange numbers? I’d love to take you out sometime.”

“Out?”

“Like on a date. If you’d be interested, I mean.”

Ella hesitated. On the one hand, she still had feelings for Valerie. On the other, Valerie had made it pretty clear that she wasn’t going to relent and be in a real relationship with Ella. Perhaps it was about time that Ella started getting over her.

“Or not,” Kate said quickly. “I mean, we could just go as friends. If you’re not interested in women—”

“No, I am! I’d love to go on a date with you, Kate.”

“Great!”

They exchanged numbers and arranged to meet that evening after work for dinner. Ella tucked the note she had written for Valerie carefully into her purse. She would see how things went with Kate before continuing her attempts to seduce Valerie.

Who knew? Maybe this thing with Kate could be the start of something new, without all the complications that a relationship with Valerie presented. Ella and Kate seemed to get on well without any clashing or arguing and they both agreed on what they wanted.

Surely, this was a better match than Valerie could ever be.

Ella looked forward to the date all day, and when evening came, she had just enough time to dash home, shower and change into something nice. They weren’t going to a fancy restaurant, so the clothes she chose weren’t overly formal, but she picked out things that were flattering and eye-catching.

Ella braved the icy roads to drive to Joy’s Kitchen, where she found Kate already waiting for her.

“Hey, Kate.”

“Ella, you made it! I wasn’t sure you would. You know when you meet someone on the train, you never really know where that relationship will end up going.”

“I know what you mean. I wasn’t sure you’d turn up either. I’m glad you did, though.”

“Me too. Shall we order?”

“Yeah. I always look at the desserts first—it’s the most important part of the meal, after all.”

“I do the same!” Kate grinned. “I’ve already taken a peek. I think I’ll get the chocolate mousse cake.”

“Sounds delicious.”

Ella perused the menu, deciding quickly on her order and focusing back on Kate. “How was your day? How were the kids?”

“Pretty good. I had to grade some tests, which is always a bit depressing, but the kids make up for the undesirable admin parts. I even appreciate the difficult ones, as they make the job interesting.”

Ella nodded. She understood what Kate meant about making the job interesting. She always sought out different kinds of cases to keep her skills sharp. Of course, she had to do a lot of the more common surgeries repeatedly, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t fill up the gaps in her schedule with new and challenging surgeries that would help her grow as a surgeon.

Valerie had really helped with that. When she had realized how important learning and growth were to Ella, she had started putting feelers out to other hospitals, encouraging them to send challenging cases to Ella. She had done a good job of making sure that the cases that were sent weren’t ones that would put Ella in a position where she felt that she had to break the rules for the good of her patient.

Valerie understood Ella in a way no one else could—in a way no one but a fellow surgeon could.

It was so much more than just the connection over their careers, though. Ella felt like Valeriesawher in a way no one else had before. They had a deep personal connection, even if Valerie was too afraid to accept it.

“Ella? Are you alright?”

---