Chapter 3
recognized only about half of the words in Dr. Norden’s notes.
The first word that jumped out at her was a rare disease that the doctor specialized in. She knew that he had recently received a great deal of praise in the press about his breakthrough treatments for the disease.
She struggled to comprehend his notes, but one thing was clear: the billionaire had the very disease that the doctor specialized in.
The condition was one that he’d been born with, though neither he nor his family knew it until he was a teenager, and the symptoms became active. The condition caused widespread nerve pain that flared up during specific conditions.
As she read the note, captivated by the billionaire’s story, she saw that he’d been dealing with flare-ups of the condition regularly and had been traveling the world looking for a cure. She read about visits to India, China, and South America. It seemed that none of the treatments had worked.
Which is why he’s so eager to see Dr. Norden, she realized.
No wonder he didn’t walk out of the office yesterday when he saw me. He can’t just go to another doctor… he needs Dr. Norden.
The billionaire remained on her mind throughout the day, especially once she checked the calendar and saw that he was scheduled to come in for some tests that very afternoon.
Before the time arrived, she went to the restroom and freshened herself up.
Why am I doing this? she wondered as she swiped a fresh coat of lipstick over her lips.
Why do I want to impress him?
I suppose I’ve already made enough of an impression—yesterday at the coffee shop. I can’t take that back.
And he’s still the reason I have to move. It’s not like anything has gotten better in that regard.
She still felt anger towards him, but it was softened by the knowledge of his disease. He’s been living with pain. He just wants to feel better, she realized.
She walked back to the front desk and sat down just in time to see the door open.
When Martin Cable walked in, she looked at him with new respect.
Was he in pain now? Was he living in fear of the next flare-up? Was he feeling better, knowing that he was now working with the top specialist in the country—maybe even the world—for his condition?
Martin seemed to notice her staring, because he raised an eyebrow.
“Hi ,” he said. “See? Now I know your name.” He walked toward the desk.
“Hm. I guess I should apologize,” said, standing up. She looked at the ground, pursing her lips. It wasn’t as easy as she’d hoped to voice her apology. She felt embarrassment wash over her for her actions at the coffee shop.
“I deserved it,” Martin said.
“I’ve lived in my apartment building for ten years,” said, meeting Martin’s eye. “There’s a real sense of community there. I love the people that I live with.”
“I gave Frank resources to offer the tenants, to help them find new homes.”
“But Joshua is—”
“Going to live in a place where he’ll get more care,” Martin said. “He’s excited.”
felt her core issue rising to the surface. “I don’t know where I’m going to live. It was a shock to hear that it was being taken away. That’s why I yelled at you.”
“You did…” he said. He laughed a little bit. “I don’t know if I can go in that Starbucks again. They look at me like I’m the enemy.”
“Hmph.” said. “Well, sorry about that. My bad,” she added.
“Apology accepted,” Martin said with a smile.
felt herself smile. She nodded.
felt relieved. She sat back down, and clicked a few buttons on her keyboard, checking in on Dr. Norden.
“The doctor’s just finishing up with a patient, but I’ll have Sandy get you started,” said. She sent Sandy a page and then pretended to be busy on the computer.
Secretly, she watched Martin.
He took the same seat that he had the day before. He was in a suit again, and looked as handsome as ever.
Silence settled over the room, broken only by the sound of her fingers against the keyboard, and the occasional flipping of a magazine page as Martin peruse a magazine.
What is he thinking? wondered. She felt strangely connected to him, and was sure that the tension in the room was just as high as it had been the afternoon before.
I’m not imagining this, she thought. Was Sandy right? Is he attracted to me?
I’m sure as hell attracted to him.
She couldn’t help herself from glancing up at him.
To her acute embarrassment, he lifted his eyes and caught her staring.
As quickly as she could, she lowered her lids so that he was once again looking down at the keyboard. She felt her cheeks flush.
Thankfully, Sandy poked her head out of the back room’s door at that instant.
“Martin Cable?” Sandy said.
was carefully not to look directly at Martin as he stood and walked toward the nurse. Her cheeks didn’t stop burning for another ten minutes.
She was glad that Dustin happened to be at the desk an hour later, as Martin left. She made sure that she was busy at the photocopier as Dustin handled the exchange, scheduling Martin’s next appointment and seeing him out the door.
She managed to look busy enough that she didn’t even have to say goodbye. When Martin was safely out of the door, she felt as though she could breathe again.
What is it about him? she wondered.