“Below the knee isn’t short,” Joshua said through smiling teeth. He’d spent the car ride trying to convince me that anything below the knee was acceptable in a business setting. Except we weren’t in a business setting. Medicine wasn’t business. Not to me, at least.
“Do you even know who we’re eating with? Gerry is the pediatrician that all other pediatricians want to be. Rumor has it, the Prime Minister has him on speed dial and he’s turned down the job as Chief Medical Officer for the UK more than once. How on earth am I going to impress him?” I replied.
“Just be yourself.” He glanced between my eyes and my lips, down to my chest and then back up again. Unintentionally flirting. He really couldn’t help himself. “You’re funny, sort of charming, and you look beautiful.”
I rolled my eyes. Joshua had all the charm over on his side of the room. This was why he had women flitting around him constantly. In the supermarket earlier this week, two female assistants asked if they could help him, not even noticing I was standing right next to him—on crutches no less. The girl on reception in the lobby of the residences always said hello to him. She’d never even looked in my direction. Even Margo blushed when they shook hands, even though she was at least twenty-five years his senior. Joshua Luca was a pussy magnet.
“I don’t adult well.”
“You’re a doctor,” Joshua said. “That’s pretty much the definition of adulting.”
Joshua didn’t get it. Doctoring was my safe zone. I knew what I was doing when I had a child in pain in front of me. I knew how to soothe, examine, and do what I needed to do to make a diagnosis. And I knew how to heal. Outside of the hospital, all bets were off.
“Here we are.” Gerry came toward us carrying a glass in each hand. “Two Old Fashioneds.”
“A favorite of mine,” Joshua said, beaming at Gerry.
Gerry grinned. “Mine too. Some men prefer straight whiskey but I love me an Old Fashioned. Especially after a game of tennis. I feel I’ve earned it when I come off the court.” He chuckled to himself. “Do you play, Hartford?”
I shook my head. I couldn’t even offer him an alternative—No, sorry, tennis isn’t my game but I love squash/netball/golf. Nope, sport and I didn’t exactly mesh. Dance had kept me fit. Now, it was being on my feet all day at work.
“I like to pretend I can play,” Joshua said, interrupting my awkward non-reply. “I offered myself up for some charity game at Queens a couple of years ago and got thrashed by Andy Murray. Stopped pretending after that.”
I started to laugh. That had to be a joke, right? Surely not even Joshua Luca could have had a game of tennis with Andy Murray.
“It was a thrill all the same though, being beaten by one of the best.”
“I bet it was.” Gerry’s eyes were wide. He was clearly impressed, but who wouldn’t be? “I love the game. Always played. Keeps me young.”
“I should get you to come to the charity game next summer. Maybe you’d be able to beat Andy.”
Joshua was completely comfortable in this environment—dishing out compliments and invitations to the tennis like Gerry was an old friend. At this rate, Joshua would get promoted ahead of me, despite him not having any medical qualifications.
“I’d be completely delighted, young man. Any excuse to get my racket out or watch others play. Margo and I are debenture holders at Wimbledon. Go every year without fail.”
“I’ll arrange it,” Joshua said.
“And you should maybe teach Hartford to play. I’m a big believer in balance.” Gerry turned as Margo tapped him on the shoulder and pushed another Old Fashioned into his hand. “Cheers,” he said, lifting his glass.
“Balance,” Joshua repeated. “Absolutely. Keeps you fresh.”
Almost imperceptibly, Gerry shifted closer to Joshua. “Not being one hundred percent about the job actually makes you more efficient, more perceptive, better. So few people get it. They just want to bank more and more hours. Having a life outside the hospital is a key performance measure when you come to practice under me.” He nodded in my direction. “I’ll be expecting you to show me the balance in your life, not just prove you can help patients.”
What the hell did that mean?
“I’m a devotee of Alex Soojung-Kim Pang’s approach to business,” Joshua said, not skipping a beat. “I never have my best ideas behind a desk.”
Alex who?
“Good man.” Gerry gave what I’d come to recognize as his trademark sharp nod to Joshua, then turned to me. “If you’ve just come back from Medicines Sans Frontiers, you’re going to have to work at balance. That kind of environment consumes you. But it’s not sustainable. Learn from Josh here.” He clapped his hand on Joshua’s shoulder like they were old friends.