I sighed as she turned and walked away.
Then I saw Sefton standing alone by the bus where our luggage was being loaded. I stomped over to him and faced him, angry.
"What did you tell Claire?"
"The truth," he said, his hands his pockets. "That you and I have a lot in common, and not only our love of art."
"That's not the truth. The truth is that you tried to push yourself on me and I refused. Tell her that. She thinks there's something more between us."
"There is," he said, stepping closer to me, reaching out as if to touch me. I batted his hand away.
"Don't touch me," I said and glanced around. Of course, Claire was standing with a group of other people and saw us together. "Go and tell her the truth about what happened. Nothing. Tell her that there's nothing between us. She's going to tell Drake what she thinks she saw and it's going to cause so much unnecessary hurt."
"I told her nothing happened. I also told her that I wanted it to."
I stood and fumed, not knowing how to handle him. "Can't you understand that I don’t want you and won't ever want you? Especially if you let this lie stand and if you cause problems between Drake and me?"
"Never is a long time. But don't fret," he said and leaned down to me as if he was going to try to kiss me. I stepped back. He smiled. "I'll tell her that nothing happened. If your absentee boyfriend wants to hear it from me personally, I'll be glad to tell him. No harm done."
"You don't understand," I said, furious that he was brushing this off so lightly. "Claire has the wrong idea. She's concluded that Drake and I are wrong together and is using what she thinks she saw as a way to justify breaking us up."
"Maybe she's right about you two. Did you ever consider that?"
I shook my head. "Not for a moment. Tell her that you've pursued me and I've never shown any interest and have refused you. That's the truth."
"You're beautiful when you're angry," he said and once more, he tried to touch me so I turned away and left before any more damage was done. I stormed past Claire on my way to use the washroom once more before we left, tears of frustration and anger filling me.
I checked my cell while I was trying to regain my composure and still, there was nothing from Drake in reply to my texts. On the way back to the airport, I sat alone. Claire sat at the front of the bus and refused to even look at me. I didn't say anything to Sefton nor did he say anything to me. I was glad he studiously ignored me.
Besides the drawing of the elephants, the weekend had been a total disaster.
The flight home was uneventful. I was exhausted, and sat in the window seat on the plane, busy with my thoughts of our relationship. Yes, I would have to adjust to his busy schedule, but things would be better once we returned to Manhattan and Drake wasn't so swamped with work. Still, Sefton's words stung and his implication that I didn't matter enough to Drake for him to make time to come on the safari with me hurt even though I knew Sefton was wrong.
Drake would have loved to come but he couldn't. He'd made a commitment to the hospital and to Michael and had to follow through.
In fact, Sefton's words made me realize even more just how lucky I was to have Drake at all. He'd given up his usual MO to be with me. He'd mixed up his meat and potatoes to be with me. I had to make a few sacrifices, too. Maybe we wouldn’t be together as much as either of us might like, but he was an adult with responsibilities. He was in high demand because of his specialized skills. Patients with debilitating and life-threatening diseases and disorders needed him.
I was a big girl. I could wait.
Luckily, neither Sefton nor Claire tried to engage me in conversation. I was too tired and upset to try to be pleasant. I had a headache from the heat and probably dehydration, barely able to wait to get back to our home and soak in a bath. I couldn't wait to see Drake, lie in his arms and lose myself in his touch.
We arrived back at the small airport outside Nairobi and then were bused back into the city.
When I still hadn't hear from him, I decided I'd take a taxi to the hospital and meet him there, unable to wait until his shift was over so I could speak with him about what happened, try to fix things.
The driver dropped me off at home and I stowed my suitcase and checked my cell once more. Then I called Jomo to take me to the hospital. Drake might be in surgery, but I'd wait. Who knew what damage Claire was doing with her own texts. My only hope was that Drake hadn't read any of his texts or heard my phone messages and I could speak to him first.
The red brick building where Michael's and Drake's offices were located was surrounded by trees, and had a lovely central courtyard. My stomach was filled with knots as I walked up to the staff entrance and asked the woman at the information desk where Drake's office was located. I went down the hallways, past the Accident and Emergency Department to the corridors in the wing where the faculty were housed. Drake had promised to take me to the inner sanctum one day, but was waiting for a weekend when he was off to show me his office and the OR where he worked. I peeked into Michael's office but he wasn't there, nor was Drake in his office, which was down the hall from Michael's.
I checked in with one of the receptionists at the main office and asked if she knew where Dr. Morgan was currently.
"You can probably find him in the on-call room in the A&E Department."
I followed her down a maze of hallways, anxious to see Drake, hoping he wouldn't be upset that I came to the hospital, but I was desperate to speak with him, make sure he didn’t misunderstand what happened. We passed some nurses, who were sitting around a conference table and went to a small windowless room off the hallway. The receptionist opened the door and there sat Drake on a chair in front of a table, dressed in pale blue scrubs, his head forward, rubbing his neck as if it hurt. I was about to say something when someone else came into my field of vision.
Sam, dressed in similar blue scrubs.
She went up behind Drake and put her hands on his shoulders and then began massaging his neck, leaning down to say something in his ear. It looked so completely intimate, a rush of heat went through my body. I opened my mouth, but nothing came out but a strangled gasp.