Sophia
Thursday is a little chaotic.
Overnight, Donna's water broke. She was in labor for a few hours and gave birth to a baby boy, Ethan. Ethan is three weeks premature, but he weighs five pounds, which is considered a good weight. The doctors think he’ll only have to be in the NICU for a week or two, fingers crossed.
While fantastic for Donna, this leaves us without a receptionist at work. We’re a pretty lean operation. Most of our budget goes toward paying the salaries of our nurses and doctors. There’s really just Patricia, Donna, and me in the office. And now, Donna is out on maternity leave for a minimum of three months. Of course, we knew we’d have to find a replacement for her, but we’ve been busy and thought we’d have another month. After we visited Donna in the hospital this morning, Patricia promised to bump the search to the top of her priority list. I believe her, but we're seriously short-staffed until that person comes along.
I’m grabbing a cup of coffee to power through my afternoon slump when the front door buzzer sounds. I walk out to the lobby to see who it is at the same time as my boss.
It's Julian. He's holding a gigantic bouquet in his hands. Deep pink roses jostle with purple hydrangeas and green ferns in a tumult of color. Tiny white orchids are nestled between the larger blooms.
His face lights up when he sees me, and he hands me the flowers.
Crap.
Patricia gives me a sidelong glance. Since I can't exactly pretend I don't know who he is, I take the offered vase, grit my teeth, and introduce the two of them. “Patricia, meet Julian Kincaid. Julian, this is my boss, Patricia Adams.”
Julian shakes Patricia’s hand. “Good to meet you.”
“Likewise,” Patricia says. “I've met you before, haven't you? Yes, at the recent fundraiser. Now I remember. You donated several first edition comics.”
Yeah, I was afraid that would happen. Technically, Julian isn’t a donor of the Health Center. Xavier organized the fundraiser he’d donated comics to, not me. But that’s splitting hairs. Nothing forbids me from dating a donor, but it’s not exactly smiled upon either.
My boss is looking at the vase in my hands. She’s obviously wondering what's going on. “Julian is a friend of mine,” I say awkwardly.
“These are lovely flowers,” Patricia says with a smile. “Sophia, if you have this under control, I’m going to head back to my emails.” Saying that, she vanishes back to her office.
Am I in trouble?“Come on in,” I tell Julian, leading him to my office and shutting my door. God knows what my boss is thinking right now. Is she going to interrogate me about the flowers once he leaves? Patricia isn’t unreasonable, and the logical part of my brain knows that I have no reason to panic. But I got fired by Mrs. Caldwell, and the scars haven't entirely faded.
Julian picks up on my unease. “I shouldn't have come,” he says. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking.”
He's scarily perceptive. I shake my head, throwing off the shackles of the past. “No, of course not. Thank you for the flowers.” I bury my nose in the blooms and allow their fragrance to wash over me. “They’re lovely.”
“It was the least I could do. Your brother Simon dropped by. You have literally saved my life.”
A smile breaks out on my face. “Oh, good. He's going to work on the greenhouse then?” I ask happily. “I wasn’t sure. . .”
“Good? It's amazing, Sophia. I am so happy I could hug you. If we weren't in your office, I would. I didn't even know your brother was a contractor.”
“I didn’t tell you,” I admit. “Simon's been really busy, and I didn't want to get your hopes up.”
“He's going to start tomorrow morning.” His expression is warm and appreciative. Be still, my beating heart. “Sophia, I don't have words to tell you what this means. My relationship with Hannah has always been a little strained because of how my parents treated her. I tried to counter it the best I could, but I could only do so much, and I didn’t always succeed.”
He leans forward. “When my sister asked if she could hold her wedding at Kincaid Castle, I felt like I was given an undeserved second chance. And despite how important it was to me, I was still well on my way to fucking it up. You tossed me a lifeline. I can never thank you enough.”
My heart warms in the face of his obvious happiness. I smile back at him. “You're making me blush. All I did was tell Simon to check his messages. It was nothing, really.”
“No, do not diminish what you did. It means the world to me. I know we’re getting together Saturday, but do you have plans for tonight? Want to come over? I’ll cook dinner. It’s the least I can do.”
“Tonight?” Two nights in a row? My heart speeds up. I want to go; I really do. But is it wise?
He nods. “I’ll invite Damien too, obviously. Do you like steak?”
Ugh. What is with guys and raw meat? “Not really. I don’t mind red meat in burger form, but there's something about a steak that feels a little too close to the animal for me.”
“Okay,” he says agreeably. “I'll make something else. Grilled chicken, maybe, if that works?”
Why am I holding back? I push aside my misgivings and nod in agreement. “Sounds good. I can bring dessert if you’d like.”