Ally popped her head into the office. “Dr. V., I’m so glad you’re back!” Her eyes went wide. “What did... You’re, like, glowing.”
I stared at Gina. “Is this some kind of joke?”
“No, seriously,” Ally said, “your skin is amazing. It looks like you’ve been to a spa. Is that where you were, some kind of exclusive spa?”
“It’s exclusive, all right,” Gina said. “And it’s called Kyle’s Big One.”
“Gina, there is a minor present,” I reminded her.
Gina scoffed. “She’s twenty-one.”
Ally stepped into the office and closed the door behind her. “Wait a minute,” she whispered, “are you getting dicked down by the hottie Darla keeps talking about?”
My face was on fire. Glowing or not, I knew that now it was bright red. “Did you just use the term...?” I glared at Gina. “Do you see what your bad influence has done?”
Ally laughed while Gina widened her eyes and said, “But she’s twenty-one!”
Ally nudged Gina’s shoulder. “I need to set up Doc’s exam room. Over lunch, you can tell me all the details she spills.” She left the door open on her way out.
Gina stood. “I need to get started, too. But I really am happy for you, Cam.”
“I know.” I stood and walked to the door with her. “And before you go, I owe you a great big thank you. You and Darla did a great job managing the schedule.”
“Did I hear my name?” Darla called from the hallway. She practically ran into the room and threw her arms around me. “Welcome back, Dr. V.! We missed you. And Doc missed you.”
“I missed you, too. I already saw Doc. He brought me brownies.” I lowered my voice, although I doubted anyone outside my office could hear me. “How did he do with me being out?”
“He handled it like a trooper,” Gina said. “He did ask one time about whether you regretted buying the practice.”
“He hasn’t done that in a while,” I said. It worried me to think I might have upset him. “I’ll try to spend a little more time with him this week. Thanks for keeping an eye on him.And like I was just telling Gina, I really appreciate what both of you did last week, picking up all my slack.”
“We were happy to do it,” Gina said.
“Absolutely,” Darla said. “There’s a lot we’d be happy to do for you if you’d let us.”
“Oh,” I shook my head, “you do plenty.”
“Cami,” Gina said softly, “you are amazing at so many things, but—and I’m saying this as your friend—you are horrible at delegating. And we want to help. We love to help.”
Darla pressed her hands together. “Please, let us help. We don’t want you to burn out or start to hate your job.”
“Do you think that could happen?” Even as I asked the question, I knew it could. It was already happening a bit around the edges. Caring for the animals was my life’s passion, but running the clinic was becoming a grind.
“No need to go it alone all the time,” Gina said.
I thought about Kyle’s team, about all of them gathered around the conference table working together, then meeting up in the lounge for drinks and laughter before leaving for the night. “Okay,” I said, “I have a few tasks I can delegate regarding office management. But there’s something else I need help with.”
“Anything.” Darla waited.
“We need to do something fun. Nothing mandatory.” I shivered, remembering an office job I’d had one summer during college where there had been a required ice cream social every Friday afternoon. “Something optional and hopefully fun enough to make people want to come. There are discretionary funds I’ve been setting aside, but I haven’t had time?—”
“I’m your woman.” Darla beamed. “Consider it done. I’m the official Chief Fun Officer. The CFO.”
I shook my head. “That’s not what that acronym means and I don’t want this to get weird for the employees.”
“I’m sure whatever Darla does will be subtle,” Gina said. “Tasteful.”
“Of course. I’m always subtle and tasteful.” Darla sat down in one of my office chairs. “Now, tell me what you were up to while you were gone. I understand from Ally that you’ve been getting dicked down by that nice young hottie who was here last weekend.”
