“He’s no longer your coach. Did you two do anything before when it would have been a violation?” Coach Mae studied my features and I realized how much I was going to miss her no nonsense attitude.
“It doesn’t matter.”
Coach Mae smiled and patted me on the back. “Good luck, Raine. And by the way, I like you way better than Robin Sands.”
My mouth hung open as Coach Mae walked away. After picking my jaw off the floor, I took the time to empty my locker before driving home. If I was lucky Trip would still be there and we could do a naked workout.
When I parked and grabbed my phone out of my purse, it was then I saw it had been blowing up with calls and texts while I was in the locker room.
My stomach knotted when I noticed a voicemail from Dr. Bert. Not wanting to find out my fate over the phone, I put Dora back into gear and drove to the office.
“I can’t believe you made out with Trip Butler,” Jessica said with wild, jealous eyes before going into a patient’s room.
“McKenna, I’m glad you came in. Please come to my office,” Dr. Bert said when he noticed me.
I nodded and smiled at Harriet, the front office lady, who was always nice to me. She gave me a sympathetic smile and I guessed my fate had already been sealed.
I sat down in the same chair I always sat in. It was a chair where I received praise for my work with the patients since I started. The chair where Dr. Bert discussed his hope of me taking over when he retired. It was the chair I used to look forward to sitting in.
Now it was the chair where I was reprimanded for becoming friends with someone I eventually fell in love with. And from the frown on Dr. Bert’s face it was the chair where my occupational dreams were going to be ripped away.
“McKenna, I’m very disappointed in you. I thought after our last discussion I wouldn’t have to revisit this topic.”
“Honestly, I didn’t think we would ever have to talk about my private life again either.”
If Dr. Bert was going to judge me on what he read in the tabloids, I refused to give him the respect he used to receive freely from me.
“Your personal life has banged on our back door until it broke inside and flooded our office.”
“I don’t understand,” I told him.
“Harriet has been answering phone calls all day with patients trying to find out if you were the same girl as the one in the tabloids. We had more than one patient cancel their appointments because they refused to be treated by the girl who broke up Trip Butler and Robin Sands.”
“Am I fired?”
Dr. Bert frowned harder. I’d worked with him long enough to know he was expecting an apology. Hell, he probably wanted a promise that I’d stop seeing Trip altogether.
The old McKenna would have jumped on the opportunity to keep her future plans from crashing down around her, but I wasn’t that girl anymore.
I’d learned doing the right and safe thing sometimes wasn’t what was good for you. Things weren’t always black and white, and I wanted to live in the gray if it let me spend more time with Trip. This time I was choosing to do something for me.
“Your behavior does go against the code of conduct contract you signed when you started.”
He had me there. I did sign the contract, never once thinking I’d be put in a position where the best kiss I’d ever had was plastered all over social media.
“I don’t want to fire you. Your father and I have been friends for a very long time, and besides your poor choices when it comes to Mr. Butler you have been an exceptional employee. One who I thought I was molding to take over my office.”
“But?”
“I just can’t have you on my staff any longer. I’ve lost patients because of your choices, and my first priority is the success of this office.”
I nodded and got up without saying a word. There was nothing else to say.
Harriet rushed to me and hugged me when she saw my face when I exited Dr. Bert’s office.
“Oh, honey. Just give it a couple weeks and let it blow over. You are the best PT he has. He’s going to be crawling on his hands and knees to get you back. He’s just being a stubborn old fool who forgot what it’s like to be in love.”
I hugged Harriet harder as I soaked in her words. They were soothing, but in a completely different way than what she wanted them to be. She was right. I was a damn good PT and anyone I oversaw was going to be damn lucky to have me as their doctor. If Dr. Bert came crawling back I wouldn’t take his offer.
