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Heads turned when we walked in the room, and I could see a few of the female students raise their eyebrows when they saw him arrive with Michael. Yes, he was that good looking. He made women's heart race. I knew it, having been with him enough in public to detect the subtle change when he walked into a room. He was gorgeous.
I felt a twinge of pride surge through me at the thought that he was mine – but he was also theirs. He would be their instructor for the semester. I knew I shouldn't be jealous – Drake was a serial monogamist, as he said himself. Still, these young women were in his field. They shared a passion for medicine. A few of them were stunning.
But he picked me. He asked me to marry him. I kicked myself mentally for being so insecure and made a promise to myself that I would not be jealous.
We walked up to a group of students, and Michael introduced us. One by one, Michael led Drake to the individual students, and he spoke with each one, shaking their hands, listening to them introduce themselves, talk about where they were from and what their interests were.
Claire took my arm and led me over to a table with assorted canapés and glasses of wine. I stood with Claire and, together, we sipped our wine and watched Michael and Drake work their way through the various groups.
"Drake really loves to teach, doesn’t he?" Claire said to me as we watched Drake speaking to a group of students.
"He does."
Just then, the students all laughed at something Drake said and I wondered which one was Samantha Cuttington. I was curious to see which of the students Drake been involved with, which one he had sex with.
Stupid. I had to stop beating myself up like that, but it was hard, knowing that one of those women had been with him before me. This 'Sam' woman shared something with him that I never would. She was a physician. These students would be spending long hours with Drake doing what he loved the most – surgery.
The more I watched how the women responded to Drake, smiling, blushing, the more I felt like I was on the sidelines of Drake's life. Surgery and teaching were at its center.
"Get used to it," Claire said to me, one hand on my arm. She must have sensed my unease.
"To what?" I said, turning to her, smiling, trying to sound unconcerned.
"Being second fiddle. Surgeons can't help it, Kate. Surgery is such an exacting specialty, and neurosurgery, especially pediatric neurosurgery, is even more demanding. It requires so much of their time and energy. I hope you don't mind my being so forward, but if I were you, I'd get as busy as you can as soon as you can, so you don’t miss him too much. Drake said you're an artist. Take a class. I bet you could register for an open studio course through the fine arts institute this week and start right away. You'd meet other students that way."
"The arts institute?"
"The Nairobi Institute for Fine Art. It's a fine arts college. It's where you want to go if you want to be around artists. Every semester, a few faculty members teach open studio art classes and you might be able to get into one even if you don't register for a program. I'm on the board and do some volunteer work so I could probably take you there, introduce you."
I watched as a couple of female medical students whispered to each other, their eyes widening meaningfully as they watched Drake.
"I would like to take an art class." I swallowed my jealousy once more and pasted on a fake smile when I turned to Claire. "Drake told me he'd be really busy. I've been spoiled, having him all to myself for the past few months. You’re right. I'll need to take a class to occupy my time or I'll feel really neglected."
"He won't be neglecting you," Claire said. "This is what it's like, being with a physician, especially a surgeon. You learn to adjust or it won’t work out. Find your own passion and pursue it. You're a painter. The Nairobi Art Institute is connected to the artist collective. We could see if we can find you a space so you can get busy and meet some of your fellow artists. There are a few expats here so you might even make a few friends."
I nodded and forced another smile, surprised that she felt so able to offer me advice when we'd only met. I watched Drake and Michael as they continued to move around the room, greeting different groups of students. Claire and I were all but invisible. I had a feeling the entire evening would be that way.
A while later, I slipped out of the main reception area to find the washroom. I went into a stall and after a moment, I heard the door open and other people entered. Two separate voices.
"God, he's so gorgeous," came one voice. "Is he taken?"
"He came with some woman but they're not married."
"I didn't see. Which one? What did she look like?"
"I don't know – shorter. Big tits. A mousy little thing. Not as attractive as he is, that's for sure. He could do much better."
"Oh, God," the other woman said. "I don't think I'll be able to concentrate during morning rounds."
"You think you got it hard," the other woman said and laughed ruefully. "I'll be working under him every day. It'll be torture."
"Under him?" They both laughed. "You had an affair when he was here before, right?"
"We did, but he's a bit of an Alpha male and I told him I had to be his equal and dumped him. He kept bothering me to stay together but
he was too controlling for me. Besides, he was technically my superior so we were risking it. But he is damn gorgeous. Too gorgeous to ignore."
"I know, right? He's far too handsome. Too bad he's taken."
