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I resist the urge to pull out my phone and search to see if my quote-unquote scandal is plastered over the Internet. Otherwise, how does Dr. Kramer know?
A part of me wants to defend myself because it just doesn’t seem right that my career is going to be ruined by a scorned woman. But I also know that perception is the name of the game. Truth doesn’t matter, especially if salacious details are involved. I’m a man who made a poor decision and is now paying for it. People don’t want to work with a doctor who is nipping and tucking them, who made poor decisions.
“Now, I know this seems very unfair, son, and you know if you were married or had clearly put your womanizing past behind you, we could probably overlook it. I know it’s hypocritical because there are plenty of doctors in this world who womanize even though they’re married. But, still, as you know, perception is everything.”
See? I’m right. Perception is the name of the game.
Drowning in disappointment, I stand and thank Dr. Kramer for his time, then leave his office. There are still parts of New York that I don’t know very well, and often I take time to explore the city, but this time I just head back to Theo’s condo. I’ll hide in the guest room, so I don’t get in the way of his and Madeline’s happiness.
When I arrive at his building, I stand back from the elevator on the off-chance that Dr. Everling is coming down again. Luckily, she’s not there, so I ride up to Theo’s penthouse. When I walk in, Theo and Madeline are sitting on the couch with their postcoital, blissed-out smiles as they watch TV.
“Don’t mind me,” I say with a wave and an attempt at a smile as I walk back to my room. I have some serious thinking to do. If I can’t get a job as a plastic surgeon, what other job could I do? Perhaps I can work as a regular surgeon since I had to get that training before I could become a plastic surgeon. Would I still be screened out for my past by a hospital?
Maybe I can ask Theo to give me a role in this new movie, and I can become an actor like him. There are plenty of brothers in the acting business. I have to figure out something because I really need to get my own place and give Theo and Madeline space for their growing love.
Right now, it appears the only option is to be a roommate with Dr. Everling, but there is no chance she’d allow that, so maybe it is time for me to start looking outside the building. Wanting to wash away all of the day’s annoyances and disappointments, I undress and get in the shower, turning the water on hot and drowning out the shitshow my life has become.
