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I cursed, springing out of my chair, hot on her heels. “Stacey, I—”
Three patients were waiting at reception. Stacey reached her desk before I could catch her.
“Doctor Cain will see you shortly,” she said loudly, still scowling.
I said quick hellos to each of them, my face bright red, and then leaned down to speak with Stacey.
“Please, can I explain myself and apologise properly later?”
She flicked her hair back over her shoulder, refusing to meet my eye. “We’ll see.”
Great. I wasn’t building trust or acting like a friend. I was fucked.
Five hours later Stacey was back in my office, opening client file after file on my computer.
“You keep clearing your patient history when you press that button and it doesn’t save. That’s why we can’t charge the patient the right amount on the desk.”
I groaned. This explained why Stacey had been slow to bring patient files and welcome patients; she’d been manually processing payments all day.
“I’m sorry,” I mumbled.
She stood close enough that I could smell her perfume. It was all I could do from leaning in and smelling her hair, her neck.
I cleared my throat, running a finger around my collar. Stacey looked at me like I was an idiot. Which I was.
“You’ll have to enter all of your patients’ notes again,” she said slowly.
I swore under my breath, running my fingers through my hair. Well, it wasn’t like I had anything else to do tonight as the new kid in town.
“I’ve stuffed up, what, sixteen patients?”
“Twenty-six. Seven appointments were double ones,” Stacey said immediately.
At least two hour’s work retrieving patient files from the records room and returning them.
“Can you stay back tonight and help?” I blurted.
Stacey frowned. “My job is not to fix up your mistakes.”
“No, absolutely not. You’ll be paid for your time. That goes without saying.”
“Minimum shift is three hours. And after 6 p.m. is time and a half.”
“Yep. Good. Okay.”
I wasn’t across employee relations stuff but assumed Pam knew what Stacey was talking about.
“Good luck with Pam,” Stacey said. “If you get her to agree to that, I’ll definitely stay for that money.”
“Great.” I smiled. “We can get takeaway and eat as well.”
Stacey frowned again. “This is not a date, it’s work. Nothing more.”
“Of course. I’ll be hungry after six. People eat. It’s what they do. Sometimes they eat together, in pairs or in family groups. Even in packs.”
Stacey’s lips twitched with a hint of amusement. “They also eat alone just fine, you know.”
“Acknowledged. But it would be rude for each of us to eat alone when we are here together fixing this mess.”
