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CHAPTER2
Kyleigh Marzon
“Why are you coming in so late from work?” my mother asked. “Your father and I have been worried.”
“Sorry, Mother. There was an emergency,” I replied, heading directly to my room.
I’d stayed at the hospital well past the end of my scheduled shift–it was true. But I’d volunteered to stay. Lately, our new chief of staff Finn O’Connor had been receiving nightly visits from his handsome younger brother, Liam. Peering out of a window at Liam was getting old, and I was running out of excuses to explain why I was lingering after the end of my shift. I couldn’t just walk up to him and say hello without drawing attention to myself. Eventually someone would tell my parents.
I hate not being able to be myself.
I was running out of time. I’d overheard someone say that Liam was only staying long enough for his brother’s wedding to President Florraz. That gave me four weeks to somehow arrange a meeting between us and make it look purely accidental.
Only one person knew and understood my plight. Once I was behind closed doors, I called my confidant and best friend, Karrol. With any luck, she’d have some advice on what to do next.
“Did you see him?” she asked.
“I see him almost every day,” I replied.
Karrol sighed. “I mean in person. Because if you keep watching him from the window, he might think it’s a little…creepy.”
“I am not staring out a window at him all the time. But if I happen to be walking by one, and spot him, then…”
She laughed. “I love how you feel the need to pretend with me. I know you, Kyleigh. You’re living the way you’re expected to, not the way you want to. But you didn’t call me because you have nothing to say. Tell me what happened.”
“He saw me,” I admitted, blushing intensely.
“Good. So you finally met,” Karrol said.
“No. Not like that. He saw me watching him from the window,” I corrected her.
“How do you know he saw you?” she asked.
“He looked up and waved.”
“Oh my. That’s awesome. What did you do? Please tell me you waved back.”
I plopped down on my bed and sighed. “No.”
“I’m almost afraid to ask, but what exactly did you do? And do not leave out any details!” Karrol pressed.
“I panicked and backed away so he couldn’t see me.” I was not about to tell her that I hid in a supply closet for almost ten minutes, afraid he’d come in search of me.
“That... is all? You backed away from the window? Your tone made it sound so much more…interesting. You know I live vicariously through you,” she sighed. “Maybe you can make up something.”
“The truth is bad enough.” I know Karrol was going to give me grief, but we promised to always tell each other everything. “Okay. There is more to the story. I didn’t just back up, I may have decided to take inventory in the supply closet for an extended period of time.”
Instead of the lecture I expected about being bold and confident, all I could hear was uncontrollable laughter on the other end of the line. I waited, but it didn’t end.
“Karrol, I’m going to hang up,” I warned. “Knock it off.”
“Sorry. I…I…I know it’s not funny but thinking about you in a closet is hilarious.”
I huffed, because I didn’t find any of this humorous. Mostly because I was embarrassed at my actions. Karrol should understand. Meeting men is not easy for Tabiqian women. We’ve been hidden and sheltered and programed to always be on guard when it came to men. And yet, I can’t stop thinking about him. Why?
“I meet men all the time. I’ve never reacted like this,” I responded
“Sure. Those men are called ‘patients,’ by the way. And that is not the same thing as being sexually attracted to a man. Though I’m sure you wouldn’t mind giving Liam a bed bath,” she teased.
