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Rising to walk over to my desk, I first put on my wire-rimmed glasses and then reached for the dusty manilla folder containing our legal paperwork. And then I made my second phone call of the day to Christopher Thompson, intending to schedule a pre-lunch meeting with the lawyer to get this resolved once and for all.
Chapter Eighteen
Amelia
Forthefirsttwoweeks of October, I returned to in-office work at Body, Heart & Mind. I did my best to forget about Josh and put all of my attention on my new patients as well as my casual relationship with Dr. Morales. It hadn’t grown into anything spectacular since I returned fully, but I was able to get by on the fervid kisses he smeared along my neck and collarbones in the back of his car at the end of our dates.
I enjoyed working with Natalie again too, and had been overly grateful when she and Benjamin invited me to live with them again. Though I was still determined to give them their space and find my own apartment, I had to admit I missed the coziness of the small, six-hundred square foot space—it was nothing like the majestic, immaculate rooms at Josh’s mansion where I’d often worried about getting lost.
The combination of all those things made for a comfortable life and I would have been content to keep living it if I hadn’t received an unexpected offer from a well-known clinic in the city an hour north of us. The office I currently worked at was nothing to sniff at, but this deal was almost half of what I’d made while working with Josh, a tidy sum that would give me the chance to expand my practice eventually.
“Weren’t you planning to go on vacation soon?” Natalie asked when I told her about the offer, and I could tell she thought I was moving too quickly after the messy “break-up” with Josh.
“I thought about it,” I replied, coolly leaning back against the metal bench we sat on, “and I will at some point. I’m just not really in a place right now to enjoy the nicer things…I kind of got some time off while working withhim.”
“If you say so,” Natalie snorted disbelievingly. “I think that was one of the most stressful situations you’ve ever been in, but whatever you say, Ames.”
Sitting there and admiring the falling leaves peacefully, I neglected to tell her that I also had more pressing choices than going on vacation—I was pregnant. Or at least, I was feeling some of the symptoms.
I wouldn’t know for certain for a few days but already I’d noticed that something had changed in my body. In addition to setting up a chunk of change for me to seriously pursue a doctoral degree in physical therapy, this new job would allow me to be a single mother. Not by choice but by necessity, since I was sure that the child’s father would want nothing to do with it.
Because I hadn’t told Natalie that I’d slept with Josh the night before I left, I figured I should wait to tell her about the baby. I was certain that she wouldn’t understand—hell, I was having a hard time wrapping my head around the last six months myself—and would insist that I told Josh so that he would be held responsible. So I let her try to provide alternatives to me accepting the offer and every time, I assured her that I had already made the best choice, even if she didn’t know the main reason why.
As the days grew shorter and colder, storefronts began pasting cutouts of black cats and pumpkins to their windows. And I began packing my few belongings to move again, this time to a bustling, urban sprawl that I could get lost in.
Natalie and Benjamin accepted my decision with some caveats, namely that I would call them once a week so that they’d know I was doing well by myself, and now all I had to do was break the news to Santiago.
I’d gone over the potential compromises we might make over and over, but because I’d be living an hour away, it seemed more reasonable to end things here so that we could both have fresh starts. And since our relationship was nothing more than a few date nights mingled with heavy petting, I hoped he wouldn’t take it too hard.
Knocking on his door, I experienced a moment of déjà vu, making me think back to the last time I’d come into his office with such a serious question to ask. I entered when he told me to and wasn’t surprised to find Dr. Morales behind his desk, studying a patient’s file.
“How are you,mi chica?” he asked, clearly tired at the end of the workday but nevertheless happy to see me. He stood, motioning for me to take the seat opposite from him. I had always appreciated the importance Santiago placed on keeping our romance secret; it was gestures like the one he’d just made which kept even Natalie from suspecting us.
“I’m fine, Santi,” I replied, smoothing my palms over my pants to rid them of their clamminess. “I-I have something I need to talk to you about.”
Thankfully, he noticed the concerned crease in my brow and returned to his chair, a compassionate smile gracing his face. “Have you found another Mr. Adams to work for?” he joked gently and my heart ached at his dark, wizened eyes which saw straight through me.
I knew I couldn’t bullshit him after that so I answered succinctly, “Yes. I received an offer from Soul & Strength and I’m going to take the job.” To soften the blow, I smiled demurely and said, “Thank you for being there for me when Mr. Adams…concluded his treatment with us. You’re a good man and a great boss, Santi.”
He waved a hand at me, teasingly dismissing the compliments and crossed his arms across his chest. “I’ve seen enough dramas to know this is also where you tell me it’s over, right?”
Sheepishly, I admitted, “Yes.” Dr. Morales only nodded at me, his expression still calm and understanding, prompting me to ask, “how are you being so calm about this?”
“I know what young women are like,” he replied, and though the comment stung a little, I knew he was right. “You have your whole life ahead of you, Amelia. Why would you want a man almost twice your age to slow you down?”
“Besides,” he added with a grin, “I think we both knew this was only for fun,mi chica, even if I saw the tiny hearts in your eyes from time to time.”
Blushing, it was my turn to nod silently, and Dr. Morales’s mustache twitched as his lips quirked up at my reaction. “It’s okay, Amelia,” he murmured, leaning forward to rest his forearms on his desk. “Do you think you’ll be happy there?”
“Yes,” I answered quietly, amazed at how this whole interaction was going far more positively than I’d thought it would.
“Then go,” he said, and there was nothing but the love of a friend in his tone. I stood on shaky legs and came around to his side, bending down to kiss his smooth cheek.
“Thanks, Santi,” I whispered, tears beading my lashes not because I was losing a chance with my crush but because I knew he deserved more than me.
Dr. Morales regarded me with a lopsided grin one more time and then patted my shoulder affectionately. “Go on,mi Amelia. Get outta here.”
Taking a deep breath, I headed for the door and paused with my fingers on the knob, looking back to say what I hoped would express every feeling I’d ever had for him. But Santiago cut me off with another wave of his hand, as if to say this was the ending we both wanted.
