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“I would,” she said snidely, “but somehow, you seem to have them under your thumb.”
I rolled my eyes at her tone. I didn’t have anyone under my thumb. Nobody treated me any differently in this hospital. Yes, I worked a shift that was conducive to my son’s schedule, but I also took a pay cut to do it. That was the only way to make everything work out. I understood that working for the same hourly pay as everyone else, but having the opportunity to work less hours would seem like favoritism, so I accepted the terms of my assignment. It wasn’t ideal, but it made the most sense for my situation.
I clocked out, ignoring the daggers Denise sent my way as I left the nurses’ station. Gina met me down the hallway, walking with me toward the locker room. “Girl, you’re seriously trying to get fired, aren’t you?”
“Not at all. Why would you say that?”
“Everyone knows not to argue with Denise.”
“I don’t have a choice. I can’t leave my son at daycare because she wants to punish me.”
Gina grabbed my arm, pulling me to a stop. “She could have you fired.”
“She would have to prove that I’ve done something wrong.”
“And you don’t think she can do that?” Gina asked. “Look, I know you think you’re covering all your bases. I’m just asking you to be careful. She has it out for you.”
“I don’t know why. I am the epitome of a good employee. The fact is, Denise doesn’t like anyone, and she sees me as some sort of…threat to her. I don’t want her job. I don’t even want to stay here,” I said, lowering my voice.
Gina knew all too well about my plans to leave the area and disappear. Despite being my best friend, she was behind me one hundred percent, knowing it was the only way for me to really live my life.
“Just be careful. If you lose your job, everything you’ve worked so hard for will fly out the window.”
Sighing, I shook my head. “There’s nothing more I can do. If shehas it out for me, there’s no changing her mind. All I can do is continue to do my job and make sure there are no mistakes.”
“Like that would ever happen,” she scoffed. “I don’t know anyone as anal about their work as you.”
“I like to be thorough.”
“By the way, there’s an extremely good looking man waiting for you outside. I told him not to come in, but I don’t know if he listened.”
“Who?”
A grin split her lips as she waggled her eyebrows at me. “A certain cop that just happens to have an infatuation with you.”
“He’s not infatuated. He probably has some questions for me about what happened.”
“Yeah, I’m sure that’s it,” she laughed as she walked away.
I was already running a few minutes behind, so I hurried to the locker room and changed into my clothes from this morning. Sometimes, I just wore scrubs to work, but I had grocery shopping to do after I picked up Parker, and I hated walking around in the grime of the day. I showered quickly and dressed before heading for the parking lot. As Gina said, Officer Thorson was waiting at the entrance, and immediately stood tall as I approached him.
“Hey,” he grinned. That handsome smirk on his face was back, along with a disheveled look that only made him more roguishly handsome.
“Hi,” I returned his smile. “What are you doing here? Did you bring in another suspect? Or maybe you’re here to save another woman that’s bound to be attacked by someone hopped up on drugs.”
“Actually, I’m here to see if you would like to go out to dinner.”
“Oh,” I said, a little taken aback. “Um…I actually have to go grocery shopping and—” Shit. I just remembered that I didn’t have my car.
“Everything okay?”
“Yes, my car broke down this morning. I completely forgot about it.”
“Oh, well, in that case, allow me to give you a ride home.”
“I actually have to pick up my son.” And grocery shopping wasnow out. We’d have to order takeout, which I hated to do. It was a waste of money, and I only spent extra on special occasions.
“Okay,” he nodded. He held his hand out for me to walk ahead of him.
