Eight

One thing St. José’s staff are pretty good at is throwing good hospital parties. Ever since I started working here, St. José has thrown at least five parties to commemorate different events, I’ve only attended one, thus making the second time I’m gracing one of their parties.

For a girl who lived an extravagant life and a life of luxury, I find parties like this boring. Actually, I find almost every party boring except the type where I had to hit the club on the weekends with my girls singing and getting drunk. There’s nothing fun about parties like these. There’s just talking, drinking, laughing at old boring jokes, more talking, and maybe two people flirting, and there is the part where you have to pretend like you’re having the best time of your life.

I push my hair to the side, letting it fall on my shoulder as I listen to Noah talk about hospital gossip. He already had Monique hooked as she smiled and laughed at whatever thing he was telling her. Tiwa is going through her phone, giving so many orders to the babysitter who’s babysitting her kid. I have been trying to pay attention and have “fun” but I can’t when Doctor Sanders is staring at me from across the room.

Fucking hell.

I don’t mind being stared at and that is because of the family I grew up in. My mom raised us and treated us like assets. Assets to wealthy men’s pockets. Whenever my family needed a donation, she made me and my twin sister look pretty and stand before wealthy men as we read out the speech she and my father wrote.

“Make sure you smile when you read this speech. Men like pretty little things with pretty smiles and a perfect body. A pretty smile alone can command a man to do anything for you.” She’d say.

So I’ve gotten used to men staring at me even if it gets creepy when they do it too much. The minute I stepped into this hall with Monique and I locked eyes with Doctor Sanders, he had been staring at me, but this time there was something different about the way he was looking at me.

I knew I looked different, hotter even. I could tell by the men that won’t stop staring at me. A lot of people in my workplace are used to seeing me in shrubs and jeans, they literally can’t imagine me in a dress. But tonight, I didn’t try to look nice because deep down, I didn’t want to be here. I wear a red, backless halter dress with a mermaid hem that falls right above my knees paired with clear white stilettos and a white purse. My brown hair is wavy, falling down my bare back.

I take a breath, turning my head around toward the direction of Doctor Sanders. He’s with Caroline Peters who won’t stop talking, a female surgeon, and a male surgeon. We lock eyes for a second as he raises his glass of wine toward me with a small smile. I smile back, not a flirtatious smile of course as I raise my glass to greet him too and then I look away.

“Is that Doctor Sanders?” Monique asks at once, turning to face the Doctor that’s across the room.

“Yup,” I say, bringing my glass of wine to my lips.

“Hot, isn’t he?” Tiwa asks.

“Fucking right. He’s been eye fucking Robyn all night.” Monique says, smirking.

I groan and roll my eyes. “Fuck’s sake, ya’ll give me a break.”

“Just saying,” Monique says, smirking at me.

I shake my head, throwing my head back as I empty my glass of cocktail. I need more alcohol to get through this night in one piece. Thank god for my high tolerance for alcohol.

“I’m gonna go get a drink,” I say, not waiting for their response as I turn around and walk off.

“Did you guys notice an attitude?” I hear Noah ask.

“A little. She gon’ be okay though.” Monique says. “She's probably horny,” Monique says, earning an eye roll from me.

I am definitely horny, that’s true, but that’s not the reason behind my annoyance. My annoyance is that my friends are trying so hard to get me to go out with a man without realizing a man is the last thing I want. I can’t remember the last time my heart beat for anyone. Actually, I remember, never.

I may have been a closeted romantic before my mother succeeded in getting rid of that romantic side of me, but I have never actually fallen in love. I don’t know what love feels like, I’m not ready to find out. I’ve seen so many relationships that started with love only to watch it crumble to dust. I don’t crave romance but my friends are finding it hard to understand that. Monique once told me, even though she claimed she was joking, that she was scared I was going to die lonely. At the time, I made her understand that the fact that I don’t want a man doesn’t mean I’m lonely. I’m far from lonely.

There’s so much I want out of life and men are the last thing on that list. If I get sexually repressed to a point I want a man, I could always get a new sex toy. It is always exciting when it’s new. There is a lot of drama that comes with hooking up and I’m not ready for it. Also, growing up, I wasn’t into the whole hooking-up-with-strangers lifestyle, it was more like my twin sister's thing. If I’m willing to have sex, then it has to be with someone I’m dating, even though it is all a transaction and there’s no mutual feeling of love. But since I’m not willing to date anyone, I have to make do with what I have. At least they don’t catch feelings or STDs.

I stop by the drink stand, looking down at my wristwatch to stare at the time. It’s 9:15 pm.

When the fuck is the main thing going to start though?

“Having a blast?” A familiar Scottish accent says by my side. I turn around, coming face to face with a pair of green eyes.

“You could say that,” I say and flash him a small smile as I turn to look at the server, calling for his attention.

“I haven’t had the chance to compliment you. You look nice, Robyn.”

Nice, huh? A man who wants to sleep with you would say “hot” not “nice”. The last thing I want is another Doctor Ricci drama. I don’t want that, especially from someone like Doctor Sanders whom I have high hopes for. He looks like a man with principles and morals. I don’t know what I will do if he starts to hit on me.

God, gross.

“Thank you. You don’t look bad yourself.” I say, turning to look at the server who’s now in front of me.

“What should I get you?”

“Tequila.”

“Tequila. Isn’t that too strong?”

“I’m not gonna gulp it down at once. A sip at a time.” I flash Doctor Sanders a small smile before turning to look at the bartender who’s still standing in front of me, with the counter in between us.

“A glass?” The server asks.

“Yeah. That would do.” The server nods and walks away. I turn around to stare at Doctor Sanders who is wearing a black suit paired with a white dress shirt. “So, are you enjoying yourself?”

“Yeah.”

“Great. And you won’t believe I don’t know your first name. I only know your last name.”

He laughs, teeth white as snow. “That’s correct. It’s Richard.”

“Richie?”

“Richard. I hate it when people call me that.”

I chuckle. “Yeah. Richie does sound like a pussy.” I blurt out, hating myself for blurting out like that. Doctor Sanders is surprised, his facials giving him away. “I’m sorry. The P word is a bad word, I shouldn’t have used that.”

“It’s okay. “

I nod, turning my head toward my friends who look like they’re having a fun time gossiping.

“Your drink, ma’am.” The server says as I turn around. He stretches my drink toward me and I take it.

“Thanks,” I mutter, bringing the beverage to my lips to take a sip. The server nods and goes back to attending to other people.

“So…”

“See you around?” Doctor Sanders asks. I nod.

“Sure. I should join my friends.” I say, pointing my drink toward my friends. He nods, a small playful smile on his lips. I give him a smile in return and walk off toward the group.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I’m sure you all are having a great time,” The president of St. José, Aaliyah Summers, greets as she stands on the stage in front of a digital podium with an embedded mic. She looks beautiful as always, with brown skin, long silky straight hair, perfect curves, and toned legs.

I’ve loved the woman since the first day I laid eyes on her. She inspired me, including her story. She was hardworking, polite, humble, unmarried, and she was committed to her work. Aaliyah Summers is not the type of woman you’d see every day. I’ve only seen her five times since I started working here. The first time we met was when she’d requested to see me. I was surprised, shocked. I just didn’t understand why the president of this prestigious hospital would know me, a practical nurse, not even a resident doctor, and even request to see me. She said she’d seen me work and was awed at how committed I was. Then she told me her story, how she also started as a practical nurse before she got promoted to head nurse. She then went back to school to get a PhD in medicine and to study more about medicine. She left the former hospital she worked at after getting a PhD before she came to St. José and started working as a surgeon. She became head of surgery three years later and then she was promoted to President within four years.

Seeing her again after the last time I saw her almost six months ago, made me smile. She’s the real-life example of the quote “Hard work does pay”.

“Not to keep y’all waiting, we’re gonna cut to the chase. I noticed some of us couldn’t wait to hear the announcement before we rushed to get wine.” She joked, earning quiet chuckles from the audience.

“As some of you know, tonight’s gathering is to celebrate, recognize, and welcome our new stockholder. St. José is more than a hospital. Here, we are a community, we are all families and we treat each other like one.”

I don’t think Caroline Peters knows the definition of family because she’s a fucking bitch.

“In St. José, we are open to new opportunities to help more people and to provide quality and affordable services to everyone from all walks of life. So tonight, I’d like to introduce to everyone our newest shareholder of our beautiful community, the sole founder and CEO of PharmaCare, one of the most innovative and influential pharmaceutical companies in the country, and the sole owner of Gray Empire…” At the mention of Gray Empire, I spit out my drink at once, eyes fixed on the stage as I pray and wish that who I think it is isn’t about to walk into that stage. There’s only one person behind that Prestigious legacy, and it’s—

“Ladies and gentlemen… Dominique Gray.”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake!”

The audience goes into a loud applause, cheering as Aaliyah Summers welcomes Dominique Gray onto the stage, shaking hands with him with a big smile on her face like he’s about to elevate us from the depths of poverty.

Oh, yeah. We are definitely soaking in debt.

“Wait up? Dominique is St. José's newest stockholder?” Monique asks. “Damn. I didn’t see that coming.”

Yeah, me neither.

“So when you were telling me about his biography, why didn’t you tell me he’s the founder of PharmaCare, St. José’s biggest supplier?” I ask, Monique.

“It escaped my mind. Also, what good would it do? Were you gonna quit your job, if you’d known?” Monique asks, expelling her breath through her parted lips as she slowly reaches for my glass of wine.

“Do you think he bought a percentage of the hospital’s shares just to get back at me?” I ask, my nose flaring. “Or is this his own way of reminding me of his superiority over me?”

“Nah, I don’t think so. You’re not that important.” Monique says, turning to look at me to give me an apologetic look. I glare at her and cross my arms. “You know what I mean. You only totaled his car, it's not like you ran away with his money.”

“Seriously? It was a scratch, nothing aggressive.” I glare at Monique, snatching my glass of wine from her as I gulp down the alcohol.

I am slowly getting drunk, I can feel it. This is the last place I’d want to be drunk.

“What are you guys whispering about?” Tiwa asks.

“I heard something about Robyn totaling someone’s car,” Noah says, collecting the glass of tequila from my hand as he brings the empty glass to his nose to smell. He gags at once, scrunching up his face in disgust. “Damn, this is strong,” Noah says, eyeing me suspiciously.

“I’m not drunk,” I say, already pissed off at everything.

My encounter with Dominique Gray is supposed to be over, he’s supposed to be forgotten like a bad memory but fuck no, he found a way to walk into my life again like he fucking owns it. One look at the man and I instantly knew I should stay away from him, like far away. He’s everything I’d talked myself into staying away from the minute I came into this city, but instead, life is just messing with me.

And like a bad dream, he’s standing up there, addressing the audience but I can’t hear a thing because I’m not listening. I want to believe this is a bad dream, a bad dream I badly want to wake up from, but it’s not. It’s real.

Slowly, Dominique Gray turns his head toward my direction, like he can sense my presence already with the way I kept glaring at him from where I’m standing, and for a long second, our eyes lock, both of us staring at each other. And for the first time, since I knew this man existed, I could simply read the look on his face and the fiery look in his eyes.

He’s started a game, a very dangerous game, and he has no intention of losing.