I sipped my beer as I glared at Candace. “You gonna give old smokey Joe a taste of what he wants?”
She made a face at my mention of the grizzled old man that used the ER as his primary care provider and had a special fondness for Candace.
“What’s wrong with Joyce?” Mia asked. “She’s pretty enough. She’s well-endowed. What’s not to like?”
I could only gape at her.
Peggy snorted. “Those tits are store bought and our Nick here prefers natural girls.”
I turned my glare to Peggy. “You do know that I’m here, don’t you? I don’t need you talking about my sex life in public.”
Peggy shrugged. “Word is you don’t have a sex life anymore.”
“Jesus.”
Mia pulled her lips in like she was trying not to laugh. “This sort of thing doesn’t happen in the big city.”
“What? Sex talk?” Peggy asked.
“Everyone knowing if and when you’re having sex … or not.”
As a man, I felt the need to defend my sex life and yet, I didn’t want to come off as a horn dog either.
“I haven’t had sex in a while either, Nick,” Candace said. “Unfortunately, you and I aren’t compatible in that area or we could help each other out.”
“Tell me again why I hang with you guys?” I quipped.
“Because you love us. And we think you’re adorable. Isn’t he adorable, Mia?” Peggy said putting her arm around me.
“He’s adorable,” Mia said, but she didn’t look at me.
“What was your sex life like in L.A.? Movie stars?” Tracy, one of the front desk staff, asked.
“No movie stars. I did date an agent once though,” Mia replied.
I wanted to kick that agent’s ass. Even as I thought it, I knew it was ridiculous to be jealous. Mia and I had been over for years. Still, maybe it was because we’d been young, or that I’d been her first, a part of me still thought of her as mine. Maybe it was because she was the first woman, the only woman, I’d ever loved.
“Have you met movie stars?” Peggy asked.
“I’ve seen them, but I don’t know any of them.” Mia wiped condensation from her glass.
“We get the occasional movie star up here,” Candace said.
“Don’t you get bored going through all that legal mumbo jumbo?” Dr. Comstock said. His inability to stick to the conversation at hand may have been one reason his wife left him.
Mia shrugged. “It’s not mumbo jumbo to me. And no. Today I read through vendor contracts and saw all the places you’re potentially screwed.”
“What?” We all said.
“Take your EMR system—”
“I don’t want it.” Peggy’s face pinched into disgust.
I had to agree. The software was a pain in the ass. “What about it?”
“In the contract, the hospital indemnifies the software manufacturer of all liability,” Mia said.
“What does that mean?” Candace asked.