Simon and I safely returned to the emergency room area. No one had a clue that we had been together, let alone what we had been doing on the third floor.
Later that afternoon, Simon and I were attending to the same patient. I caught him staring at me when he thought I wasn’t looking. Our eyes locked, and we just smiled at each other for a moment. It was clear we were both still on a sexual cloud nine.
My shift ended before his. I was on my way out but decided to say goodbye to him first.
Simon was looking at someone’s chart when I came up behind him.
“I’m off, Simon.”
He frowned. “I wish I could get out of here with you.”
There was something I had been waiting to ask him.
“I’ve been meaning to tell you…” I said. “The weekend after next is Brendan’s birthday. I’m having a little party for him at the house. I think he would love it if you’d be there.”
Simon closed his eyes momentarily then asked, “That’s the weekend of the twenty-fifth?”
“Yes.”
His expression dampened. “Shit. I would’ve loved to have gone, but I’ve booked tickets to the UK. I’m going there for a week.”
My heart sank. “Oh. To see your parents?”
“Yes.” He seemed hesitant. “And I…also have an interview for a permanent internist position at a private practice in Leeds.”
I just stood there with my mouth hanging open. I knew this was coming. He’d always made it crystal clear that he was going back to England once his residency was over, but a part of me really hoped he would change his mind. Apparently, that part of me was just delusional.
“Wow, it’s really happening, huh?”
“Well, nothing is set in stone. It’s just an interview.”
“But if you get it, you’ll take it, right?”
“I haven’t thought that far ahead.”
I didn’t know if I was just feeling really emotional because of what we’d done today or if it was the build up from months of worrying about this very thing happening, but my eyes started to water.
Fuck.
Stop it.
I tried to walk away suddenly so he wouldn’t notice, but he quickly followed after me.
“Bridget, fuck. Don’t go.”
“Don’t forget where we are, Simon. This is inappropriate. Go back to work.”
“Fuck inappropriate. I don’t want you driving home upset.”
I ran ahead of him and snuck into a closing elevator before he had a chance to stop me.My parents and I were having dinner in the local pub around the corner from their house in the Calverley neighborhood of Leeds, a quiet village-like suburb not too far from the city.
It was great seeing them, but being back home felt a lot different than I’d expected it to.
Had it always been this cloudy here?
I hadn’t left the US on good terms with Bridget. She’d started avoiding me more than ever after finding out about my interview. And this time, I let her. I avoided her right back. Because it just wasn’t fair to lead her on anymore if I was going to take this job. Her tears were proof that I’d taken things too far.
Making the situation even more difficult was the fact that the interview had gone spectacularly. After an eight-hour day spent touring the facility, the partners of the medical practice unanimously agreed to offer me the position, which would start in two months after my residency in Providence officially ended. They even offered to pay for my moving expenses.
My parents were therefore considering this a celebratory dinner, because they’d assumed I would be taking the job. To anyone looking in from the outside, the decision was a no-brainer. I hadn’t told anyone in my family about Bridget. I kept my recent private life under wraps; my parents didn’t even know I’d been living with her.
My mother took a bite of her fry. “So, once you move back, it’s going to be great for Nan. She’s really missed you. I don’t know how much time she has left,” my mum said.
“I plan to visit her this week before I leave.”
“When can we expect you back here for good?” my father asked.
“Well, I didn’t formally accept the job yet. They gave me until next week.”
My mother seemed surprised. “But surely, it’s a done deal?”
I couldn’t get myself to give Mum the confirmation she wanted. I hadn’t expected them to offer me the job on the spot with an ultimatum. I was still gobsmacked, really. I figured I’d have several weeks to make a decision. But they were looking for an immediate commitment.
My mother further prodded. “Simon…is there something you’re not telling us?”
I didn’t want to spend the next hour lying to my parents, making up excuses for my hesitation when there was only one reason I wasn’t jumping to happily accept my supposed dream job.
Unsure of how to begin, I said, “There’s someone back in the States…um…”