Of course, there was always the odd occasion when their on-call schedules would line up and they had to spend the night together at the hospital. Isabella tried her best to avoid temptation on these nights, but when they had a free moment, they would sneak into a rarely-used supply closet or exam room to make out.
Away from work, she did her best to keep her mind off James. She was still hesitant about having a serious relationship, but the more time they spent together, the harder this became.
James was all for their relationship. He continued to leave her little gifts and notes in her locker. At first, she told him to stop, but then she gave up. After all, she loved to read notes filled with all the things he liked about her. It was mushy, but Isabella hardly cared. She was starting to fall in love with him.
Isabella was permanently tired. Not wanting to give up any of her study time to see James, she cut several hours of sleep out of the equation. She wanted to prove to herself that she could have it all.
Isabella’s mother called her one evening, much to her surprise. Since leaving for college, she and her mother didn’t speak often. They were never close, no thanks to the revolving door of new stepfathers that entered and exited her life.
“Isabella, darling, how is the new job?” her mother asked.
“It’s good. I’ve been really busy. A while ago, I did some research work, and my name’s going to be included in the paper.”
“That sounds lovely. How are you enjoying the city? Any fun things to do?”
“I don’t really do much besides work and study.”
“You haven’t been asked out on any dates?” Her mom clicked her tongue. “You’re nearly thirty. How do you expect to find a husband and have kids at this rate?”
Isabella was annoyed but not surprised that her mom immediately went there. For as long as she could recall, her mother’s favorite activity was to try to set her up on dates. When Isabella finally agreed to go out on the blind date, the choices were always terrible. Her mother tended to look at traits like looks and money, whereas Isabella looked for personalities and values that matched hers.
“As a matter of fact, mother, I am seeing someone,” she blurted out.
She immediately regretted saying anything. Their relationship was still a secret.
“You are? Tell me everything!”
There was no use hiding James from her now. She gave her all the details.
“He’s another surgeon at my hospital. We started seeing each other a few months ago, but we’re keeping it secret because we work together.”
“Oh, a workplace romance.” Her mom clucked. “And a surgeon, no less. Tell me about him.”
“Uh, let’s see,” she started. “His name is James, he’s thirty, and he’s an attending. He’s really smart and good at what he does.”
“How did you meet?”
“At work,” Isabella said flatly.
“Obviously,” her mom said, getting annoyed. “Be a little more specific, can you?”
“He was the attending assigned to our intern group. He asked me out and I said yes. We’ve been hanging out since then.”
“When can I meet him?”
She hadn’t even considered introducing him to her mother. She didn’t hate the idea though. They had been together for a few months now, and things were getting serious between them.
“I don’t know,” Isabella said. “When am I going to meet your new husband?”
“Well,” her mom began. “I wanted it to be a surprise, but we’re actually coming to town next week. Can you clear your schedule for next Saturday night?”
“Yeah, that should work. I’ll check with him to make sure he isn’t busy.”
Isabella already knew he wasn’t busy because they already made plans to hang out. Meeting the parents was heavy stuff, and she wanted to make sure he had a chance to say no.
“I’m excited for you to meet Charles,” her mother said. “He’s a great guy, and I know you’re going to love him.”
“I’m sure he’s great. I should get back to studying. We’ll talk details later.”
“Fantastic. Can’t wait to see you.”
“Me too,” Isabella said, hanging up the phone.
The next morning, Isabella arrived at the hospital extra early. She caught James just as he was getting out of the shower.
“What a pleasant surprise,” he exclaimed. “What are you doing here so early?”
“Thought I’d come by for a chat,” she said coyly. “Why do you shower here when you have such a nice shower? I know this because we’ve had some good moments in there.”
“I like to use the gym here before all the old cardiac rehab folks take over. What did you want to talk about?”
She watched beads of water drip down from his chiseled physique.
“I talked to my mom yesterday.”
“Nice. What did she say?”
“She said she’s coming to have dinner with me on Saturday. She’s bringing her new husband. I haven’t even met him yet. Let’s just say it was a fast relationship.”
“Okay,” he said. “We can reschedule our night together. Maybe I can come over on Sunday and you can tell me all about it.”
“Well,” she said, “I told my mom about you. She wants to meet you. I understand if you don’t want to, but you’re invited to join us for dinner.”
He looked surprised. Isabella couldn’t tell if it was a good surprise or a bad surprise.
“Oh wow,” he said. “Meeting the parents. So we’re at that stage?”
Isabella quickly backpedaled. “Forget I said anything. It was a silly thing to ask.”
“No, I think it’s great!”
He took her face in his hands and planted a kiss on her head. “This will be great. We should arrange something with my parents next. Separately, of course,” he added.
“I’m glad you’re so cool about this,” she said. “I was freaking out.”
“It will be fine. We don’t have to tell anyone at work that we’re together, but I think it’s good to tell our parents. It’s not like you’re planning on running out on me anytime soon, right?”
“Right.”
“This is exciting. Do you think your mom is going to like me?”
Isabella laughed. “She?
??s going to like you more than me. I’m serious. You’re practically the perfect picture of a mate. The only strike against you is—”
She trailed off. She had already said too much.
“Is what?” he asked.
“Nothing.”
He raised an eyebrow at her.
“—is the fact that we’re not really interested in getting married or having children together.”
“Huh,” he mused.
“I’m going to grab some breakfast before rounds,” Isabella said, wanting to leave the uncomfortable conversation as quickly as possible.
Isabella’s face burned with embarrassment. They’d had “the talk” before, so why was it so awkward to bring it up? She wanted to prove to her mother that she was capable of having a normal relationship that didn’t require marriage or quitting jobs.
She picked at a breakfast sandwich in the cafeteria, hoping that the weekend would come and go with little incident. She hoped her mother would be on her best behavior because her relationship with James was so easy and just felt right.
Chapter Thirteen
Sleep did not come easy for Isabella the night before the dinner with her mother. She tossed and turned all night before finally giving up and turning on the TV.
She flipped through channels before settling on a reality show that followed women planning their weddings. She was sure that it was mostly fictional to draw viewers in, but she couldn’t help but watch it anyway.
The women featured were truly dreadful—young women ordering their friends around and giving ridiculous demands and mothers screaming at their daughters and husbands. Isabella wondered why anyone would go through the hassle of having a wedding.
She had seen the marriage process many times with her mother. Each wedding cost a fortune once venues, decorations, and food were taken into account. Everyone involved was always stressed out for no reason. Her mother often complained about how awful it was to spend a bunch of money to get the right flowers, only for them to die a few days later. Yet, every wedding, the bouquets of real flowers were larger and grander than the last.
It blew her mind that people would drop so much money and spend so much time on an event that lasted just a few hours. In return, the couple would have nothing to show for it except for a few new serving dishes or a bread maker. The divorce would promptly follow, and then it was back to square one.