I spent way too long drying my long, chestnut hair, making sure that every strand was smooth and in place. I applied a full face of makeup, wanting to look absolutely flawless when he saw me up close. I modeled the rest of my makeup off of the kinds of girls he was supposedly into.
Then, I put on the dress I borrowed from Carol. It was a dark, floral number with a skirt that floated past my hips. It was cut rather low in the front, which wouldn’t hurt my chances with Damon. When it was all said and done, I was pleased with how I looked. I felt sexy, and that was half the battle. Now, I just had to keep calm while talking to my dream mentor. I didn’t want to say something stupid and embarrass myself. I knew we were only meeting up to talk about our lives back home, but I still felt like I needed to prepare.
I didn’t want him to know how much of a loser I used to be. I had carefully crafted the right look and personality to succeed in the medical world. I didn’t want to let him know that I was probably one of the geeks he used to make fun of. I wanted to give the illusion that I was the cute girl-next-door who was maybe a few years too young to catch his eye the first time around.
My stomach fluttered uncomfortably. I was nervous, but still excited to see where the evening went. Without saying another word to my roommate, I slipped on a pair of wedged heels, buckled the ankle strap, and strode out to my car, buzzing with excitement. With one final look in my visor mirror, I couldn’t help but smile at my reflection. I was basically living out my high school fantasy and it felt pretty damn good.
Chapter 4
Damon
I made my way to the bar, knowing that I’d be early. However, I wanted to be able to secure a good seat in this place, and it usually filled up around this time. I wasn’t too worried about running into any interns, this place was a bit pricier than what most of them could afford. I figured that I wouldn’t have to worry about running into any other doctors either, as this bar tended to attract the wealthy pop culture crowd which didn’t appeal to most of those I worked with. At any moment, I was surrounded by actors, pop stars, people in finance, and your occasional rich kid burning their parents’ money. It was the perfect place to get to know someone in a public setting. The music wasn’t too loud and the lights were low. I had a ninety percent success rate here when it came to sealing the deal.
I ordered a whiskey on the rocks to sit as I waited. On my way over, I decided that it might not be enough to just buy her a drink if I wanted her to be my date to the fundraiser event. I would have to find her something more valuable. Ordinarily, I could find someone to go with me, with no problem. But, I was running short on time, and Olivia was the one.
She ticked all the boxes. She was fun enough to talk to. I didn’t know anything about her, but as we came from the same hometown, at least we had that to talk about. She was intelligent and she was interested in the medical field like I was. She would love talking to the people attending the cancer research fundraiser. Hobnobbing with other doctors, scientists and wealthy patrons of research. I would have to train her to speak the appropriate amount and not pester, but from what I observed of her, she wouldn’t be hard to acclimate to the environment of the upper echelon.
And, she was cute. She wasn’t like, stunningly beautiful, but she was still very pretty. I could probably buy her a ball gown and send her to the salon beforehand and she’d clean up nicely. Yeah, she would certainly do. I had to make sure that she wouldn’t say no. I didn’t have any other leads, and the event was just two days away.
I saw her walk through the door as I was taking my last sip. I drained the rest into my mouth and set it on an adjacent table as I stood up to wave her over. She was dressed to fit in and the dress really suited her. Ripping my eyes away from her ample bosom, I leaned in and gave her a friendly hug before escorting her into our private booth.
“You look great,” I said.
“Thanks,” she said bashfully. “So do you.”
“What are you drinking?” I asked. I pushed a drink menu toward her. “Lots of girls like the specialty cocktails.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” she said as she read through the list. “Is this one really twenty dollars?”
“Get anything you want,” I said. “It’s on me. It’s not every day I get to hang out with a Hazelwood native.”
“I’ll have this one,” she said, pointing to a fruity mixture when the waitress came around.
I asked for another whiskey on the rocks, knowing that the bartender would remember my order.
“So, were you a public or private school kid?” I asked, trying to break the ice with some easy conversation.
“Private school,” she replied. “My mom always complained about how expensive tuition was, yet she still sent my brother and me there. I’m sure the public school was just as good.”
“It’s possible,” I replied. “I mean, we had a lot of degenerates come out of Prep. Our sports teams were better, though. Did you play any sports?”
“I was on the track team— middle distance,” she said after taking a sip of her drink. “I wasn’t great, but I made the team.”
“That’s cool. I’m guessing you were more into academics, right?”
She blushed and looked down at the table. “Yeah, kinda,” she giggled, “is it that obvious?”
“Intelligence is not a bad thing,” I said. “Smart is sexy.”
She giggled again. I seemed to have found the right thing to say. I just had to sprinkle in a few more reassurances and she would be open to anything.
“I’m still trying to figure out where our paths might have crossed. It’s not like Hazelwood is a big city. For the most part, everyone knows everyone.”
“Can you name everyone in your graduating class?” she asked.
I thought for a moment. For the most part, I had a decent memory of whom I spent those years with. But, there were always a few kids who lurked on the fringes, ones that I didn’t have classes or extracurricular activities with.
“If you gave me last names, I think I could give you first names,” I said confidently. “Could you?”
“For sure,” she said coolly. “I have a pretty good memory for names and faces, though.”
“That skill will take you far,” I replied. “There have been a few times where I’ve nearly made a complete ass of myself in a meeting for almost flubbing a name of an important doctor. Even the non-important medical personnel get upset if you don’t know who they are. I swear, some basically want you to know everything about their life.”
“I suppose it can’t hurt to know a little bit more about someone,” she said optimistically. “If it makes them happy, then it’s worth the research, right?”
“Kissing ass will only take you so far. It’ll take you far, but what the top brass really want is money. If you make them enough money, then you can do whatever you want.”
“Is that the point where you are now as a top surgeon?” she asked.
I grinned. “I don’t go out of my way to be an asshole, if that’s what you’re asking. But, if you’re asking if I could, let’s just say that I could sleep with the CEO’s wife and still meet with him to discuss his plans for the hospital.”
She laughed at this. I waved the waitress over and ordered a second round of drinks. Things were going pretty well.
“So, tell me about your med school experience?” she asked. “What was it like?”
I shrugged. This topic didn’t really interest me. “Oh, it was boring, for the most part,” I said lazily. “Studied more than anything, but I did attend the occasional party.”
“Cool,” she said, nodding. “Mine was the same, well without the occasional party.” She laughed. “Now I’m just glad it’s over and I’ve made it into the CUIMC residency program. I’m hoping it will lead to a position in the future.”
“Are you asking me for hookups already?” I asked with a sly smile.
“No, not at all,” she said earnestly.
“I’m just messing with you,” I said. “Actuall
y, I have a little inside scoop for you if you’re interested.”
She leaned in a little closer. I had her in the palm of my hand now.
“I’m looking for an intern wanting to go into general surgery who is interested in putting in some extra hours learning from me. They would be able to sit in on and later assist in certain surgeries, and help with patient aftercare.”
“Really?” she gasped. “Oh my goodness, that would be the most perfect opportunity out there!”
I smiled. “I know. It’s a good opportunity for me because I can have a trusted intern give me a little extra help. I wouldn’t make my intern do menial tasks, they would be learning hands on techniques. And while some of it is grunt work, some of the aftercare parts aren’t all that pleasant, but they are necessary and it’s good to get your foot in the door.”
“I can’t even imagine getting a gig that good,” she said, taking another sip of her drink.
“Well, you better start imagining it, because you’re well on your way to getting it.”
“Seriously?” she asked, her eyes widening.