“Now,” he said. “I’m going to announce the surgical intern. I don’t want to discuss it now, because it’s not the time or the place, and I have a lot to do at the moment. I’ll just say the name, and the winner can expect a welcome packet from the HR department in the mail in the following week. I understand that many of you already have internships lined up, so hopefully it won’t make or break your summer.”
I wrung my hands, wondering if I should act surprised when I heard my name, or just act casual. I was practically bouncing in my seat. I was ready to dive head first into some real work.
“The new summer intern is Kevin McNamara. You are dismissed.”
I was frozen for a minute. There must have been some mistake. I had clinched that position over a week ago, but it wasn’t my name that was called. Everyone else got up and mumbled to each other while some other student smiled like an idiot. Even Damon packed up his things to leave.
Feeling tears welling up in my eyes, I pushed past the other interns toward the door. I didn’t want anyone to see me cry over Damon and his stupid internship. I felt horribly betrayed by someone I was beginning to trust.
“Hey,” Damon muttered as he discreetly tried to pass through the doorway beside me. “Call me later. I want to explain what happened.”
I shook my head. I already knew what had happened, and I didn’t need his poor excuse of an apology. We didn’t have rounds today, so I stormed out of the hospital and walked briskly back to my apartment to sob in peace.
Luckily, Carol wasn’t home when I got back. I didn’t want her to tell me that she told me this would happen. She was right, and I had been too naïve to see it. I felt like such an idiot for thinking that I could trust Damon Rye to help me achieve my dreams. Instead, I allowed him to play me.
In my room, I let my tears flow freely. I had tried to put on a tough face while everything around me threatened to blow up in my face. I fought back when Damon had been rude to me. I stayed optimistic when my mom sprung her surprise marriage on me, when I could have potentially talked her out of making a terrible mistake. Instead, the universe continued to play cruel tricks on me while I pretended like I was in control.
Once I finally started to calm down, I heard my phone buzz. Out of instinct, I checked it, to find it was from Damon.
I know you’re probably very upset with me, but I really want to talk to you. Meet me at the Millennium hotel today. Let me know when you’ll be arriving. I can’t stay all day, but I’ll wait as long as it takes. I’m sorry.
“Fat chance,” I said to myself. I was going to make him wait there all day expecting me, just like he made me wait around, expecting to have that internship. He deserved worse, but if I could provide him with a little inconvenience, it would make me feel better. Besides, if he wanted to speak to me so desperately, he would come to me and grovel at my feet, not make me take a cab to a fancy hotel and watch him check out bartenders and sip expensive drinks.
I heard my phone buzz again, and this time I ignored it. I was going to let him sweat it out all day. For all I cared, he could assume I was dead.
Then, it kept ringing, so I decided to turn it off. However, I realized that the persistent calls were from my mother. I called her back, to hear her sobbing harder than I had been.
“Mom, what’s wrong?” I asked, all of the most horrible scenarios going through my head. I imagined any number of my relatives to be dead and it made me feel sick.
“It’s Winston,” she managed to blubber out.
“What happened to Winston?” I asked, my heart pounding.
“Nothing,” she wailed. “It’s what he’s done to me!”
“Oh, Mom,” I said, pitying the poor woman. I hadn’t even had the chance to tell her what I had learned from Damon. “What did he do?”
“I caught him in bed with his maid,” she cried. “I went out to go shopping, but halfway there, I realized I forgot my new credit card. I turned around and came back to his apartment, but he was screwing some young thing. We’ve been married for less than a week, Olivia. I loved him. Why did he do this to me?”
I wanted to start crying all over again, but I needed to be strong for my mother. “It’s not your fault,” I said. “He has a reputation for doing that sort of thing. Where are you?”
“I’m on my way back to Hazelwood,” she said. “I can’t be in the city right now. I can’t see or speak to Winston, I’m so upset. I just want to stay in my own home until I can sort this out.”
“Do you need me to come home?” I asked.
“No, I really don’t. You have your residency to finish and this is my problem. Perhaps if I hadn’t done this so hastily, I wouldn’t be in this problem.”
She was right about that, but I wasn’t going to say it.
“Are you sure you’re fine being there alone?” I asked.
“Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine. In fact, I think I would like a little alone time. I’ll call you later. Sorry for dragging you into this mess. I know it’s already weird with your internship and everything.”
With all that had been going on with my mom, I had momentarily forgotten about the internship debacle. I wasn’t going to bring it up now. Instead, I felt a fire boiling inside of me, threatening to explode at any moment.
“Don’t be sorry,” I said. “It’s not your fault. It’s these Rye men. They can’t be trusted.”
“You’ve got that right,” she sniffled, “thanks for talking to me, honey. I already feel a little better. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Bye,” I said, before hanging up the phone. I clutched it tightly in my hand. My nerves absolutely on fire.
I decided that maybe after all, I would have a chat with Damon. I didn’t want to meet with him so I could hear his side of the story, but to give him hell for everything he and his father had done to ruin my happy family.
I wiped my tears, slipped on my shoes, and went looking for a cab. It was time to make Dr. Damon Rye pay.
Chapter 24
Damon
With a cold drink in one hand, I massaged my temple with the other. I had been sitting at my dad’s table for less than ten minutes, and I already wanted to finish off the bottle behind the bar. When I found my dad at the bar, he was already well on his way to getting absolutely sauced. I guess drinking problems away ran in the family.
“Start from the beginning, won’t you?” I asked exasperatedly. “You’re not getting your story straight. As much as I don’t want to hear about your personal business, I can’t help you if I don’t know all the facts.”
“I was alone in my apartment,” he slurred. “I meant to leave, but my cleaning girl was stopping by and I wanted to catch a glimpse of her before I left. She’s a pretty, young thing and she’s a total flirt. She knew I was getting married and was really going after me. Anyway, talk led to action, and we ended up in bed. We were nearly finished when Miranda came back. I think she forgot her wallet or something.”
“Jesus, Dad,” I groaned. “What did Miranda do?”
He shook his head. “I don’t even remember— it happened so quickly. She didn’t even yell at me, though. She looked shocked, like she didn’t know what was going on. Then, she just started crying. She ran out and said she was going back home.”
“Well, I guess you’ll see her again in court,” I said dryly. “You’ve really outdone yourself this time. That lady was so nice she didn’t even try to kill you when she walked in on you. She didn’t even yell at you. She sounds like a saint.”
“She really is,” he moaned. “I’ve probably said this about all of them, but she was truly great. She has such a kind and gentle spirit, but she’s so much fun to talk to. She’s a sweetheart, but has a special energy to her.”
“I know the type,” I said, thinking about Olivia. “So, what are you going to do?”
“What can I do?” he asked. “She doesn’t want to talk to me. I don’t want to show up at her house, or she’ll probably call the cops. I can’t send her expensiv
e things because she’s not easily bought. I’m going to have to wait until she’s settled down and wants to talk to me.”
“Well, you’re probably in for a long wait. Think you can get her back?”
“I don’t know. Do I just cut my losses?”
I took a swig. “If you do, you’ve got to stop doing this. I’m telling you, you really can’t get married again.”
“I know.”
“I don’t think you do,” I said, chastising my father for his stupid mistakes. “You keep getting married and after a few months you get divorced in about the same amount of time. It’s pretty insane that you keep doing this to yourself. Why?”
“Do you know what it’s like to be in love?” he asked, his eyes crinkling a little.
I frowned. “No.”
“That’s the problem. You don’t know how it feels to be so infatuated with a woman. When you find one you really like, you’ll want to give them the world. You can’t imagine living without them. You’d do anything to make them happy. You take them to fancy dinners, stay in with them all weekend, and buy them expensive gifts they’d never buy themselves. You get married because there is no greater gesture to show her that you love her. You’re so overwhelmed with love that you can’t help yourself.”
My dad’s eyes lit up when he spoke like that. I wondered if I had been depriving myself of something good. But, at the same time, love sounded like a burden. He couldn’t control what he did because of the way a woman got into his head. He made it seem great, but I’d seen lives get ruined, first hand. My poor mother still dealt with the effects of their split.