Eva was the kind of girl who set stuff on fire during an argument or stole her partner's pet and euthanized it for revenge over some small, maybe mythical slight.
I'd read my contract three times, and it stated clearly that inter-office romances were fire-able offences. I couldn't date my secretary or the lady that delivered the mail to my office. I couldn't date active patients, and if someone I was dating ended up being my patient, I had to refer her out to another pulmonologist.
None of this was out of the ordinary or unexpected, but Eva didn't work in my office. We shared a building, and for some reason that meant I was free game. She'd tried hard over the past seven weeks to make advances on me, finding absurd reasons to visit my office or call me to hers. I wasn't a pediatric doctor in any sense, so I always rerouted her calls to the hospital.
"I hope my mistake doesn't come back to bite me in the ass." Everything in my office was recorded, audio and video, and I made it a point to document my encounters with Eva. She was just the kind of person who made me feel unsafe as a man. If she accused me of sexual misconduct, no one would be inclined to think she was lying until long after I was destroyed.
My phone trilled shrilly, breaking my thoughts, and I frowned and shook my head viciously. Fishing my phone out of the cup holder, I inhaled sharply as I set down my taco to answer the call.
"Hey, Mom. What's up?" I relished this opportune distraction, and the line crackled lightly.
"Carl, I'm just calling to see how you're doing."
A small smile stretched my lips, and I relaxed into the seat to exhale slowly. Hanging my free arm out the window, I tapped the door of my car.
"Your sister says 'Hi'. Are you excited for dinner next week?"
"I am, yeah. Tell Laurie I said 'hey'. How's she doing in school?"
My sister was my mom's child from her second marriage, but semantics didn't matter to me. Laurie was my only sibling, and not sharing a father didn't make that less true. She was ten years younger than me, in her second year of college to become a lawyer.
If there was one thing little sisters were good at, it was arguing.
"She's great, yeah. I just got off the phone with her. She's got a test on Tuesday, but she's confident about it. I told her that if she were stressed, she didn't have to worry about driving all the way up to Rhode Island just for dinner, but she said that the test would already be over, so it was no problem." My mom just talked, and talked, and talked... but I liked listening. She didn't have anyone interested in her anymore, and it was kinda sad when she paused to stop herself. "So, Carl, how's your job been? I know we haven't talked much because you're still adjusting, but I wonder about it every day."
"It's been great— the hospital is very welcoming. I'm slowly but surely getting into the groove of being here. It's nice to be closer to home, too. After spending all that time in school in Connecticut, I'm glad to be in the same state as you again, Mom." I could practically feel my mom blushing as she exhaled a little 'oh', and my smile widened. "It's going to be nice to get together with you and Laurie."
"Oh... I've actually... I wanted to talk to you about that. I've... been seeing someone..."
My brows rose, a surprised bark of laughter bursting from my mouth before I clamped my hand over it. Flames ignited in my gut, and discomfort slithered between my shoulder blades as my mom's expectant silence rang in my ears.
"Mom... you're almost fifty-five and you have a boyfriend?" Those were two words I'd never thought to put together. My mom hadn't dated anyone since her second husband died. I'd always worried that she'd get taken advantage of because she was old, rich, and lonely, but nothing could prepare me for the shock that she was dating someone.
"Well... yes, I am. His name is Augustus, and he's a wonderful man." Oh, Jesus. Is she for real?
"... Augustus... like, he was named after the month on the calendar?" I couldn't help the words tumbling out of my mouth, and my chest tightened. "Mom, I thought it was just going to be Laurie, you and I. This is the first time we've gotten together for anything but Thanksgiving and Christmas and birthdays in almost three years..."
"I know, but I really want to at least introduce you to him, Carl. I haven't invited him yet. I wanted to ask you first. Your sister already said it was fine." A war rampaged through my chest, and I pursed my lips to hide my grinding molars. I wanted to be open to the idea of my mom being happy and having a relationship, but...