‘So, what is this? A “go back where you came from” speech?’
Josh could think of a hundred things he wanted to say right now, none of them very professional. He hadn’t been entirely himself these last few weeks, and even he could reflect that he might be taking out his frustrations about his sister’s quick departure on the people around him.
Was he actually being fair to this doctor? At first glance, she was smartly turned out, punctual and appeared interested in the role. Should he be looking for more right now? He’d already gathered she’d had a long journey and her arrival at the apartment hadn’t exactly been smooth.
He stared at her for a few moments longer. She seemed happy to wait out the silence—there was no compulsion to fill the gap with panicked words. It was almost like a stand-off.
He cracked first but kept his voice steady. It didn’t matter that this woman had already annoyed him. It didn’t matter that he couldn’t quite decide how he felt about her challenging attitude. It really didn’t matter that her light, unusual perfume was weaving its way across the room towards him, or that now he’d actually stopped for a few seconds he realised just how pretty she was. None of that mattered at all. He had a department to run.
‘No. It’s not a—as you put it—a “go back where you came from” speech. It’s a “wait and I’ll tell you how you’ll fit in with my team” speech. Everyone who joins is supernumerary the first week. Watch and learn our systems. From next week, you’ll be on the on-call rota like everyone else. Get to know the staff. Say hello to some of our more regular patients. If there are any procedures you haven’t done in a while—speak up, ask to observe again. Familiarise yourself with them. Feel free to spend the day with the paediatric surgeons if you want to. Visit our day surgery unit and introduce yourself. Dr Morran, our paediatric oncologist, will have a whole host of protocols she’ll want to go over with you, to ensure you can handle any emergency in her absence. Hans Greiger is our chief paediatric anaesthetist and our go-to for NICU. Make yourself known to him. By the time I hand you the page next week, Dr Connolly, I expect my patients to be in good hands. I expect you to be wise enough to identify the gaps in your skills to function in this role and find your own learning opportunities in the next week to increase your competencies.’
It might sound harsh. The truth was, at this stage in her career he didn’t expect her to have many gaps in her knowledge. But he treated every member of staff who worked in his department the same. He was a strong believer that all medics should be able to identify and seek out learning opportunities where they could. They were responsible for their own learning. He wanted a team to be able to reflect on their skills, and to know where their limits were.
She stayed remarkably silent. It was almost as if she’d expected something entirely different. Instead, after a few moments, she folded her arms across her chest and gave him a half-smile. ‘Fine.’ She paused and took a breath. ‘Now, are we going to talk about the elephant in the room?’
He almost wanted to spin around and check behind him to see if one had just escaped from somewhere and actually appeared. She was still half smiling, and he recognised the tension in his muscles that had probably translated to his face. She knew she’d rattled him, but from the gleam in her eye he just wasn’t quite sure that she cared.
‘What do you mean?’
Her head gave a tiny conciliatory nod. ‘I mean, we obviously got off to a bad start last night.’
Hmm. That elephant. ‘You could say that.’
‘Are you that mean to all the new tenants?’
‘Most new tenants don’t park in my space or set off a car alarm and wake up my sleeping child.’
She held up one hand, ‘First—those parking spaces are ridiculously small. I probably did you a favour. How on earth could you have got your kid out of the car if you’d parked there?’ She didn’t wait for him to answer. ‘But you’re right, and I’m sorry. What’s wrong with the lights down there? Are you all just supposed to fumble around in the dark? It’s hardly safe. I couldn’t see a thing and didn’t know the car parking spaces were numbered until you came down the ramp in your car and the whole place lit up like a Christmas tree. Don’t worry, I won’t make the same mistake again. Was your little one okay?’
She was babbling again. This time it was his mouth that turned up in a half-smile. The more she spoke, the quicker she got, and the thicker her accent became. He shook his head. ‘Hannah settled back down once I got her upstairs. Hope you didn’t damage the car though; Len Brookenstein inspects that thing on a regular basis. It’s basically his surrogate child.’
She pulled a face and sighed. ‘Great. No, I didn’t. At least I don’t think so. It was just a cardboard box containing some clothes. And it barely touched his car. The alarm must be extra-sensitive.’
She was looking him straight in the eye, but the smile still dancing around her lips told him that they both knew the box had hit with a thud.
She shook her head again. ‘Honestly, I did check—not a mark.’
Joshua frowned. ‘Didn’t Georgie leave you keys?’
Clara fumbled in her pocket and pulled out a familiar set. ‘Yeah, but what’s that got to do with anything?’
He stood up and stepped closer. ‘And you didn’t have these on you when you were in the garage last night?’
Her nose wrinkled. She tilted her head up to his. ‘No, why?’
He touched her outstretched palm, turning over the cream plastic fob that was on the key chain. ‘This is the sensor for the garage. If you drive your car down the ramp, or exit from the lift, the sensor automatically activates the lights.’ He couldn’t help but give a grin. ‘And no, you’re not supposed to—’ he met her gaze ‘—fumble around in the dark down there.’
A little colour flooded her cheeks and she quickly tore her eyes away from his and looked down at the keys in her palm. ‘Darn it,’ she said as she lifted her other hand to turn the cream fob over. The movement made her fingers momentarily brush against his and a little shiver shot down his spine. He pulled his hand back. Recognition was obviously da
wning. ‘I just left the keys upstairs last night.’
‘You didn’t lock the door of the flat?’ he asked incredulously.
‘No.’ She shook her head. ‘Why would I? I was just planning on carrying all my boxes up in the lift. Doors and keys would just get in the way.’
He took a step back. ‘I hate to break it to you, but you’re in London now, Clara. You leave the flat—you lock it.’
She frowned. ‘But isn’t there supposed to be a guy at the entrance—a concierge? People can’t just wander in.’
Josh rolled his eyes. ‘I kind of assumed that you might have picked up on the fact that most of the residents in the building call our concierge ‘the happy wanderer’.’
Clara was still frowning. ‘What do you mean?’
‘You haven’t met Louie yet?’
She shook her head.
‘Ah, then let’s just say, Louie doesn’t much like sitting behind a desk. He’s officially retired and took the concierge role after his wife died because he didn’t like being in the house by himself.’ Josh gave a smile. ‘He likes to chat. If you can’t find him, it’s because he’s chatting somewhere. It doesn’t do much for the security of the building, hence why you shouldn’t leave your door open.’
Clara looked as if she wasn’t quite sure what to say. He guessed she was already feeling sorry for Louie, even though she hadn’t met him yet. ‘Does he get into trouble for that?’
Josh shook his head. ‘No one has the heart to complain, and he’s really obliging. He’ll accept deliveries for you, sort out any issues in the flat, let repair men in if you need them and supervise if necessary.’ He glanced out of the window for a second as a few memories surfaced in his brain. ‘He tells Hannah great stories. She’s his biggest fan.’