The doors opened, and I escorted him to the apartment. I unlocked the door with my key then let him go inside first.
He took a couple steps inside and slid his hands into his pockets. He examined the fireplace, the TV above the mantel on the wall, the furniture and the rug, the vase of flowers, and everything else about the perfectly designed space. His only reaction was letting out a quiet whistle.
“It has three bedrooms, a full kitchen, plenty of room for entertaining… There’s also a gym in the building.” He obviously worked out. Otherwise, he wouldn’t stretch the sleeves of his shirt like that.
He stepped farther inside and took a look around, examining the plates in the kitchen, the dining table, the paintings on the wall and the sculptures, and then he went into the master bedroom, which was decorated with masculine furniture and tones.
I continued to trail behind him. “Do you like it?” I honestly couldn’t tell because he was impossible to read right now.
He spun around and looked at me, his hand dragging over the hair at the back of his head. “It’s nice.”
“That didn’t answer my question.”
“I do. It just reminds me of my old place.”
“And what was wrong with your old place?”
He dropped his hand and gave a shrug. “Not a single thing.” He walked past me and headed down the hallway and back into the living room.
I followed him. “So…should I begin the moving process? Just being in Manhattan is going to be much easier on you. It’ll save you a lot of time—and you’re going to have very little time as it is.”
He took a final look around before he faced me again. “Yeah.”
I sighed a breath of relief, having been afraid he was going to fight me on this. Having him here would make my job a lot easier. Where he was located in Brooklyn was two trains away, and I really didn’t want to go all the way out there every time I needed to do something personal for him. “Great. I’ll start the process tomorrow, and I’ll figure out what to do with your current lease agreement.”
All he gave was a nod, his mood still quiet, his expression hard. “I’m going to head back to the lab.”
“I’ll bring you dinner.”
“Don’t worry about it. Just because I want to work long hours doesn’t mean you need to.”
“Well, I’ll put a mini fridge in your office, then. That way, you can always grab something if you’re there late.”
He considered the suggestion for a long time before he gave a nod. “Not a bad idea.”
2
Dex
Instead of being annoyed with my parents for getting that apartment before I even took on my first patient, I just let it be. Honestly, I hated living in Brooklyn, not because there was anything wrong with it, but because it was a huge pain in the ass to commute every morning. I was working longer hours than I did at the Trinity Building, so a forty-five-minute commute was time I just didn’t have. If I were going to do surgeries regularly, I needed to get enough sleep every single night, so that was a priority now.
Now I had a driver pick me up from my apartment in the morning, and Sicily was always there, giving me my morning coffee and breakfast before she turned quiet and worked on her laptop during the drive.
It was much more convenient than the subway because I could make phone calls and work on my emails during the drive. With the subway, I wasn’t always guaranteed a seat, and even if I did have one, if I saw an elderly person or a person with a disability, I always gave up my seat. And if I ever saw a pregnant woman, I jumped out of my seat so fast and insisted she take it.
But now I didn’t have to worry about that.
We made it to the office, and Andrea was already there, ready to take the first patient of the day.
I stepped into my office and unzipped my hoodie as Sicily went to my desk and pulled up all the information I needed for my first patient. She downloaded all the imaging I needed to view and then uploaded all the lab work on my device so I could move seamlessly between all the information and keep everything open at the same time. Then she vacated the chair and met me near the coffee table. “I’ll let you know when your first patient is ready. Is there anything I can do before then?”
Sicily was a fucking rock star. My mom was on top of her game all the time, but Sicily was just as good, if not better. She hustled and got shit done without looking put out at all, anticipating my needs before I had them.