"Sounds good," he said and gave me a smile. "Something to do with MBS?"
"Nope," I said, clearly indicating with my tone I didn't have any intention of telling him the reason.
"Nuff said," he replied and held up a hand. He knew enough not to push further for an answer.
I sat at my desk for an hour and went over my agenda for the day, reading whatever documents my assistant had placed on my desktop for signing. About fifteen minutes before I planned to leave for my appointment at the lab, I checked my cell and saw I had a message from the rehab facility in California.
That couldn't be good. I checked my calendar and saw that Penny wasn't due to be finished her time there for another week.
I called the facility and spoke with the intake worker on duty at the front desk.
"Hello, this is Joshua Macintyre. Someone called me from your facility, but I missed the call when I was in the washroom."
"Oh, thanks for calling. We wanted to let you know that Penny left the facility before she finished her full treatment program. She had a lapse, and was unwilling to recommit to staying clean, so we asked her to leave."
"Oh, that's too bad," I said, a sinking feeling in my gut at the prospect she was using again.
"Relapses are common, and sometimes it takes several stays in rehab before an addict gets clean for good," the worker said.
"Did she leave a phone number or forwarding address?"
"No, unfortunately. She left her family's home address."
"I have that," I said. "Thanks for your help."
I hung up, a knot in my gut that Penny hadn't been successful in rehab. It was just one more thing to worry about.
I checked my watch. I had about five minutes before I needed to leave to make my appointment at the lab for the paternity test, so I grabbed my jacket and scarf and went down a floor to Dominion and Ella's office.
I knocked on her door and popped my head inside. "Hey, I'm getting ready to leave, but I wanted a snog first."
"Snog away," she said and turned away from the computer when I came around her desk, the door closed behind me. I reached down and pulled her up into my arms for a kiss. She slipped her arms around my neck and we connected for a long moment, and the feel of her body pressed against mine never failed to send a delicious jolt of lust to my dick.
"Mmm," I said and kissed her neck. "Auntie M almost gone for the month?" I asked, using her term for her monthly period.
"Soon," she said with a coy smile. "I'll be ready and willing by Thursday."
"I'll be more than ready and willing." I kissed her once more and released her. I went back to the door. "I'll talk to you later. Do you need me to pick up some more wine tonight?"
"Sure," she said and sat back down behind her desk. "Never hurts, just in case."
"See you."
She blew me a kiss and I mimed catching it and then sent it back with a smile.
* * *
I took the car and drove to the lab, which was located closer to Columbia University. I went inside and spoke with the receptionist, who had me fill out a form and provide my credit card information for billing purposes. Then, I sat in the waiting room and waited for them to call me. I took out my cell and checked my messages, but there was nothing beyond some spam that I deleted. I had to call Penny's family and see how she was doing and made a calendar entry with an alert to call later in the afternoon when I got back to the office.
Finally, a woman in a white lab coat stepped into the waiting room, a file in her hand.
"Mr. Macintyre?"
I stood and put my cell back into my pocket. "That's me," I said and went to where she stood.
"Please come with me. This will only take a couple of minutes."
I followed her down the hallway and into a room, much like a doctor’s office room, with an examining table, some instruments and a chair used to take blood samples.