Don’t Fall for the Doctor by Lacey Bolt

Chapter 37

The next morning, Ashley sat across from Emily for Sunday morning brunch. The restaurant was buzzing with activity, the smell of fresh coffee and orange juice penetrating the air. Ashley ignored the noise around her, staring grimly at the untouched plate of pancakes in front of her. Her head throbbed.

“I can’t believe this. I thought you two were perfect for each other.” Emily sighed.

“I’ve never had the type of connection with someone like I had with him. Everything else in the world seemed to fade away. Just the thought of him made me happy. The way he treated me and talked to me was different from any other boyfriend in the past. I can’t even explain it, and it doesn’t really make sense. But I fell for him hard.”

“Sounds like love at first sight.” Emily let that statement hang in the air.

“Maybe.” Ashley placed her fork down and looked at Emily. “It’s like I’d never actually seen him, the real him, until these past few weeks. Maybe it was love at first sight, as soon as I saw the genuine version of him. Not the successful cardiologist version that everyone else sees.”

“But he is a successful cardiologist. That version of him is part of who he is.”

“That’s why he broke up with me.”

“Wait, what?” Emily’s voice rose slightly and she started waving her fork as she spoke. “Don’t tell me that, after everything he said, he dumped you just because he’s a doctor? If he doesn’t think you are good enough for him, then you’re better off without him! Forget about him and move onto someone better. Someone who actually deserves someone as good as you.”

Ashley smiled and shook her head. Emily was always so good at making her feel better and sticking up for her. “No, it’s not that.” She considered her words carefully. “He said he couldn’t take care of patients and date at the same time. That I distract him or something.”

“That makes no sense. Lots of doctors date or are married with kids.” She stabbed her pancake with her fork.

“It does make sense, though, I guess. He was with me at the restaurant yesterday and had an emergency call from the hospital. He said that the patient died because he didn’t get there in time.”

“Are you talking about Henry?”

Ashley nodded and Emily continued. “I got the phone call about him last night. He was about to start hospice care, and I was assigned to oversee his case. I’m not surprised that he died. I’m sad about his death, but he was really sick. I met with him a few hours before he was discharged from the hospital. He told me that he lived a full life and wasn’t afraid of dying.”

Ashley considered Emily’s words. Emily worked with many hospice patients, patients who were in the last few days or weeks of their lives, and helped the families navigate their deaths. Ashley didn’t know how Emily continued to meet with dying patients day after day.

“Henry told me that he knew his time was near, but I don’t think anyone knew it was so close. Anyway, I doubt there was anything Michael could have done to save him,” Emily said.

Ashley sighed. “You should say that to him. He blames himself for Henry’s death.”

“Poor Michael. I feel so bad for him.” Emily rubbed her eye.

“Me too.” Ashley sighed and pushed around the food on her plate with her fork.

“Do you think we should do something for him? We could bake something together today?”

“He does like brownies. We could—wait, no!” Ashley crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair, glaring at Emily. “Whose side are you on? "

Ashley’s eyes threatened to spill over with tears. She looked at her plate and stabbed a piece of her pancake.

“Sorry, I forgot about that.”

Ashley ate a few bites without bothering to enjoy the taste. She needed to talk about something other than Michael. “I forgot to tell you my good news. Chef Jeff offered me the job at his restaurant.” She glanced up at Emily as she spoke to catch her reaction. Emily did not disappoint her.

“Ashley! That’s amazing!” Emily yelled loudly enough that the couple at the table next to theirs looked up briefly. “When do you start? I want all the details. Can you get me a reservation? I’ll probably have to take out a loan to afford the food, but I have to go there now!”

Ashley held up her hand. “Don’t get too excited. I didn’t accept the job yet.”

“Ash, you have to be joking. This is the perfect start for you to have your own restaurant someday.”

“I know, but—”

Emily interrupted her. “Don’t tell me that you are still worried about what your parents would think?”

“Em, they died that day. The last conversation we had was about how mad they were that I wanted to drop out of college and go to culinary school.”

“That was years ago. Do you think they’d still be mad about that? Or do you think they’d want you to be happy?”

Ashley swallowed hard. She’d had the same conversation with herself for the past few nights. “It’s not just that.” She picked up her napkin and started ripping off tiny pieces. She couldn’t look at Emily, not if she was going to say what was really on her mind. “What if I take the job and fail? What if I’m no good at it? I’m kind of scared to put myself out there like that.” She mumbled the last few words.

“Welcome to the club.” Ashley wasn’t sure she heard those quiet words correctly. She glanced up to see Emily now staring at her hands, fidgeting slightly.

“What?” Ashley prompted her friend.

Emily took a deep breath and released it slowly. She held up her left hand, displaying the fake engagement ring. “I’ve been wearing this fake ring for the past three months. Almost four months, really. I was with Ethan for two years. Two years of him lying and cheating. I thought I loved him, but looking back, I think I was more in love with the idea of being in love. I didn’t really love him. I just loved the thought of getting married, having kids, the whole package . . .” Her voice trailed off for a minute. Ashley waited as her friend thought in silence. “And here I am now, wearing this fake ring, lying to the world. Lying to any guy who might be interested . . . trying to make the world think that there is someone out there who might actually want to marry me.” Emily looked down as she spoke.

“Em, you’ll find someone. You don’t need to rush it if you aren’t ready to date again.”

“Ethan is out there, moving forward with his life. I actually got an invitation to his wedding.”

Ashley’s jaw dropped open. “What? First, he’s getting married? And second, why would he invite you?”

“About a year ago, while we were still together, he started dating my cousin.”

“Which one?” Ashley was Emily’s only cousin on that side of the family. Ashley tried to remember who Emily’s other cousins were.

“Veronica. I think you met her at my parents’ Christmas party over a year ago. That’s when Ethan met her, too, and they started . . .” Emily didn’t finish the sentence.

Ashley tried to remember who had been at the Christmas party. She didn’t know most of the people there, other than a few of the relatives that she and Emily shared.

“They sent me an invitation to the wedding. Veronica even called me and asked me to go. We used to be close as kids. Which makes this whole situation unbearable.”

“Are you going to go?” Ashley couldn’t imagine going to the wedding of an ex.

Emily shrugged. “They’re both living their lives, happy. Meanwhile, you and I are sitting here, practically sobbing over our eggs and coffee. You are too scared to become a chef. I’m too scared to take another chance on a guy.”

“When you put it that way, we make a pretty miserable team.” Ashley couldn’t help but groan at the sad state of their situation. “At this rate, we’ll both end up as old, miserable ladies who don’t date. Sad, lonely, crying over brunch.”

Emily and Ashley both stared at their half-eaten plates of food. A little kid at a nearby table dropped a plate on the ground, and Ashley watched as one of the parents leaned over and picked up the mess. At another table, an elderly couple conversed with each other. All around them, tables were filled with couples and families.

“I have an idea.” Ashley leaned forward towards Emily. “We both stop being so scared and just jump.”

“Jump?”

“Jump off the figurative cliff. Take a risk. If we fail, we fail together. I’ll take the job with Chef Jeff. You take off the ring and start going on dates again. No more fear.”

Emily grinned and slipped the ring off her finger. She raised her mug of coffee, and Ashley raised hers as well. They clinked mugs in the middle as Emily toasted. “Here’s to making a new start, and no longer letting fear stand in the way.”

“Cheers to that,” Ashley responded. She took a sip of her coffee. “I better call Jeff and tell him I’ll take the job. After that, want to go car shopping with me?”

“Sure.”

“And maybe we can find a man for you?”

Emily coughed into her coffee and turned red. “Let’s just focus on the car for now.”

The server passed by the table, dropping off the bill, and Ashley reached for it first. “I’m paying today. My treat, to celebrate my new job.”

Emily reached out and snatched the bill from her with a sly grin. “No! I’m treating you to breakfast. You can treat me to a meal at your restaurant after you get your first paycheck.”

Ashley shrugged. The days of ordering the least expensive item on the menu were about to be over. She could actually start enjoying her life more instead of living in constant worry about making ends meet. All while cooking every day.

She opened her purse to pull out a few dollars to leave as the tip. If Emily was going to pay for the meal, she would leave a generous tip for the server. A small piece of paper fluttered to the ground as she pulled out her wallet. She automatically bent over and picked it up.

She recognized the paper as soon as she turned it over. The handwriting was sloppy and barely legible. But the numbers on it were crystal clear.

It was the note he’d left on her locker that embarrassing evening when she barged into his office while he was wearing nothing but a towel. He was as poised as an underwear model, and she practically ran away like someone who’d never even talked with a member of the opposite sex before. He left her the note the next day, but she didn’t even read it until she was back in his office. That must have been the night she fell asleep at work from exhaustion, and he covered for her. Back then, she had no idea how kind and considerate he was or how persistent he could be. He never doubted their connection. He convinced her, each step along the way, that the difference in their jobs had no impact on their ability to be together. He showed her that he cared about her, not about her job title.

He believed in their relationship enough that he didn’t give up when she put up one wall after another. He just kept breaking through.

She folded the small piece of paper and tucked it carefully into her wallet, between the remaining bills.

“Emily, I need to take that jump.”

“Right.” Emily didn’t look up as she signed her name on the receipt. “Ready to call Chef Jeff?”

“No. I need a ride to Michael’s house.”

Emily looked up, eyes wide. “Does this mean . . . ?”

“Yes. I need to get him back.”