Page 38 of Need

Just before noon, Jamie knocked on my office door to let me know that Jimmy had arrived.

Gino’s was packed with the lunch rush when we arrived. Being a regular meant that the hostess found us a table quickly despite the crowd. It wasn’t private by any means, but as this was just a friendly lunch between old friends, I wasn’t worried. Jimmy wasn’t Daren. Just thinking of my Mentor made my anger surge. He should have told me he’d be attending the hospital dinner.

I forced myself to push my ire for Daren to the back of my mind as we took our seats. Our server came to our table almost immediately and took our drink orders. Leaning back in my seat, I enjoyed being out of the office.

Jimmy was quiet as we waited for our server to return. As was becoming normal for me, my thoughts drifted to Brianna. I wondered what she was doing with her day. Would she give me the green light to take things farther tonight, or say she wasn’t ready? Although, I was trying to prepare myself for the possibility of her wanting to slow things down, I was hoping that wasn’t the case.

My thoughts were interrupted when Jimmy asked, “What’s going on with you and Dr. Cooper?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said as our server returned with the drinks.

It didn’t take us long to order food, and we were on our own again. I barely managed to take a sip of my water before Jimmy returned to his inquiry. “Samantha thinks you’re reliving your rebellious teenage years.”

“I’m not rebelling, Jimmy. I also don’t appreciate your wife trying to psychoanalyze me.”

He chose to ignore my comment about his wife. “I was talking to your uncle. He seems concerned about you. I know we’re not as close anymore, but if something’s wrong—”

“Nothing’s wrong,” Before he could start again, I changed the subject. “How’s your residency going so far?”

Jimmy gave me a long look, and then sighed. If he remembered nothing else from our high school years, how stubborn I could be should be burned into his brain. “Exhausting. I thought med school was grueling.”

The conversation continued along those same lines throughout our lunch. It was good seeing Jimmy again, but I wasn’t going to discuss my issues surrounding my uncle with him. He was right, we weren’t that close anymore. Even if we’d continued our friendship during our college years, I doubted this would be something I would confide in him. Not only did I think he wouldn’t understand my lifestyle, there was also Samantha. She’d never cared much for me, nor I her. The fact that she was now training to become a psychiatrist only added to the problem.

My history with psychiatrists was not good. Richard had insisted I see one about a year after my parents died. If I never met another one in my life, it would be too soon.

I walked back to the office alone and found it much like I’d left it, with only one exception. There was a bright pink note on my desk where I couldn’t possibly miss it.

Talk to your uncle. Please.

There was no signature, but I would know that handwriting anywhere. Diane didn’t like this rift in her family, and she wasn’t above begging to get what she wanted.

With a sigh, I picked up the phone and dialed my uncle’s office. His receptionist picked up the phone on the second ring. He was with a patient, of course, but I was told he only had patients scheduled until two o’clock today. After hanging up, I looked at my workload. I really shouldn’t leave early, but Diane was right. Richard and I needed to come to some sort of understanding.

It took some doing, but with Jamie’s help, I was able to delegate a couple of things to other executives. I was taking the rest home with me. Bringing my work home was not a habit I wished to start; however, it couldn’t be helped in this case. I needed to talk to my uncle, and there was no time like the present. Besides, it would make Diane happy.

His car was still in the parking lot when I pulled into a space in front of his office. There were two other vehicles in the lot besides his. One, I knew, belonged to his receptionist. It was almost a quarter after two, so I was hoping my uncle would just be finishing up with his last patient.

Janice, his receptionist, greeted me with a smile as soon as she saw me walk through the door. “I wondered if we might see you today, Stephan.”

“Hello, Janice. How have you been?”

“Good. Great, actually,” she beamed. “Would you like to see the latest pictures I have of the grandkids?” Janice didn’t wait for me to answer her. She took out two pictures from her wallet, showing them to me like any proud grandparent would.

Her daughter had married a military man, so they moved around a lot. Last I’d heard, he’d been stationed in Florida.

“They’re growing up,” I smiled.

“I know! I can’t believe Jason will be starting school this fall. It seems like just yesterday I was with Amy and Andrew in the hospital waiting for him to be born.”

Before I could comment, my uncle walked around the corner with a middle-aged man about the same height as me. They were talking, but it didn’t appear to be serious as they were both smiling.

“Janice will get you set up for your next appointment.” He turned to look up at Janice, but paused longer than was natural when he saw me standing there. After a few seconds, he seemed to get a hold of himself again. “Can you get Mr. Thompson scheduled to come back and see us in three weeks?”

Janice nodded. Then Richard patted his patient lightly on the shoulder and motioned with his head for me to follow him.

Nothing had changed since the last time I’d followed him down this hall over a month ago when I’d brought Brianna to see him. Just remembering that night brought with it all of those protective feelings. They were so much stronger with her than they had been with anyone in the past. I wanted to get this over with and get home to her.

My uncle took a seat behind his desk. He gestured that I should take the one opposite.

---