Page 75 of Tumbleweed Temptation
She got to the office early, had to wait for Austin to come down and unlock it. She could have gone up to his apartment for the key, but she didn't want to start their first day working together with that level of intimacy, especially after this weekend.
The phone was already ringing when they walked in, and she had to remember how to answer the different lines so the ringing wouldn't make her crazy. She hadn’t realized how put-out people would be not to be able to get an appointment the same day they called, but according to the very carefully-kept notes from Marianne, Austin was completely booked until two weeks away. She screened the callers carefully, to make sure they didn’t have an emergency. As a result, she did have to fit in two more patients today.
At the same time, she screened calls about the contest. So. Many. Calls. Good thing she had been in on the planning so she didn’t have to interrupt Austin to ask him.
And she dealt with the actual patients coming in. She was having to use Marianne’s insurance bible to help her with almost every patient. Which made peopleimpatient.
Which made her smile when she thought about it.
At least she was sitting down, and wow, did time go quickly.
But she missed Marianne. She had to channel the other woman a time or two because she felt her own patience slipping a few times. She had to think of how the former school teacher would handle difficult situations. Of course, she’d dealt with impatient customers most of her life, but this setting was different.
She took her cues, also, from Austin, who she barely saw, only going in and out of the exam rooms. The only time she was able to get away from the phones was when she prepared the exam room for the next patient.
Starting around eleven, she thought longingly of the lunch stashed in her new insulated lunch bag under her desk, but she didn't see a break coming for a long time. She’d scheduled those two emergency calls during their two hour lunch break, which whittled their time to fifteen minutes.
“Let’s go upstairs and eat,” he said. “Get away from the phones for a bit. We have voicemail. You need to make use of it.”
“I’ve been kind of putting that off, because then I’ll have to listen to them all at once, and right now it’s just easier to answer the phone.”
“Put it to voicemail and we’ll go upstairs and eat. You brought lunch?”
“Yeah, I remembered last time we were pretty crunched for time.” And she had to watch her cash flow until she got her first paycheck. She should ask when that would be, but she didn't want him to know she was worried about money. When she was waiting tables, she had cash on hand all the time. Not a lot, but easy enough to budget. She wasn't used to going paycheck to paycheck.
She reached under her desk and grabbed her bag, followed him upstairs, and sat at the counter to unpack her lunch as he opened his fridge.
“The good news is we have a lot of interest in the contest,” she told him. “I’ve had six people drop off entry forms already. The bad news is we will might have to add a second date for the entree one. We have two for the quick, one for the breakfast and three for the entree. Honestly, I thought the list of ingredients would put them off, but apparently not.”
“That’s good, I guess.” He pulled out some produce and motioned to her with an offer to share.
She shook her head, content with her own lunch. “I’m really getting excited to see what everyone comes up with.” She watched him rip up the lettuce and toss some cherry tomatoes and chia seeds on top. “How did I do, squeezing those two appointments in? Did I overreact, or did they need to be seen as soon as possible?”
“David could have waited a day or two, but I don't think we have appointments then, either. Good thing Mrs. Talamantez came in today, though. I sent her up to San Angelo for her prescription.”
“Too bad we don't have a pharmacy closer.”
“Yeah, I know a lot of people get their prescriptions through the mail, but some stuff we just need right away, and others are too controlled.”
“You can’t have some stuff on hand?”
He sprinkled some clear salad dressing on his concoction. “For one, I’m not a dispensary, and for another, the cost is prohibitive.”
“Hey, I saw you have Mr. McKay coming in this week. Are you okay with that?”
“I actually asked him to come in. I’m pretty surprised he did, though. That man does not like me.”
“He’s being ridiculous. I mean, there was no wrongdoing. How can he hold a grudge this long?”
“The part of me that did my psych rotation says that it’s his pain doing the hating, but you know? I just can’t forgive him, and I think my reason is stronger than his.”
“I agree, but he seems angrier than you. I just want to make sure you’re okay with it.”
“Yeah, the man at least needs blood pressure meds. His face is always so red. Did he give a particular symptom as the reason for the visit?”
“No, I didn't see one.”
He nodded. “I’ll just give him a workup, then. We have Lacey coming in on Friday to do blood draws. She’ll be working out of my office.”
