Page 15 of The Phyre that Burns
“Yeah.”
“You look more beautiful than I remembered. How are you?”
“Thank you. I’m fine. Umm, can you show me around, or did you plan to have one of your staff members do it when they arrived?”
I looked at my watch before responding.
“I’ll do the honors, but I was hoping we could talk about a few things before?—”
“Phyre, I don’t know how you made this happen, or what you thought would come of it, but I’m just here to work. I have no interest in reliving or rekindling the past.”
“I didn’t do anything to make this happen. I was probably just as surprised to see your name as you were when you saw mine.”
“You want me to believe this is a coincidence?”
I could sense an attitude in her voice.
“No. I believe it’s God. We have some unresolved?—”
“I don’t have any unresolved anything. Everything between us was resolved when I found out you were engaged.”
“Sweetness—”
“My name is Ginae, and since we’re in a professional environment, it’s Nurse Burns.”
I nodded in agreement, but she’d always be my Sweetness.
“Can we meet for dinner tonight? I just want to?—”
“No. Either show me around, or I’ll figure out how you run the show on my own or from someone else. It’s too early for this, and I would like to have my normal sunny disposition by the time our first patients arrive.”
I was a little taken aback by how easily she dismissed my invitation, so it took me a moment to respond.
“This is the kitchen. I bring breakfast for the staff every Monday morning. On Fridays, the office closes at noon. I provide lunch for us to eat together, and we have our weekly staff meeting. Monday through Thursday, the office closes for lunch, and no appointments are scheduled. The time rotates between the hours of eleven and two. There’s a schedule up front with the time that we close for lunch each day.”
I walked toward her, and she backed up into the hallway. As I showed her around the rest of the office, she was sure to keep her distance. It didn’t matter how far away she was, I could still smell her sweet scent, and it wasn’t her perfume.
Ginae could say what she wanted, but being in my presence affected her in ways she probably wished it didn’t. I’d never forget the aroma of her nectar, and I’d bet everything I owned that it currently filled her panties. Her hardened nipples could be seen through her scrubs, but I’d be wrong if I brought any of those things to her attention.
By the time I finished showing her around and giving her the rundown of how each day would generally go, the other nurses had begun to arrive. Introductions were made, and everyone welcomed Ginae with warm greetings. I’d never had any issues with my staff getting along with each other, even with having one male nurse who was known to enjoy the company of many women, and I didn’t foresee anything changing because of Ginae.
Once the day started, time flew. Ginae shadowed the other nurse practitioner, Lauryn, and I wasn’t surprised how quickly fell into a rhythm. When we were together, Ginae was at the top of her class and now had a wealth of experience and knowledge, so I didn’t expect anything less.
Most of the time, the staff left the office for lunch. If the weather was nice, they would enjoy their lunch at a nearby park, a two-minute walk away. Sometimes, they would go to a plaza with several restaurants, or a few of them lived close enough to go home.
Today, I didn’t care where any of them went. I was just happy to have an hour alone with Ginae. I found her in the kitchen, sitting at one of the tables, holding her phone with her fingers going a mile a minute.
“Everything seems to be going well,” I said, startling her.
“Everything is fine.”
Without an invitation, I sat across from her. She looked up from her phone and rolled her eyes before returning her attention to her phone.
“Listen, I don’t want things to be this tense between us for the next six months,” I said.
“If you let me come in, do my job, eat my lunch in peace, and go home, it won’t be tense.”
“If you can’t tell, this is a very friendly environment. You don’t think the staff will notice how ice cold you are toward me?”
