Page 5 of Merry with Me
“Fine,” I grumble.
“Donald Yokum is your first patient. He’s in room one and ready for you. I just finished entering all his vitals.” She taps the tablet in her hand.
“Thank you, Kathy.” I glue my eyes to the screen as I review Mr. Yokum’s chart before standing and heading to exam room one. As Kathy said, I have a full schedule up until four o’clock, and then this damn meeting with marketing afterward.
Fucking Christmas gala. I shake my head as I knock on the door and enter the exam room, starting my day.
I’m just wrapping up, charting my last patient of the day, when a knock sounds at my door. Glancing up, I see Blakely Kincaid standing in the doorway. “Dr. Thompson, good to see you.” She smiles.
I ignore the way her eyes light up when she does.
“Come in,” I tell her, motioning to the chair across from my desk. She strolls in as if we meet like this every day and takes a seat.
“I don’t think we’ve been formally introduced.” She thrusts her hand at me over my desk, leaning forward with her momentum. “I’m Blakely Kincaid, the assistant director of marketing.”
I take her hand in mine. Damn, her skin is soft. Shaking out of that thought and pushing it down deep, I release her hand. “You’re taking over Hilary’s responsibilities for the gala.” I nod, letting her know I understand why she’s here.
“Yes. She’s delegated that task to me this year. As the lead physician on the committee, I thought we should meet to go over any ideas you might have.”
“I have no ideas.” I sit back in my chair, crossing my arms over my chest.
“That’s okay, because I have a lot of them.” She laughs. “I’ve made a list.” She reaches into the folder she’s carrying, pulls out a typed list, and tries to hand it to me. She lets it fall to my desk when I don't take it.
“Hilary and I had an understanding. She did whatever she wanted. If she needed me to back her up on anything, I was there to do so. Otherwise, I wasn’t involved. I’d like to keep it that way this year as well.”
Blakely tilts her head to the side. Her dark brown hair has blonde highlights that bring out the sparkle in her eyes. “You don’t like Christmas?” she finally asks.
“Nope.”
“May I ask why?”
“It’s none of your business,” I snap.
“I’m sorry. I just meant, if it's due to religious purposes or something, I could talk to Hilary and let her know.” She worries her bottom lip, as if concerned she’s offended me in some way.
I’m not offended. I just don’t do Christmas. “It has nothing to do with my religious beliefs. I dislike the holiday and everything about it.” Hate it more like it, but she truly looks stricken that I’m not Mr. Bubbly Holiday Sunshine. I thought I’d spare her a little. I can do nice deeds when I want to. This proves it.
“Okay.” Blakely gives me a slow nod. “Well, take a look at the list and let me know if you have any issues with anything or have anything you’d like to add.”
I pick up the piece of paper and hand it to her without looking at it. “Looks great to me.”
She stares at the paper in my hand for several seconds before she finally takes it. “I’ll be in touch with your nurse to schedule future meetings.” She stands and turns toward the door.
“We don’t need future meetings, Ms. Kincaid. I don’t care what you do with the gala. The only thing I care about is that I don’t have to be a part of it.”
“Oh, team player, are we?” she sasses. “I’ll be in touch.” Her long hair flies over her shoulder as she exits my office.
“Fuck,” I mutter. Reaching for the phone on my desk, I dial the administration office and ask for Hilary.
“This is Hilary,” she answers.
“Dr. Thompson here. I don’t want to do the gala.”
“Dr. Thompson, it’s good to hear from you. As far as the gala is concerned, you are the lead physician on the committee, are you not?”
“Switch me.” My tone is harsher than I intended and laced with a little desperation.
“It’s not that simple. All the other committees are already in full swing with projects, and this one, it’s one time a year for a few weeks. Honestly, you’re very lucky this is where you were put. It’s much less work.”