Page 8 of Offside Attraction
Emma laughed. “It’s not a lecture, we just want you to be happy.”
“I am happy!” Rhonda threw out her hands, and her bobbing breasts accentuated her point.
Tina groaned. “Okay, but sexuality oozes from you like?—”
“Can we not use the word oozes?” Rhonda wrinkled her nose.
“Oozes like what, though?” Emma leaned in.
Tina paused. “Like, I don’t know, garlic from your pores?”
“Gross!” Rhonda flicked water at her.
“She’s not wrong, though.” Emma sighed. “You walk into a room, and men justknow. You can see it in their faces.”
Rhonda sank back into the water. “Exactly! Which is why I don’t need to settle down. I can just have fun with it.”
“You don’t knowthat’smore fun than finding someone to be with permanently.” Penny cocked her head.
Rhonda took another sip of her drink. “You don’t know that it’snotmore fun.” Penny had no rebuttal to that. They’d known each other long enough to be well-versed in each other’s pasts. Penny had gone from one serious relationship to the next. Emma had crashed and burned in a long haul, then tried the whole casual thing with Tyler. The ring on her finger was proof she’d failed miserably.
Penny stayed on topic. “Brett was telling me about this friend of his. He's a contractor, rugged, loves the outdoors. I thought?—”
Rhonda laughed, rolling her eyes. “Oh, Penny, you're adorable.”
“No, this guy is very non-committal.”
Emma laughed. “I can’t believe that is a selling point for you.”
Rhonda leaned back against the tub. “Does he meet my top qualification right now?”
Penny pursed her lips. “I told you he’s a contractor, not a doctor.”
Anne shook her head. “She was seriously searching up staff at Rocky Ridge Medical Centre the other day.”
“And?” Emma raised an eyebrow.
Rhonda leaned forward, sending a low wave of water across the tub. “I’m not going to get physically involved with any of them, I just need to know who’s most likely to be . . . interested. At least enough to hear me out on Reviact.”
“This drug works, right?” Emma teased.
“Of course it works.” Pharma reps got a bad rap, but she couldn’t do this job if she didn’t believe in the drugs she worked to get on formularies. She was particularly passionate about this one. Reviact was a medication designed to help manage opioid addiction, a unique formulation that combined an extended-release component to reduce cravings with a blocker to prevent relapse. The independent trial results were beyond statistically significant, and with the number of opioid addiction and abuse reports through the roof, there was never a bigger need for a medication that brought real hope.
But this was Canada. It took more than stellar results to supplant the old favourites, especially when shiny new drugs didn’t yet have federal approval or funding and cost ten times more.
"They haven’t even phoned you back?" Tina frowned.
Rhonda shook her head. "It's like trying to convince my mom that tofu is a real food. They're not budging."
Penny smirked. “Well, I don't know any doctors there, but I do know a very masculine contractor who?—"
"Thanks, but no."
Penny pursed her lips. “It's been a while for you, Rhon.”
Rhonda sighed. “I know. I’m just . . . busy. You know that.”
Anne nudged her knee under the water. “Yeah, but you need a life outside of work.”