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“Sure.” Before her sister cut off the phone, Alina added. “Text me the amount of money you need to fix your car and I’ll send the money to you later.”
Casey made some loud gasping sounds. “Sis, you’re the best.” Her words were followed by several kisses and flattering words.
“Yeah, I know,” Alina boasted. “But I still like it when you say it.”
Casey laughed and hung up the phone. The ding on Alina’s phone that signaled an incoming text came almost immediately.
3
Driving in New York City was as pleasurable as always. Alina was forced to deal with staggering traffic, negligent pedestrians, and rowdy and impatient drivers. For a ride that should have taken forty minutes, it took her two hours. It was a good thing she was knowledgeable of such outcomes and left her apartment with sufficient time to pick up Bailey and bring her to the hospital in time for the appointment.
Bailey was talkative as ever. “Wow, the street is crazy busy today,” she pointed out the obvious. “I’m so thankful that I have a great friend to drive me to the hospital.” She looked at Alina and smiled, and Alina returned the sentiment.
Alina had known her publicist, Bailey, for a very long time. In fact, she was the second friend Alina made after moving to New York City from Maryland. Taylor was the first. Back then, Bailey dressed in mostly black and smoked a lot of cigarettes. Now instead of cigarettes, she chewed gum and her wardrobe was partially colorful. She still wore a lot of dark colors, though.
Bailey stopped dying her hair black years ago and settled for a vanilla blonde styled in a pixie cut. The style suited her well, especially now that she had lost her chubby nature. Of all Alina’s friends, Bailey had undergone the biggest transformation. In fact, the only thing that remained constant was how much Bailey loved to hear the sound of her own voice.
Alina dropped Bailey off first, at the hospital’s entrance, then drove around to park the car in the parking lot at the back. By the time she walked around the building and found the lobby, Bailey was already inside the doctor’s office. She wanted to be of some comfort to her friend who had a breast surgery only two weeks before but didn’t want to take the chance of it making her uncomfortable instead, so Alina waited on one of the chairs in the lobby.
Fibroids in the uterus were not something all women felt comfortable discussing and although Bailey had openly explained the procedure that would remove the pesky non-cancerous tumor from her uterus the night she told her friends of her situation, Alina knew it was not easy to do. She clung to her wine glass the entire night, not really drinking, with a forced smile on her lips.
“Don’t worry ‘bout me,” she had said. “This is not going to bring me down. I’ll be fine. You’ll see.” And she was. She’d navigated through the worst of it. Now all she had to do was attend her regular checkups to ensure that the surgery had gone well.
Alina’s thoughts trailed away when her friend walked out of the doctor’s office. Today she was as beautiful as ever in her knee-length floral dress and a matching pink cardigan. Her chunky heeled boots and bag were a slightly darker pink, but they matched perfectly with the different shades on her dress.
Bailey reemerged with a bright smile and though she knew her friend would give her highlights of the appointment on the way back, Alina felt compelled to ask. “Did everything go well?”
Bailey made an abrupt stop at her friend’s side and swung her bag over her shoulder. Her eyes were wide and her eyebrows raised when she answered. “Of course,” she replied. “I told you.” She waved a finger so her friend can see. “This is not going to put me out of commission.”
Alina breathed out heavily and said, “I’m glad.”
When the two women turned to walk off, Bailey began her usual chatter. “It wasn’t Dr. Paul today though.” They had just passed the receptionist’s desk and were close enough to the double doors that allowed them to leave the building. Alina did not like coming here, not because it reminded her of the frailty of human beings, but because it brought back all the pressure and anxiety, she felt trying to convince her parents that she did not want to study medicine. If she had done as they wanted, then she would have been working at a hospital by now. But it was doubtful that she would have lived a joyous life.
Alina eyed her friend. “No?”
“Nope,” Bailey confirmed, and her walk turned into a slight skip. “It was a sexy male doctor.” Then Bailey turned to Alina. Her face fluttered. “I wish you saw him. He was panty-dropping, hot with his intense gray eyes. And those muscles…” Bailey made a motion as if she was attempting to touch her doctor’s body. “Damn.” She breathed out hard. “He was in there rattling on about diet and rest and all I thought about was him making house calls.”
Bailey giggled and Alina responded, “Girl, you are too bad. I hope you paid attention though.”
“I didn’t have to.” Bailey waved her hand. “He gave it all on a pamphlet, anyway. So I was few to gawk at him.”
“So, what was his name?” Alina asked.
“Dereck. Dr. Dereck Johnson.”
Alina paused with her hand in the air. With her forehead creased, she pondered. “Where have I heard that name before? It sounds really familiar.”
She didn’t have to wait long, for only moments later her answer presented itself.
“You have got to be kidding me,” Alina said with her nose scrunched and piercing eyes.
Dereck was equally shocked. He ran his hand through his hair and turned away from her for a moment, as if walking away. Then he turned back to the women abruptly, his mouth twisted into a grimace.
“What brings you here Alina?” Dereck spoke blankly. “Come to ensure I do not find a wife.”
Alina smiled. “Oh, you don’t need any help with that. Your flattering personality would do that on its own.”
Bailey kept her brows furrowed. “Do you two know each other?”
