Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 80651 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 323(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80651 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 323(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
She’d underestimated me.
Something in me had shifted gears. I’d reversed back in time to when I’d eaten nothing but cornflakes for three straight months, to pretending I didn’t feel the cold to the girls in the salon to explain why I wasn’t wearing a coat in the middle of winter. I’d done what I’d had to do. “He asked me not to mention it to anyone. This paper he’s writing is pretty high profile and he’s trying to keep it private.”
She scrunched up her nose. “So why would he tell you about it if you weren’t having some kind of relationship outside of work?”
“Jesus, Gilly, stop being so suspicious of everyone. He’d seen on my CV that I’d taken the course at uni. He wanted to ask me a couple of questions about my tutor. It’s no big deal. But if you go around telling people we’re having an affair, the only one becoming ineligible for the foundation award will be you.”
She shot me a look and I shrugged.
“Believe me or don’t. It’s up to you. But having a reputation as a gossip won’t be a good thing. You know how it is,” I said. “People always vilify women much more than they do men.”
It was her turn to stare ahead this time. “I’m not a gossip.” Her tone had lost its confidence.
“I know that, Gilly. I get that it was just a misunderstanding on your part. I’m not sure what Jacob will say. You know how well-connected he is. You don’t want things to be over for you before they begin.”
She let out a fake laugh. “Of course they won’t be. Anyway, like you said. It was just a misunderstanding. I was just hoping the two of you were having some kind of illicit affair. Then I could live vicariously.”
I pulled my mouth into a smile. “If I were having an affair with Jacob Cove, I’d want to shout it from the rooftops.”
“Wouldn’t we all? You think he’s single?” she asked.
I let out a long, slow breath. “Who knows? Have you asked him?”
“Maybe when we change rotations, I’ll suggest a drink.”
The idea of Jacob spending any time with Gilly outside of the hospital made me want to vomit, but at least the attention had been focused away from me.
I’d been lucky this time. I wouldn’t put myself in a position where I had to rely on a roll of the dice again.
Thirty
Jacob
Sutton and I had a deal that we didn’t text if one of us was on shift—the focus stayed on the job. So getting a text from her when I knew she was at the hospital was out of the ordinary. The tone of her message cemented things. Something was up. Her second and final text asked me to drive halfway around the North Circular to meet her in the Ikea car park in Tottenham. There were only so many people in my life that I’d do something like that for. Sutton was one of them.
As I pulled into the multi-story, I spotted the blue VW she’d told me to look out for. I pulled in next to her like we were about to do a drug deal.
I cut the engine and went to open the door, but she opened the passenger door and slipped inside.
“Hi,” I said, leaning over to kiss her.
She didn’t exactly flinch, but it was close. Dread settled in my gut.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“Gilly saw me leaving your place this morning. She tried to suggest my career would be derailed because of a conflict of interest.”
I let out a short laugh it was so ridiculous. “Of course it would be Gilly you met. She’s poisonous.”
She fixed me with a stare. I was being unprofessional.
“I know,” I said, taking the admonishment I knew was circling in her brain. I lay my hand face up on her knee. She hesitated but eventually linked her fingers through mine. “Tell me what happened.”
“Like I said, Gilly saw me coming through the front gate as I was leaving.”
“How did she know it was my house?”
“Really good question,” she replied. “Maybe she’s researched where you live because she was hoping to accidently-on-purpose bump into you?”
“Research how though? By following me home?”
She pulled in a breath. “I didn’t think about it, but I wouldn’t put it past her. She was never my favorite of my year, but I didn’t think she was quite the bitch it turns out she is.”
“So, you see her and then what?”
“First of all, I tried to skirt around the issue by not saying anything. She basically said there would be consequences if we were sleeping together and I figured gloves were off. I told her you were doing a research project on a topic I studied at uni. We’d got talking about it and you were working on it today and needed a book I had.”