“What are you both doing here at this hour?” I tried to sound annoyed.
“After having spent an entire weekend with you, my girlfriend, I was going through withdrawal.” He tried to kiss me again, but the phone rang.
“Goodness, it’s Grand Central here today. Sarah, can you answer that for me, please?”
“Hello?” We heard from afar.
I continued my conversation with Jake. “To what do I owe this unexpected but much-appreciated visit? I’ve never seen you so soon after a date. I thought maybe I wouldn’t see you again till we landed in Hawaii.” I laughed, knowing this was our reality.
“I missed you after dropping you off last night. I thought I’d come by and see you before I started my day. What’s your schedule like today?”
“Absolutely nothing is on my schedule today. This is the life of a school teacher on vacation.”
“You want to come to the hospital and have lunch with me?”
I eyed him suspiciously, knowing that he had no set lunchtime.
“Oh? What time?”
A chuckle ensued with no clear answer for a lunch time, but many more kisses to all parts of my face and neck followed. Sarah halted our embrace as she yelled over, “Max and Peter want to know if you want to have lunch with them around noon today?”
My eyes gleamed with mischief, while his shot daggers at the thought of me being back together with Max.
“Well, Dr. Reid? Lunch today? I’ve got another offer on the table. Can you match that?” I smiled at his perturbed face.
“No. Go ahead and have lunch with your ex. I don’t know when I’ll get out of surgery.” Even with a churlish demeanor, Jake was still endearing.
I hugged him and said, “I thought I might see another one of your tantrums. Don’t worry. I promise I won’t allow Max to run over and kiss me like you allowed Allison to do. Go save another life, Dr. Reid. Stop by after work, if you like.”
He glowered at my snide remark concerning Allison, then lit up at the prospect of us seeing each other later, but quickly turned glum at the thought of me spending the day with Max. We said good-bye and he left for work.
Sarah had told the guys to meet for lunch near her work so that she and Charlie could join us. Today was shaping up to be a more eventful day than I had planned.
“By the way, Sarah, I’m leaving for Hawaii on Monday. You and Charlie want to house-sit for me? I’ll be back Thursday morning.” Once again, I went into long details with my best friend about Jake and the Reid family. She seemed quite impressed.
“We’d love to house-sit. It gives me a chance to be with Charlie for four straight days.” I didn’t want to know what was going on in that mind of hers.
“Use the guest bedroom, OK? No funny stuff on my bed.” This provoked a pillow fight I was not ready for so early in the morning.
When Max offered to pick me up and take me out to the Westside to meet Peter, Sarah, and Charlie, I hesitantly agreed. Being with Max made me nervous all over again, but for different reasons. Though I knew Jake was the only man in my life, I was still unsure where Max fit, if he fit at all. I got in the car and Max eyes immediately landed on my new necklace.
“What’s with the albatross on your neck?” he rudely referred to my ring.
My face scowled in answer to his obnoxious question. After a bit of silence, Max tried to ask me questions about inconsequential things like what I was doing for Christmas and New Year’s, but as soon as I reminded him that I was going to Hawaii with Jake, the awkwardness reappeared. Feeling jittery, the conversation stopped for the rest of the ride.
When we got to the restaurant, our friends were seated already. We all said our hellos, and everyone’s eyes locked on to my pendant.
“Did you get married and forget to invite us to the wedding?” Peter questioned.
Max sharply answered, “She won’t say. I’ve asked already.”
Charlie too was curious about the necklace. “You going to explain why you’re wearing a wedding band on your neck?”
“OK. I’ll explain,” I answered exasperated. “Jake gave this to me Saturday to make our dating official.”
“What does that mean?” Peter asked.
“Jake wanted affirmation that we were boyfriend and girlfriend.”
“If he buys you something like that when asking to be your boyfriend, what will he get you if he’s asking to be your husband?” Sarah wondered.
I saw a bothered look on Max’s face and a worried look on Peter’s. The two of them exchanged some message I chose to ignore.
“Let’s order,” I exclaimed, breaking the mood.