My Italian Doctor

Chapter Nineteen

I couldn't concentrate on anything except those words. It was ridiculous; I had told him I loved him in the heat of the moment and that was all he had done. Lost himself in the moment. Despite my common sense telling me it was nothing, it meant nothing, I couldn't stop my brain from obsessing over it.

I found myself daydreaming about what me living in Italy would even look like. I was behaving like some love-struck teen, believing in happily ever afters. My brain might have known better, but my brain was no longer in control of my thoughts. I felt like I was walking on air. Everything in the world seemed to make sense completely out of the blue like I had found the secret to the universe.

"... naked through the streets."

"What!"

"I knew you weren't listening to me."

"Sorry Aurora. I was in a world of my own."

"Yeah, I noticed. Judging by the constant smile, I'm guessing it's a pretty nice world. It's a wonder your jaw isn't aching with all the smiling you've been doing this morning." Trust Aurora to see right through me, but for once, it was working to my advantage.

"How easy is it to get a work visa?"

"Not easy, but doable. Why?"

"Just weighing up my options. Would you consider hiring me here?"

"In a heartbeat. Would these options be because of George?"

"Maybe." The huge smile that spread across my face was unstoppable. I decided to quit while I was ahead. I certainly didn't want Aurora to catch on to everything that had been going on. "I best get back to work." I practically ran from her office back into the warehouse, anything to avoid any further questions.

I got as far as the stairs leading down into the warehouse and stopped dead in my tracks. I didn't even know why I was even keeping it all to myself. It had seemed like a good idea at the time, but after everything that had happened, I had isolated myself completely. I wanted to be able to share at least some of the details with someone. I took the leap and backtracked.

"George has a kid." I blurted it out and then felt like a complete prat. She just looked at me like I had completely lost my mind. She clearly had absolutely no idea how she was supposed to be responding to my outburst. "He told me last night. I thought he had been hiding something from me and I guess I was right because he finally told me what it was." I finished talking and had to take a deep breath. I hadn't realised how desperate I was to get it out until that moment.

"Does it bother you?"

"No, why would it?"

"I have no idea, but you seem to be bothered by it." I thought about it for a minute. She was right. I was presenting it like it was a thing.

"I'm not bothered he has a daughter. It's more that he kept it from me for so long. It's something that is so important in his life and he didn't tell me."

"I'm sure it was difficult for him, though. I'm not sure I would volunteer the information in a casual relationship, either." She had a point. I tried to put myself in his shoes and I wasn't sure I would have told me either. It wasn't like I was ever going to be around long enough to meet Amiee. I instantly felt better about all of it. "So, come on."

"What?"

"I want details. You don't get to only give me the boring stuff. I want juicy gossip." I thought it over. I certainly wasn't telling her the really juicy stuff.

"Alright, but you're not getting much. Last night we never made it to the bar. We made it as far as about halfway down to Verona and f****d at the side of the road. Oh, and you might want to buy a new desk." I tossed my hair after seeing her mouth drop open and sashed out of the room. I felt a billion dollars just from seeing her reaction.

I thought at that moment that things couldn't possibly get better. I worked away, and the time passed so quickly. I couldn't keep thoughts of George out of my mind and answered the phone giddily when I saw his name come up on my phone.

"Hey."

"We need to talk." He seemed so cold when he spoke. Not so much as a hello and he sounded really pissed.

"What's up?" There was clearly something.

"There's been a complaint put in at the hospital. Loads of us were called in this morning for a meeting about it."

"What sort of complaint?"

"A girl called Amelia has put in a formal complaint that one of the doctors at the hospital revealed her medical records to you and Rylie."

"I can explain."

"No, you really can't. Do you have any idea how I felt in that room hearing your name come up in the complaint? I didn't know what to even do with myself. What the hell were you thinking?"

"It wasn't me. I wasn't any happier about it than you were."

"You didn't f*****g tell me about it though, did you? Do you not think it would be a good idea to give me a heads up?"

"I didn't know she would make a complaint. It was a complete bluff that Rylie used to make Amelia admit she wasn't pregnant." I knew I didn't have a leg to stand on. I knew I should have told him, but I didn't think he would ever find out, so I didn't.

"You do realise I could lose my job? I can't prove that I didn't do what she is alleging I did. The only saving grace was that she had no idea who I was. The complaint is about an unknown doctor, but it won't take much detective work if anyone from work finds out about us."

"I'm sorry. I should have told you. Please don't be so angry with me." I was gutted. We had been in such a good place before. I had been so happy before Rylie's actions had blasted a hole into everything. At that moment, I want to kill her for being so stupid. I didn't know where he was going with the conversation, but I had a really bad feeling he was going to call things off between us. We had gone from him asking me to stay, to him saying no one could ever know about us.

It could hardly be more than a holiday fling after what he had said. He was right. Being in contact with me meant risking his job.

"Emily, I'm not angry, I'm disappointed. I thought you were better than such pathetic games." His words hurt as though my own mother was scolding me. It seemed to cut so deep and I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes. I wouldn't cry. I wouldn't let him know his words bothered me so much.

"So, what are you saying? Is this you ending things?" I didn't want to ask, but I needed to know one way or the other.

"I don't know. I don't know how we can even go forward. I can't believe you would be so stupid. You kept us a secret from everyone, but now I'm relieved. I've had a lucky escape."

"I had no control over what Rylie said. I should have told you, but even if I had, it wouldn't have put the genie back in the bottle."

"No, but I wouldn't have been blindsided by it all."

"I've said I'm sorry. There's nothing more I can do."

"No, there isn't, and it's not enough. I've got to go. I'm being paged."

"Convenient!"

"It is anything but convenient. I'll ring you later on." He was gone before I even had the chance to say goodbye. It seemed to be an ongoing problem with him. It seemed like every time we were in the middle of something, he was needed. I knew it was part of his job, but it didn't make me feel any better when he left me hanging. It just constantly left me feeling like I was in some form of limbo.

As had become my usual activity whenever I was bothered by something, I headed down to the area of the warehouse that was barely used and made myself busy. Being there with the stores of historical wines somehow seemed to comfort me. It always did. The idea that someone had rebuilt the whole vineyard after being bombed seemed to provide me hope that I could get through anything.

I had to find a way to win George around. I wouldn't let things end like that. I didn't want to leave for England with him hating my guts. Finding a way to make it up to him wouldn't be easy. I knew how seriously he took his job, but I would find a way.