victoria

 

 

Victoria checked her watch for what seemed like the hundredth time since she took a seat outside her sister’s office in the hospital. They were meeting for lunch so they could plan a party for their parents’ anniversary, and this seemed like the best place to meet – the food court where they planned to have lunch was way too busy at this time to make it a feasible meeting spot.

She was just taking her phone out of her purse when she heard her sister’s office door open. A patient, or maybe a patient’s family member, walked out, followed by Julia.

“Bye, Mr. Smith. And remember, I’ll call you as soon as I know anything.” Julia turned her attention to Victoria as the man shuffled down the hallway.

“Hi, sis, I’m so glad you could make it,” Julia said, giving her a hug. “It’s only noon and it’s already been a long day.”

“Yeah, I bet. Let’s get out of here before someone comes and steals you from me.” She gave a small laugh, but she was very conscious of her sister’s importance. Being an oncology specialist was no small feat, and she could tell how respected she was by the looks of deference she received and the manner in which everyone spoke to her.

They chatted as they walked down the hall. As they turned the corner, Victoria noticed something approaching her out of the corner of her eye, but it was too late, and she bumped into someone with a small yelp of shock.

She looked up. It was Bradley. Her breath caught in her throat and she couldn’t move or blink. Her cheeks flushed red – she could feel it, and hoped her sister hadn’t noticed.

Well, of course, it wasn’t entirely shocking that she might run into him there. After all, his little sister was Julia’s patient. But it still felt strange running into him randomly and with no preparation. She silently thanked her lucky stars that she had taken some extra time that morning to run a curling iron through her hair rather than sticking it up in a bun or ponytail.

She was glad that at least he seemed to keep his cool.

“Bradley, hi! How are you? Are you here to see Emily, or do we have an appointment later?”

“Hi, Dr. Connor,” he said.

Victoria could barely concentrate on his words. She was too busy reliving her memories of the previous night. Memories of their bodies intertwined, and him pushing into her, making her moan in ecstasy. A strong feeling of desire overcame her, and she had to resist the urge to reach out and touch him.

Bradley continued, “Yes, I came to see her and bring her some of her favorite cookies. See? They’re our mom’s special gingerbread men. It’s not Christmas, but when Emily wants something, she gets it.” He showed them the Christmas cookie tin filled to the brim and flashed them a wide smile, complete with his prominent dimples.

“That’s really sweet, Bradley. She’ll love them, I’m sure. What a great brother you are,” she said, and glanced at Victoria. Bradley followed her gaze. Victoria looked down at the floor.

“Oh, how could I be so daft? Bradley, this is Victoria, my sister. Vic, this is Bradley. He’s the older brother of one of my sweetest little patients. He’s just about ready to finish up medical school, aren’t you Bradley?”

“Yes, Dr. Connor,” he said, and then turned to Victoria, his smiling eyes meeting hers. “Hi Victoria, nice to meet you,” he said, reaching out a hand towards her with a glint in his eye.

“Hi,” she replied, trying to calm her racing heart. “Bradley, was it?”

“Thank you, and I hope to see you soon.” It didn’t escape Victoria that he glanced at her as he said this.

They headed for the elevator, and it took every ounce of her self-control not to turn around and take one last look at him.

“Cute, huh?” Julia said to her under her breath as the elevator doors opened.

“Yeah, sure is,” she responded, without looking Julia’s way.

They made their way down to the packed food court, decided to get chicken salads, and after some searching, managed to find an empty table.

“So, how’s your work going?” Julia asked her.

“It’s not bad. Working on the fundraiser for the hospital.”

“Oh, are you? So is Bradley, the guy we just ran into upstairs.”

Victoria almost choked on a piece of chicken when she heard this, but tried to cover it up by coughing.

“Oh, so that’s why he looked so familiar. I must have seen him at a meeting. But I’ve been so busy and pre-occupied, I probably wasn’t paying much attention.”

Victoria groaned inwardly. She was really hoping not to have this conversation.

“I don’t know what you mean,” she said, giving her sister an innocent look.

“Victoria, don’t treat me like I’m stupid,” she put her fork down and gave Victoria a pointed look. “You have the hots for him, don’t you? Well, it’s nothing to be embarrassed about, and I can’t blame you. I can introduce you guys, you know. He happens to be single, believe it or not.”

“Oh, really? He doesn’t mention any girls to you at all?”

Julia looked at her suspiciously. Victoria could feel the heat rising to her face, and she was scared to make eye contact. She was bursting to share her relationship with Julia, to get her advice, but she knew it was a bad idea.

Before she could stop herself, though, she blurted out, “Actually, I do know him, and fairly well.” She took a swig of her soda.

“Oh, really?” Julia leaned forward. “How well, exactly?”

“Um, well, we’ve actually been dating, kind of...” She had no idea how to break it to her sister that she’d been sharing a bed with her patient’s big brother.

“Kind of?” A look of realization spread across Julia’s face. “Oh my god! You’re not sleeping with him, are you?” she hissed under her breath, looking around.

Victoria didn’t want to say anything, so she just cocked her head to one side with a sheepish look and smile on her face.

“Victoria! Are you serious!? This is huge! Since when?” Julia leaned forward in her seat.

“Well, I’d say a few weeks, at least. Ok, a month. And we’ve gotten pretty serious, actually. I don’t have any reason to think he’s seeing anyone else, and I’m certainly not.”

“That’s really sweet. So, do you think you’ll bring him around to meet mom and dad?”

Victoria gave her a look. It was just like Julia to try to rush things.

“No, it’s way too early. Besides, I don’t want to subject him to dad yet.”

She considered telling Julia the other reason she wasn’t sure about bringing Bradley around. It was risky to tell her sister, but she was sure that if she made it clear that it was confidential information, she wouldn’t blab about it to anyone.

“Also...well, this is kind of awkward. You know he’s a medical student, right?”

Julia nodded, chewing and watching her intently.

“Well, he has a night job on the weekends. You won’t really believe what it is. Do you promise not to say anything to anyone about it? And definitely not to mom and dad.” She put extra emphasis on that point – she needed to be sure her sister would stay quiet.

“Yeah, of course,” Julia said with a concerned expression. “What is it?”

“Well, he dances.”

“What do you mean? Ballet? Or a modern dance company?” She frowned and looked confused. “What’s wrong with that?”

“Not exactly.” She hesitated. She already regretted her decision to tell Julia, but she couldn’t backtrack now. “He’s a stripper at a club downtown. Yeah, definitely not a ballet dancer.”

Her sister’s jaw dropped and her eyes nearly popped out of her head.

“What!?!” she nearly yelled. Several people at nearby tables looked at them.

“Shhhhh. I said don’t tell anyone. And don't make a scene, please. I beg you.” She was already regretting having told Julia anything about Bradley. She could already tell that this wasn’t going to end well. She prepared herself for Julia’s lecture.

“Victoria, are you sure? I mean, where did you meet him, anyways?”

Victoria wasn’t expecting the scale of this assault, and was a little insulted at all the insinuations Julia was making.

“He’s not like that. At least not now, not anymore. He constantly wants to spend all his time with me, and last night he even said he loves me. Ok, so he was asleep at the time, but it still counts, doesn’t it? I really think it could work. He’s not into drugs or anything like that. Besides, he’s a med student. So, it’s not as if it’s his life’s plan to strip for a living,” she said, hardly taking a breath during her monologue.

She couldn’t wait to see him again, and especially because being around him proved to her that he was much more than just his night job. He was intelligent, caring, and thoughtful, and she was proud that he was with her.

“He’s not cheating on me, as far as I know. We haven’t really talked about exclusivity, but frankly, I don’t even know whether he’d have the time. He’s studying, working, and visiting his sister all the time. Those are his only activities, it seems. And you know me, I would never tolerate cheating.”

Her sister was watching her and finally spoke. “Fine, I’ll take your word for all of that. I’ll be honest with you, ok?”

Victoria nodded, but wasn’t sure she really wanted to hear it.

“He seems like a perfectly nice person. You should see him with his sister. That said,” she continued, nodding like the wise older sister as she spoke, “I really don’t want you to get your heart broken. And if I were you, I would not breathe a word about any of this to dad. Or anyone, for that matter. It’s not any of their business, and it’ll reflect badly on you, too.”

Victoria’s heart raced again. “Yes, I’m keeping it to myself. It’s not something you shout from the rooftops. I’m not even sure why I bothered to tell you, to be honest.”

“That’s because I always give good advice, and today is no exception. So, here’s my advice: keep things light and casual for now, and whatever you do, don’t let dad find out. He wouldn’t understand and he’d judge you very, very harshly.”

Victoria swallowed the lump in her throat. Julia’s lecture made reality come crashing down on her all over again.

She looked down at her fidgety hands. The last thing she wanted was to disappoint her father, and his finding out about Bradley’s night job was unthinkable.

“I can’t let anything jeopardize what we have. I think it’s the first time I’ve been truly happy with anyone, Julia.” Her eyes stung as they threatened to well with tears. “What am I supposed to do?”

Julia reached over and squeezed her hand, and her tone changed to a caring, mellow tone. “Oh, honey. I’ve already told you. Hopefully everything will work out. I truly want you to be happy. But I’d be careful if I were you, that’s all I’m saying.”