I WAS ON A ROLL, so I decided to cover one last base.
Linda Vista Hospital.
Not as nice as Hoag, but I wasn’t there for the ambiance.
She was sitting alone in the cafeteria, nursing a cup of coffee.
Nursing, get it? She was a nurse…
I took a seat across from her. “Hey, Nadia.”
Her hair was limp and her T-Zone dripped with oil. I didn’t mention any of it though.
“What do you want?”
I tugged on my lower lip with my teeth. This was going to be painful. Better to do it fast. “I’m sorry. What I did the other night was uncalled for. You didn’t deserve that.”
I was wrong. Fast didn’t mean painless.
Her eyes narrowed with suspicion. “Why are you apologizing?”
She didn’t believe me. And Ram thought I had issues!
“Nadia, I mean it. I had no right to treat you like that. I’m really sorry.”
She folded her arms and sat back. “Give me a break. You are so full of it.”
This wasn’t working. I’d have to use the Goddess Gaze.
Before I could do so, a doctor with a bandana covering his curly brown hair sauntered over. “Could I interest either one of you ladies in a breast exam?”
Nadia curled her lip. “Not even if you were George Clooney in the second season of ER.”
“Not even if this were some sort of parallel universe and a pathetic remark like that was actually a turn-on,” I said.
He moved away with a dazed look, and Nadia turned to me with a grin.
“Listen,” I said. “Do you like your job?”
“I love it,” she said without hesitation. “And I’m damn good at what I do.”
“I believe that.”
“I guess, in a way, I’m glad everyone knows the truth. I hated pretending.”
“Tell me about it.”
“I don’t think you’ll suck as a goddess.”
I smiled. “Thanks.”
She smiled back. “Anytime.”