“That was it?” I asked. Something wasn’t adding up.
“We went out a few times. But, from the beginning, I knew that there was no spark between the two of us.”
“Then why did you go out with him again?”
“There was no chemistry on my end, but I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. The first time we went out, he told me that he was having a hard time meeting women and that he was going through a rough patch. I didn’t have the heart to reject him after he told me that. In hindsight, it wasn’t a good idea, but I was just trying to be nice.”
I felt terrible for her. Being kind should be rewarded, not punished by a stalker. Still, I didn’t know if I could do the thing she needed me to do.
“So,” I said hesitantly, “if I pretend to be your husband, or whatever, what do I need to do?”
She looked so embarrassed that it was making me feel embarrassed. “I don’t really know. Maybe I can hang out with you at your house for a little bit. If I don’t return right to my apartment tonight, then he’ll maybe believe that I don’t just live by myself. He’ll see that I wasn’t telling him a complete lie, and maybe he’ll back off. Part of me thinks that he just needs to know that I’m taken and that will be enough closure for him. At the very least, can I just hang out here for the day? I don’t want to go anywhere alone right now.”
This was the exact problem I was trying to avoid by acting like a professional and not asking her out on a date. If something suspicious were happening between us, someone would notice.
And that was a problem in more than one way. Obviously, her situation was sensitive and it needed to be kept somewhat quiet. If someone unwittingly informed her stalker about what was happening, it could end badly. Not to mention, Ariana didn’t seem like she wanted anyone else to know about it.
Plus, it would be a problem for me. By secretly pretending to be her husband, I would be opening myself up to scrutiny by my patients and staff. I wouldn’t be able to fully explain why she appeared to be so close to me. I would look like a creep that dated his beautiful, young patients.
Finally, there was one more reason why I didn’t want to pretend to be infatuated with Ariana—because I already was. I knew it would be too hard to pretend to be her husband when I already had a huge crush on her. At some point, this would all end, but I would still be left with feelings for her. We could play house for a few days, but I would never get the happily ever after.
But, my feelings for her were the reason that I couldn’t immediately say no. When it came down to it, she was a woman who I cared about and I didn’t want to have to worry about dealing with a crazy stalker.
“Okay,” I relented. “I’ll tell the nurses that you’re doing a report on medical clinic administrative stuff. That’s something an MBA might write about, isn’t it?”
She looked surprised by my answer. “Yeah, I’m sure that’s reasonable. Thank you so much. I’ll just stay in an office or something until the end of the day.”
“And I can give you a ride home at the end of the day,” I added. “Or, you could rent a hotel room for the night. If you don’t have the cash, I’d be willing to help you out.”
She shook her head. “That’s too generous.”
“It’s nothing if it keeps your stress levels down. I want you to be seizure-free from now on.”
She nodded, and I finished her exam, trying to avoid touching her as much as possible. I didn’t want to give anyone the feeling that I wanted anything more out of Ariana than good health.
Afterward, I found my nurse and explained that Ariana needed a quiet office to work on her school project about my business. She looked like the wheels in her head were turning, but I kept a flat expression to dismiss any ideas.
“Like your office?” she asked.
“No, I need my office to work in,” I said, getting annoyed. “Set her up in the old records room. There’s a little desk in there. Can you get her one of our laptops?”
“I’ll get on that,” Mary said, walking away.
“Let me take you to your office,” I said once Mary disappeared from view. “I’m sorry it’s small and cluttered, but at least it’s safe. You’re also welcome to anything you want from the break room.”
“Oh, this is more than enough,” Ariana said as I led her inside the room. She looked around before sitting down on the plastic chair. “Thank you.”
“No problem,” I said, looking out the window. I stared outside, wanting to say something reassuring, but I didn’t know what to say. I just watched as a car circled the parking lot.
I was about to leave to see my next patient when I noticed the red car continued to slowly circle the parking lot. One time around was understandable if the driver were lost or dropping off a patient. Five times was excessive.
Finally, the car parked in the furthest spot from the front door. I could count twenty empty spots that were much closer to the entrance. I had a hunch that this wasn’t one of my patients.
Ariana must have noticed me staring out the window, because suddenly, she was standing right next to me.
“What are you looking at?” she asked, before gasping. She braced herself against the window and I grabbed onto her, afraid that she was about to have a seizure.
“How did he know that I was here?” Ariana whispered, standing up a little straighter. I quickly let go of her.
“Is that him?” I asked
She nodded. “That’s Jake.”
I squinted to get a better look at him. He was tall and skinny, making him look like a teenaged boy. His mop of curly brown hair didn’t look like it had been washed in a while. He wore baggy cargo shorts and a t-shirt. The thing that struck me the most were his rounded glasses. He looked like his mom had dressed him as a child, but he never changed styles as he grew up. For a guy who wanted to be with one of the most beautiful women I had ever met, he apparently didn’t care about his appearance.
“He even looks like a creep,” I said under my breath. “He can’t be here.”
I turned on my heel and walked out of the room. Ariana pulled on my arm to stop me.
“Where are you going?” she asked.
“I’m going to have a word with the building’s security guard and the receptionists. He’s not going to lurk outside my office.”
She dropped my arm and I went downstairs to the ground floor, seething the entire way. This guy had some nerve to take his stalking this far. One of my top priorities was to keep my patients and staff safe, and I would not stand for some creep hanging around making people feel uncomfortable.
I spotted him when I looked out the front doors, slowly walking toward the entrance. He passed by the doors but didn’t try to come in. He had his head toward the sky, acting nonchalantly, as if he were on a walk through the park, and not at an office building.
“Do you see that guy?” I asked the guard at his desk, pointing out the window. “There’s something suspicious about him and I don’t want him coming in here.”
“Do I need to file
a report?” he asked.
“It doesn’t need to be a big deal. I just want to make sure none of the patients are harassed. Like always, if someone doesn’t have an appointment, I don’t want them in the building.”
I wondered if Jake could see me because he went back to his car. I walked back upstairs, hoping that he had been spooked and would leave.
“I took care of it,” I said to Ariana when I returned to the records room. “He’s not going to be coming in here. He left.”
She looked toward the window. “He may have left the sidewalk, but he’s sitting in his car now.”
“Call the police,” I said.
“Don’t,” she pleaded. “They won’t be able to do anything and it will only make him mad. Trust me.”
I sighed, looking at the clock. I was late for my next appointment, but I didn’t want to leave Ariana.
“Listen to me,” I said. “I have to see a few more patients today, so I’m not going to be able to watch that creep with you. Please stay right where you are and wait for me to finish up my appointments.”
“Okay,” she replied, frown lines still etched on her face.
She looked extremely upset and it broke my heart. I wanted to reassure her in any way I could, but I didn’t know how.
“Hey,” I said, resting my hand on her shoulder. She turned, her dark eyes staring straight into mine. “You’re going to be fine. You’ll get through this.”
She nodded, her eyes sad. She looked defeated.
As I left the room and hurried to see my next patient, I promised myself that I would do whatever I could to keep Ariana safe.
Chapter Four
Ariana
Dr. Malone didn’t return after his next patient or the one after that. I kept hearing his name being paged over the intercom system, so I figured he was just too busy to check in on me. That was perfectly fine with me, though. I had spent more time than I have ever had before with him and it was too much for me to handle.
I loved my visits with Dr. Malone. He was cool and funny and always made me feel at ease in his office. I was pretty intimidated by his good looks, but once he started talking, the jittery nerves I felt went away. If I were the type of girl to ask guys out, I would have invited him to get coffee with me at some point. But, between my shyness around guys I had crushes on and my terrible luck with men in recent years, I found that it was best if I just admired him during my regular appointments and kept this little infatuation to myself. Besides, I was so close to getting my degree that I didn’t want to spoil it with distractions.