There was a strange gloom that fell like a heavy curtain over the hospital on Wednesday morning. As soon as Sophia walked in with another coworker she met halfway on her walk for her shift, she immediately noticed Stella and Rosa talking to the lady in the storage room. Stella was the one who caught sight of her first and she waved her over.“What is going on?” she asked as soon as she joined them.Other workers were talking in the main hall which was unusual because St. Peter’s workers barely had time to loiter and chat when they were so short-staffed.“I suppose you didn’t get the email then,” Rosa muttered.She frowned. “What email?”Stella shrugged. “Apparently, the board thinks we are overstaffed and are letting some workers go. They are sacking us…actually they let Rosa stay. Mike and I got emails so we are currently jobless.”“What about you Sophia?” Rosa asked with concern.She was too stunned by the news to speak. Her eyes darted across the hall at the crushed faces of doctor
“Try to relax,” Stella yelled above the din in the rowdy club. There was alcohol on her breath and her eyes were already glazed over. She was clutching Sophia’s shoulder for support. “You are not the only one Tager hates you know?” she laughed and staggered slightly.She was trying to relax. It would be easier if she had other income sources. She could ask her sister but she had barely spoken to Abigail in years and she was still avoiding her calls. The crowd in the club wasn’t as much as it would be during weekends but it was packed despite the rain falling outside and could barely see her own feet. The lights were dimmed to create an intimate atmosphere. Nate, Mike and Rosa were talking and laughing about something. Mike and Stella weren’t as downtrodden as she was, somehow that made her feel like an asshole. They too were served the email still they were trying to have fun. She didn’t want to seem selfish but it was hard not to when her whole world was coming apart before her eyes.
He watched her climb down from the stage amidst the clapping and hooting and laughter. Then his eyes drifted to Nate who was silently watching Sophia as she made her way across the club towards him. He didn’t like the look on Nate’s face as his eyes trailed Sophia. The man had been too happy dancing with her, having his arms around her. He had walked in right when the song was drawing to an end, the image of Nate being too close to her and wrapping his arms around her waist was burning a hole into his brain.His attention was drawn back to Sophia who was now marching toward him. She didn’t look too happy to see him. He wanted to know why.Sophia nudged aside the last person in her way. Matt was still shrouded in the shadows but his eyes were trained on her. She could feel the intensity of his gaze on her and the ice in those eyes chilled her. But she would not be intimidated by him, not when he was infringing on her private space.“What are you doing here?” she demanded as soon as she
Tager had worked his way up from odd jobs in his youth until he found himself leading the board of directors at St. Peter’s hospital. The chain of hospitals was established by the church. While the church established these hospitals, they were isolated from the activities going on in them. His duty as the Head of Directors was to oversee the finances and management of resources at the hospital and these he used for his gain. Although, recently with the crawling economy, those gains were hard to come by. He suspected the other directors had misgivings of his management of the hospital’s resources, to cover his tracks and save the establishment from total doom he had opened doors of opportunities to aspiring investors.Of all the investors showing interest in the hospital, Matt Wolffe was by far the wealthiest. Walking into the elevator that would take him to the twenty-fourth floor where Matt’s office was, he thought of ways to sweeten the deal he was sure would be made that Thursday m
Friday afternoon, with the sky free of clouds and the sun casting weak rays through the open window of her kitchen, Sophia sat in her cane chair with her legs crossed and her laptop settled in the cradle of her thighs, going through notes from missed classes. Halfway through she set her laptop aside, made a light lunch, ate, took a bath, and returned to sift through more notes. On impulse, she retrieved her phone which had been tossed aside to avoid any distraction.Her eyes widened, nearly popping at the number of calls she missed. 10 of them from Nate, 10 from Stella, 8 from Rosa, 2 from Mike, and a couple of messages from them all.‘COME RIGHT NOW TO THE HOSPITAL’ Stella’s message read. The urgency of the message caused her to stop short.Well, what could be the problem now? She was fired so any emergency at the hospital was none of her business.But as she sat down there contemplating whether or not to leave the comfort of her chair she could barely shake the feeling that this eme
The once sleepy but busy hospital of that morning was suddenly a buzz of laughter as retained staff met with, hugged, and celebrated their friends for getting their jobs back. At the bottom of the stairs where Sophia had hoped to quietly slip past everyone and head home, her friends waited for her.Rosa was the first to spot her. Turning slightly with her arms raised she called out to her. “Congratulations!”Every other possible exit was occupied, with no other choice but to join her friends, Sophia walked down the stairs into her arms trying as best as she could to relax her tense shoulders but Rosa, always the observant one, noticed immediately that something was wrong. She pulled back and looked into her face.“You are happy about this, aren’t you?”She forced herself to nod.Before Rosa could call her out on her lie Stella jumped in pulling her arm. “Lord I wish I had a hunk like Wolffe ready to fight for me and get me what I need at my neck and call. When did you tell him about t
A few days ago they were good, or he thought they were. He had left her satisfied in her kitchen. They had an agreement; enjoy whatever this was between them with no strings attached.Matt dragged a hand through his hair heaving a deep, ragged sigh. He didn't know what to think. He had known she would react this way to his meddling but he hadn't thought she would go as far as getting angry about it. Even now in the darkness of the alley, he could see the scowl on her beautiful face. Her shoulders were stiff and rigid. Those shoulders were held high with pride.For the life of him, he couldn't imagine why her reaction had to be so exaggerated. But he was not about to back down. Sure, he did what he did without her consent, he wasn't expecting her to jump into his arms and reward him with a kiss. No, she was too independent for that, but the least she could do was show an atom of appreciation. He deserved that at least!At a loss for words, he shoved his hands into his pocket to keep f
For someone with a willowy graceful frame, Penelope had the strength of a panther. Within seconds Sophia was on her back on the floor with Penelope sitting astride her with her hands on her shoulders pressing her down. Her blonde hair now ruffled fell over the right side of her face. "Stay still. Hell, you don't have to be so defensive." Struggling to get the taller woman off her Sophia scoffed. "Right, it's not like you broke into my apartment or anything." She folded her legs under her and attempted to throw Penelope off her but the woman stubbornly held on. "What is your problem, Blanc?" Penelope huffed. Sophia's fight was causing her to lose her breath. Finally, she pinned her down and held her still. "I just want to talk!" "What the hell is going on here?" Both women turned at the sound of the gruff voice. Matt was standing in the doorway with a large scowl. He took in the disarray; the twins now hurdled together shrunk under his scowl, Bobby was pressed against the leg of