Not What I Expected

Part 3

It was 6:30 a.m. on Monday morning and Nicole had already showered and got ready for her day. She was sitting in the kitchen with a cup of coffee, staring out the window at the view of the ocean in front of her. She had decided that instead of wallowing and continuing her little pity party, she would get up and go to work.

Her cell phone rang and she quickly picked it up once she saw who it was on her call display.

"Good morning Dr. Richardson," Nicole said with a small smile, "Is my boy driving you crazy yet?"

"Absolutely not Dr. Sanders," Beth replied, "He is awake, he has eaten breakfast and he is now asking where his mommy is."

Nicole smiled at this. She and Beth had this lifelong dream of becoming doctors and opening their own family practice together. Somehow, over the years, they had managed to make that dream a reality. Their practice had been open for five years and they had already had to add two other doctors to their practice. Needless to say, they were pretty successful in their endeavour.

"I'm on my way to pick him up," Nicole stated as she walked to the sink and poured the remaining coffee, now cold, down the drain, "I going to take him to my parents' and then I'm going to head into work. I'll try and put in a few hours."

"You're going to work?" Beth questioned sounding surprised, "Nic, you know you can take some time for yourself right?"

"Beth, I want to work," Nicole replied, "It will take my mind off things and the last thing I want is to be stuck in this house with Chad right now. I need to get out of here."

There was a silence on the other end and Nicole had wondered if they had been disconnected. She stared out the window and watched the sun come over the mountain. It was stunning, beautiful and it brought a smile to her face.

"What did you decide last night?" Beth asked quietly, "Did you guys talk?"

Just then Chad walked into the kitchen in his boxers and a muscle shirt. For a moment she admired him and how incredibly sexy he looked when he first got out of bed. He looked at her and smiled at her slightly and then she was brought back to the reality of what they were dealing with. She turned her back on him and took a deep breath, her heart searing with pain.

"We'll talk about this later," Nicole replied quickly, "I'm on my way."

Nicole hung up her phone and threw it in her purse before grabbing it off the counter and walking past him and down the hall. She grabbed her keys and opened the front door.

"I'm off to work," Nicole called out, "We will talk tonight."

Nicole looked back and saw him standing in the hallway looking back at her. She barely acknowledged him before she walked out the door and closed it behind her.

It was 12:30 and Nicole and had seen several patients already that day. She had picked a busy day to come back to work and she loved the fast paced environment. It took her mind off of her home life and she got to do what she loved, helping people. As she put the last patient's chart on the counter her stomach gave a loud rumbled. She hadn't eat yet and she was famished.

Beth walked out of the back office and gave her a smile. She put the chart on the counter and reached for another.

"I'm going to head out and grab a bite," Nicole stated, "Did you want to join me after you're done here?"

"I would love to, but I have three more patients I have to see before I'll get to go eat," Beth replied, "You go ahead though. Your next patient isn't until 2:00. Did you want to go for a late dinner tonight?"