I had a real appointment with Dr. Paul Monday morning. I was kind of looking forward to it, but also dreading it. What if she caught me staring at her goodies? What if she saw something other than professional distance in my eyes? I had to put that out of my mind. After all, she is a young doctor, and I am an old slob of a man. It didn’t take me long to convince myself, I was not what she could ever be looking for and that what I experienced was nothing more than a dream. A dream that will not be realized.
Sunday was a do nothing day, to some extent. I started another story. It was one that I had been working out in my head for quick a while. I was not really in the mood for writing, so the words came hard and didn’t make much sense once I had them down. I gave up and went for a walk around my corner of our little town. When I got back, I watched a couple movies with the family.
The thought of that dream popped up several times. I tried to distract myself with limited success. Soon enough, it was time for bed. I wanted to go to bed early so I could get up early. My appointment with Dr. Paul was at 8:30, and I wanted a chance to shower.
I woke well before the alarm the next morning. I went through my daily morning routine, then goofed around on my computer until it was time to go for my appointment.
My appointment went pretty much as I had expected. Dr. Paul gave me the textbook speech about how I should be watching my weight more. Somewhere near the middle of the conversation, she did slip up and called me ‘Honey.’ When I went in to see the phlebotomist, I did not make a wisecrack about Dr. Paul calling me ‘Honey’. And of course, she did not jack me off, nor did she offer such.
Two weeks had passed since my appointment with Dr. Paul. I hadn’t heard anything concerning my test results, so I came to the conclusion that no news was good news. The Wednesday morning of that week, I got a call from Dr. Paul. I was shocked when it was her on the other end of the line. Any other time I got a call from her office, one of the nurses made the call. “Hello,” I said when I picked up the phone.
“Is this Glen?” the voice asked.
“Yes,” I answered.
“Hi, Glen this is Amy Paul. I need a few minutes to speak with you. Can you come by the office Friday afternoon?”
“I work afternoons. But if you can get me in very early in the afternoon, and if we kept the meeting brief enough…”
“I need you to be here about 4:30. Is there any way you can get the day off work?”
“I can probably get it off, as long as I ask as soon as I get to work. Let me ask why, please.”
“I just need to speak with you. Can you be here?”
“I will see what I can do.”
“Very good. I will see you Friday then. Goodbye.” I wanted to grill her more on why she needed to see me, but she hung up too soon. My mind raced around the reason she might want to see me. Of course, I thought she might want to see me about possibly getting together. But, that idea seemed too far fetched even in my fantasies. I decided it must have something to do with my test results, but why so near closing time for the clinic?
The next two days were the longest I remember. I told my wife of the follow-up appointment, as I called it. She came up with every conceivable scenario as an answer. I was very glad when the time came to visit Dr. Paul again. My curiosity was burning me up. And I had no trouble getting the day off.
I arrived at the clinic at about 4:25. The receptionist looked confused when I walked up to the desk. “Hi, Glen. What can I help you with?”
“Dr. Paul asked me to come in this afternoon. She needs to speak with me.”
“She didn’t say anything to us about it. Do you mind if I ask her?”
“Go ahead. I hope it wasn’t a prank call.”
“I’ll be right back. Sit down, if you wish.” The receptionist went to the back where Dr. Paul’s office was located. In a few minutes, she returned. “Amy will see you in a minute or two.”
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