CAMILLA
As I left the big boss's office, I went straight to mine and grabbed my phone and I immediately called Raymond, still wondering why he hadn't called or texted me yet.
"Hey hun" I had the voice saying from the receiver's end "Hey," I said like a baby who had just seen its mother.
I sensed the worry in his voice when he asked "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I am." now I am worried so I went futher with my question." Is there a problem?"
"No, there isn't. Just that you sounded really tired and given the circumstances of your transfer, I was scared something might have happened"
"Nothing has happened to me, my love, at least not yet," I said almost teasingly but I knew he was not convinced so I switched the call to a video call.
" Ah ah! Cam, I see what you are trying to do" he smiled "but then this won't work" "What won't work?" I teased
"He chuckled"
"The twins told me you called"
I noticed a grin on his face "You don't look good" I said
"Those little Musketeers do not know how to keep a secret do they?" he said smiling
"What secret," I asked puzzled
Looks like he had just spilled the bin himself he said "Oh nothing, no secret. I was actually talking about the call."
But I knew well enough that there was something he wasn't saying and I really wanted to know what it was.
"It can't be nothing Ray, so come on and spill" I said with no trace of joke in the sound of my voice yet he insisted.
"Babe you need to calm down, it's nothing I swear" I guess he sensed I was not buying that but before he could say one more word, I heard a knock on the door
"Babe, let me check the door, will be back in a sec" I said and dropped the phone to see who it was.
"Yeah! I'm coming, who is there?" I asked
"Hi doc," the voice said before coming in. I wonder who does that
I said "Hello" dragging it till I saw the face
She came inside finally with a big smile and a gigantic bouquet in her hands. I was taken aback because why would one bring me a present just to see me?
"You've got a delivery, so I thought to do the honours to bring it for you myself," she said with a smile on her face, she indeed looks very excited.
"Delivery?" I asked looking confused, I stood for a while Wondering who would have sent me the flowers.
"Yes, delivery," the young intern said looking as though I had committed an offence by asking.
As I was still processing everything, my phone beeped and I saw it was Raymond, my Raymond
"Do you love the flowers?" he asked smiling
"No way" I screamed, startling the intern who was still standing at the door wondering what was going on. I rushed over to where she was collected the flowers, thanked her, and sent her away with a thank you hugs immediately.
Back to my seat, I bombarded Ray with questions "How did you do it? Where did you find a bouquet store in London?"
Not letting me feed him up with my numerous questions he said again "Do you like it?"
"Like? I love it, babe. Thank you so much"
He frowned "For what"
"For this beauty of course," I said. Ray isn't one to accept compliments but he is not getting away with this one because I'm so excited , oh my gosh these flowers are so gorgeous.
"There's something else," he said smiling like a child
I raised my head to the door expecting another knock but he drew my focus back to him saying
"Check inside the flower''
Dipping my hands inside I found a note with my favourite chocolate from London and I didn't know when I let out another scream which brought attention to where I was seated in my office.
"Doctor, are you okay? Is everything alright?" one of them asked
Feeling embarrassed I answered "Yeah yeah I am good. I'm fine. Sorry if I had been disturbing you guys, I'm just little bit of excited right now" I explained with a shining smile on my face.
They left when I was finally able to convince them that it was nothing serious but otherwise. Back to the phone, Raymond was laughing his *ss out as he enjoyed my conversations with my colleagues at work.
"You know this was your fault right?" I said with a grin on my face.
"Me?" He asked in a more mocking tone "What did I do?, You were the one shouting on top of your voice"
He could not even hold the laughter anymore. I ignored him and tore the chocolate wrap and without wasting any more time I bounced on it, opening the note simultaneously.
As I read the content of the note I couldn't help but cry when I got this particular line;
If wishes were horses... I'll wipe your tears away.
Nah...
Wishes aren't horses
And I'll do my best to wipe your tears away so that your pretty eyes don't get hurt.
You are that treasure that I'm happy to have found. Distance can never be a barrier to what we share.
This is me professing my undying and undiluted love for you, Camilla.
Love always Raymond xxx
"Babe, how did you manage to pull this?" I asked with tears in my eyes. Mind you the note is handwritten.
"Oh my love don't cry, I just missed you alot and the thought of doing something came over me"
"But how can I not cry? This is beautiful" I said, looking directly into my screen. I almost forgot that I was at work and cared less about the rules of 'no calls'
"I know it is beautiful and so are you, wipe those tears off now and finish those chocolates before a colleague comes to your office and asks for some share of it.
I am sure you would not want that to happen right?" he's such a sweet talked.
Raymond speaks like my late father. Maybe that was one of the things that drew me to him. And since this sounds like a father and daughter moment I decided to be cheesy, so I said
"Yes dada" and we both laughed at what I just did.
We spoke about the case he was handling currently and how Londoners were coping with the soot until I had an emergency call.
I rushed to the emergency room as soon as the call ended and to my greatest surprise, it was Lawarence in the operating room. Dr. Myes was there also but I couldn't find Desmond. Well now isn't the time to start asking questions about his whereabouts.
Dr. Myes filled me in on what the situation was and so we got to work immediately as there was no time to waste. We were able to remove what stirred up the concussion in him and he is responding positivly to treatment as expected.
Now it was time to find out what or who caused the concussion. Which means I have to work late into the night. As his doctor, I was to superhead the investigation team and provide answers at the latest 8am to the board.
The nurses who were in charge of his ward were already trembling for fear that they may be laid off because of this, so there was not so much productivity from their end. Well, I needed someone who could help me think objectively, and no other person I know other than Desmond. So I called his office and requested that he met me at the lab in ten minutes.
Two hours later, tired, exhausted, and worn out, we found it was a drug. Lawrence is allergic to one of the substances that was used in the production. We concluded our report and called it a night.
It was 7:59 pm by the time I got into my office. And I won't be leaving the hospital till 9 pm. That was when my shift will be ending for the day. So I decided to Facetime my kids before it was time for their bedtime. We spoke at length till they both fell asleep. First, it was Mira then George followed suit. I thanked my sister as she tucked them in bed. I don't know what I would have done without her. I owe her alot for always being around whenever I needed her.
"I owe you one," I said as the screen went blank.
I began to scout for schools close to my apartment. As I was reviewing one, Desmond came in holding a bottle of red wine. As I was about to ask him what the occasion was, he said
"Peace offering" raising a brow
"Peace offering?" I asked, " I thought I was the one who needed to tender an apology to you, I was so scared that I crossed a...."
He didn't let me finish "No no no you did nothing wrong. I should be the one apologising for my attitude.
I looked at him puzzled but he still went on
" Am I forgiven?" he asked with a smile on his face
Well I couldn't resist saying no even if I did not understand what he was up to so I said
" yeah of course" I smiled back. "But I am not drinking tonight as I have had a long day and I still need to wake up very early tomorrow plus I will be driving back home so I can not risk drinking a wine as good as that. But we can grab some bite on our way out of work. What do you think?"
"Oh that will be nice," he said. "Let me grab my stuff from the office and I will be with you in a jiffy.
Before I knew it, Desmond was gone. He amuses me in a lot of ways but I am not one to conclude someone I haven't known for long. But he does seem like a cool person. Even though I still wonder why he acted the way he did in the canteen, I'm glad he is back to his normal self.
We left the hospital at exactly 9:05 pm because I needed to check up on Lawrence before calling it a day. Thank goodness he was out of danger, tomorrow at the board meeting, we will analyse the results of our findings.
We drove straight to McDonald's, the one a few miles away from the hospital. It was surprising how I still knew my way around town after Five years of being away. After placing our orders, we found a spot to sit. Desmond offered to help me look for a nanny which I am most grateful for as I cannot continue to leave them for my sister even though she wasy complaining, I needed to give her the freedom she deserves.
Her leave from work ends in two weeks. Finding a nanny sooner will enable her to settle down.
I dropped him off before heading to my apartment since his place was on the same route as mine. I have confess that aside from the surprise package from Raymond and speaking to my kids, Desmond also made my day but of course I said nothing of such to his face.
By the time I got into my room, it was ten twenty-five pm already. I knew that if I lay on my bed, I wouldn't wake up till the next morning so I went straight into the bathroom and prepared myself a hot shower with a Taylor Swift Lover playing in the background. For the while I took my bath, I reflected on everything that went on that day and smiled to myself. " It was indeed a good day" I said and hurried bathing sections.