Unbreakable (13 page)

“Drake moves in the same circles as my former boyfriend, a big financier type on Wall Street,” Lisa said, turning to me with a smile. “He may come off as a mild-mannered neurosurgeon, but he’s actually a very rich man with connections. He was also at NYP when I was there. I know
quite
a few tales of Dr. Delish. You had other names as well, didn’t you?”

The other residents tittered at that. I was sure my Dr. Dangerous moniker also followed me around. A few bent together to comment in private.

“I have no idea what the nurses called me behind my back,” I said with a laugh, trying to be a good sport.

“Oh,
come on
, Drake,” Lisa said, punching my shoulder playfully. “Don’t be so coy. Doctor Dangerous, right?” She wagged her eyebrows suggestively and took a big drink of her beer.

I didn’t say anything, but the other students seemed slightly uneasy after that mention of my other nickname. It was private and Lisa shouldn’t have been talking about it, but she’d had quite a few glasses of beer and her voice was getting louder by the moment and the more she drank.

“Now, don’t be giving away all my secrets,” I said, trying to lighten the mood, smiling at the others.

“Oh, I wouldn’t dream of giving away
your
secrets,
Doctor
D,” Lisa said and raised her eyebrows again. “Although they
are
juicy, now, aren’t they?” She turned to the others. “Drake’s quite the lady’s man, aren’t you Drake? Kept a list of those who like a certain kind of man, if I remember correctly…”

Of course the atmosphere become suddenly very awkward and I saw expressions of discomfort on the faces of my colleagues. Lisa seemed oblivious to the way the mood had changed almost instantly. Everyone at that table knew that Lisa was drunk and was embarrassing us both.

“I’m going to be a happily married man next week,” I said, trying to make light of it. “So those days are gone.
Thank God
,” I said and raised my glass to the others. A few of the other residents raised their glass and we drank our drinks in an awkward silence.

Fred saved the day, saying something about the game being broadcast on the television in the corner of the bar and thankfully, that drew everyone’s attention away from Lisa and me. I leaned closer to Lisa, my mouth by her ear.

“I think you’ve had too much to drink,” I said softly.

“Who are you to say that?” she said in a too-loud voice and frowned. “I’m perfectly in control of myself, thank you. Just because I’m not a
control
freak like you…”

“Lisa,” I said and squeezed her arm gently to try to get her to come to her senses. “Please, don’t make a scene…”

She pulled her arm away. “You think I’ve had too much to drink and don’t want me to make a scene? Drive me home, then,” she said, her eyes narrowed.

“I’m not driving you home,” I said, trying to keep my anger contained. “ But I will call you a taxi.”

“Very well,” she said and held up her nearly empty glass. “Waitress,” she called out in an even louder voice. “Another one, please.”

“Lisa, I think you’ve had enough,” I said more firmly. “You’re with your colleagues and your supervisor…”

She turned to me, her eyes hard. “Give me a ride home
then
,” she said between gritted teeth. “We can talk about our mutual interests.”

“It’s time to go,” I muttered and stood up, buttoning my jacket. “I’m going to give Lisa a ride home,” I said to the others and nodded to Fred, who had an exasperated expression on his face.

“Maybe
I
should,” he said and stood as well.

“I’m going with Drake,” Lisa said and stood up beside me. “We’re going to talk about the things we have in common, aren’t we, Drake?” she said and turned to me, leaning slightly against me. I held her back, my arms on her shoulders.

“It’s all right,” I said to Fred. “See you in the morning.”

With that, I escorted a drunk Lisa out of the pub, my arm under hers, pulling her slightly behind me. I was trying to hold in my anger, trying to control my emotions, but it wasn’t easy.

I had a very bad feeling as I brought Lisa to my car and helped her inside. I went around to the driver’s side and got in, fastening my seat belt, my jaw way too firmly clenched. I took in a deep breath and tried to relax, closing my eyes for a moment, my hands on the wheel. I was the adult in this situation and I wasn’t going to let a drunken woman make me act as anything else.

After she gave me the address, we drove in silence through the still-busy Manhattan streets to the residence apartment building at NYU where Lisa was living. When we pulled up, I put the car in park, and waited for her to get out.

“Aren’t you going to come up for a nightcap?” she said, a sloppy smile on her lips. “We could carry on the conversation.”

“I’m getting married in a week, Lisa,” I said, my muscles tensing. “Go on up,” I said softly but determinedly. “I’ll see you at the hospital.”

“You come up, help a lady out,” she said. “Aren’t you going to be chivalrous and make sure I get into my apartment safely?”

I shook my head. “I doubt you’re a woman who needs a man to look after her,” I said and leaned over to open her door. “Good night.”

“You
know
,” she said, her voice taut. “Considering how much I know about your secret life, I’d think you’d be a lot nicer to me.”

I gritted my teeth without thinking. “Is that a threat?”

She sighed and grabbed my hand. “
Drake
,” she said, her voice pleading. “Why can’t we be friends? We share so much in common – neurosurgery, we’re both in the lifestyle and—.”

“And nothing is going to happen,” I said and pointed out the door. “Please go. I have a beautiful fiancée waiting for me back home.”

She narrowed her eyes and stared into mine. “I could ruin you. I’d think you’d be a lot nicer to me, considering…”

I said nothing but glared at her, adrenaline flowing through me, making my heart race.

“Do you actually think you can blackmail me into a relationship?”

“
No
,” she said, her voice sounding pleading again, “Drake, don’t be like this. All I want is for us to be friends. That’s all.”

“Lisa, I’m getting married next week to the only woman friend I need. I don’t have women friends.”

“What would Fred Parker think of your preference for tying up women during sex? Flogging? Caning?”

I turned to her, almost seeing red I was so angry. “I am
not
a sadist. I don’t do pain. If you know Richardson, you
know
that.”

“Fred doesn’t. Who do you think he’d believe? Me? Or maybe Richardson?” She wagged her eyebrows.

“You better get out right
now
,” I said, barely controlling my voice.

“Or what? You’ll
hit
me?” she said, her eyes bright. “Maybe cane
cane
me? Or do you prefer a flogger?”

“I never
hit
women,” I said in a low voice, and then I thought to myself about spanking Kate in fun the other night. I thought about spanking Kate at the dungeon party.

“Sunita might have something to stay about that.”

That sent a chill through me. She knew Sunita… of
course
. I thought about the images Sunita probably had on her computer. I thought about the videos Sunita had taken of us playing. My face had been off screen, but she could still raise suspicions.

If Lisa wanted to hurt me, she could – very easily.

“
Why
are you doing this?” I said, desperate to think of a way to placate her without giving in. “If you’re in the lifestyle, you know this is highly unacceptable. We barely know each other. I’m getting married. I’m not interested in you or anyone else besides my fiancée.”

“Because I want us to be friends. I want you to be nice to me.”

“I
am
nice to you. I can’t be your friend. We can be colleagues only. Nothing more.”

“That’s all I want, Drake,” she said, her voice pleading. “We do things together, coffee, lunch, talking about work…”

“I can’t do this. I’m in love with my fiancée. I’m marrying her next week.”

“You
have
to be nice to me,” she said and shook her head, as if she had made up her mind. “You’re
going
to be nice to me. You’re going to walk with me down the halls when we’re working together. You’re going to make small talk with me the way you would anyone else. You’re going to have coffee with me in the break room the way you do the other residents. We’ll have lunch together occasionally and after work, we’ll go to the pub and—.”

“Lisa,” I said, exasperated. “You can’t force someone to be your friend or love you. It won’t be real. It’ll be an act.”

“I’m not a bad person, Drake.”

“I never said you were.” I sighed. “You’re my colleague. That’s all.”

I told myself that she was a bright, talented and skilled surgical resident who was a bit drunk and not thinking straight. She wasn’t a bad person at base but she was acting unbalanced as if she couldn’t accept that I didn’t need her as a friend – or want her as a friend.

“You
must
be nice to me,” she said and tried to take my hand. I pulled mine away but she actually fought to hold it. “I
want
you to be nice to me, Drake.”

I managed to pull my hand away and shook my head, at a total loss. She couldn’t seem to realize how much she’d screwed things up between us by threatening me with exposure. How could we ever be friends, given her threat, empty or otherwise?

A normal person would understand that.

She was going to try to force me to be intimate with her. She said it was all about friendship, but I could tell by the way she tried to touch me that she’d expect more.

 “Good night, Lisa,” I said, not even glancing at her. She sat in silence for a moment, and then she let out a sigh.

“See you tomorrow,” she said brightly. “I expect you to have lunch with me. We can talk about Sunita.”

I said nothing and she actually leaned over as if she were going to kiss me. I pulled away and she reacted with a laugh.

“So afraid of a little kiss, Drake?” she said, her voice tinged with hurt. “Afraid if you let me get too close, you won’t be able to resist?”

I kept my voice firm, in control and repeated myself. “Good
night
, Lisa.”

Finally, she left the car and I drove off, not even making sure she made it to her front door. I was so upset, so angered, that I actually squealed my tires as I drove off.

When I arrived home, I didn’t say anything to Kate about Lisa. I’d wait and talk to her after the honeymoon. I did
not
want her upset about this the week before the wedding. Instead, I sent Richardson a text, asking about Lisa, hoping he’d jog my memory about her so I would know how best to deal with her.

I went to bed with too much on my mind, and sleep was a long time in coming.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Kate

The first few weeks back in Manhattan passed like a dream. I was busy trying to get back into the rhythm of research and working on my thesis, Drake was busy with the fellowship and fitting everything in with his own schedule, and our wedding was fast approaching.

A week before the wedding, I was rushing around trying to get everything ready for the shower and rehearsal dinner the night before the ceremony and then the reception for my family after the ceremony. I was in a small grocery store a few blocks from the apartment when who should I see walking down the aisle towards me but Dawn…

I felt like turning around and going the other way, not acknowledging her, but I knew I couldn’t do that. Instead I put on a happy face, took in a deep breath, and went down the aisle to meet her.

“Dawn,” I said and smiled.

 I wasn’t sure what to say after that. She smiled as well and held her arms out to me.

“Give me a hug,” she said and came towards me. I couldn’t escape and so the two of us hugged, despite being completely ambivalent on my part. It should have felt good but it didn’t. It felt painful, because of how much we’d lost due to her intolerance. At the same time, the feel of her arms around me made me choke up with emotion. It had been so long since the two of us had been friends. Since that night I met Drake, almost a year earlier, I felt like I missed out on so much, not having a best female friend with me all the way, but at the same time, she wasn’t a good friend to me. Given how she tried to sabotage my relationship with Drake, I was probably better off without her in my life.

She tried to break us up and for that I could never really forgive her or trust her again.

“So, when is the big day? It’s soon, isn’t it?” she said, her eyes wide.

“Yes,” I said and smiled. “It’s two weeks from Saturday. I’m here to pick up some things for my bridal shower. I’m organizing it.”

She frowned. “It should be me doing that, you know. Don’t you have a cousin or someone else to do it? It’s traditional for someone besides the bride to do the shower preparations.”

“I don’t have
you
anymore,” I said bitterly, unable to keep my sadness in check, despite how happy I was to be getting married. “Elaine’s already doing so much, and she has my father to look after now, so it’s up to me.”

“Doesn’t Drake have any sisters or brothers? What about his family?”

I exhaled in frustration. “You’d know if you and I were friends, that he was an only child and his father died a few years ago. His mother left when he was a child.”

She frowned. “That’s sad,” she said. “He isn’t in touch with his mother?”

I shook my head. “She abandoned him,” I said and sighed. “He hasn’t seen or heard from her since she left. She never recovered from losing Drake’s older brother Liam to a rare kind of childhood leukemia.”

“Didn’t Drake’s son have leukemia?” Dawn asked. “I heard something through the grapevine at work.”

I nodded. “Yes,” I said. “Drake was a stem cell donor and it probably saved Liam’s life.”

“Wow,” Dawn said, raising her eyebrows. “That’s impressive.”