Unbreakable (28 page)

“Very well, Dr. Mysterious,” she said, her voice betraying a hint of anger. “Don’t tell me. I’ll go. See you at morning rounds. I expect you to come and stand with me.”

I frowned. “Are you going to script our every interaction?”

“Just reminding you that you have to be nice to me. That means you and I do things together. We have coffee together. Lunch. We talk like colleagues do. No avoiding me.”

“Technically, I’m in a supervisory role as a fellow. We should be colleagues but nothing more.”

“Technically, I’m not in your team so there’s no conflict of interest,” she said. “I checked the hospital’s policy. Like I said, I do my research.” She gave me a big smile.

I inhaled deeply and held in my desire to shout.

“See you at rounds,” she said and finally, Lisa got up and left the extra cup of coffee in front of me.

As soon as the door closed behind her, I took out my cell and texted Lara. I sat at my desk, debating with myself over how to approach Lara with the news I was being blackmailed by Lisa.

Finally, after considering, I sent Lara a text.

Hate to do this, but am having a problem with a colleague who I once topped at a dungeon party and who knows about my kinks. She threatened to expose me if I don’t treat her nicely. And by nicely I think she wants to start a sexual relationship. Which I don’t want, of course. I think she’s unhinged… Need your expert and wise advice.

Lara phoned me right away. I was glad to see her number on my cell and answered immediately. Before I could say anything, she stopped me.

“Tell me,” she said, her voice sounding tired. “You say it’s a colleague so I take it it’s not Kate’s little friend.”

“Thanks for calling,” I replied, rubbing my temples. “No, not this time. In fact, I think Dawn’s now an ally rather than a threat.”

“Tell me what happened.”

I told Lara everything, including all my encounters with Lisa during the first couple of weeks of the term at NYU.

“So you initiated nothing?” Lara asked, her voice calm.

“Absolutely nothing. I had no memory of her until she told me we met through Richardson and I topped her twice at dungeon parties. I try to ignore her but she’s now demanding I take her places for lunch, and dinner...”

“She sounds like a nutcase,” Lara said. She was quiet on the line for a moment.

“What are you thinking?”

She sighed audibly on the line. “It’s a Catch-22. If you don’t play along with her, she might actually follow through on her threat to expose you. It wouldn’t be good at all for your career if your involvement in BDSM, however mild, were revealed publicly. People in the general public don’t make the distinction between a hard-core sadist and a soft-core Dominant. All they hear is BDSM and that makes some of them go insane.”

“Tell me about it,” I said and rubbed my forehead.

“And if you
do
play along with her, it’ll encourage her to think there’s a chance you two might become involved. She’s definitely stalking you, even knowing you’re married. She’s deluded, at least. And then to threaten you and expect you to still be her best friend?” Lara didn’t say anything for a moment but I could tell she was upset. “I only remember her vaguely, but I have to tell you I think she’s dangerous, Drake. You have to find a way to keep her under control so she doesn’t go public. You say she knows Sunita as well?”

“Yes,” I said, thinking of how my past was coming back to haunt me in a very bad way. “She knows Sunita from NYP.”

Lara sighed heavily. “That girl turned out to be very bad news as well. A mistake on my part, but I’ve learned my lesson. Sadly, it’s come back to haunt us. She also threatened me. She’s really on a witch hunt.”

“What should I do?”

Lara was silent. “I don’t know, Drake. If you stay in the program, you’ll have to deal with her and things might get increasingly problematic. You can’t go to the authorities about it because you don’t want to have anything come out about your lifestyle choices.”

“I’ll quit,” I said finally. “I can take a year off with no real effect on my career. I’ll say it’s a paternity leave so I can spend the first year of my child’s life at home.”

“What will Miss Meddler think of that? She’ll know you’re trying to avoid her.”

“Fuck it,” I said. “If she comes after me, am I at risk of any kind of charges from the past? Could Sunita come after me in any way?”

I heard papers flipping on Lara’s desk and hoped I wasn’t imposing too much on her time but she was a legal expert on BDSM.

“Sunita signed waivers so you can prove that anything you did was consensual.”

I exhaled in relief. “I don’t want her coming at me with an assault charge.”

“You’re clear on anything you did with her. Besides, it’s been over five years. Statute of Limitations for simple assault runs out at five. If she was able to prove it was predatory sexual assault, that’s a Class A2 Felony and there is no limitation.”

“Oh,
God
,” I said and frowned. “What does that mean – predatory sexual assault?”

“Don’t worry about it. That’s reserved for sexual predators who are habitual and repeat their crimes. The charge, if one was brought, would be Class B Felony and there is a five-year limitation. You’re clear.”

“Phew,” I said with a sense of relief.

“But she could still really screw with your life, Drake. She could go to the administration. You’d probably be asked to resign, you’d lose privileges and you’d have no way to fight it. You could probably practice somewhere else, but who needs the hassle?”

“What should I do?”

She hesitated a moment. “You either humor her and hope for the best, or leave completely so she can’t hurt you.”

I groaned. “I don’t want to humor her. I’m afraid she’ll get the wrong idea and it’ll be next to impossible to get rid of her.”

“I don’t know, Drake,” Lara said, her voice tired. “She sounds delusional. She reminds me of that female astronaut who wore adult diapers so she could drive across the country without stopping, so she could harm her ex-boyfriend’s new girlfriend.”

That sent a shiver down my spine. “Thanks for reminding me about that. Now, I’ll be worrying about Kate.”

“You’re welcome. Don’t let down your guard, whatever you do. Tell Kate not to either.”

“I will. And thanks for this.”

“Don’t mention it. You’ll get my bill in an email,” she said with a chuckle. Then, in a more serious tone, she continued. “I’m serious Drake. This woman sounds like she’s obsessed with you. Whatever you decide, tread very lightly. Don’t do anything to antagonize her. You can’t just go to the police and get a restraining order without revealing your history.”

“I’ll be careful.” I ended the call and sat in my office, Lara’s words running through my head. I had no idea what to do. I needed to think.

I called Dave.

“Hey, boss,” he said, his voice chipper. “What’s up?”

“I need to work out some excess frustration. Care for a game of racquetball?”

“Tell me when and I’ll make it so.”

At the end of the afternoon, I let my admin person know I’d be gone for a game of racquetball but I could be reached on my pager, and then I left the hospital to meet Dave. We met at the club and had a game of racquetball and I smashed that ball so hard that it could have killed someone had it hit them in the head, but it was a good release. Afterwards, Dave and I decided to go out for a drink before dinner. I texted Kate to let her know, and she was fine with it. She was sleeping so I told her I’d be home by eight at the latest.

Then Dave and I went in separate cars to the pub, where I met Kate the very first time. We found two parking spots not too far away from each other and walked the rest of the way. The entire time we were walking to the pub, I had this strange sense that someone was following me, but when I looked around, I saw nothing. The sun was setting behind Manhattan’s tall buildings, the air was cool, and people rushed down the sidewalks on their way home for the evening. I didn’t recognize anyone, but couldn’t shake the feeling.

Inside the pub, we sat at the bar and had a beer, speaking about the foundation and what Dave was working on. His latest project involved bringing orphaned children from East Africa to the USA for specialized surgeries using robotics. I hoped that one day, I could be primarily involved in that line of work since it was so rewarding to free a child from intractable seizures or spasms.

It was while we were sitting at the bar, talking about the game on the television that a group of people entered the pub, their voices loud. I turned to glance in their direction and saw that it was Lisa and her group of fellow residents. The pub was often frequented by NYP staff due to its location, but it was out of the way for NYU’s Tisch Hospital – Langone Medical Center where we were doing our specialization.

The coincidence was unbelievable. She
had
to have been following me or knew my plans.

“Oh,
God
,” I muttered under my breath.

“What?” Dave said, turning to look in the direction of the group. “You know them?”

“They’re residents from NYU.”

“And? Aren’t they your compadres?”

“Yes,” I said and sighed, taking a big drink from my beer. “And one of them has shown an interest in me and I can’t convince her nothing will happen.”

“Uh,
oh
,” Dave said. “Don’t tell me you cheated on Kate already…”

“What?” I said and frowned at him, my back stiffening. “No! Of course not. No, this woman –
Lisa
– is doing her residency in neurosurgery and seems unable to take a hint.”

“Sounds like trouble,” Dave said and I saw him survey the group. “Let me guess. The tall brunette with a model’s body.”

“Yep,” I said, and didn’t glance around to see them. “The very one.”

“God, she’s hot. Why don’t you introduce us? Maybe I can distract her. Take her off your hands. I could use some womanly obsession right now.” He took a swig of his beer. “Bit of a dry spell, woman wise.”

“Believe me, you don’t want this one,” I said and shook my head.

I heard someone come up behind us, and then a hand on my shoulder.

“Which one won’t he want?” Lisa said. When I turned to look at her, she was smiling. “Fancy meeting you here, Drake,” she said with a smile.

“What a coincidence,” I said and smiled back. “This is out of the way for you and the other residents…”

“Oh, I thought the gang could come here for a change of scene. Sunita and I used to come here. You remember Sunita, right Drake?”

I didn’t say anything, too shocked and then angry to respond.

“Introduce me to your friend,” she said and turned to Dave.

“Lisa,” I began. “This is Dave Mills, my director of projects at the foundation I started in honor of my father. Dave, this is Dr. Lisa Monroe. She’s a friend who’s studying at NYU to be a neurosurgeon.”

“Well, hel-lo, Doctor,” Dave said and practically wolf-whistled at Lisa. He held out his hand to shake and then took hers and kissed her knuckles. “Any friend of Drake’s is a friend of mine.”

Lisa smiled at Dave and I swear she giggled when Dave played with her hand. “Look at those fingers,” he said and stroked them. “Surgeons fingers, for sure. Long and tapered. I bet you could play piano.”

“I do,” Lisa said, brightening. “I studied piano for eleven years.” Then she turned to me. “So you’re a friend of Drake’s? Do you share in his special interests?”

“What interests?” Dave said, seeming genuinely curious.

A stab of adrenaline coursed through me at that.

“Oh, you know,” she said quickly, her eyes meeting mine, “racquetball, vodka, women.”

“Yes to all three,” Dave said and smiled.

“Drake and I have so much in common, don’t we, Drake?” Lisa said, her eyebrows raised. “Surgery, music.”

I didn’t say anything, but forced a smile. “We do indeed. And some things are very different.” I took a sip of my beer.

“
Vive la
Différence
, or so they say,” she said with a smile.

“Would you like to join me? I mean, us?” Dave said with a smile. He moved to another stool so Lisa could take the one between us.

She shook her head. “No, I have to get back to my colleagues. But thanks.” Then she turned to me. “Nice to see you, Drake. Why aren’t you at home with your new wife?”

“Oh, Drake needed to burn off some steam,” Dave said, leaning between us so he blocked Lisa’s view of me. “So we played a couple games of racquetball at his club. I let him beat me in sympathy. Honest!”

“Oh?” she said and laughed at Dave. Then she turned to me. “Steam? How so? Stress of the fellowship getting to you?”

“Not at all,” I said, trying to look calm and collected. “Gotta keep in shape.”

She nodded. “Well, I better get back to the group. Nice to meet you,” she said to Dave.

Dave reached into his pocket and pulled out a card. “Before you go,” he said and handed it to her. “Give me a call if you want to go out for a drink or coffee. I know all the best spots in Manhattan and can take you on a tour if you want.”

She smiled at him when she took the card and tucked it into her bag. Then she turned to me. “I’m sure Dave and I would have a lot to talk about, Drake.” She winked at me. “See you tomorrow.”

Then she turned to go to her table where the residents in her group were busy chatting. My body was incredibly tense. She was out right threatening to tell Dave, my friend and an employee, that I was into BDSM. My heart pounded in my ears, and I had to take a big drink to calm myself.

When she was back with the group, Dave turned to me. “
Damn
, she is one hot woman. You don’t mind if I make a move? Try to distract her from you?”

“She’s a crazy bitch,” I said. “In fact, I’d stay as far away from her as I could get. Seriously.”

“If you say so but she looks damn hot and crazy-hot women are my weakness.”

“Dave,” I said and laid a hand on his shoulder. “Trust me about the crazy part. Stay away.”

For the next half hour, Dave and I continued our discussion on foundation business while we drank our beer and watched the game on the television. Lisa and her group were boisterous and although I could feel her eyes on me, she didn’t come back again. I heaved a sigh of relief.