Consider Me Gone

Chapter 4.

Tara

"Come in," I replied as Margaret stepped into my office. I immediately gave her a look when I saw her, and she let out an exasperated sigh. "You know, it wouldn't kill you to be a little nicer to her," I said referring to the little stunt she pulled with Toni.

Margaret and Toni never got along after Margaret became the administrator. Margaret used to give Toni such a hard time when she realized she was married to Jax. She would always make small jabs and would always find a reason to give her a counseling notice.

The relationship only worsened when Toni found out that Margaret was in the pool of people who knew I was sneaking around with Jax. I can only imagine that Margaret denying Toni's request to transfer has solidified that the two will never like each other.

There was a time when I asked Margaret why she was so hard on Toni, and Margaret confessed that it was because she hated Toni for choosing the life of an ol' lady. She thought that Toni was a good surgeon with the potential to be great, and she couldn't understand why Toni would diminish herself by staying with Jax.

Margaret hates that I have also decided to take on the life of an ol' lady, but after being kidnapped together and learning of her past. I know now that Margaret only wants what's best for me.

"I wasn't trying to be rude to her," Margaret stated, "but I know that she talks behind my back with Dr. Torres, and I wrongfully assumed that they'd save their high school behavior until after I was done with Dr. Sloan."

"Margaret, you called her Teller. That was a low blow," I pointed out. Margaret scoffed, "I didn't stoop to her level!" Margaret shook her head, "I don't even know why you still try to protect her when she does nothing but ignore you all the time."

I stood there silently after the words left Margaret's lips. She knew why Toni didn't want anything to do with me, and being reminded of it was never a good time. The truth was, no matter how much Toni hated me, I still loved her. We had shared so much together as friends, that it was hard not to speak in her defense at times.

"Anyway," Margaret said, changing the subject, "did the surgery go well?"

"Yes, routine diaphragmatic hernia."

Margaret smiled at that and then handed me a thick folder. "References and other info. Legacy Manuel and Providence Hospital are very interested in speaking with you."

"Wow," I said holding the folder in my hand. "Thank you for doing this."

"I came by to drop them off earlier, but Gemma was in here."

My eyebrows shot up at the sound of my future mother-in-law's name. "Did she say why?"

"No, but I certainly interrupted her looking for something."

I looked down at the folder in my hand and a wave of panic rushed through me. "Did she see this?" I asked.

"No," Margaret said reassuring me. I breathed out a sigh of relief knowing that Gemma knew nothing of my plans to move. I know she would freak out if she found out prematurely, and I hadn't even gotten the chance to tell Jax yet about my plans to transfer.

"Well, I guess she was just looking for something for the baby," I said trying to ease Margaret's suspicions as well as some of my own.

"Maybe," Margaret said, not completely buying my reasoning. "I also heard the nurses talking. Are you really engaged?" She seemed nervous while asking me, but I could tell she already knew the answer.

"I am," I said forcing a smile. I knew what was coming next, and I didn't want to hear a lecture from Margaret.

"Does Jax know that you're planning to move?"

My face fell, "I'm not just yet." The confession felt like it weighed a hundred pounds. I knew Margaret would disapprove, hell, even I would have if I were her.

"Tara," she began with a disappointed look on her face.

"I need to be here, "I interjected.

"Two months ago, you broke down in my office and you asked me for a transfer. Do you know I had to deny your colleague's request just to get you this one?!"

"I know and I still feel that way, but I just have to let Jax lead us out, Margaret. It may take longer but it's the only way I get my whole family out clean."

"Longer can very easily turn into forever. You know that, please think about this."

I looked at Margaret in disbelief, "It's the only thing I think about. You think I want to be here in this town, while my colleagues whisper and giggle behind my back? Trust me, no one wants to leave Charming more than I do."

"Well, I could at least think of one person," Margaret said, locking eyes with me. I knew she was talking about Toni. And if Toni knew that I was the reason that her request was denied then having her ignore me would be the least of my worries.

"Knock, knock," Dr. Sloan said as he leaned up against the doorway. His presence startled both me and Margaret as our conversation came to an immediate stop. "Sorry to interrupt but it seems that my tour with Dr. Thatcher ended here. I just need a key to get inside of my office.

"Oh! My apologies Dr. Sloan, I should have given it to you sooner," Margaret fiddled through her pockets for the key and then handed it to Dr. Sloan. "I hope the office provided to you will be satisfactory during your stay."

"Oh, I'm sure it'll be fine Ms. Murphy, thank you." Dr. Sloan turned to walk away but not without saying something to me. "I'm sure it'll be nice to have you as a neighbor Dr. Knowles, I look forward to working alongside you."

"Oh well, Dr. Knowles is one of the best surgeons we have here at St. Thomas. I'm sure that Seattle Grace would love to have a surgeon of her caliber on your staff," Margaret said as she shamelessly bragged about me.

Dr. Sloan's eyes lit up, "well, that's no surprise it seems that Charming has a way of keeping their best surgeons all to themselves. I guess this small town is more than meets the eye. "Congratulations on the engagement by the way Dr. Knowles," Mark said before leaving the room.

I felt my cheeks heat up when he pointed out my ring. I was wearing it now, but until he went on the tour with Toni, he had no idea that I was newly engaged. I wasn't even able to say the word "thank you," in fear of sounding incriminating.

As you can tell, I wasn't proud of what happened between Jax, Toni, and I. And I stupidly thought that she wasn't proud of it either. I guess what I mean to say is that Dr. Mark Sloan was the one person who didn't know about our history, and I thought that Toni would want to keep it that way.

"Get a load of that," Margaret said while shamelessly eyeing the man. She practically had a drool coming out of the side of her lip as she watched him walk away.

I shook my head at her while also trying not to stare at him myself. He was incredibly gorgeous, and given his reputation, he was a great surgeon. But I also heard he was probably the biggest whore who ever lived, which means he'd fit right in with the locals of Charming.