The Wild Orchid

When Lovers Unite: Part 3

Zorell walked out with the nurse back to the station near the waiting area. Two more nurses appeared, but it looked like they were gossiping about something.

"Don't you girls have something better to do?" the nurse asked and the younger nurses scattered about all going in different directions. "Now, what is our name?"

"It's Zorell Dupree," she said and opened a cabinet behind the desk. She looked through several files, until she came to the right one and pulled it out.

"This is it, Zorell Dupree," she said and examined the contents. "So, you were top of your class and volunteered at Saint John's Hospice, working under Doctor Shapero."

"Yes, he's a gifted surgeon and scientist," she said and the older woman smiled.

"Well, can you start tomorrow?" she asked, and Zorell looked surprised that she would be working so soon.

"Yes, of course I can," she said and looked excited. It would be her first real paying job.

"Then I'll see you here at six in the morning," the woman said and looked her up and down. It confused Zorell about what she might be doing. Was her dress out of place or perhaps she had some dirt on her face. "You're a size six, correct?"

"Yes, ma'am," she said and wondered why she asked.

"There will be a uniform waiting for you in the nurses changing room," she said in a friendly but controlled tone. "It's down the second corridor at the end of the hall on the first floor."

"Yes, ma'am," she said, and it seemed to Zorell that the woman rarely lost her cool. She still wondered what it was going to be like to work under her.

The other girls seemed to have some disdain towards her or even feared her, but she would gain her respect in time and maybe even her friendship.

"I think I'll just wait around for my friend," Zorell said and took a seat in one of the chairs.

"Very well," Nurse Strausser said and took out some paperwork.

When Zorell got herself settled she opened her purse and pulled out the Agatha Christie novel she had been reading. She turned to the page she had marked and began to read. She wasn't even a paragraph in when she saw a tall man with dark hair approach. He was wearing a nearly black hat tipped to the side. He also wore a dark gray suit, and she thought she saw a smirk creep across his face. She could only see his side profile, but for some reason he looked familiar. Could it be her father had possibly tracked her down here? No, that couldn't have been possible, not after the work she put in to fooling him. Still, she kept a low profile and hid her face behind her book.

She read on but not really absorbing the words. She only heard bits of the conversation and wondered if the man would leave soon. It was not to be so because he made a point of sitting in the chair next to her. Even though the entire room was empty with at least a half a dozen empty seats, he chose to sit in the one next to hers.

"Good book?" he asked, but she tried to ignore him. Perhaps if she didn't say anything he would stop talking and perhaps go away. She tried to pretend the man wasn't there and continued reading, even though the words flew out of her head as soon as her eye glanced upon them. "I like Agatha Christie too."

She then looked up from her book and studied on the face of the man and realized where she had seen him. "Why are you sitting next to me when the entire room is empty?" she asked.

"Waiting rooms aren't so stuffy when a person has someone to talk to." He gave her a slightly intense smile which sent butterflies to her stomach. "May I introduce myself? I'm Gavin Lorio, at your service." He took off his hat and held out his hand, but she refused to take it.

"I'm sure," she said with a laugh. It seemed like he was trying to impress her with his smooth speech, but she felt it came off a little fake. "So, do you often walk up to strange women and strike up a conversation?"

"Only beautiful ones," he said and the statement made her laugh once again. His behavior seemed unreal but entertaining.

"Then why are you talking to me?" she asked and closed her book. She never considered herself a beauty not like other girls. She always thought herself to be quite plain. "I'm not exactly a beauty queen."

"I disagree," he said and came closer to her. He tried to take her hand, but she didn't allow it and hid her hands behind her back. The image of him she had dreamed up in her mind was nowhere knew what reality brought. "I believe that you, my dear, are a goddess reborn."

She burst out laughing at his lines which she believed was what they were. "Don't try to smooth talk me," she said sharply. "I'm not that naive." She stood up after putting her book back in her purse and was about to walk off, but another male voice stopped her.

"Gavin, are you trying to flirt with my friend?" Zorell turned around to see Leland standing there less than a foot away from her.

"Of course not, old friend," he said and rose out of his chair. "Just admiring a beautiful woman."

"I know how you admire women," Leland said, but he was smiling which led Zorell to believe that he was teasing. Leland then turned to Zorell. "Watch out for this one."

"How is Shanee?" Zorell asked and Leland's demeanor changed as his eyes took on a darker tone and his teasing nature ceased as his expression became serious.

"She's still unconscious," he said and looked back towards the hall that led to the room she was in. "They're doing some tests on her right now, so I can't see her for a while."

"That's expected," Zorell said and thought how she could take his mind off Shanee for a while. "Why don't we get some lunch somewhere, and we'll be back by the time they're done."

"I don't want to leave her..." Leland started to say but was abruptly cut off.

"You can't see her right now anyway," Zorell said, trying to reason with him once more. "You can bring your friend, too." She looked over at Gavin who was smirking at her.

"So, Leland, are you going to introduce us?" Gavin asked. He picked up his hat that he had put on the seat he was sitting in.

"This is Zorell Dupree," Leland said in an attempt to introduce them. "She's the one who found the letter you wrote me."

"So, this is the famous Zorell you told me about," Gavin said and came closer to her. It made her nervous that he was standing next to her, so close she could smell his aftershave. "You're right. She's not a little girl... but a woman."

"Well, Mister Lorio, if we're going to lunch we better hurry," she said and took a few steps away from him. "Lee, are you ready?"

"Let's go," Leland said, but it was Gavin who looked much more excited and insisted on walking next to Zorell whether she wanted him to or not. 

This is the end of chapter six. Do you think Gavin made a good first impression on Zorell? Be here next time to see how she deals with lunch with the boys. Isn't she a lucky girl to have two male escorts, but if Gavin had his way it would only be one. 

Thank for reading and don't forget to comment below.