Courtship

Part 14

The two women just looked at each other for a few seconds. Then Rhianna said, "That's a bit extreme." She was going to speak to Rafe. He needed to know that a good doctor was thinking about not applying for a job at his hospital because of him! She'd known Rafe for years, and she was pretty sure this would come as a surprise to him.

"Just realistic." Marina said quietly and there was a tinge of sadness to her voice. It would be difficult finding a post that suited her as much as a job on her current ward, but she was not willing to keep butting heads with the irritating man. She would not be able to curb her tongue or her temper. That was a sure strategy to a short term appointment. That had her smiling on the inside. She could quite possibly have the shortest career in medicine if she stayed and attempted to work with him.

"Talk to him." Rhianna suggested gently.

Marina shook her head. "He'd never take me on. That man would sooner employ a mannequin as let me join his team!"

Rhianna chuckled. "I'm sure you are mistaken!"

Marina shook her head. "I'm not kidding. And in any case, even if he did, I'd just be his whipping post. No matter what I do, he'd take issue with it. While I want to be a medic I don't want to spend my career wondering when the great Mr Harlington is going to decide I do not cut it! I don't fancy that. Six weeks of being pummeled by him is enough for me. No more! I plan on being somewhere else." Marina nodded in confirmation, "It's ok. I'll be fine. It's you we need to worry about." She smiled, as she thought about what she wanted to say, without it sounding patronising. "This is going to sound grandiose but I'm glad I got you on your own because without sounding like a creep, I wanted to thank you." Puzzled Rhianna looked over at Marina. Marina smiled, "For being my mentor. For helping me when I was a student doctor. I learnt heaps from you."

"I learnt heaps from you too!" Rhianna replied instantly

Marina laughed as she recognised a characteristic that she wished she had. "That isn't one of the things."

"What isn't?"

"Modesty." Marina grinned happily. "I haven't got an ounce of that, so clearly I have not learnt that." The grin disappeared as the weeks of derision caught up with her. "I guess he's probably right. I am conceited and..."

Utterly astonished by Marina's statement, Rhianna blinked. "Rubbish!" Rhianna interrupted hotly. "Look, I'll talk to him."

"No, no! Please don't do that." That would be the worst thing she could do. He no doubt would think Marina had persuaded Rhianna to speak to him and that would just escalate things. In any case, it wasn't as if Marina couldn't handle the man! Look how well she'd done so far, that had her smiling once again.

"I won't say we had this chat, I'll just..."

"No, Rhianna! I'm a big girl now! I can handle my own fights. Don't you dare talk to him about this. Promise!" She waited for Rhianna to nod. "I can handle this. I'll get through the rest of the rotation and I'll be so bloody brilliant he won't know what to say. I don't need other people fighting my battles for me. Even you. Thank you for offering, but no thanks. OK?" She got to her feet. Rhianna nodded.

"Ok, but if you change your mind, let me know. There's nothing wrong in asking for an intermediary. Remember that." Rhianna hoped she could follow her own advice as she prepared for a new direction in her career. It was daunting, this prospect of going from a safe environment where she knew how the system worked, to working in a hospital that was out of her comfort zone. It was a challenge. She hoped she was ready for it.

Marina was sure that her mentor would back her to the hilt, because Rhianna always had. But she did not want the idiot, thinking that she ran to her mentor telling tales. "Thanks. But it would make it heaps worse if he thinks I've gone running to you to complain!" Marina corrected. "So, thank you. But leave me to handle the wonderful Mr Harlington." She smiled. "Come on. You need to get back in there, otherwise people are going to complain!"

One floor up Rafe stood leaning against the balcony wall, his date was busy adjusting her clothing. They'd heard voices. That was like a bucket of cold water. They hadn't realised the voices were came from the verandah below until the mood between them was lost. The night air carried sound clearly and his date did not appreciate the interruption, so she had straightened her clothes and returned to the throng downstairs. Rafe stayed out a while longer, hoping to get his body back under control before he returned to the party downstairs. And now he needed to think about what he had just heard.