Page 5 of My Heart's Doctor

It was obvious that Rosi had heard all the commotion this man had caused, but I was embarrassed by her lavish praise. He couldn't take his eyes off me, I didn't know where to look, and Rosi was staring at him as if demanding an apology. Obviously, the apology never came.

“Aurora, we need to go,” he said, and turned to leave.

“Divon,Divon,” the little girl called out to me, stretching out her little arms.

“You need to go get the princess dress, don't forget,” I said, waving goodbye to her. “And you can come visit me anytime you want, in fact, you should ask Alba to bring you so you can show me how beautiful you look in that gorgeous dress,” I stated, trying to make it clear that I was suggesting she come with the nanny and not with him.

Aurora nodded and he left the room without looking back and without saying goodbye.

“What a rude man,” said Rosi, bringing me back to reality, because I had been lost in thought looking at the sad little face of that child as she was leaving, and I must admit, also at the father's frowning face.

“Don't worry about it, Rosi, and thank you for defending me.”

“I only told the truth. That man should be grateful instead of addressing you with such arrogance.”

“Well, now I'm really leaving,” I stated, without commenting on what Rosi had said.

“That's good, doctor. Good night.”

“Good night, Rosi.”

When I was getting into my car, I realized that Aurora hadn't returned my phone.

“Oh no! How could I be so stupid?” I exclaimed, resting my head on the steering wheel.

The phone was essential for me, especially for work, and it had all my schedule and important data on it, so I needed to get it back as soon as possible. For several minutes I sat thinking about how to solve this problem and came to the conclusion that, at some point, the father would notice and would probably send one of his employees to the clinic to return it. But if by the next day he hadn't done so, I would try to get the family's information to go pick it up, although that idea didn't appeal to me much. Not because of Aurora, of course, but because of her ill-tempered and arrogant father.

Chapter 2

«Perhaps there is no greater intimacy than two gazes that meet with firmness and determination, and simply refuse to look away.»

—Jostein Gaarder

Devon

Icollapsed into bed, or rather let myself fall into it, because I felt completely exhausted. I’d lost track of how many hours I’d been awake. I lived on the top floor of a building in a modern, spacious apartment. I had moved there after my separation and still had two unfurnished rooms. One was completely empty and I hadn’t yet decided what to use it for, and in the other I was trying to set up my office. The bedroom was spacious with a large terrace that I currently had open, letting in a warm, spectacular summer breeze. I closed my eyes, ready to let sleep take over, but minutes later the intercom buzzer startled me. I looked at the clock on my nightstand—it was a few minutes before midnight.

—¡God! Who could that be? —I wondered, as I rushed to the kitchen to answer.

Whoever was calling was rather impatient because it had rung several times.

—Who is it?

—Are you Dr. Dulcet? —asked a man’s voice that sounded quite familiar.

For a few seconds I tried to figure out who it could be. Until... it was him! It was Cavaller, no doubt about it. That authoritative and strong voice, yet quite sensual, was unmistakable.

—I am. Who are you? —I asked, just to avoid showing that I had already identified him.

—I’m William Cavaller.

—Who? —I asked, just to prevent him from thinking his name had been burned into my memory, which it actually had been.

I heard him huff, and I don’t know why, but that pleased me.

—Aurora Cavaller’s father, the little girl you examined in the emergency room today. I’m at your building door because I came to bring you your phone. Can you come down so I can give it to you and get back home?

Could he ever show a little friendliness? Evidently not. At least, not with me.