Page 21 of Stat: Love In Scrubs

M y body ached so good. It was still early, but the memories of last night felt like it was only moments ago.

I turned on the soft sheets of his bed to face him.

His eyes were closed, and I could see the rise and fall of his chest. I wanted to reach out and trace the length of his jaw and down the tip of his nose to mark his face in my memory.

But I didn’t want to wake him up. It seemed like he needed this rest. I was glad I was the one to give it to him.

I slipped out of bed and handled my hygiene, then quickly hopped in the shower. I wanted to brush my teeth and maybe make a little breakfast.

The dick I received last night upgraded him from Doc to Desmond swiftly. I stepped back into the room and glanced over at Desmond, who was still sleeping comfortably, when I heard a light knock against the door. I rushed over to get it, figuring it was Esa so she wouldn’t wake him.

I opened the door to see Esa rubbing her eyes. I slipped out of the room and closed the door behind me.

“Good morning, sweetheart,” I told her.

She wrapped her arms around my neck and laid against my shoulder.

“Are you hungry?” I asked.

She nodded, so I instructed her to brush her teeth and then meet me in the kitchen. I watched for a moment as she rushed towards her room. Once I could no longer see her, I made my way down the hallway, then downstairs into the kitchen. I hoped I wasn’t overstepping by being in this man’s kitchen.

I stood in front of his fridge and released a breath before pulling the doors open.

I grabbed the carton of brown eggs, milk, and cheese.

Then, I placed them on the counter. Then, I bent down to pull open the freezer drawer but didn’t notice anything I would need there.

So, I opened the fridge again and noticed a drawer with sausage inside.

So, I grabbed those and then turned to place them onto the counter as well.

It wasn’t long before Esa was skipping into the kitchen with her dolls and a princess dress on. After she brushed her teeth, she must have decided to change her clothes as well. I couldn’t help but smile in her direction.

“Whatcha doing?” she questioned in a singing voice.

I chuckled and pointed towards the food on the counter. “We’re cooking breakfast! You want to help?” I asked.

She nodded enthusiastically.

“Okay! But I need your help. Do you know where I can find the pots and pans?” I asked.

She walked around the island to a lower cabinet and pulled it open. Then told me the story of when her father made spaghetti with her, which was her explanation of why she knew where to look. I couldn’t help but smile as I grabbed the things I needed.

It didn’t take me long to find the rest of what I needed: seasonings, silverware, and the bowls. It wasn’t long before I had Esa sitting on the counter mixing the eggs while I seasoned them with salt and pepper, then added a little milk since I noticed he didn’t have any heavy whipping cream.

Once we finished mixing those, we set them aside so I could cut up the sausage.

Esa talked the entire time. It amazed me how kids had something to say about everything, but it didn’t bother me one bit.

Who wanted to sit in a quiet kitchen? I glanced up at Esa since I had her mixing pancake mix now, and she had a bit of mix on her dress and face.

I couldn’t understand how that happened, but I wasn’t the one to judge.

I turned around and noticed a speaker on the corner of the kitchen counter.

“Oh, Esa, do you want to listen to music?” I asked with a wiggle of my hips.

She smiled widely and nodded, waving her arms around in a circle after placing the bowl to the side. I walked over to the Bluetooth speaker and turned it down because I wasn’t sure how loud he had it. Then I turned it on and connected my phone after disconnecting Desmond’s.

It didn’t take long for us to figure it out, and it wasn’t long before my classics played through the speaker. “Emotions” by Mariah Carey played, and I couldn’t help but sing along, teaching Esa the words. She was using the mixing spoon as a microphone as I cooked the sausage on the stovetop.

We danced around the kitchen when “Every Little Step” by Bobby Brown played. It was a lot of things I played about, but Bobby Brown wasn’t one of them. Esa didn’t know the greatness that was playing the swinging of her little body, which let me know she had a good ear for good music.

The clearing of someone’s throat caused me to look up, only to see Desmond standing freshly showered in front of his parents who I’d met on more than one occasion since they usually picked Esa up.

Esa and I turned to face them with smiles. I waved awkwardly because I wasn’t sure how much he told them about what we had going on. But by the look on his mother’s face, she was pleased. His father matched her expression as Esa ran past her dad to get to them.

Desmond was unfazed as he walked further into the room to get to me. He reached around me and moved the pancake I was cooking from the stove top to the other side. Then leaned down to kiss me, then whispered in my ear.

“Damn, I fucked you so good I deserved breakfast. You look damn good cooking it too. Next time, wake me up so I can help you. You deserve breakfast too, baby.”

I giggled like a schoolgirl. This man had that kind of effect on me. I might as well get used to it.

“I can tell by the way you were snoring—” I cracked.

Desmond interrupted me. “Nah, you know damn well I wasn’t snoring. I was sleeping hella’ good though.” He laughed.

“Son, you gonna introduce us?” His mother asked.

I peered around him to see her standing behind the island with his dad and Esa.

Her brow was raised with a smile. I noticed for the first time that she was the one he got his smile from.

But Desmond’s looks were passed straight down from his father.

I knew his mother was beating the women off with a stick when they were younger.

I wouldn’t doubt she had to check women now, because he was still a good-looking older man, too.

“You met her before I did,” he responded, then looked at me and winked.

I had to hold back my laughter, because I am sure he didn’t tell them we met a bit ago from a one-night stand.

“Not like this. It was formal when we met her all that time ago. Now, get to introducing before I make your father take his belt off.”

Desmond held his arms up in mock surrender with a smirk. Then he wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me in front of him.

“Yara, you’ve met them before. But my mom, Celeste, and my pops, Senior. Y’all, this is my girl, Yara,” he introduced.

My girl. It had a nice ring to it, and I’m sure the big smile I had on my face said it all. Desmond released his hold on me so I could walk around the island to hug his mom first, then his dad.

“It’s nice to see y’all again. I made enough breakfast to feed an overgrown family. Which I will replace, Desmond?—”

“You good. Don’t worry about that,” he interrupted me.

I smiled and turned back to face his parents.

“I say all that to say, I hope you’re eating with us. I’m not a chef, but I’m certain it’s good.” I told them.

“We would love to. We were on our way here to pick up our granddaughter, but it would be even better if we could get a free meal too. It’s a great day already.” I nodded.

I turned back to finish cooking, which Desmond helped me with. I thought he was kidding earlier about helping. But I found out quickly that he knew his way around a kitchen, too. It wasn’t long before we were all sitting at the dining room table, eating and talking over breakfast.

I got to know his parents a little better, and she shared every story about Desmond as a child.

It made the man before me even cuter. By the time we finished breakfast, he ushered me out of the kitchen.

According to him, since I cooked, he had to clean the dishes and the kitchen. I wasn’t going to argue with that.

So, I went upstairs after his mother excused herself to take Esa upstairs to get changed. She wanted to get her washed up and grab her packed bag. Since she would be staying the night with them over the next few days. Desmond had to go back to work today.

I went into his room and began packing up my things into my bag. When my phone vibrated against his dresser. I walked over and noticed it was one of my employees calling. Confused, I answered.

“Ms. Sinclair, is something wrong?” I asked before she could say a word.

Mrs. Mavis cleared her throat. “Well—” Before she could say a word, a number I didn’t recognize was calling in, but it looked official.

“Hold on, Mrs. Mavis,” I told her, then clicked over.

“Hello,” I answered skeptically.

“Hi, is this Yara Sinclair?” the man asked on the other end.

I almost wanted to say no, because that was how bill collectors got you. But I was all paid up so it was no way that was it.

“Yes, this is her. Is something wrong, and who is this?” I asked.

“I’m sorry to inform you, we need you to come down to Little Angel’s Academy. There has been a fire?—”

“Wait, what? How? It’s closed right now! There’s no way it should be a fire. I’m on my way.” I interrupted him.

I couldn’t think straight at that moment. I needed to get to my place of business. If I had been more focused, I would have been able to keep an eye on things. I snatched up my bag and turned to run into his strong chest. His hands clasped around my arms, stabilizing me.

“Baby, what’s wrong?” he asked.

His voice was so soft and tender, and although I wanted to lash out and snap out of fear, I couldn’t.

I just wrapped my arms around his waist and cried into his chest, soaking his fresh white t-shirt.

Desmond didn’t speak or rush my moment; he just allowed me to be.

He rubbed circles against my back, reassuring me that whatever it was would be okay.

He reached into his pocket and then placed his phone to his ear.

“I have an emergency. I’m going to be late, so I need you to fill in for me,” he told whoever was on the phone.

He didn’t even know what had taken place, but was ready to step in. The act alone only made me cry harder because I had only experienced this kind of care with Darby and my parents. But if I were honest with myself. I never allowed anyone to be more to me than an acquaintance.

Whoever was on the other end of the call must have agreed, since he clocked his phone and then placed it back into his pocket. All while still rubbing circles against my back. I finally got my bearings together to tell him what the person on the phone told me.

“Everything is going to be fine. Leave your bag and come on. You're welcome to stay another night with me if you need to. But let’s see what the damage is and then build a strategy to fix it,” he instructed.

I nodded because, for once, I didn’t have to be strong.

I could go with the flow and know things were being handled.

I took his outstretched hand and followed him down the steps.

We stopped for a moment so he could ask his parents to lock up.

He told them the bit of information we knew about the situation, then ushered me outside and into his truck.

The entire drive to Little Angel’s Academy, I was imagining the worst thing imaginable. I sent a text to my family about it, and they let me know they would be there. Desmond said nothing the entire ride. He held my hand in his right and drove with his left.

Twenty minutes later, I noticed fire trucks and police cars outside my building with smoke coming from it.

Tears tracked down my cheeks as I took in the fact that one side of the building was dark with soot.

Desmond parked outside the yellow tape and then rushed around to my side to open the door for me.

I slipped out of the truck and walked over to the waiting police officer. This couldn’t be happening, not after the morning and night I had just experienced. I found myself lost in my mind as the officer tried to speak to me. A light tap against the small of my back brought me back to reality.

I peered up at Desmond, and he kissed my forehead before reminding me that the cop was waiting.

“I’m sorry, what happened?” I asked.

“We aren’t certain until we get someone to come and check it out. But from my experience, it doesn’t seem to be any foul play, but more like an electrical fire.”

I nodded, then glanced back at my building. “Was anyone hurt?” I asked.

“No, ma’am, no one is hurt. We were able to put the fire out as quickly as possible. But I will let you know it’s not operational.”

I didn’t need him to tell me it wasn’t operational.

I could see that for myself. It didn’t appear to be the same place I built all those years ago.

His mouth seemed to still be going, but I couldn’t hear a damn thing.

The only thing present to me was the circles Desmond was rubbing against my back.

I wanted the day to start over, and for this to become a thing of the past.