The hard plastic soles of her shoes clicked angrily on the tile flooring of the corridor leading to her office and she tried to tell herself although today was already Tuesday and she hadn‘t seen or heard from Alessandro since last Thursday, she wasn‘t upset at all. It was not the reason when Derrick had met her with a cup of coffee at the doors of the hospital this morning, she‘d had to force herself to smile at the man when a week before she would have been thrilled with his attentions.
It didn‘t make sense to her. She‘d spent the last five days knowing he was in and out of the hospital visiting Dulce and the last five nights dreaming
of him. She had thought the weekend away from the hospital would have helped her but just seeing him again on Thursday had made her miss him as much as she‘d had when she'd left him initially. With Savannah working all night both Saturday and Sunday, she‘d sobbed into her pillow until the early hours of the morning uninterrupted.
How could it feel, after all this time, she was a child seeking his approval, needing his love, wanting him to choose her? He was spending time with Dulce and hadn‘t even come to see her once.
She slammed her purse onto her desk angrily. She flung herself into her chair and turned the power of her computer tower on. She grabbed a stack of forms and began sorting through them. When she came across Dulce‘s file, she had the urge to throw them across the room and scatter them like confetti in a windstorm but instead she opened the folder and began sorting through the different documents detailing the procedures and daily billed items. She grimaced at one particular item. The woman had refused to have the water the hospital provided and so had demanded some obscure water company from Europe send her water and bill the hospital
directly. She entered her password onto the screen and then pushed her palms into her eyes and gave an annoyed shriek. She hated the woman.
―I would think if you were this frustrated at the beginning of your day then perhaps you should go back home and pull the blankets over your head Alessandro‘s voice carried over the quiet of the office.
She glared at him, despising how her heart lurched at just a glance of him leaning in her doorway. ―Your protégé is a pain in the backside. I‘ve had to set up twelve new companies in our system to deal with her insane demands
―Dulce is used to having the world cater to her Alessandro shrugged and moved into the
office uninvited.
―She‘s in a teaching hospital not a five-star hotel Mackenna grimaced at her screen and ―You are not sleeping Alessandro commented quietly as he took in the dark circles under
her eyes.
―It‘s none of your concern,‖ she retorted. He said nothing as he sat into the uncomfortable chair in her utilitarian office. A lesser man would have shriveled up at the way she looked up at
him in irritation. Unfortunately for her, he was made of stronger stuff than most, ―What are you doing here?‖
―I wanted to see you From what he‘d gotten out of Dulce in the last twenty–four hours, he was lucky Mackenna hadn‘t already married someone else. When he‘d left Mackenna‘s office on Thursday he‘d simply left the hospital and returned to his hotel to think. However, when he‘d returned to see Dulce on Friday and had asked her to tell him what she had said to Mackenna. She had denied saying anything. It was only Sunday morning when he‘d finally gotten her alone without her mother and sister hovering around and the nurse‘s completing paperwork and he‘d made it clear he was done messing around she confessed she‘d told Mackenna they‘d slept together but she‘d told him she‘d said it jokingly and Mackenna had laughed with her. Then yesterday she‘d spilled the truth. She'd not only told Mackenna they‘d slept together but she had elaborated on the stories with such flair it was near impossible to
believe Mackenna hadn‘t left him long before she‘d had. If he‘d been in her shoes, he‘d have
burned the world down for his apparent infidelities, especially since he‘d always mocked her for her accusations thinking her merely jealous. He‘d left Dulce‘s room so incensed at her betrayal of their friendship he knew he had to leave before he did something which would have cost his company millions.
―Well have you seen enough, or shall I strike a pose for you?‖ She asked sarcastically.
He knew now the cold hard way she was dealing with him was simply the way she was reacting to the pain of his infidelity. ―Mackenna, I'd like for us to have dinner
―No She didn‘t even bother to glance in his direction as she began entering the information for the new billing. She groaned and lifted the
receiver on the first ring of her telephone. ―Mac Keebler She answered the question from an insurance company about another patient and she noticed Alessandro simply waited patiently for her to finish her call.
―I truly do not like your name shortened Alessandro pushed his fingers into his hair. ― Mackenna is a lovely name
―I agree. I was named after my paternal grandfather who was a lovely man, and I love my name. However, nobody here knows who is on the telephone if I introduce myself as
―No, actually you do not. You could come home and everything you need would be provided for you and you could stay home and take care of our children
―Or you could get it through your thick skull hell will freeze over before I return to living as your dirty hidden secret when you flaunt your bimbo all over the world
―A dirty secret?‖ He asked incredulously. ―Is this what you think?‖
―Alessandro, I gave up years ago trying to figure out what you think and now I no longer care She paused, ―unless you finally are thinking I'm right and the best thing for me is for you to sign my divorce papers and give me my freedom She saw his look of disgust and shrugged. ―Can‘t blame a girl for dreaming
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