The waiting is what was going to be hard for me. I needed something to do that would help pass the time. Also, being alone in a big house wasn’t ideal either. It was just more reason to get anxious about how Zaden knew about my elementary school as I left the bedroom and headed to the stairs. But I wasn’t alone long as a middle-aged woman came walking into the kitchen carrying four bags full of groceries.

Her eyes landed on me with a little bit of surprise, but then instantly went into a big smile, “Ms. O’Day. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

Quickly, I went down the stairs, and walked up to the woman, “You’ve heard about me? From the papers, right?”

Realizing her mistake, the woman quickly walked into the kitchen, but I wasn’t going to let her off easily as I followed close behind her. The woman placed her bags on the counter and began taking things out. Pretending that she was too busy to notice me. But I wasn’t having any of that.

Standing in front of her, I asked, “Where did you hear about me?”

The woman looked nervous as she scanned the room looking for a way out of this conversation. But admitting defeat, she let out a heavy sigh, “Mr. Keaton informed me of your arrival. He even made sure I knew all of her allergies and food restrictions. That’s all.”

She then continued putting things away, but I knew that she was holding back. She was still nervous with me in the same room as her. I was ready to ask her more questions when the front door opened and footsteps were heard coming towards the kitchen.

As if she was on fire, the woman ran towards the footsteps, “Mr. Keaton, can I have a word with you for a minute?”

Staying where I was, I could hear the hushed murmur of their voices on the other side of the doorway. The woman was probably letting Zaden know that she had made a mistake and wasn’t sure how to fix it. Asking her boss for some guidance. Eventually, the voices stopped and the sound of the front door opening and closing informed that someone had left.

Zaden walked into the kitchen and went to the counter full of groceries and started putting them away. Confused, I asked, “Where did the woman go?”

“I gave Gloria the day off. I’m not going back to work today and don’t need anyone to prepare meals for me for the next few days,” he answered, “Also she was a little nervous meeting you and didn’t want to make any further mistakes.”

“Like saying that she has heard so much about me,” I pointed out, making Zaden sigh.

Zaden then finished up putting things away and then turned all of his attention on me. He looked tired. It was as if he didn’t sleep a wink at all last night either. Maybe writing the name of that school had him regretting his decision. Or, was he just scared that I would find out that he wasn’t what he portrayed himself to be. But my mother did say that he had a past that he didn’t want to think about and maybe mention that school brought up unwanted memories. Just the numerous thoughts running through my head had made me realize that I knew nothing about this man other than that he was a surgeon at a hospital.

“You should get dressed,” he told me all of a sudden. Making me confused, “The nurses at the hospital want to meet the future Mrs. Keaton. Who knows, maybe they will tell you some gossip about me. They like to do that sometimes.”

Not wanting to miss out on this opportunity, I quickly went back to the bedroom and got ready for the day. But I made sure to dress pretty casually so that I didn’t attract any attention. So light blue faded jeans with a simple black long sleeve shirt was my outfit choice, along with a messy bun to hold my hair up. The only makeup I put on was some eyeshadow and eyeliner, and I was happy with my plain look to the point that I skipped down the stairs to meet Zaden at the front door to leave.

We had arrived at the hospital and Zaden parked in a parking spot that had his name on a sign. It impressed me that he had his own parking spot as we got out of the car. To keep up with appearances, he grabbed my hand and held it as we walked to the hospital. He even handed me a face mask to wear with his free hand.

“The mask requirement has never been such a welcome friend in my life until now.” I mentioned as I let go of his hand long enough to put the mask on. He did the same as we entered the building.

The moment we were inside, all the staff started to greet and talk to Zaden with smiling eyes. Zaden was even nice enough to introduce me to some of his co-workers when they asked. With all of the small talk and greeting, it felt like forever before we got to the elevator.

I watched Zaden push buttons with purpose as we entered the elevator. He even got some stares from patients and nurses as they giggled in the corner of the elevator. But he didn’t pay much attention to them as he turned to me, “Does it feel nice to get out of the house?”

Nodding my head as an answer, the doors opened and he led me off and towards what I assumed was his office. But we stopped short at a desk full of nurses who were either talking or reading charts.

“I brought you the fresh meat,” Zaden joked as he leaned against the desk. All eyes instantly went on me.

One nurse even turned to the another nurse and held out her hand, “You owe me twenty bucks.”

The nurse rolled her eyes as she handed over the money. The nurse closest to us stood up and came walking around the desk. Looking me up and down as if she was inspecting if I was worthy of the doctor or not. Then leaned in as she motioned to have me remove my mask a little so she could see my face.

I followed suit and suddenly the desk area was filled with gasps of shock. Looking around, the nurses all had looks on their faces as if they were completely starstruck. It made me quickly put my mask back on and hide behind Zaden. Which only had him pull me back out into view as he let out a chuckle.

“This is why I didn’t want to bring her in the first place,” he mentioned to the nurses. A few of them instantly apologized. Suddenly, a call light went off and Zaden grabbed the chart. Before he left, he pointed at all of the nurses, “Be nice.”

But once he was gone, two of them approached me and instantly began to fangirl over my latest movie. I thanked them for their kindness and support, feeling a little overwhelmed. Part of me hoped that Zaden would return soon so he could save me from this uncomfortable situation.