Wash (19 page)

A
millisecond later, the office door opened and in rushed a tiny,
petite lady. Her silver hair in a messy bun held a pair of reading
classes stuck on the top of her head. “Doctor Parker, Doctor
Mallone is trying to get a hold of you. He needs you in emerg right
away.” She turned, almost floating like a little fairy. “Ms.
Thompson, let’s go.” She disappeared out the door, her little shoes
tapping down the hall.

It felt
like being in third grade all over again. Charity raised her
eyebrows but wasn’t about to disobey Amanda. As she took a step
toward the door, a smooth hand touched her elbow.

“
She’s harmless,” Malcolm whispered, his warm breath tickling
her ear, “but I’ve never crossed her.” He chuckled as he let go of
her. “Good luck.”

Charity mouthed a sarcastic
Thank-you
and hurried out the door. She could feel
Malcolm’s breath cooling on her skin as her long strides slowly
caught up to Amanda.

“
I had a two-sided desk set up in your office. I also had them
set up a bookcase, but didn’t know what else you would need.”
Amanda’s words punched out with each tap of her shoes. She stopped
in front of a frosted glass door and pulled a key out of her
pocket. “This is yours.” She handed to key to Charity. “I’m glad
you’ve come. Welcome to Forever Hope. Just let me know if you need
anything else.” She stood waiting.

“
Thanks.” Charity realized the woman wanted her to open the
door so she hurriedly put the key into the lock and turned it. She
pushed the door open and grinned when she stepped
inside.

“
Will it work?” Amanda asked.

The office was actually two rooms, kind of like a waiting
room and then an archway that showed a glimpse of a large, light
wood stained two-sided desk. The walls were completely bare except
for a fresh coat of pale yellow paint.
Bright without feeling like a
hospital
. It
gave her an idea. “It’s going to be perfect!”

“
Lovely. I’m down the hall if you need me.” Amanda disappeared
out the door.

Charity set her briefcase against the wall by the door and
pressed her lips together. She’d done six large-figure
multi-million dollar fundraisers but never had an office like
this.
Two
rooms!

Racing
through the brightly painted white arch, she surveyed the second
room. It was a bit smaller than the first room, but both had large
window panels to look over the city. Day or night, the view was
probably amazing. The two-sided desk had a brand new computer still
in its box sitting on the far side, along with a phone already set
up. The leather chair behind seemed to beg her to try it out. Well,
she couldn’t disappoint it.

The soft leather felt perfect under her. She tested out the
wheels and tried sliding from one side of the desk to the other. No
problem. She slipped her heels off and felt the wood floor against
her bare feet. It made her want to dance.
Focus, Charity.

She
pushed her chair away from the desk and went back to the first room
to look around. The bright, empty room would make a perfect
conference room. Give it a laid back, homey atmosphere and possibly
donors would relax the minute they stepped in. She pulled her
Blackberry out of the short-sleeved red jacket that went with her
black dress.

Maybe a
loveseat, definitely a round table, four comfortable chairs, two
ottomans, plant, fridge, cabinet to hold glasses, wine
rack.

She
glanced around. There were three walls to work with since she
didn’t want to put anything but a low table near the windows. If
she painted the one wall with chalk paint, that would be a perfect
note-board and would also work as a projector screen for
presentations.

A
buzzing in her hand caught her attention. She had a call. Quickly
saving the shopping list, she then switched screens to check the
caller ID. She almost dropped the phone when she saw the
number.

Chapter 2

“
Dad!” Her father never rang unless there was an emergency. “Is
everything all right?”

“
Hullo?” The voice that answered wasn’t her father’s. It was
husky, with a clear accent.

It took
her by surprise and sent a shiver down her spine at the same
time.

“
I’m sorry, is this Charity?”

She
scratched her head, trying to recognize the caller. Australian
accent? Or New Zealand? “Where’s my father?”

“
I’m not too sure, actually.” The stranger chuckled. “I was
just in a meeting with him an’ he said he needed to call you.
Suddenly he tosses me the phone and rushes off to some code three
over the intercom.” A slight grating noise echoed through the phone
like the stranger was rubbing a five o’clock shadow. “I’m sorry. I
don’t even know what he wanted to tell you.”

“
That’s okay. He does have a habit of rushing off to save the
day. Who is this, by the way?”

“
I’m Elijah.”

“
Hi Elijah, I’m Charity.” She shook her head. Was she honestly
flirting with some stranger over the phone? Her father’s phone on
top of it. She really needed to get out more.

“
It’s a pleasure to meet you.” He chuckled. “Well, over the
phone anyway.”

She
smiled. “Not to make you the messenger, but you can let my dad know
I’ve arrived and he can call me when he has a free
moment.”

“
Arrived?”

She
absently waved her hand in the air and walked around the room
surveying what she needed to do first. Hardware store, the
furniture store. “I just started a new contract down here in
Atlanta.”

“
A little warmer than New York at the moment.”

“
Definitely.”

Muffled
voices carried over the phone. “I apologize again,” Elijah said,
“but Dr. Thompson needs me.”

“
No problem. Have a great afternoon.”

“
You too.”

Charity
slipped her phone into her jacket pocket and grabbed her briefcase.
She wondered what Elijah looked like. That sexy accent surely
belonged to a good looking guy. She rolled her eyes. The guy was
over a thousand miles away and she had a new job with a lot of work
to do.

Speaking of work.
She needed to get a list of past donators, skim
through the local papers to find the elite social class. The first
group would be women. Doctors’ wives and local celebrities. She
already had connections to a couple of popular bands that would do
charity concerts for her. It was simply a matter of getting dates
and plans to coincide.

She
headed out of the office and back down the hall to Amanda’s
office.

Amanda
sat behind her computer, reading glasses on the bridge of her nose.
She smiled at Charity. “What do you need, sweetie?”

Charity
dropped into the chair in front of Amanda’s desk. “I need lists.
People who have donated to the hospital, anyone big named or
wealthy who have been here. Even those who wished to remain
discreet. I’ll contact them on the down-low but I need names.” She
went through her mental list of things she wouldn’t have access to
find. “Has the board made blueprints or hired architecture to
design the new wing Malcolm wants to add?”

Amanda
shook her head. “I don’t believe they have.” Her hand slid her
computer mouse around and she clicked it a bunch of times. Pages
started printing out of the massive computer behind her. “Dr.
Parker started collecting data when he was pretty sure you would
agree to help us out.”

The
printer continued printing out page after page after page. That was
a good sign. More meant a lot of options and possibilities. “Has
Malc—Dr. Parker or any other doctor worked on athletes as well?
Anyone from the Braves, or Hawks or the Falcons?”

“
I’m sure there are quite a few.”

“
Does every doctor have a seat on the board?”

Amanda
shook her head. “I don’t believe so.”

Her
father was a stickler for every person having their say. He was
adamant about all doctors meeting at least twice a year to discuss
hospital issues. His hospital would be a success and never be in
need of someone like her. It made her very proud of him.

“
We’ll need to set up a meeting with everyone.” She ignored the
slightly annoyed look on Amanda’s face. Charity had two years to
turn this place into a success story and she needed everyone
willing to work with her. She knew what needed to be done and it
was never easy at first, but that would change. “How about you send
me everyone’s email address?”

“
You can’t get everyone to meet at the same time. The hospital
would have to close for the day.”

Charity
smiled. She knew better than to argue. “You’re right. I’ll have to
come up with something that works for everyone.” She stood and
checked her watch. “I’ve got errands to run for my office that I
want to do tomorrow, and my stuff is supposed to be delivered to my
apartment sometime after five today. Gotta jet.”

Amanda
scooted her chair back and grabbed the massive stack of printed
paper. “Do you want me to bind these for you?”

“
That would be awesome. I’ll start going through them tomorrow
then.”

“
Good luck.”

“
Thanks. I think I’m going to need it.”

“
And Charity?” Amanda set her glasses on the top of her
head.

“
Yes?”

“
I’m glad you here.”

Amanda
was full of surprises. Charity grinned. “Me, too.”

Chapter 3

Trying
to balance her groceries and case of water in one hand, Charity
slipped the key into her apartment door with the other. She had met
the moving company earlier. It hadn’t taken long to unpack, and all
that was left were five clothing suitcases in her bedroom. She then
ran out to grab food for dinner and breakfast in the
morning.

She
kicked the door shut with her foot and glanced around. It was a
studio apartment with a double sized living room, which opened to a
modern kitchen. Light grey stained wood covered the floors and the
two rooms were painted a soft white.

Very
bright. And very empty.

That had
been done on purpose. A leather antique psychologist couch was set
against the far wall, mirrors covered another wall, and a high tech
stereo system took up most of the space on the last wall. The only
remaining wall had windows and a door to a simple
balcony.

Charity
slipped off her shoes and padded on bare feet to the kitchen. She
set the case of water down on the breakfast bar and quickly put
away the groceries. Before putting the water under the table, she
grabbed the remote beside the case and turned the stereo on. The
tall speakers came to life and Charity reached for a bottle from
the case. As she strolled to her bedroom, her fingers tapped the
music’s beat against the plastic water container. By the time she
reached her room, she was full-out dancing.

She
changed into tights and a sport top, then headed back to the living
room. She had been dancing since she was six. Her mom had
encouraged her to try every form of dance and she loved them all.
Somehow, all the different types of dancing had rolled into her own
artistic interpretation and she was phenomenal at it, but very few
people knew. It came in handy during the galas and dinners if
someone asked her to dance and she could surprise
guests.

Dancing
was her workout, her stress reducer, her fun time and her down
time.

An hour
and a shower later, she started cooking dinner. Munching on a
carrot, the little red light flashing on the phone caught her
attention. She flipped her screen on and saw several emails from
Amanda with attachments, an email confirming the paint and
furniture for her office would be delivered in the morning, and her
father had called about ten minutes prior.

He
hadn’t left a message so she pressed the button to call him,
putting him on speaker so she could continue cutting
vegetables.

“
Dr. Thompson.”

“
Dad, it’s me.” Charity tried not to roll her eyes. He had
caller ID so he knew it was her.

“
Charity. How can I help you?”

She
shook her head. “You phoned me earlier and tried again a bit ago. I
was in the shower and just saw the missed call. I assume you wanted
to talk to me.” No ‘how are you doing?’ or ‘how’s
Atlanta?’.

“
Oh yes. I did. I was going to have my secretary call but I
knew you’d say no if she asked.”

Charity
set the knife down. She didn’t want to stab her phone. “Nice, Dad.
I really appreciate you starting a phone conversation on the
negative. Why don’t you just ask me what you need and I’ll let you
know what I think?”

“
Fine. I’m turning sixty-five next year.” He paused.

“
I know.” A strange thought crossed her mind. She never assumed
he would, but what if… “Are you retiring?”

“
Hell no! I’m more than competent as a doctor, probably still
better than most of the doctors I know.”