Page 57 of Animal's Reformation
Chapter Fourteen
Inside the employees’lunch room, Olivia stood patting Ivy’s hand, feeling helpless by the sorrow confronting her friend. Tears streamed down Ivy’s face. Her shoulders shook.
“I was such a stupid fool,” she said, her voice quivering.
“Shh,” Olivia whispered. “It’s not your fault. Kennedy and I didn’t know either … It’ll be okay, Ivy,” Olivia said, brushing her friend’s bangs away from her face. “It’s just going to take some time … heartaches always do,” she soothed, although her stomach churned at the words.
“I know,” Ivy stammered as she patted her eyes with a tissue. “I just can’t believe he lied to me. I’d never have gone out with a married man.” She sniffled.
“I know that. Brady is a total jerk. He’s an asshole at school too. What he did was despicable.”
Tears welled in Ivy’s eyes again, and she threw her arms around Olivia’s neck. Olivia patted her back, anger burning through her. Brady Sickles was lower than scum, and he’d hurt Ivy very much. When Ivy had come back from lunch sobbing, Olivia couldn’t imagine what had happened. She grabbed her friend’s hand and took her back to the lunchroom, then listened in disgusted disbelief as Ivy recounted how she’d bumped into Brady in the drugstore. He’d seemed super nervous and kept trying to get away from her until a woman appeared with two boys in tow. The woman stared at Ivy, who stared at Brady, and when the jerk introduced the woman as his wife and the boys as his kids, Ivy had rushed out of the store. Olivia couldn’t even imagine how humiliated Ivy must’ve felt, but then the image of Kory banging the butterfly-tatted woman flashed into her mind. Yeah … that was pretty bad, but Olivia didn’t love Kory the way Ivy loved Brady. Ivy was really suffering right now.
“How did I miss the signs?” Ivy asked.
“When you’re in love, the signs aren’t as obvious.” Olivia broke away and pulled a chair out for Ivy, who sank down into it. “If something bugs us, we ignore it or rationalize it away, because being in love feels so good.”
Ivy nodded as she wiped her nose repeatedly. “I love him so much it hurts. He was weird with the sex stuff, but if I told him to stop, he would; outside of that, he was wonderful. I still can’t believe it.”
“Men can be real liars,” Olivia muttered. “I’m an expert in lying men. I never seem to get one who doesn’t hide shit from me.” Animal popped into her head.He’s probably the biggest liar of all. Dad sure was and all of the guys from his club just cheated and denied it to their wives and girlfriends.Then the way Animal’s eyes lit up when he heard Lucy read after a couple of weeks of tutoring seeped into her mind.A man who loves his daughter that much can’t be all bad, can he?
“Isn’t your lunch break over?” Dr. Canty asked.
Olivia looked over at the doorway and saw the dentist standing there, arms crossed and face taut. Most of the employees at the dental clinic avoided Dr. Canty because he always went out of his way to criticize or find fault in whatever any of the staff was doing.
“Ivy’s upset about something, and I was just helping her out with it,” Olivia said, her chin lifted up in defiance. Dr. Canty just rubbed her the wrong way, and she refused to be intimidated by him or rendered into a quivering nervous wreck. He had that effect on Ivy as well as the two dental hygienists, Polly and Meg. The clinic’s administrator, Lisa, didn’t seem to let anything fluster her.
Dr. Canty narrowed his eyes. “This isn’t a counseling clinic. Dr. Linney needs you to help out, Ivy, and it isn’t fair to the patients to keep them waiting. You and Olivia can talk after work hours.”
Ivy wiped her face with her hands, rose up from the chair, and smoothed down her multi-colored tunic. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled as she rushed out of the room.
Olivia turned away and pushed her chair out.
“I’m disappointed in you, Olivia. You should know better.”
She stood and threw the dentist a hard smile. “I was helping a friend. I’m sure Dr. LinneyandDr. Mitchell would understand.” Satisfaction wove through her when she saw the dentist’s face pale momentarily upon mentioning the partners’ names.
Recovering quickly, Dr. Canty met her gaze head-on. “I’m not saying Idon’tunderstand, but the patients always come first, and I know Dr. Linney and Dr. Mitchell would agree with me 100 percent. Now, don’t you have some work to do?”
Biting back a snide comment to the dentist’s condescending demeanor, Olivia walked across the room. The dentist stood in the doorway and she looked up at him.
“Excuse me,” she said. He didn’t budge. “You’re blocking the doorway.”
“Am I?” Sarcasm dripped from each word.
“Yes. Do you want me to go back to the front desk or not?”
“I’m not stopping you.” He moved to the side, but not out of the doorway. “Ladies first.” He gestured for her to pass.
Sucking in a sharp breath, Olivia squeezed by him and refused to acknowledge the shit-eating grin on his face. There was something about him that gave her the heebie-jeebies, and the less contact she had with him the better. Ignoring his chuckles, she hurried down the hall and slipped into the swivel chair behind the front desk.
The next few hours flew by, and she didn’t see Dr. Canty for the rest of the afternoon. She’d sent a quick text to Ivy, asking if she wanted to go out for dinner after work, and to her relief, Ivy agreed.
“Did you call Dr. Werner’s office for Mrs. Losa’s x-rays?” Dr. Linney asked as he stood beside her, a folder in his hands.
“I did. Her receptionist said that Dr. Werner sent them by courier this morning. As of yet, we haven’t received them.”
His forehead crinkled. “If we don’t get them by the end of the day, I’ll call Amy in the morning.” The dentist shifted in place and seemed a bit nervous. “Uh”—he looked around the room—“is something wrong with Ivy?”
