Dirty, Dirty Liars [Mature/Editing]

[35] 三十五

Ori's stare lasted a moment too long. "I had, uh . . ."

"Got stuck in surgery, I assume," Dulce finished for him.

"Y-yes. Exactly."

"Saving lives is time-consuming," the coordinator teased him. The women were too caught in their familiar conversation to notice our looks of shock.

He sat at the end of the table and snuck me another look. It didn't take much for me to read the shock he tried to hide from his expression. I had the same question for him.

"I was introducing everyone to Yasmina," Dulce grabbed his attention and made my adrenaline rush at the same time. "She's our team's favorite member, here on a traveling contract. But . . . Since we have an opening for a charge nurse, I thought I'd toss her name in the hat."

Charge nurse? A permanent position and a promotion, but with the added twist of a friend from my past life. My mind raced with what that could mean, whether it was something I would need to tell my handler.

With my resume in their hands, and a quick overview and summary, the staffing coordinator spoke up. "Honestly, we can ask you more questions, but it's clear you're a perfect fit. You have six requests for your hire from the staff. We're more likely to face an uprising if we don't bring you on."

"Agreed."

"Yes, agreed," Ori said, still a hint of shock widening his eyes.

"Well, unofficially, I'll say welcome aboard!" Dulce looked happy. "We'll be in contact with your company and iron out the details of your contract. You'll let us know after considering our offer?"

"Yes," I agreed. "Absolutely. Thank you so much."

We left the room together. The women fell back into their conversation while walking with me up the hall. I glanced over my shoulder and caught Ori gesturing for me to follow him around the corner. I left the group as inconspicuously as possible. When I was out of view, he grabbed my arm and pulled me into an empty patient room, closing the door behind us.

He leaned his back against it, that bright Ori smile splitting his face. "What are you doing here?"

"Um . . . I work here now."

"You didn't think to mention you were in the UK?" He was happy to see me, and I was scared shitless. For the most part.

"I thought you were from London."

"Yes, and you met me in Japan. I could be anywhere. You should have called me!" His joy glowed from him like a warm aura. "I can't believe you're here."

"Same. You have a funny way of showing up unexpectedly in my life."

His smile gained the edge of laughter. "I could say the same about you."

He pulled me into a tight hug. I went stiff for a moment, then melted into his embrace. It had been a long time since I was comfortable in someone's arms. A long time since I had been in someone's arms at all.

"I'm so happy to see you. I've missed you," he said into my shoulder.

"I've missed you, too."

He pulled away suddenly. "What's wrong?" Only then did I realize I was crying.

I wasn't sure why I cried at first. It was a mix of relief from having a friend back again, mixed with the pain of remembering Tokyo and what led me to meet Ori in the first place. Flashes of the times I cried myself to sleep when Ryuzo broke things off, how so much would have been avoided had I just accepted that we shouldn't have been together.