The Truth

  The Truth

  By: Erica Lee

  Copyright © 2019 By Erica Lee

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without prior written permission by the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

  Part I: Carly Foster

  Chapter 1

  “Cheers to another mistake,” I quipped, while lifting my wine glass toward my best friend.

  She laughed and rolled her eyes at me. I took her in as our glasses clinked together. Calling Samantha Phillips my best friend didn’t even begin to cover it. She was my confidante, my shoulder to cry on, and the closest thing I had to family. She was also gorgeous. Her long black hair was the perfect complement to her creamy skin and dark eyes. We also complemented each other well since my bleached blonde hair, blue eyes, and tan skin were in such stark contrast to her looks. Our opposite personalities meshed well too. I was social and a bit on the crazier side, while she was the more reserved of the two of us.

  Samantha smiled and tilted her head at me. “What’s going on inside that head of yours?”

  I sighed. “Just thinking about how lucky I am to have you. Why won’t you just date me?”

  Samantha’s face turned red, and she immediately looked down at the table, clearly uncomfortable with my joke. “Oh. I… Well…”

  I laughed at her awkwardness. She was way too serious sometimes. “Calm down, Sam. I know I’m not your type. I get it. You’re into more serious girls who actually have their lives together. You like the lawyer or banker types—the girls that pull their hair up into buns that are as uptight as their personalities. I just can’t compete with that.”

  The redness slowly left her face as she started to laugh along with me. “That is not my type. I just happened to date one or two girls like that.”

  “Yeah, and those are probably the only girls you’ve dated in the twelve years I’ve known you.”

  She scoffed. “That is so not true! I’ve gone on a few dates over the years. I’ve just been busy.”

  “I know. I know. Busy becoming a big, bad eye doctor. Now that you’ve graduated, I get free contacts, right?”

  Samantha rolled her eyes at me. “You’ll be lucky if I even let you buy contacts from me. I see the way you take care of them and it’s disgusting.”

  “I’ll just ask your dad,” I said smugly. “He loves me and would give me anything I’d ask for.”

  It was true. Both of Samantha’s parents adored me. After my own parents had a less-than-stellar reaction to my coming out right before our high school graduation, they had taken me under their wings. They’d even let me live with them the summer before we went off to college and during breaks.

  “Speaking of jobs,” Samantha began, while lifting an eyebrow at me.

  I knew that eyebrow. That was her lecture eyebrow.

  “What have you been doing for work these days?”

  I put on my half smile that I knew Samantha couldn’t resist. “Oh, you know. I’ve just been doing random gigs. I’ve done a lot of promotional stuff, mostly over social media.”

  Samantha sighed at my answer.

  “What?” I groaned in response.

  “I just don’t think you’re living up to your potential. I know you’re not really the nine-to-five type, but in high school you used to always talk about how you wanted to make a difference in this world. You have a huge heart and I think you should use it for more. Also… We have a part-time tech position open at my dad’s… err… I mean, me and my dad’s practice. It’s yours if you want it.”

  I raised a doubtful eyebrow at her. “So, you think me saying ‘one or two’ all day is really me living up to my potential?” With that comment, I received a slap on the shoulder.

  “Um, excuse me. Saying ‘one or two’ is my job and I went to school for eight years for that, thank you very much. Your job would be to ask patients about their medical history and any issues they’re having. And I’m not asking you to do it because I believe it’s going to be your career forever. I’m just trying to help you make some extra money while you try to get your social media stuff to take off. It’s not cheap living in the suburbs of Philly. Also… our tech quit today and you’re the only person I know who would be available to start on Monday. Will you do it for me?”

  “Fine,” I answered flatly. When she asked me that way, I knew I couldn’t refuse. I owed Samantha a lifetime of favors. “But now can we get back to talking about something more important—my disaster of a love life?”

  “Having things end with Ronda is not a disaster,” Samantha pointed out. “She was awful. She might have been one of your worst, which is saying a lot. She practically moved in to your apartment just two weeks after you started dating, and she contributed nothing. I can’t believe it took you catching her with your maintenance man to actually break up with her.”

  “Hey! At least she didn’t try to steal my identity like Alice,” I said, laughing.

  “Or drunkenly fall asleep in the bathtub every night.”

  “Katrina was fun.”

  “Oh yeah, she was the life of the party until she tried to sue you because she slipped on the Mr. Bubble in your tub and sprained her ankle.”

  I burst out laughing, thinking about that time in my life just two years earlier. “The best part is that the Mr. Bubble belonged to her.” I wiped the tears that had formed in my eyes from laughing, then added, “I owe her a lot though. My blog took off after I posted that story.”

  Samantha cringed. “Ah, the infamous blog. Some people make mistakes. I date them.”

  “Alright. Alright. I think I’ve had enough fun for one night. What do you say we take a shot of tequila then head out of here? Are you staying at my place tonight?”

  Samantha nodded. “As long as you don’t mind. I hate going back to my parents’ house after I’ve been drinking. Even if I’m not drunk, they still find it necessary to lecture me. Can we skip the tequila shots though?”

  I put my hand on my chest, acting insulted by her suggestion. “Absolutely not. It’s a tradition.”

  Before she could protest, I ran to the bar and grabbed the two shots, before bringing them back to our table. “To my soulmate. The only person who has never let me down.”

  “Soulmates,” Samantha repeated, before downing the shot and making her usual disgusted face. “Let’s get out of here.”

  Chapter 2

  When Monday rolled around, I made sure to get up extra early so I could make it to my first day of work on time. I might not have taken life too seriously, but I was always responsible with my commitments, especially ones I made to the Phillips family. I pulled into the big business center that was filled with a mixture of stores, medical practices, and restaurants and went straight to the small building on the corner marked “Phillips Family Eyecare.” I took a deep breath before getting out of my car. It had been about a year since I left my last conventional job which was waitressing at a diner outside of town. I had yet to utilize the psychology degree I graduated with, but to be honest, at twenty-seven, I still wasn’t exactly sure what I wanted to do with my life. My goal was to become some sort of “social media influencer,” but I hadn’t quite figured out what that meant. That phrase got thrown around so much these days, it had almost become another word for unemployed. For now though, I was going to be the best damn tech the Phillips family ever had.

  As soon as I walked in, I was greeted by Mrs. Phillips, who was working at the front desk. “Oh honey! It’s so great to see you,” she squealed, as she ran around to the lobby so she could pull me into a hug.
“You don’t come around enough anymore. We miss you!”

  I decided to just smile in response rather than to point out that I had just been at their house for dinner a week prior. Normally, I ate dinner with the Phillips family at least once a week. I didn’t mind her overbearing personality though. It made me feel like I had a motherly figure in my life who actually cared about me.

  I looked around the office, unsure what I was supposed to do next. Mrs. Phillips read the look on my face and grabbed ahold of my arm. “I know you’ve been here plenty of times, but let me give you the official tour. We still have a half-hour until the first patient is scheduled, so we have some time.” I followed her into a room filled with glasses. There was a woman that I somewhat recognized busy rearranging the frames.

  “Janet!” Mrs. Phillips called to her and the woman who looked to be in her late 30s turned around. “This is Carly Foster. I think you two may have met in passing a few times. She is going to be our part-time tech.”

  Janet smiled and reached out a hand to me, which I graciously accepted. “Janet James. I think we may have met at your joint college graduation party.”

  “Oh yeah. I think I remember that,” I lied. Between the four members of the Phillips family, they had too many friends and colleagues to keep track of everyone.

  She laughed. “It’s okay if you don’t. We’ll get to know each other a lot better now. I’m the optician, or as the kids call me, the glasses lady, so I’ll be back here most of the day helping to pick out, fit, and adjust frames.”

  I smiled at her, then followed Mrs. Phillips into the next room, which looked like a smaller version of an exam room but without most of the fancy equipment.

  “This is where you will be spending most of your day,” Mrs. Phillips explained. “Everything is pretty straight forward. We’ll just have to teach you how to use some of the machines and what kind of questions you need to ask the patients to prepare them for their exam. Don’t worry though. Donald is off today, so Samantha is the only doctor. You’re just going to shadow her all day to get an idea of what you’ll be doing. Not too bad, right?”

  I tried to hide my discomfort as I smiled at Mrs. Phillips. This was way outside of my comfort zone. I was going to be fine socializing with patients, but trying to act professional was going to be a stretch, and the thought of learning how to use the few small computer-like machines sitting in the room was intimidating.

  My thoughts were distracted by the sound of someone entering through the back door of the practice. I felt relieved when I saw Samantha peek her head into the room. She looked me up and down and giggled lightly. “Gee, Car, you look like someone just told you that you’re about to serve a life sentence. Come on. It’s not that bad here.”

  Mrs. Phillips’ eyes went wide at Samantha’s revelation. “Oh dear. I didn’t mean to scare you. I didn’t, did I?”

  I smiled over at her and squeezed her hand. “Absolutely not. I’m good.”

  Samantha laughed again. “She’s totally not. I can tell when she’s lying. Every time she lies, she does this weird thing where her eyes flick up before focusing on you.”

  I turned and stuck my tongue out at her. “Did they teach you that at eye doctor school?”

  “No. I actually learned it at the being-your-best-friend school. That school is much harder and a lot less rewarding.”

  I rolled my eyes in response to her awful attempt at humor. “You know, I would be really offended right now if that wasn’t such a lame joke.”

  “You love me and my lame jokes,” Samantha shouted at me as she walked out of the room.

  She was right about that.

  My first morning of work went by without a hitch. Of course, it was easy for me since all I had to do was watch Samantha do everything. She even had me come into the exams with her so I had an idea of why I was doing certain tests and asking specific questions. It was fascinating watching her work. She was so good with her patients that it made me feel all warm and fuzzy watching her interact with them. I felt proud to be her best friend.

  When lunch time rolled around, I tried to convince Samantha to come with me to get food, but she insisted on staying back to eat so she could get paperwork done.

  As I left the building, I looked down at my phone to rub it in to Samantha that I was going to find the best food there was and she would be missing out. I was brought to an abrupt stop when I accidentally ran into someone walking toward me on the sidewalk. When I looked up to apologize, my mind went blank. I was staring into the eyes of one of the most beautiful women I had ever seen. She had black hair that was cut into a bob that accentuated her amazing facial features. Her eyes were dark. Not as dark as Samantha’s, but she did something with her eye shadow that really made them pop. She was wearing scrubs, but it was still easy to see that she was in great shape.

  I became embarrassed when I realized I was just staring at her like an idiot. Say something, stupid! “I’m…” I cleared my throat. “I’m sorry about that. I wasn’t paying attention.”

  A sly grin spread across the face of the woman standing in front of me. “A pretty girl like you can bump into me anytime you want.” She batted her eyelashes as she said it and it set my body on fire from head to toe.

  To my surprise, she suddenly burst into laughter and shook her head at herself. “Sorry. That was really lame.”

  I smiled back at her. “You’re right. It was pretty lame. But lucky for you, I like lame.”

  A slight blush spread across the woman’s cheeks and the sight of it sent my body into another frenzy.

  “At the risk of sounding super forward, I was just about to check out the new cafe at the end of the complex. I hear their sandwiches are to die for and I could really use a caffeine fix. Would you like to join me?” The words of the other woman surprised me, but I knew there was no way I could refuse.

  As we walked to the cafe, I learned that her name was Diana Cox, she was thirty-two years old, and she worked as a nurse at the hospital just around the corner.

  As we sat down with our sandwiches and coffee, Diana smiled across the table at me and I noticed she also had killer dimples. “So, what do you do for a living?” she asked.

  I cringed at the question. This was normally the point when the pretty girls who actually had their lives together would lose interest. Hence how I always ended up with the crazies.

  “I kind of dabble in a few things,” I admitted vaguely.

  “Oh yeah?” Diana raised an eyebrow at me. “And what are you dabbling in right now?”

  “Well, as of today, I am working part-time as a tech at Phillips Family Eyecare. That’s more so a favor for my bestie though. She just graduated from optometry school a few months ago and now owns the practice with her dad. They needed to hire someone quickly so I stepped up.”

  Diana let out a low whistle. “Impressive.”

  “Yeah, I know. She’s like wicked smart and super driven. I guess you could say we’re kind of opposites in that way,” I confessed.

  Diana looked surprised at my response. “Oh, I mean, yes, it is impressive to get your doctorate, but I was actually talking about you. I’m impressed by how quickly you would step up to help a friend.”

  I shrugged my shoulders. “She’s more than a friend to me. She and her family have done a lot for me. I guess you could say that I don’t have the best relationship with my parents ever since coming out, and her family has kind of taken over that role for me.” I paused for a moment and realized this probably wasn’t the type of thing you should talk about on a first date. But is that what this was? Either way, family drama wasn’t normally a good conversation topic when you’ve just met someone. “Sorry. You don’t need to be bored by my family issues.”

  Luckily, Diana didn’t seem to mind as she smiled and reached for my hand. “You don’t have to apologize. I am enjoying getting to know you. And I totally get family issues. I don’t have a great relationship with my parents either. They don’t agree with my life choices.” She r
olled her eyes and made air quotes when she said life choices. I could definitely relate to that. “But anyway, tell me more about the other things you dabble in. I’m intrigued.”

  “I do a lot on social media, mostly Instagram. I’m up to almost sixty-thousand followers at this point so I have sponsors who will pay me for doing ads for them. I have a few YouTube videos and also have a blog about my terrible luck with dating that took off a few years ago. I don’t know. It’s not something I’m super proud of at this point. I got most of my followers simply based on the fact that I’m a femme lesbian, but that’s not why I started. I really want to make a difference. I want to show kids who are struggling that it really does get better. I’m not sure where I’m going with all of this. I just know that there is something more that I was destined for.”

  To my surprise, Diana seemed to be hanging on to every word I said. She also had yet to remove her hand from mine. “I think that’s very noble of you. It reminds me of why I went into nursing. I love being able to help provide healthcare to people of any age, but especially kids. When I was in high school, I had a young neighbor, I think she was around five or six, who was battling leukemia. It was heartbreaking to witness, but also eye opening. She was constantly in and out of the hospital, but was still so positive. I used to go over to her house and play video games with her between treatments. I’ll never forget the way she laughed when I purposely wrecked in Mario Kart. It was just so carefree and innocent. When she lost her battle…” Diana paused as she became choked up, blinking her eyes rapidly to try to keep the tears from falling. “That’s when I decided I wanted to go into healthcare. I want to do anything I can to help beautiful little angels like her, and if I can’t, I at least want to make their time on earth happy.” This time, a few tears did escape, but instead of moving her hand, she bent her head to wipe her eyes off on her shirt. Where the hell did this girl come from?