The Doctor's Little Girl (2 page)

It didn’t make sense. Molly had just been trying to do the right thing today. Theresa was a bully, and it wasn’t uncommon for her to talk to travelers in a rude or hurtful tone, but something about seeing that woman’s face as Theresa belittled her had broken Molly’s heart. In fact, she was angry that only she had felt the need to say something.

True, she knew that she could have been gentler about it, but it seemed like the best thing to do at the time. Still, she hadn’t expected Theresa to really try to get her fired, or for it to actually work, and so quickly! The last thing she had expected that day was to end up in a disciplinary meeting in Human Resources, and for that meeting to end with her being told to collect her things.

Discipline. That’s what people had always been telling Molly that she needed. She needed to get herself together. To run her life better. To have a cleaner apartment. In school, she was always being told that it took self-discipline to meet deadlines. At her series of short-lived jobs, she kept being told that she needed to be tidier, calmer, more proactive, more punctual… the list of traits that she was lacking went on and on.

I guess I really am just a fuck-up,
she thought,
just like my parents
. At least she wouldn’t have to call them and let them know that she had been let go from yet another job.

Molly started the car and drove off. It wasn’t like she had enjoyed working at the airport anyway. The hours were always so weird and her feet ached from standing on the hard floor in her cheap shoes all day. Still, it was better than nothing. And now, that was what she had: nothing. The combination of disappointment in herself and anxiety about what would happen next made tears build up in her eyes.

As her mind wandered over lists of bills that needed paying and chores that needed to be done, she remembered the man at the airport who had given her his business card. It had been unusual but nice to have someone stick up for her. That tall stranger had been handsome, too, in a distinguished kind of way. His blond hair and pale, storm-gray eyes had stuck in her memory. Molly wondered if he had actually called the airline. If he had, it hadn’t mattered anyway, but she liked the idea of that. It made her feel cozy inside to think of him caring enough about her to want to prevent her from being fired.

It was a strange feeling, like a light touch on her skin. It felt warm and inviting that someone wanted to look after her. She thought about the business card in her pocket, and considered calling him as soon as she got home, but she realized quickly how silly that would be. He obviously hadn’t meant that he would give her a job if she got fired. Besides, Molly took care of herself. She always had.

* * *

Four months later…

“There you go,” Andrew told the young man who he had just finished examining as he handed him a prescription. “This should help clear things up. Remember to ask Samantha to make an appointment for a follow-up in about a week.”

The patient shook Andrew’s hand and thanked him, then Andrew exited the exam room. In the hallway, Rebecca, Andrew’s nurse, caught up with him.

His practice was small but efficient: it was just him, Rebecca, and Samantha, who did all of his clerical work and billing. She had just had her first baby, and it had been a mess to use temps while she was on maternity leave. She was back now, but only working part time, which meant that in the evenings Andrew still had to deal with the most recent temp. She was nice enough, but didn’t understand the way that Andrew liked his office to be organized and often ended up making things much harder for Samantha.

“You have a little down time before your next appointment,” Rebecca told him. “I left some paperwork on your desk for you. Can you take a look at it when you get a chance?”

Andrew told her that he would, and went into his office.

He sat at his desk and picked up the papers that Rebecca had left. They were mostly charts that he had left information off of by accident, but there was a sticky note saying that a drug rep from Questru had called to see when it might be convenient for him to stop by. He didn’t pay it much attention, certain that Samantha would have given a good answer.

Just then, his desk phone rang. Andrew picked it up.

“Dr. Andrew Harrington,” he answered.

“Um… hi?” asked a quiet, timid female voice on the end of the line.

“May I ask who’s calling?” Andrew queried, a little confused by the call.

“This is Molly, from the airport,” the girl told him. Andrew had to think for a second, but once he realized who it was, he felt his heart race for a second. Molly. Of course he remembered her.

“Hi, Molly,” he said, his voice sounding gentler. “I didn’t think I’d hear from you after this long. I figured everything must have worked itself out.” He could hear Molly gulp a little on the other end of the phone.

“I hope I’m not bothering you,” was all she said.

“No, not at all!” Andrew told her. As surprised as he was to hear from her, it certainly wasn’t an unwelcome call. “Is there something I can do to help you?”

“Well, you see, I’m having kind of a situation,” Molly admitted.

“Go on,” Andrew encouraged.

“So, I did get fired from my job at the airport the day that I met you. I don’t know if you called or not, but I got called down to the Human Resources office and they fired me that same day.”

Andrew frowned. “I did call, but I was worried that my call wasn’t actually all that helpful,” he told her. “The person I spoke too wasn’t particularly receptive to my comments.”

“Well, after I got fired I was out of work for a while, but I did get a job as a waitress at a restaurant in my town, which was pretty good, except…”

Andrew could see where this was going. “Except you got fired from that, too?”

“Yeah,” Molly said, her voice sounding embarrassed.

“What did you get fired for this time?” Andrew asked. He had promised her help finding a job in a doctor’s office, so he wanted to make sure that she was actually a responsible girl. He had made a lot of assumptions about her character, and had to keep in mind that although he felt like he knew her already due to the similarities between her and Lisa, he didn’t really. It would make him look bad if he recommended her and she created a problem for one of his friends.

“That time I got fired because I gave away too much free stuff,” she told him. “People would complain that something wasn’t right and I felt bad so I gave them discounts or free desserts or even free meals, and I wasn’t really supposed to do that. After that, I got another job working as a pizza delivery driver but I was pretty bad at that. That only lasted for a few days.”

Andrew put his head in his hand. “A few days?” he asked with disbelief.

“Yeah, I was always getting lost and never got to the place I was going on time.” Molly sounded like she wasn’t proud of this.

Andrew couldn’t help but shake his head, even though Molly wouldn’t be able to see.

Molly continued the story. “So, not too long after that I got a job in a tax office as a secretary, but…”

Andrew finished her sentence. “You just got fired from that?” he asked.

“It was not my fault!” she defended herself. “I did everything right with answering the phones and doing the files and the other stuff I was supposed to do, but I kept being late to work so they fired me just for that!”

“So, now you’re unemployed?” Andrew asked. His tone was caring and concerned, but also stern, carrying a level of seriousness to it. It seemed silly for him to be disappointed in a girl with whom he had spent less than fifteen minutes total, but he couldn’t help his feelings.

“Yes, sir,” Molly whispered. Andrew couldn’t help but smile at that. Everything about this girl screamed that she needed to be taken care of. “And I have been for almost the whole month. My rent is due soon and I don’t know what I’m going to do. I don’t have any savings or anything like that. So, I was wondering if you were serious when you said you would give me a job with one of your friends. It would really save me.”

Andrew had a few questions for her. “How old are you, Molly?” he asked.

“I’m twenty,” she told him. That was about what Andrew had guessed.

“What’s your educational background?”

“I, uh, I finished high school,” she muttered. Again, it was right on target with what he had in his mind.

“Did you do well in school? Any trouble?”

Andrew could tell by Molly’s voice that she was blushing. “I did okay. I got into trouble from time to time. Okay, I got into kind of a lot of trouble. But not for anything bad.”

“You didn’t listen to what you were supposed to do?” he figured.

“Yeah. And a few other things that everyone does, just stuff like drinking.”

Andrew couldn’t really blame her for that. He had been feisty in his youth, too.

“What about your parents? Are they able to help you out?”

“No,” was Molly’s first answer. It came out immediately, as if it was something that she didn’t even have to consider. Andrew wondered if she was an orphan. He decided that he wasn’t going to pry any further into that at the moment.

There was silence on the line for a moment as Andrew thought seriously about what he was going to say. He knew that he couldn’t really recommend her to one of his friends. It didn’t sound like she would be able to just adapt to a new job environment, and if she was disrespectful to her new boss, that would make things really uncomfortable for Andrew. Besides, Molly didn’t just need a job. She needed to be looked after. She needed rules and structure in her life. She needed to learn how to behave in a professional environment and how to keep a position. He knew what he had to do.

“Well,” he told her finally. “My secretary just had a baby and she’s only working part time these days, and realistically, with the way that the practice has grown in the past couple of years, I think she could use a little help when she is here anyway. I’d be willing to offer you the job with the understanding that you’re going to have to put your very best effort into this, and that I’m not going to let you fail this time. Do you understand me?”

“Really?” Molly’s voice sounded bright and excited.

“Really. If you’re serious about doing your best,” Andrew said, making sure he sounded like he really meant it.

“I am! I promise I am!”

“Alright,” Andrew said. “The only issue is logistics, now. Are you located in New York? That’s where you were the last time I saw you. I’m in the suburbs of Chicago.”

“I live in New Jersey,” Molly explained.

“Are you comfortable moving out here?” Andrew inquired. “I know that it’s a big leap, but I’d be willing to let you stay in my guest room until you get on your feet. Besides, I could use the company,” he admitted.

“I promise I won’t be any trouble,” Molly said, although Andrew wasn’t entirely sure about that. He was betting that Molly would be at least a little trouble, but it was trouble he wouldn’t mind dealing with. “I have a car, and I’m sure that all my stuff would fit into it. I could drive out to you,” she suggested.

“That’s probably a twelve-hour drive,” Andrew guessed. “Are you okay with that?”

Molly told him that she was, suggesting that she could spend a night in a motel on the way.

So, Andrew agreed. “Alright, I’ll call you again tomorrow to make sure you’ve thought about this and you’re still comfortable with it. Remember, I’m taking this very seriously, and any issues that come up will be dealt with firmly.”

“I understand,” Molly affirmed.

Andrew said goodbye to her and they hung up. He felt like he should be questioning his own judgment, but he wasn’t.

Andrew could tell that she had lived a fairly hard life, but she maintained a childlike nature and a sort of innocence that he couldn’t describe. He knew what would probably fix the problems that Molly had with her jobs and other responsibilities: she needed a lot of love and regular discipline. Andrew had always felt a pull to be a caretaker, but he had to admit that he felt a rush of arousal when he thought about what kind of discipline he thought would be best for Molly.

Chapter Two

Molly shut the trunk to her car with great satisfaction. Everything was packed, with the exception of her few pieces of furniture, which Andrew had told her she wouldn’t need. Honestly, they weren’t even worth moving. She had told him that she had picked most of them up off the side of the road, and he had expressed a kind of annoyed lack of surprise at this. It was weird: this man was going farther out of his way to help her than anyone ever had in her life before, but at the same time, Molly worried if he would like her or not.

She had left certain information out when talking to him about herself in their phone conversations leading up to this day. She hadn’t told him anything about her background, and he hadn’t pushed the subject. She had tried to portray herself in the best light possible, so that he wouldn’t realize just how much of a mess she actually was. Maybe, if he didn’t come into the situation thinking that she was beyond help, he could actually help her.

Molly was worried, though. She didn’t know what would happen next if things didn’t work out with Dr. Harrington. She would be in a strange city without anyone else to turn to. She crossed her fingers that it would work out. The idea of getting her life together and being the kind of girl that all her employers had wanted her to be made Molly feel hopeful.

Her biggest dream was to wake up in the morning without the feeling of anxiety crushing her and forcing her back down into bed. She wanted to fall asleep at night without doing hopeful arithmetic in her mind, trying to come up with ways to make it to the next month without being evicted. She wanted to turn the stove on in the morning and not have to hold her breath that it would start, that her utilities hadn’t been cut off.

With the thought of her potential for things to get better fresh in her mind, Molly got into her car and entered Dr. Harrington’s address into her phone’s GPS. And then, she was off.
Goodbye, New Jersey!
she thought.