Magic Touch

Chapter 26 - Past and Present

"Come on in." Mari gestured to the interior of her office, which was the usual rainbow-colored mess of post-its and paperwork. It caused Kate to wonder how she managed to keep track of everything. By the time Kate had walked inside and sat down on a chair, Mari had eliminated the rest of her energy bar. Her eating habits were truly fearsome.

"So, what can I do today to help you perk up? A shot of epi?" Mari chuckled at her own joke. She sat on her office chair, legs drawn up and twisted into some bizarre position that would be at home in an advanced yoga class.

Kate twined her fingers and smiled awkwardly. "If possible, I need a solution that's not just short-term. Also," she trailed off and looked down. At this rate she figured that she should admit the truth to Mari. Beating around the bush wasn't helping in terms of setting up a solid plan. "It might not actually be the director's son who's been bothering me."

Mari leaned back and stretched her arms. "Yeah, I kind of figured. The hospital director's son is actually a daughter, right? There have been whispers about you and that researcher from the health department spending a lot of lunches together."

Kate's face grew hot. She hadn't considered the idea that other people would be talking about the two of them, but in hindsight that was a given in the hospital ecosystem. Few were the match-ups that weren't known across all corridors within one day. She eventually managed to push a strained 'I see' past her lips.

"So, I'm guessing it didn't last, for whatever reason. Probably the reason you were trying to avoid her for in the first place. Sometimes it's just not meant to be." Mari sighed heavily. "Even so, you keep thinking about going back. It's the worst."

Mari in a reflective mood? Now that was a rarity. Kate instantly knew that something was off.

"Mari, is everything okay with you?"

Mari huffed and ran a hand through her hair. "It's just Bron again. Same old."

"I'm guessing it's more than that." Kate leaned in. She wasn't sure if they had reached friend status, but whatever it was seemed to be distracting Mari so she figured it would be in her own best interest to figure out what it was. "If it was just the same old you'd be acting like normal."

"It's not like anything new happened." Mari squirmed on her chair. "It's just, I see Bron around all the time. And it's like he's still trying to rekindle our relationship."

This was new. Kate's eyebrows rose. "I thought he was being pushy about patients you'd deemed unfit for surgery."

"Well, that too." Mari threw her hands up in an exasperated gesture, sending a handful of post-its fluttering away from her desk. She sighed once more and slumped forward. "Though there were also times I was wrong and he was right. Not that I'm particularly proud of it."

Mari fell silent once more and Kate wondered whether she had just made things a lot worse by bringing up the topic. The fact was that there would always be cases that were not clear-cut, where the best course of action only became clear in hindsight, but there wasn't much Kate could do if Mari blamed herself. Just as Kate was wondering what was expected of her in this situation, Mari spoke again.

"You know, I might not have been telling you the whole truth either. We've been divorced for two years, and still he has the gall to ask me if I wouldn't consider trying again," Mari trailed off and shook her head.

"You were the one who ended it?" Kate asked.

"Yeah. I mean, you've seen what type of person he is. There's no way me and him could ever work out." Mari untangled her legs and got off her chair to pick up the displaced post-its. "I wish he'd stop being so insistent."

A thought struck Kate. She wasn't sure whether Mari was going to agree or get upset over it, but she had to try.

"Could it be that part of you still wants to be with him?" When Kate saw Mari's eyes widen in response she felt a hint of panic. She needed to add to that statement, and fast. "Because, um, it's something like that with me and Rose. I mean, the researcher from the health-"

Mari held up a hand, motioning for Kate to stop. "Just saying Rose is easier, yeah? So let's go with that." She fell silent for a moment, then sighed heavily. "You know, I'm thinking you're probably right. I rationally know it wouldn't ever work out, but," another pause as she got back on her chair and re-tangled her legs. "I guess that's the thing with exes. Every now and then some of the nice memories come back to mind and I wonder what might have been."

"Not necessarily. There's Lisa from nursing, she seems to be in a new relationship every time I see her." The reason Kate knew wasn't that she particularly paid attention to such things, because she didn't, but that Lisa liked to introduce the so-called love of her life to everyone who passed. "I wonder what she does to get over them so easily."

"Maybe that's why people complain about their exes so much. Makes them feel better about breaking up." Suddenly, Mari's back straightened and her eyes went wide. "That's it! I've got it!"

Kate looked at her in puzzlement. "Got what?"

Mari jumped off her chair and grabbed Kate's hands, pulling up and forcing her to follow the hopping, circular dance Mari was doing.

"How to solve our problems! We're going to have a real girl's night where we talk smack about our exes, enough to convince ourselves to never even think about getting involved with them again! It doesn't work when it's just you inside your head but another person should help turn that right around. Don't you think? Don't you? Please say you agree."

While the attraction to Rose wasn't Kate's primary problem, she supposed it still ranked close to the top. Even if it hadn't, given the questionable quality of the plans Mari laid even in her non-distracted state it was obvious to Kate the Bron situation needed to be resolved. And so, her response was a nod.

"That sounds like a plan. Your place?"

"My place, this evening. The sooner I can get Bron out of my mind, the better."