A Blossoming Spring Romance

Chapter 1-2

Sophie walked out into the waiting area to see a familiar face waiting for her. “Mrs. Cartwright,” she said, smiling. “How are you today?”

Elvira Cartwright was well-known around town. A widow with a kind disposition, she was also a straight-shooter when she needed to be, as one might’ve guessed just from her fiery orange hair. Mrs. Cartwright headed up many of the activities at the Methodist church in town, and even though Sophie attended the Christian church, since she was in charge of the children’s programs, she’d worked with Mrs. Cartwright on some of the projects the churches in the area did together, such as the Christmas Festival. Recently, Mrs. Cartwright had been seen around town with a widower by the name of Horace Nelson, and there was some speculation that the two were becoming an item. Sophie was happy for both of them and wondered if Mrs. Cartwright might say something about Mr. Nelson today.

“Sophie, darling, you are such a vision of beauty, even in your scrubs!”

Glancing down to see what she was wearing, Sophie shrugged. Since it was approaching spring, she’d chosen some light pink scrubs that morning. Her dark brown, nearly black, hair was pulled back in a ponytail, like she always wore it at work, and she had on comfortable, and therefore not stylish, shoes. But she smiled politely. “That’s very kind of you, Mrs. Cartwright,” she said. “I love that top. It’s so sparkly!”

Known for her flair, Mrs. Cartwright only shrugged. “Thank you, dear. The blue matches my eyes.” She laughed, and Sophie did as well, finally starting to feel a little bit better even though her recent tongue-lashing hadn’t completely left her mind.

“Come on back,” Sophie said, gesturing as the woman rose and followed her down the hallway.

They walked in front of the hallway where Dr. Mitchells appeared to be finishing up with Mr. Clark. He was fussing about something, and Sophie was tempted to rush past so that Mrs. Cartwright wouldn’t be subject to whatever was coming out of his mouth, but her patient stopped in front of the open door. “Hello, Jim,” she said, waving. “How are you?”

“Elvira?” Dr. Mitchells said, looking up. “Nice to see you. I’m… doing the best I can, under the circumstances.”

“Yes, well, next Friday will be here before you know it,” she said. “Surely, you can hold on until then.”

Dr. Mitchells let out a growl. “I’m not sure I can,” he replied. “You have no idea.”

Mrs. Cartwright shook her head sympathetically. “I’ll see you in a few minutes when you come to check my pearly whites,” she quipped.

“If my assistant remembers to call me in!” Dr. Mitchells shouted as Mrs. Cartwright followed Sophie on down the hallway.

Sophie had several questions running through her head, but she wasn’t sure she should ask any of them, what with the doctor right next door. “You can hang your purse on the hook,” she said, gesturing toward the wall, “and have a seat.”

“You are a dental hygienist, aren’t you, Sophie?” she asked, doing as she was instructed.

Sophie carefully hooked the paper bib around Mrs. Cartwright’s neck. “Yes, I am,” she replied.

“And he called you his assistant. That must be a little frustrating.”

Shrugging, Sophie thought, At least he didn’t call me the wrong name. “It’s okay. I’ve been called worse,” she joked. Her tools were ready. She slipped a mask on. “Now, you are not due for X-rays until next time, so we’ll get started with the cleaning, if you’re ready.”

“I know I shouldn’t say anything negative,” Mrs. Cartwright continued, as if Sophie wasn’t poised to put tools into the same mouth she was using to say whatever it was she shouldn’t be saying, “but recently, I’ve noticed such a change in Jim’s disposition. It really will be nice for him to stay home with Laverne and see if he can find some happiness again.”

Sophie froze, her water pick and suction tool poised in the air. “What’s that, now?”

Mrs. Cartwright’s eyebrows raised. “What? He hasn’t told you yet?”

“Told me what?”

“Dr. Mitchells is retiring,” Mrs. Cartwright explained. “Yeah, next Friday is his last day. He and his wife are going on a nice long cruise, and then, he’s going to stay home. His replacement is supposed to start March fifth.”

There were no words to describe the mixed feelings jumbling through Sophie’s brain all at once. If Mrs. Cartwright was teasing her, or mistaken, she’d be so upset. But what if she was telling the truth? Stammering, Sophie asked, “How… how do you know that?”

“Oh, well, Laverne and I are good friends. We go to the same church, you know? She told me weeks ago. I just thought by now he’d have let the staff know so you could prepare.”

Shaking her head, Sophie said, “No, he hasn’t said anything. Prepare for what?” Suddenly, Sophie’s heart caught in her chest. “The new dentist isn’t bringing in another staff, is he? Or she?”

Laughing, Mrs. Cartwright said, “No, dear. He’s not. He’ll keep all of you on. At least, that’s what Laverne said. It was the reason Dr. Mitchells agreed to selling to this fellow. She said, in the past, other dentists have wanted to come in and start over, but he couldn’t see any of you being out of a job, particularly Mrs. Wilcox. It would be difficult for her to find something else at her age, especially after having worked here for so long.”

“That’s good,” Sophie muttered. “Well, thank you for letting me know.”

“If he says anything, act surprised,” Mrs. Cartwright instructed. “He’s never gotten angry at me before, and I’d like to keep it that way.”

As if a demonstration was in order, there was a loud banging noise next door and more shouting. Sophie nodded in agreement and then went about cleaning Mrs. Cartwright’s teeth, though she was distracted. For years, she’d been praying that Dr. Mitchells would retire. Now, it seemed God had heard her prayers. Her only hope now was that whoever took his place was someone nice that they could all work with. Whoever it was, he’d have to be better than Dr. Mitchells, wouldn’t he?

By the time Sophie was done with Mrs. Cartwright and had her room cleaned and ready for her 1:00 patient, it was a few minutes past noon. Mr. Clark had made it out alive, and she’d overheard him saying to Mrs. Wilcox that he would have his teeth checked in two weeks, but not here. Sophie felt sorry for him; if Dr. Mitchells really was leaving, Mr. Clark would be driving out of his way to avoid a doctor who wouldn’t even be there.

Walking into the lunchroom, Sophie saw Lexi stabbing her fork into a salad as if the lettuce had done something to personally offend her. Her green eyes were rimmed in pink and red, her nose a matching shade, and Sophie figured her friend probably went to the bathroom to have a good cry once she was finally done with Mr. Clark.

“He left a few minutes ago,” Lexi managed as Sophie pulled her lunch out of the refrigerator. She had a frozen dinner today, and she yanked it out of the box, pulled back the corner, and stuck it in the ancient beast of a microwave before she brought her lunchbox over to the table where Lexi was sitting.

“I heard him stomp his way out,” Sophie replied. It would be a few minutes before her entrée was warm, so she pulled out her Dr. Pepper and snapped it open, taking a drink. The sugar hit her bloodstream almost instantly, and she suddenly felt much more awake.

“I just… I don’t know how much longer I can do this, Soph,” the tall blonde said, her shoulders hunched. “He’s killing me.”

Sophie was more than a little sympathetic. “I know,” she said, quietly. Even though she personally felt the sting of Dr. Mitchells’s wrath several times a day, Lexi was constantly being barraged with his insults and name calling since she actually was his assistant.

“I didn’t go to school to do something I love so that I could spend the entire day here being treated like an idiot.”

The smell of Sophie’s lasagna permeated the room, and her stomach began to growl. A glance at the microwave that the girls joked was older than the two of them combined, told her she still had three minutes. Sophie pulled a bag of Cheetos out of her lunchbox and opened them. “Well, I’m not sure if I should tell you this or not, because I don’t want to get your hopes up, but Mrs. Cartwright seems to think that Dr. Mitchells is retiring. Soon. Next Friday, as a matter of fact.”

Lexi was staring at her in disbelief. “Shut up,” she finally said, dropping her fork. “Next Friday? Wouldn’t he have said something by now?”

Shrugging, Sophie shoved a Cheeto into her mouth. “I don’t know,” she said, still chewing. “But that’s what she said.”

“No, there’s no way,” Lexi said dismissively, picking her fork back up. “He’d have to tell us if he was leaving.”

“Why? Mrs. Cartwright said that she’s good friends with his wife, that they go to church together, and Laverne told her a while back. She said whoever bought the practice is going to keep us all on, so there was no reason for him to tell us.”

The microwave beeped, and Sophie went over to collect her lunch. Knowing the package would be hot, she grabbed some paper towels and picked it up with them. Steam wafted into her lungs as she used her hip to push the microwave door closed.

Lexi was chewing more slowly now, lost in thought, and Sophie took the plastic off of the top so the lasagna could cool as she finished up her Cheetos.

“I don’t know how you can eat like that and still look like a supermodel,” Lexi chimed in, shaking her head.

“What?” Sophie asked, looking at her lasagna. “It’s Lean Cuisine.”

“Soda? Cheetos? And I bet you have....” Lexi leaned over and stuck her hand into Sophie’s lunchbox, pulling out a package of Hostess Cupcakes. “Seriously? Are you ten?”

“They’re good,” Sophie said, her mouth full of cheesy crumbs.

Lexi shook her head. “Anyway, unless and until Dr. Mitchells says he’s not coming back, I can’t believe it. I mean… to get my hopes up and then find out that he’s really not going anywhere would just be… catastrophic.”

Sophie couldn’t help but giggle at Lexi’s exaggeration. “Well, he can’t stay here forever. He’s in his late seventies. Surely, Mrs. Cartwright would know. She knows everything else.” Sophie found it a bit hypocritical that she was speaking poorly of Mrs. Cartwright’s gossiping when she knew that was one of her biggest vices herself, one she’d meant to discontinue for years but hadn’t been able to. She blamed the nature of her job and the fact that she lived in a small town, but she knew it was because she secretly enjoyed it.

“I sure hope she’s right,” Lexi muttered. “Or else I will find another job. He threw two perfectly fine trays of sterile equipment on the ground today because he said I didn’t hand him the right tool fast enough; once he didn’t ask for what he said he did, and the other time he didn’t ask for anything at all. He’s losing his mind.”

Sophie could only shake her head. She felt sorry for Dr. Mitchells in a way. She couldn’t imagine what it would be like to be so angry all the time. Was he like that when he went home? Did he play with his grandkids or fuss at them for getting their toys all over the place? Mrs. Cartwright and others swore he was perfectly content at home or out in public, what you might even consider friendly, but Sophie couldn’t even imagine it. “I pray for him every night, that whatever it is that makes him so angry, he’ll get over it.”

“Yeah, well, maybe you should be praying that he retires.”

“Oh, I pray for that, too,” Sophie admitted.

“Pray harder.” Lexi stood and took her salad container over to the sink to wash it out, and Sophie stared at her apple core, contemplating whether or not there was a chance Dr. Mitchells was in his last few days.

“Right now, I’m just going to pray we make it through the afternoon,” she replied as Lexi gathered up her trash and tossed it.

“Amen to that,” Lexi replied, sinking back into her chair for the few minutes they had left before they started seeing patients again. Sometimes she went off to call her boyfriend, but it looked like she was still too upset for that. Usually, bad mornings meant worse afternoons, and if the morning was any indicator of what they had coming, it would be abysmal.