29. Accusations

Ali

A li stretched out in bed, releasing a triumphant sigh. Things had been good in her relationship with Jo. Some might say too good, a touch of fear that maybe she was just waiting for the ball to drop. However, she wanted to trust that what she had going with Jo wasn’t just a phase and they would ultimately be victorious.

She pushed herself up on her elbows and watched as Jo brushed Maverick behind his ear. He had been getting healthier over the past two weeks. The Prednisone seemed to be doing the trick and his hospital stay was nothing short of a miracle. And for Ali, she was relieved that Jo didn’t have to experience the loss of Maverick, just when they were developing their own relationship.

“That’s nice,” Ali softly replied.

Jo turned to her and smiled. “What’s nice?”

Ali pulled her knees up to her chest and stared at the two of them. “You and Maverick have this bond that can’t be broken. I’ve thought of getting a dog of my own, but don’t think I really have the time to put in the effort, but maybe someday…”

“I remember you mentioning that you don’t think you’d have the time to devote to a dog. If you did get a dog, though, what kind would it be?”

“I don’t know. Perhaps a Golden Retriever. Always considered it.” Ali grinned. “Would be a nice addition to my home.”

“That’s sweet. Maybe one day it will happen.” Jo stood up and walked over to the bed. She leaned in and gave her a sweet kiss. “Have I told you how beautiful you are?” Jo whispered.

“You can never say it enough,” Ali smirked and snaked her hand around Jo’s neck, drawing her into another kiss.

“I’m getting in the shower.” Jo pulled away from the kiss and slipped out of her bathrobe, letting it fall to the floor. “Wanna join me?” She turned and gave a wink, then sauntered away from Ali. Ali groaned as she watched her ass drifting away. Her phone dinged with a text, and she groaned.

“I’ll be there in a sec,” she called.

She reached for her phone and stared.

Julia:

Just so you know, by this time next week, you’ll hear who the finalists are for the promotion. Good luck :)

Ali leaned back in bed and stared at the message. It felt like an eternity since they started discussing the promotion. But now, it was literally right around the corner, and she could feel her nerves getting ready to crash into her. The sound of running water echoed through the walls and Ali tossed back the covers. She tossed her phone to the bed and hurried out of the bedroom and into the bathroom .

She flung back the door and Jo playfully covered herself, her mouth agape. “Room for one more?” Ali asked, stepping into the shower. She pressed her lips against Jo’s and closed the door behind them, enveloping them into the enclosure. She pressed Jo against the wall of the shower as the water encased them. Jo broke from the kiss, sputtering as she gasped and slipped her leg around Ali.

Ali slithered down Jo’s body, until she was kneeling in front of her. She looked up and met Jo’s jaded stare and she moved in and pressed her lips against her opening.

“Oh God,” Jo groaned, opening her legs up to her. Ali moved in, dipping her tongue deeper into Jo’s opening and immediately Jo’s legs began to quiver. Ali reached up and pressed her hands against her thighs, holding her in place and swooped in to claim another drop of her juice. Jo bucked her hips against her tongue as Ali continued to plunge in and out of her. Jo released a guttural cry and her juices exploded from her. Ali willingly latched onto every drop and then moved up her body and hungrily kissed her. By then the shower had turned cold, but neither one cared because they were embroiled in their own wild exchange.

They stayed in the shower for another twenty minutes before they reluctantly got out and had to get dressed for the day. Ali leaned in and kissed Jo’s shoulder, then left the bathroom to go grab some clothes to get changed.

“That was hot,” Jo remarked, laughing as she entered the room ten minutes later, her hair pulled back into a towel.

Ali smirked. “You sound surprised.”

“Not surprised, just blessed beyond words.” Jo turned to her closet and pulled scrubs out to get changed into.

“Heard from Julia,” Ali stated.

Jo tossed a look over her shoulder. “Oh yeah? What about? ”

“She said I should hear by next week if I’m a finalist for the job. I must admit that I’m a tad nervous.” She turned away from Jo’s inquiring eyes. “I mean nothing says I’ll get it.” Plus, there was reason to believe that people would still question if Ali was showing favoritism and while she tried to steer clear of that at the hospital, she couldn’t avoid it any more than she could avoid a pandemic.

“Are you kidding me? They would be crazy not to hand it to you. You’re a total shoo-in. You’re the rock to the hospital and I can’t believe anyone else would even be in the running.”

Ali snickered. “You might be a tad bias but thank you anyway.”

Jo shrugged. “You’d get my vote.” She continued to get dressed, while Ali zoned in on those words. It was nice to hear, nonetheless, but Jo wasn’t voting, and the hospital could go anyway they chose when it came to who they were going to promote. “Vincent is going home today,” Jo continued.

“I know. I saw that. How do you feel about that?”

Jo shrugged. “I’m happy that he’s ready to go home. I’ll miss him, but maybe someday our paths will cross again. Just hopefully not in the hospital.” She grinned and they continued to dress in silence. They had gotten closer as time went on, but it was moments like this that Ali couldn’t take for granted. She enjoyed the times where they could just talk about their day and not have to be stressed out over every little thing. But back in her mind the thought of the promotion was weighing on her and she just wanted next week to finally get there.

Ali had waited all week to finally see who the finalists were. However, it seemed like they were just toying with emotions. As she was getting ready to leave the hospital one day, she spotted Julia hurrying out of her office.

“Ali, wait!” Ali hesitated at the elevator and turned to stare at Julia, who was flailing her arms around like she was rushing out from a fire and trying to be spared from the smoke.

“What’s up?” Ali asked.

“They just made the announcement. You’re one of the finalists for the promotion.”

“I am?” Ali gawked. She wanted to believe Jo, when Jo said she was a shoo-in, but there felt like something was bound to go wrong. But now, she believed that she was just one more step closer to the end.

“Yeah, it’s only you and one other person. You’ve got this, Ali. You have to believe that.”

Ali tilted her head. “Who’s the other person? Or can’t you tell me?”

“Don’t think there’s any harm in it. It’s Jessica from ER.”

Ali’s face fell. She still had reason to believe that maybe Jessica was the one that tried to get her in trouble over Jo. She forced through a smile and nodded. “Well, may the best woman win.”

“You will, Ali. You can do this. Just keep doing what you’re doing.” Julia reached out and touched her arm. “Gotta run. Meeting the hubby for supper, but congratulations and I’ll see you soon.” She waved and then turned and disappeared.

Ali put the smile back on. It was an achievement just to get to that place. There were a lot of applicants and interested parties, so she should just be glad that she had seen it that far. She reached her car and dialed up Jo’s number.

“Hello?”

“Hey Jo. What are you doing tonight? ”

“Nothing really. What do you have in mind?” Jo’s voice instantly sent Ali’s heart a flutter.

“I have some news that could give reason to celebrate. See you in twenty and make sure to dress for a romantic evening out.”

“What’s this about?” Jo inquired, a soft chuckle in her voice.

“Just a surprise. See you soon.” Ali backed out of the driveway and headed towards Jo’s apartment. Now that she was that much closer to the promotion, she wanted to be a tad frivolous. There wasn’t any reason she couldn’t have it all, right?

She parked at the front of the parking lot and hurried up the stairs to Jo’s place. When Jo came to the door, Ali’s mouth hung down. “Do you like what you see?” Jo asked.

“You look amazing. But you put that together in twenty minutes?” Ali laughed. “It’s like that outfit was just lying around, waiting for a night like this.”

Jo shrugged. “Maybe it was. Might have had it sitting in the closet for the perfect occasion.” She moved in and kissed Ali. “And I’m thinking this might be it.” She winked, then spun around in front of Ali. Ali was in awe of her. She swallowed and looked down, devouring the image of Jo, before looking back up and meeting her gaze. “Where are we going?” Jo asked.

“Don’t ask questions, my love. You’ll find out soon enough.” She kissed her softly and they left the apartment and went in the direction of a French restaurant that was new in town. Ali had heard great reviews about it, even though she couldn’t pronounce it. Didn’t mean they wouldn’t have an appetizing menu.

When Ali turned into the parking lot, Jo turned to her. “I was just thinking about this place. I’m looking forward to trying it.”

“That makes two of us.” Ali winked and they got out of the car and headed into the restaurant. Because it was still going through its grand opening, the restaurant was busy. That, along with the fact that it was a Friday night, the wait was going to be an enduring one. “Forty-five minutes?” Ali asked as the hostess. Ali glanced at the line of people that were waiting to get in. “Guess we should have made a reservation,” Ali replied.

Jo shrugged. “It’s no problem. We can go somewhere else if you want.”

“No, that’s okay. We both want to try this place. We can wait. It’s only forty-five minutes.” Ali shrugged. “While we’re waiting wanna run to the restroom and freshen up or something. Give us something to do.”

Jo smirked; they both understood the insinuation there. “Works for me.”

“Where’s the restroom?” Ali asked the hostess, after she checked in another group. She pointed to her, then moved onto the next customer. Ali led the way to the restroom and held the door open as Jo went in. They were the only ones in there, so they moved in and kissed one another. “Ever done it in a restroom before?” Ali teased.

Jo laughed, tossing her head back. “Can’t say that I have, but we both know that we won’t be going that far tonight.” Jo swooped in and claimed another kiss. “Now, what is this celebration about?” Jo asked, pressing Ali up against the ceramic sinks.”

“Well, I was going to wait until the main course came, but Julia told me today that the promotion is down to only two people. Just men and Jessica from ER.”

“Wow, that’s amazing. See I told you that you would be getting it.”

Ali arched an eyebrow. “Still have to get past Jessica.”

“Only a matter of time.” Jo replied.

Ali smirked. Still Jo seemed so confident when her nerves remained so shaky. They kissed a bit more, keeping the restroom to themselves. When they had inched closer to the forty-five-minute wait time, they decided to make their way back to the door. It was possible they would have their table ahead of time.

They left the bathroom and were inches from one another, when Ali saw Julia headed their way. Her hand quickly slipped from Jo’s. “Julia!”

Julia stopped and smiled, then shot a look to Jo. Her eyes went down Jo’s outfit, before turning back to Ali. “What a surprise,” Julia started.

“Um yeah,” Ali started. She glanced over to Jo. “Bumped into Jo. Isn’t it a small world?”

“The smallest,” Julia replied, still looking from one to the other. “It’s my anniversary with my hubby and we decided to start off a tradition trying new places. That brought us here.” She held out her arms. “Glad I got a reservation in, because did you see the line.”

Ali snickered. “I’m in that line.”

Jo remained silent. “Well, you both have a good time,” Julia replied. She then gave a side glance to Ali. “I’ll be seeing you soon.”

Ali nodded and then started to leave before Julia had passed them. She reached the front door and turned to find that Jo had lagged behind. Ali sighed.

“I really think that maybe tonight isn’t the night,” Ali started.

Jo nodded. “Understood.” Ali went to the hostess stand, while Jo left the restaurant.

“Your table is ready,” the hostess replied, grabbing a couple of menus.

“Actually, we’re going to have to give up the table. Something came up.” The woman shrugged and moved onto the next one, as Ali turned and left the restaurant. Jo had already waited for her at the car, and she turned, a line etched across her forehead. “Sorry to dash off like this.”

Jo nodded. “No worries.” They got in the car and started to leave the parking lot, but Ali glanced over at her.

“We could go somewhere else. Or we could grab a pizza and take it back to your place. But you’re dressed up so nice and I feel that it’d be a waste of that outfit.”

“Actually, I’m not much in the mood,” Jo said. “Just take me home.” She glanced out the window and the awkwardness of the car ride took over the night. She figured that running into Julia wasn’t as bad as it initially seemed. She talked her way out of it and Julia seemed to believe it. But, if they stayed at the restaurant, Julia would surely see them again and she didn’t know if she wanted to take that chance.”

So, she opted to take Jo back home and maybe try the night some other time. She didn’t even attempt to get into her apartment because the mood had ended. But the next day, when she ran into Julia, she was stopped.

“Come to my office, will ya?”

Ali’s first thought was that it was something that had to do with the promotion. She had given some thought to how the night had ended, but it wasn’t anything she felt necessary to worry over.

However, Julia’s tone told her otherwise. “Ali, when I saw you two last night together…”

“We weren’t together,” Ali quickly defended. “We met each other there, so I don’t know where this conversation is going, but you can stop your thoughts right now.”

“Can I?” Julia tilted her head. “You looked rather cozy. She was dressed up. You were dressed up. It makes sense. And you immediately knew what I was about to say. So, if there’s something romantic going on here, you have to tell me. I deserve to know and I’m sure you’re well aware that it will hinder your promotion. The hospital has rules, and this won’t be overlooked.”

Ali sighed. “I’m telling you that there’s nothing inappropriate going on here. I have no romantic feelings for Johanna, and I don’t know how many times I need to say that before everyone will believe me.” Julia raised an eyebrow and Ali felt guilty for denying it with such force. “I want this promotion Julia and I wouldn’t do anything to hinder that.”

Julia slowly nodded. “Just promise me that you won’t. If something is going on between you two, as a supervisor, I’ll feel obligated to withdraw you from the promotion. There’s no reason someone else should miss out on this great chance, when not all applicants are being forthcoming.”

Ali’s jaw dropped. “I promise,” Ali breathlessly replied. “We aren’t anything. May I go now?”

Julia nodded and Ali turned and left the office. She nearly bumped into May who was headed back to the nurse’s station. May hurriedly glanced away, mumbled something, and rushed off. Ali sighed and tried to put the conversation out of her mind. If she had to deny it with such feeling, then so be it. Once the promotion was hers, she would figure everything else out.