Author's Note: This is Chapter 3 in a series. Full context can be gained by first reading chapters one and two and, as the author, I of course encourage you to do so. However, I've tried to reference enough backstory in Chapter 3 in hopes of making this instalment at least marginally readable on its own. As always, happy to receive constructive criticism, both positive and negative, and to hear ideas for future stories.
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"Dr. Forqurean, your 3 PM mastopexy follow up with Kelly Pemberton is in exam room 1."
Summer Forqurean looked up from behind her teak desk. "Thanks Jenny, I was just finishing reviewing my notes on her. I'll see her in just a minute."
Summer surveyed the New York City skyline as she looked out the window of her fifty second floor office. In contrast to the state-of-the-art clinical facilities and exam rooms down the hall, her office was finished in dark wood, opulent furnishings, and the walls were decorated with interesting and eclectic original artwork and tapestries.
Summer once again reflected on the fact that her successful practice was so very much at odds with the type of doctor she had once aspired to be.
Summer had grown up in a medium size midwestern college town. Her parents were both on the faculty at the university. They instilled in her a strong sense of social justice and responsibility to give back to society. As a teenager, and until her junior year of college, she had planned to work in family practice, to serve those in need in a community health service, or perhaps an ER. She wanted to spend part of each year in a third world country serving with Doctors Without Borders. For Summer, money had been far from the primary goal.
But those earlier goals had been decimated when her friends had betrayed and humiliated her in the worst possible way. Her dreams and goals had been transformed -- she understood that money would be required if she were to be successful in achieving her new ambitions.
As Summer entered exam room 1 she greeted her patient, "Hi Kelly. How have you been? Everything feeling okay? Any lingering pain or numbness?"
"Hi Summer. Great! The mastopexy! Honestly, you are wizard! No wonder you're getting so much work. My friends in the TriBeCa Women's Club have all been raving about the touch and artistry of your work. I'm hoping you'll be able to do my gluteal augmentation next. You're certainly worth the extra money!"
Summer smiled brightly and her green eyes twinkled, gratified by her patient's praise and enthusiasm. "Let's have a look. It's been twelve weeks so the healing should be sufficient to see whether we achieved the overall look and aesthetics we were after."
As Kelly lowered the medical gown to her waist, Summer immediately began to examine her breasts with a critical eye. "The incisions have healed nicely -- there won't be any scarring. And most importantly, I think we were able to get the tighter shape and subtle uplift you wanted. "
"Yes. I'm so excited. They look the same as when I was twenty! After two kids I didn't think that would be possible. They look..perky, I guess is the word. They look perky again but still large enough."
"Well, it was easy. You're still young. You're only thirty-eight."
"I can't say enough about you and your work. And your bedside manner. So wonderful. It's nice to have work done by a woman plastic surgeon. And you're so professional but also so approachable. The other doctors I've tried have been so formal. It's refreshing to have someone that really understands us."
Summer indeed prided herself on listening carefully to her clients so that she could do her best to match each patient's vision. She had rapidly acquired an expanding loyal and devoted following of clients in her NYC office and was starting to similarly gain clients in her newer clinic in Los Angeles. If anything, she had to limit the number of women she worked on, which enabled her to charge a premium for her services. Her clientele was composed exclusively of wealthy women who were able and anxious to pay for her services out of pocket.
"The breast lift looks excellent, Kelly. Let's schedule another checkup appointment for six months, but if you have any concerns in the meantime, give our clinic a call. Also, since it's been about three months since the mastopexy, we can schedule the gluteal augmentation for anytime that works with your schedule. You're still looking to enhance both roundness and firmness -- is that correct?"
"Thanks Summer. Yes, that will be perfect. I'm excited. I'll talk to Jenny about scheduling. It's so nice to be able to call my doctor by her first name. It makes you seem like a friend. Well, I do consider you to be a friend. I hope you consider my offer to have me sponsor you for our women's club."
---
Camden Tallis sat at the window of the restaurant looking out at the Central Park. She was used to large cities now, after going to college in Boston, and now working in the city. She still often missed Virginia where she grew up, and the easy access to nature. "The park is nice," she thought. "But it's still crowded."
"Hi Cam. Sorry I'm late. I got a bit behind at the clinic."
"That's okay Sum, I know how busy you are," Camden Tallis smiled at Summer. "It gave me a chance to relax and enjoy looking at all the people across the way in the park. I was able to get this nice window seat for lunch. I already ordered for you. I know what you usually order."
Sunlight fell obliquely across the table, partially illuminating the dark wood floor and exposed brick wall of the restaurant.
"Anyhow, Brennan is even later than you. She just texted to let me know she'll be here in fifteen minutes. And Courtney can't make it today. Something came up with the startup she's trying to fund."
"Well, that's typical," replied Summer. "It's hard for the NYC contingent of the Zeta crew to make it to our weekly lunch. We're all so overcommitted."
Since moving to the city together following college, Summer, Camden, Brennan Bjorklund, and Courtney Rothschild, all alumna of Zeta Mu Xi sorority had started a weekly lunch get together. They all did their best to attend.
"Hey, speaking of the Zeta crew, I just spoke with Aubrey today," Camden said.
"Is she still enjoying China? I still wish she would have opted for the position here in the city instead. The entire Zeta crew could have moved together to the same place.
"She likes it there. She says her Mandarin has improved so much that it's almost passable. She'll be coming back later this year for my wedding. I'm excited to see her."
"So how are you and Marc doing?"
"We're good -- well, better than good," Camden beamed. He's still climbing the ladder at the law firm. I can't believe we're going to get married in a few months. It's really happening this time. We were on and off for so long but the last couple of years have been amazing."
Summer looked deeply into Cam's large brown, innocent looking eyes, her face attractively framed by her straight blond hair.
"Yes, I remember helping you get through some difficult times with Marc back in college. We both had guy problems at the same time. We helped each other through."
Camden looked away from Summer and down at the table. She still questioned why she had done what she did back then. She hadn't intended to ruin things between Summer and her boyfriend. Courtney and Brennan had been responsible for that. But Camden knew she played a part in what happened. She still felt guilty about it. She was nonetheless glad that Summer had never found out about her role.
"Yes, those were challenging times. I'm still sorry it didn't work out with Ethan."
"Well, that's ancient history now." Though she did her best to suppress it, a frown fleeted across Summer's face as she thought about her attempt to reconnect and reforge her relationship with Ethan when they were in college. What the two of them had was, at first, so pure and simple. That had all ended when her intimate selfies had surfaced -- when she had made the incorrect assumption that Ethan was to blame -- when his emotions (and hers) were sullied by his involvement with Courtney. They had both been rendered jaded and cynical by the experience. Their innocence had been hijacked and there had been no going back.
