Sophia and her crew walked down the hall. She suddenly stopped at a door and turned to Maya.
"Mr. Greg's business plan will not be accepted by the board, so there is no need to press it," Sophia said. Maya nodded as she listened attentively.
"Yes ma'am, no problem," Maya responded. Sophia smiled, opened the door and walked inside, followed closely behind by Maya.
Everyone raised their heads when she did. A man in the crowd gave a broad smile.
"Ma'am Sophia, please have a seat so we can start the meeting," the man said.
Sophia let out a curt smile and nodded. "Yes, thank you. Let's begin," she gestured to the presenter, who nodded and began her presentation.
Meanwhile, Atticus and Thomas left the door area; they walked to reception. Atticus sat on one of the chairs while Thomas went to get him a coffee.
Atticus smiled as he carefully stared at Sophia's number in his phone.
"Wow, what's making the hottie smile?" Ken said as he got closer to Atticus.
Atticus raised his head. "Hi, emm emm—"
"Ken," Ken said, and he smiled.
"Ken, forgot," Atticus replied, using his hands to demonstrate.
"No problem," Ken responded. He looked closely at Atticus. "Is that a new phone?" he muttered.
"He got a new phone? Oh my God!" Anabel burst out from the corridor, giggling.
"I've got to have your number!" she said, yipping.
"Anabel, behave! Don't be so obvious, for goodness' sake," Ken scolded her. Anabel gave him a quick yet harmless slap on his arm.
Ken scoffed and turned to Atticus. "But what Nurse Anabel is saying is correct. We're coworkers — we should all have each other's numbers," Ken said.
Atticus pondered on his words for a while. "Is that true?" Atticus asked.
"Yeah," Nurse Sarah said, walking to them. She stopped upon getting to them.
"Good morning, Atticus," Nurse Sarah said.
"Morning," Atticus responded.
"So Atticus, we as coworkers need to communicate with each other. After all, we are family—"
"We are?" Atticus said. He widened his eyes in shock. How were they family all of a sudden? They were not related in any way.
Sarah smiling, sensing Atticus' confusion, and giggled.
"We are not related by blood, but we treat each other like family. And you, Atticus, are the newest member of our family," Sarah replied.
Atticus nodded, he now understood. Even though they weren't related by blood, they all see each other like a family, and the hospital was their home.
"Family," he said as if feeling the weight of this word on his tongue.
"Yes," Sarah replied with a soft smile.
"Fine then, here is my number," Atticus said, handing over his phone. Anabel jumped in joy.
Thomas walked in and handed him his coffee. They turned to him.
"You too," Sarah muttered.
"Me too?" Thomas said, confused. Sarah explained to him and Thomas smiled.
"Of course, that's brilliant," Thomas said and began chatting with them.
"Oh my God, you guys are starting to litter the hall again, so early," a lady said behind them. Atticus hadn't heard that voice before.
It was a lady. She was a striking blonde in her mid-twenties, pretty enough to catch attention without trying. But her sharp eyes and constantly twitching brows made it clear she was nosy and loved inserting herself where she didn't belong.
"Dr Serena," Anabel said with scorn. Ken hissed and so did Sarah.
"Dr Serena," Atticus repeated.
"Yes, that's my name, baby boy," Serena said, walking to him. "So I saw you yesterday down the hall, I'm Serena and you are?" Serena said, stretching her hand to him.
"His name doesn't concern you," Anabel said, frowning.
Serena ignored her, she bites her lower lip as she studies Atticus.
"What do you want, Dr Serena, shouldn't you be in your quarters?" Sarah asked.
"I guess so, but who cares, I can go anywhere I want, I mean it's a hospital," Serena replied. "And you guys should be working as well and you aren't, should I be asking why?" Serena asked, raising her brow.
"She is such a she-devil," Anabel whispered to Thomas, who frowned in response.
"So, you never told me your name," Serena said as she turned to Atticus. Atticus scanned her from her head to her toes and he ignored her.
Thomas laughed. Of course Atticus would act that way. People believed he was a gentleman, but Thomas knew better—Atticus could be a heartbreaker without even trying. If someone didn't appeal to him, he treated them like background noise. Not exactly his finest quality, but Atticus was never good at small talk or fake friendliness.
Some seconds passed and Atticus hadn't replied, instead he acted like she wasn't there. Serena cleared her throat as she glared at Anabel and Thomas mockery face.
"What's going on," Sophia said with an authoritative tone behind them, and they all turned to her. Atticus looked up at Sophia, her dark opal eyes meeting his and his lips curved