Diaries of an Urban Panther by Amanda Arista Read Free Book Online

paused. “Come to think of it. I do have the strange sensation of someone sticking his nose way too deep into my business. Oh wait, that’s you.”
    He sighed into the phone. “That’s not a nice thing to say to the person who saved your life.”
    Right. Stalker or not, he was the reason I wasn’t a midnight snack. “I’m fine. I’m eating and sleeping and all healed up.”
    “That’s better,” he said, his voice sounding pleased.
    “Can I go now, officer?”
    “Goodbye, Violet.”
    I snapped my phone closed, half hoping Jessa had been listening in. Might be nice to have someone to talk to about being attacked in the back alley of my house, about being kidnapped for three days.
    But as I turned back to her and saw her innocent eyes watching me, I still knew that someone couldn’t be her. I just couldn’t burden her with this.
    Besides, I was fine. I was out, and making plans. She hadn’t asked why I hadn’t answered my cell in three days and I simply wasn’t ready to say the words out loud yet.
    “So Friday at the Ghostbar? Meet at my place?” she asked as she took another stab at her salad.
    “Sounds great.”
    D evin, white coat and all, walked around the main desk of his office to give me a small kiss on the cheek. He smiled down at me and I heard a few of the mothers in the waiting room sigh. He was a catch at 6’3” with chestnut brown hair (always perfectly combed) and shiny brown shoes.
    “Sorry to bother you at work, but it’s important,” I started as he guided me around the desk with his arm around my waist and back into his office.
    “No worries. What can I do for you?” he smiled.
    It had struck me after my lunch with Jessa that Devin was a doctor, wore a white coat and a stethoscope and everything. He could examine me to see if anything was wrong, if anything about me had changed. Answer some of these questions still racing around in their vicious game of duck-duck-goose.
    “I need a physical,” I said bluntly.
    “I’m a pediatrician, Violet,” he said confused.
    “So, you’re still a doctor. I just need a quick listen to my heart, take my temperature, just a quick once-over. There’s opera tickets in it for you,” I flashed the tickets from inside my purse, like a guy with hot watches in his coat.
    “No,” he said wide-eyed. “You got tickets for Carmen !” he said reaching for them.
    I snatched my purse away from his fingers and smiled. “In a roundabout way, yeah and I’m inviting you.”
    He just looked at me with a raised eyebrow but I knew he couldn’t resist free tickets to the opera. “So a physical? Is it for work?”
    “No, I’m just a hypochondriac and I need proof I’m not going to wither up and die before I’m 30.”
    Devin laughed and I chuckled with him. It was a good lie. Something a normal girl in my situation might worry about: late twenties and no prospects. Plus I love to make Devin laugh. When he smiled, the whole room lit up and you seemed to forget all your problems because he had enough joy for two and would gladly share.
    “I’ve about ten minutes between appointments. Shouldn’t be a problem.”
    Devin guided me into a little exam room with little pink elephants on the walls and pink paper over the examination table. He patted the table and I sat down on the crinkly tissue. He went to wash his hands as I dangled my feet off the edge of the table.
    “Have you been having any symptoms?” he asked as he rolled the stool over to me as I unbuttoned the top two buttons on my shirt.
    “Not really.”
    Devin put the stethoscope in his ears and made sure to warm the metal medallion before putting it on my chest. That’s why I loved Devin, so considerate.
    He closed his eyes as he listened for a moment. “That’s a strong ticker you’ve got there. Like an athlete’s.”
    “That’s weird,” I said as he moved the stethoscope to my back and he listened to my lungs. I flinched as he ran the medallion over the shadowy marks. I don’t know