Jac faced the dark sky through the windows of the locker room and then turned around to face her husband as soon as he closed the door behind him.
"Why? … Michael… Why?" Jac asked him as she folded her arms across her chest, "Oh wait, I think I know the answer to that, it's because I'm pregnant… fat, unattractive, and we don't have sex as much as we used to, so why not turn to my hot, young F1 half my age? That's the way, the mind of Michael Spence works, is it?" Jac was furious.
"No, it is nothing like that! Please… you have to believe me, I know, I made mistakes before but this time, I'm completely innocent…" Michael tried to explain as he approached her.
"Really? Then how do you explain your F1, half naked in your office and all the flirty looks and smiles on the ward?! I wasn't born yesterday Michael!" Jac yelled.
"No, you got it all wrong! She is the one who started this, who tried tempting me but I said no! I swear, I did not lay a finger on her!" Michael said as he looked her in the eye.
"Oh, why don't I believe you?" Jac said, still unconvinced.
"Jac please, I know my reputation doesn't help, but you have got to believe me, I was faithful to you the whole time, and because of that, I even sacrificed my career because of you, because of us…" he said as he grabbed her hand.
"Really? and what sacrifice did it take?" Jac said, in a tone, making fun out of this situation. She couldn't wait to see what lie, Michael could come up with this time.
"She is threatening me you know… she wants me to sleep with her, because of her assessment…" Michael began slowly, as he looked down.
"What? …and if you don't do that…?" Jac added, confused.
"Trust me, I tried, telling her off, that I'm not going to because I love YOU, but she said that if I don't and I fail her in her assessment, she's going to go tell Guy, that I… sexually assaulted her…" Michael tried to explain.
"Wow…" Jac added, "you deserve an Oscar…"
"Jac I am telling the truth…. Have you seen the cut on her forehead? Before you came in, I was suturing it for her. You know how she got it? In the wet lab, she came on to me again, but I didn't fall for it… I pushed her over and she fell to the floor…. Except now, she can use it against me as evidence of the assault…" Michael was scared. You could sense it in his tone.
Jac couldn't believe this. She was speechless. She stood there and said nothing.
"Jac you have got to believe me, you know how Zosia is like, she likes getting what she wants… she is the bad guy here, not me…." Michael tried, moving closer to her her, and holding her hand.
"So you're saying that… she has been playing you all along? And you didn't have sex with her… not even once?" Jac had to ask to be sure. She didn't move her hand away from Michael's though.
"No, never. I never even touched her, to be honest it never crossed my mind, in the first place… you know, if I wanted to cheat on you with her, you know how many chances I had and you would never know? Yeah with Annalese, I couldn't control it… but with you I'm different…" Michael said, desperately as he curled his fingers in hers.
Jac looked him in the eye. She leaned in and kissed him on the lips.
"What's that supposed to mean? You forgive me?" Michael said, with a smile as they broke off the kiss.
"There's nothing to forgive, right? Since you haven't done anything… and we can't split up and let her win… I can tell she is jealous and that's what she wants…" Jac said, embraced by his arms.
"So what happens now? Trust me, she'll go to Guy… and she's his daughter, he is going to believe her over me…" Michael said worried.
"Don't worry, I'll take care of her… what a coincidence I received an important email this morning… oh and how did she do overall in her assessment?" Jac asked as she let go of Michael and headed to the door.
"Well, she is a good doctor, it was this suturing thing, that she needed to improve…" Michael said.
"Right, but she needs to improve, not learn how to do it… so practically she did well…" Jac tried to come up with a plan.
"Yeah but if I go by the book, she has to get good marks in all her tasks and this was a vital one…" Michael said, worried.
"Don't worry, no harm done, just leave it to me…" Jac said with a grin on her face, before she opened the door.
"Jac," Michael called out to her before she left, "try not to stress because of the baby okay?" Jac smiled at him and closed the door of the locker room.
…
"Wow that's a nasty cut! How did you get it?" Dom asked Zosia as she arrived at the nurses' station and observed the stitching on her forehead.
"Nothing, I slipped in the wet lab, and hit my head… I'm fine now…" Zosia uttered as she sorted patients' files on the desk.
Jac walked onto the ward and as soon as she saw Zosia, she approached the desk, "Dr March, may I have a word? The consultant's office?"
Zosia was about to complain, but Jac cut her off, "Now!" Jac left the desk with Zosia following.
Jac held the office door open for her and shut it closed as soon as she walked in.
"Have a seat… make yourself comfortable…" Jac said sarcastically, as she stood in front of her.
"No, I'm fine I'll stand.." Zosia said as she folded her arms across her chairs.
"Aw, funny isn't it? You didn't seem to hesitate to make yourself comfortable around my husband!" Jac dropped the bombshell.
Just as Zosia was about to open her mouth, Jac added, "He told me… he told me everything. It's over Zosia… your sick schemes have to stop. Game over…" Jac warned her as she approached her.
"What about my assessment?" Zosia asked.
"You passed… even if you didn't get the grand prize of sleeping with my husband. Now… you go cry to daddy and portray my husband as some kind of filthy rapist and I swear I will make your life a living hell!" Jac said slowly, but convincingly.
"Really? and how do you intend to do that exactly?" Zosia asked, still not feeling threatened by Jac.
"Hah. Haven't you heard where your next rotation is?" Jac said with a smile.
"What? Darwin?!" Zosia's body froze. She hated cardiothoracics but mostly she hated Jac.
"Oh yes… this is going to be so much fun." Jac said with a grin on her face.
But Zosia tried not to look bothered, "what if I go tell dad anyway about Michael and I'll also add that Ms Naylor is bullying me on the ward?"
"Do that, and I'll be the first one to go to Guy and tell him that you practically failed your assessment on Keller… and how do you think he'll feel that his perfect little princess should have repeated her F1 year? Trust me, he'll believe me on this one… you do realise I have almost as equal power as your dad here… so… do we have a deal?" Jac said, smiling as she observed Zosia's face.
Zosia said nothing. She got what she wanted, she passed her assessment, but Michael Spence was not on the list.
"Give it up Zosia. It's over…" Jac told her.
"Right… deal." Zosia said as she walked past Jac to leave.
"I didn't say we were done…" Jac added. Zosia stopped and stood still.
"I've got a task for you… A four-thousand-word essay about the procedure and the benefits of a vascular endothelial graft… My desk, tomorrow afternoon at 4pm" Jac was enjoying this.
"What?!" Zosia widened her eyes at Jac's orders.
"You didn't think, this would go unpunished, did you?" Jac smiled as she folded her arms above her bump.
'Bitch…' Zosia muttered really slowly and rolled her eyes, as she turned to open the office door, only to meet Michael in the doorway. She pushed past him and kept walking.
"So, how did it go?" Michael said as he approached his wife.
"It's over, she won't say anything, just forget about it…" Jac told him.
"How, what if she goes to Guy anyway?" Michael somehow, still wasn't convinced.
"Michael trust me, she's a dog that barks, but she doesn't bite…" Jac said as she placed her arms around his neck.
"Ahh, bitchy and beautiful… now there's the woman I fell in love with…" he said, as he smiled at his wife, yearning for her lips.
"Please don't use that phrase again, you sound like an actor from a cheesy soap opera…" Jac made a face, "just kiss me and get it over with…" she smiled.
"Damn you're attractive when you talk dirty…" Michael said, teasing.
"Shut up," Jac smiled and kissed him.
Thanks for your lovely reviews!
Next time: Jac is struggling to cope, being 9 days over due. Will she go into labour any time soon?