A Striking Resemblance

Even though we didn't see each other often, by the time he was clean, it was still much, much more frequent than the once every couple of years it had been. What I never told him was that I didn't need the tickets. I didn't need the shiny new car; I didn't need the Sweet 16 populated by celebrities. I just needed more time with my father.

So, I drove to the hospital unreasonably excited for my poor feet. I didn't mind the early hour. It was quiet, there was no traffic and there were hours to go before visiting hours.

They were doing some construction in the parking lot, so I wasn't able to park in one of my favorite spots, across the street from a used bookstore. I found a new spot, went inside, and started my day.

By the time the first two hours of my shift had gone by, I had already been approached four times by colleagues asking about contract negotiations and if we were going to go on strike. I saw Aaron walking down the hallway, and I waved him over.

"Do me a favor? Just spread the word that there is no new news. I'll let people know as soon as I hear something."

He shrugged. "I'll get the word out, but you know it's not going to help, right? Everyone already knows that. They're asking out of emotion, not intellect."

I sighed. "Yeah, I guess you're right. I'm going to try to set up a meeting with management for tomorrow night. I won't know anything new until then. How's your son?"

His smile brightened my morning. "Good. Real good. He's competing this weekend in forms."

"Well, tell him I wish him luck." I assumed that forms had something to do with martial arts. They practiced as a family and seemed really into it.

By the time my shift was half over, I really wanted to call Dad and thank him. New shoes for people that are always on their feet are either pure Hell or a godsend. I don't know what he spent, but these felt like I was walking on a cloud.

Instead of staying in the hospital, I decided to step out for lunch. There was a small bistro that had outdoor seating across the street from the new parking spot. I was tired of the sounds and smells of the hospital and just wanted to get out of there for a bit. A salad and some people-watching sounded like the perfect respite.

As I walked across the parking lot in the direction of my car, I saw the annoying guy with one arm. He was on his phone near where I had parked. Some unwanted attention is tolerable. Some light flirting can be accepted. Finding out what sort of car I drive and then stalking me absolutely wasn't.

"What the hell is wrong with you? I'm not interested. At all. Do you have any idea how creepy this is?"

If I was smart, I would have just turned around, gone back to the hospital and gotten security to walk me to my car. Still, it was well lit, and there were people all around.

The guy looked up from his phone with a shocked expression. "What?"

"I don't know if you've got something for nurses or if you're just oblivious, but stay away from me and stay away from my car."

He looked to his left and then to his right, clearly still confused. He jerked his thumb behind him.

"Um, lady, see that tree behind us on the sidewalk with the white ribbon? See the other ones on some of the trees surrounding the parking lot? I'm marking off where we're going to have root issues with the renovations. I work for the company renovating the property. It's my crew doing the construction. I don't know what car you drive. Hell, I don't even know what your name is. All I do know is that unless you approach me about my granddaughter, this is the last conversation we'll ever have."

As he walked away, I noticed the ribbon around the tree and the roll slung over his shoulder. I was absolutely mortified. I should have apologized or tried to explain, but I was too embarrassed.

Turning around, I went back inside and had a chicken salad sandwich in the cafeteria.

I decided to do whatever I could to keep that man out of my mind. I prided myself on my professionalism and both my work life and my personal life were pushing at those edges. After I ate, I found Henry Chow, management's favorite mouthpiece.

"Henry, can we set up a meeting for tomorrow? Anytime after six?"

"Certainly! Are we just having an open discussion, or did you have something specific you wanted to discuss in depth?"

"The hospital budget. I'll likely have four people with me."

"Perfect. We'll use the same meeting room."

He was annoyingly chipper. I went back to work. It's not as if we had hundreds of women giving birth in the maternity ward at all times, so I had no choice but to run into the man's son and daughter-in-law. I wondered if he had said anything to them, but they seemed perfectly normal, so I assumed he hadn't made it inside yet and was still working.

I thought back on our few interactions.

From what I was told, he was checking out my ass when I walked to the refrigerator. Maybe he was a little too obvious about it, but it wasn't horrible, and it wasn't really over the line. I'd been irritated by his incessant questioning of my colleagues on behalf of his son, who was still en route. Now that I had met the young Marine, I realized that he was neuro diverse. I didn't know how that affected him, but it made his father's attempts to reassure him more reasonable. So, what was I really upset about?

I was exhausted, yes. That probably played some small role. I was afraid that a larger role was played by my betrayal by my cheating asshole of a husband. I couldn't go around assuming every guy that was interested in me was automatically a piece of crap.

I had gotten back from my most recent stint with Doctors Without Borders to find that he was sleeping with at least one colleague, and maybe two. He denied it at first, but when he was confronted with proof, he tried to blame it on the time I was away and our distance. That would've been a much stronger argument if Dad hadn't flown me home for three days in the middle of my deployment and my husband hadn't cheated in the past.

I saw the man again before the end of my shift, and he studiously ignored me. I couldn't blame him. It was a good call.

His granddaughter had a shadow murmur that they had been monitoring during the pregnancy, and they kept her an extra day for observation. She'd be leaving the next day, which meant I wouldn't have to deal with this embarrassment much longer.

Instead of heading home when I got off, I headed to Dad's. I thanked him for the shoes, told him how wonderful they were, and we had dinner while waiting for Haliaka to get home.

They were oddly loose about things like that. Neither of them would be offended if the other had dinner alone. They kept such odd hours that I guess that was inevitable.

When she did get home, she launched into a discussion about her day that convinced me I had come to the right person. She was talking numbers, interest rates and tax benefits and I was lost within five minutes.

"Can I ask a big favor?"

Haliaka smiled. "Of course."

"I'm not sure if I could get the union to pay for your time, but if you're free tomorrow night, would you mind sitting in on a meeting with management from the hospital?"

"Absolutely. And don't worry about money. I stand with labor, you know that."

I had gotten some good sleep the previous night, so I was feeling pretty energized. I stayed and watched a movie with them, and when I got home, I hopped online and went to the website for the bistro I had parked across from. Rumor had it they had amazing baked goods, so I ordered an array of cookies for the meeting. Management would probably provide sandwiches, but that wasn't a given. If Haliaka was donating her time, I could at least make sure she had something to snack on.

When I parked the following morning, I carefully watched the parking lot. When I was sure that the man wasn't around, I quickly entered the hospital. Unfortunately, I couldn't avoid him later on when his daughter-in-law and granddaughter were being released.

When he walked over to the water fountain, I sighed, steeled myself, and approached him.

"Hi. I thought I'd introduce myself. My name is Shelley Acton and I'm an Olympic level conclusion jumper."

I stuck my hand out. After a moment, he took it and we shook.

"Hi, Shelley. I'm Steve. Maybe I jumped the gun. I would've freaked out as well if I thought somebody was stalking me."

I shook my head. "No, that's on me. Things... well, things have been a little hectic lately and I let it get to me. You have a beautiful granddaughter, Steve. I apologize if I made you feel uncomfortable."

"Not an issue. I have to get back to them, but please, tell your dad I said thanks. I was serious about that."

"He'll appreciate it." I turned and walked towards the elevators. That wasn't anywhere near as bad as I thought it would be.

The most memorable part of the rest of my workday was spent proselytizing for the manufacturers of my new walking shoes. People were suitably impressed and quickly hopped on Amazon to see if they came in their size. When I was grabbing a Coke Zero from our fridge, I realized how pathetic that was. I dealt with life and death on a daily basis and there I was, preaching the gospel of foot comfort. It came with the territory, but it still felt silly and a little trivial.

When my shift was finally over, I headed across the street to pick up the cookies I had ordered. I saw Steve, the construction guy, walking around with a bunch of suits. I was fairly sure that the suits worked for the hospital, but I didn't recognize any of them. It was clear that Steve was in some sort of managerial position. I couldn't picture him using a jackhammer or digging ditches. He wasn't dressed up, but he wasn't in a T-shirt and jeans either. His dockers and polo shirt screamed casual middle management.

He saw me and gave a little wave. I waved back and kept walking. When I got to the front of the line, I almost gave the woman taking orders my married name. I hated that reflex.

"Sorry. Shelley Acton? I'm here to pick up an order of cookies."

She quickly glanced at my name tag. The woman was short and wiry and had steel gray hair that was a bit longer than a crew cut. Her voice sounded like she had waged a twenty-year war with camel cigarettes and had barely come out the victor. "Are you a nurse?"

I nodded. "I am. First time here, though. Everything smells amazing."

"Nurses get fifteen percent off. You hear anything about that strike?"

I had to restrain myself and hold off on the eye roll. I couldn't escape rumors and people asking me questions about it.

"Actually, that's what the cookies are for. We're meeting with management tonight."

She grabbed the box from the stack behind the counter and didn't look up as she was tying it up with twine. "Look, don't mean to be nosy or anything, it's just that it's rough keeping a small business open at the best of times. With nurses not ordering, it's going to be close to the wire. Not that we're not with you. We are. Hundred percent. If you want to put some signage on the window, feel free. If it would be possible to give me a heads up on what is going to happen, it would be appreciated."

I hadn't thought about how what happens at the hospital impacted the community. "Sure."

When I pulled out my credit card, she just lowered her eyes and shook her head. "It's on us. Hold the bastard's feet to the fire. Anyone who's been in the hospital or has visited someone in the hospital knows how hard you work."

"That's very kind. Thank you." I checked my watch. "You know what? At least let me buy some dinner. I'll sit outside and have something to eat before the meeting."

I ordered a chicken caesar salad wrap, a bag of potato chips from a local company, and a Coke Zero. She gave me the fifteen percent discount she claimed all nurses received. I headed outside and found an empty wrought-iron chair and a small table. As I sat and ate, my eyes kept drifting back to Steve.

I didn't know what it was, but there was something about him that drew my attention. He was the exact opposite of the men I'd been interested in most of my life. Maybe it was an effort to pass off my father and maybe it was an effort to be closer to him, but my type had always been the stereotypical bad boy. Even my husband, the physician, kept his hair just a little too long and if he was wearing a tie, you could see the top of the tattoo on his chest peeking out.

I was old enough now to realize how stupid all of that was. None of them were quite the counterculture rebels that I thought they were when I was eighteen. I never dated any bikers, never had a relationship with true revolutionaries. I was happy with pretenders who were likely to run away if actual danger reared its head.

Steve looked solid. He kept his hair short, was in good shape and dressed like he coached soccer on the weekends. Still... there was something about him. Something that said that he wouldn't break and run when things got rough.

It seemed so shallow to me that I was almost embarrassed how quickly I would forget that he only had one arm and how impressive that appeared. Good for you, Steve. You almost seemed normal! That seemed so pathetically patronizing that I blushed whenever he came to mind.

I took my time finishing my meal. It was awfully delicious. I mean, a chicken wrap was a chicken wrap. How good could it be? Well, it turned out that it could be pretty damn good. They had a teenager who cleaned up the tables outside. When he saw me finish my Coke Zero, he brought me ice water in a plastic cup. I left a five under the cup before finally heading back to the hospital with my box of cookies.

Haliaka texted, letting me know that she had arrived. We were a little early to the meeting room and one of the tech guys was there setting up a PowerPoint presentation. I offered him a cookie, and we chatted until he was finished.

Other people started to slowly drift in, three representing labor and four representing management. When Henry entered, he looked from me to Haliaka with a shocked expression.

She smiled. "Mr. Chow. Lovely to see you again."

"Haliaka. Are you with Ms. Acton?"

"I am."

He smiled nervously. "That presents a conflict of interest, doesn't it? You represented the hospital in the past."

"The firm I was with at the time did. I'm a partner in a new firm now. I did my due diligence. Morally and legally, we're fine. Shall we get started?"

He was absolutely unnerved as he sat down.

"Of course. You're more than welcome. We are happy to have anyone join us who could help resolve this situation to the benefit of all parties involved."

Haliaka just raised her eyebrow, somehow conveying that should prefer to get the bullshit out-of-the-way and get down to the nuts and bolts.

Sandwiches were brought in and we engaged in meaningless pleasantries for a few minutes before we started going over the financials, as I had requested. Henry had handouts as well as their PowerPoint presentation. It somehow almost felt anachronistic, like something you would expect from a meeting in 1995. It was all dumbed down to the point where I could easily follow along, which was oddly insulting.

I knew my limitations. There should've been points where I was way out of my league and would have to take notes and do research after the fact. That wasn't the case. I noticed Henry looking over at Haliaka on occasion, his nerves evident. When he finished, I spoke up.

"Is that everything?"

"From what I've prepared, yes. Of course, I'm happy to answer any questions you may have. As you can see, the hospital simply doesn't have the funds to meet your requests. If you were able to accept a thirty-six-month moratorium on increases in base salaries and subsequent adjustments, we would be able to afford scheduled and incremental increases to the numbers you were looking for over a four-year period."

Haliaka put her hand on my arm before speaking.

"So, if I'm understanding you correctly, you're asking for seven years before the nurses receive what they believe is reasonable. Is that accurate?"

"Not exactly. It would be phased-in starting in three years."

"I see." She continued. "May I ask why your detailed overview of the financials didn't include endowments?"

Henry had a weak smile in place and began to blink rapidly. "Well, as we mentioned, this was a general overview. We weren't delving into specifics."

"Excuse me." Haliaka reached into her purse and pulled out some glasses. She quickly scanned through the document that management had prepared. "Maybe it's a bit of vanity, but I hate my glasses. So, you're saying that the revenue from endowments is included, it just isn't listed separately. Is that correct?"

His blinking remained persistent, but his smile faltered. "Hmm, you know what? I think that may have been omitted. Clearly our mistake. I could have an updated document for you first thing tomorrow morning."

Haliaka nodded, still looking at the paperwork instead of Henry. "I see. And revenue from rentals seems to be missing. The gift shop, the soda machines, the cafeterias. Where is that data?"

Any vestige of his smile was now long gone. "I have to apologize. My people clearly weren't on the ball and did a sloppy job. Why don't we postpone this meeting and I'll get you more comprehensive data?"

I wasn't amused. He was clearly trying to screw with us and was hiding revenue.

"Yeah. Why don't you go ahead and do that and in the meantime, I'm going to schedule a meeting with the nurses and our union."

As I stood up, he tried to placate me. "Shelley...Ms. Acton, I assure you we were acting in good faith. Some errors were made and they'll be corrected immediately."

I nodded. "I'll make sure that everyone at the meeting is informed. If we have any information you need to be aware of, I'll get in touch as soon as we're done."

I was angry and frustrated. He had tried to play me, and if Haliaka hadn't been on our side, he would've probably been successful. When I took the cookies, I also grabbed the remainder of the sandwiches. It was petty, but that was the sort of mood I was in. Haliaka walked with me to the break room, where I left everything for my colleagues.

I thanked her profusely as we headed out to the parking lot. As she got into her car, I thanked her again.

"I don't know what I would've done if you weren't there. You're the best."

"I really am, aren't I?" She laughed. "I'm joking. This was an informal meeting. If it had been an official negotiation or even an official discussion, the union would've sent a numbers guy with you, and he would've seen the same thing. It's really not a big deal."

I shook my head. "It is for me. If nothing else, it tells me that they're not honest brokers here. I'm going to set up a meeting for tomorrow and see if we want to vote."

"Want to use the for building across from the studio?"

When Haliaka first met that Dad, she was doing a financial audit of the studio. At its conclusion, she recommended that they purchase the derelict property across the street that had once been a Ford car dealership. With tax incentives, it cost them almost nothing to turn it into a skatepark and small concert hall. I thought that using it was a great idea and texted my father to see if it was going to be used. I need to have two meetings to make sure that everyone could attend, regardless of their shift.

Registered nurses make up almost a third of the employees at an average hospital. That meant I had to contact over three hundred people to let them know about the meeting. That was an insane number. I reached out to Ginny, my contact at the union. I was panicking and almost begged her to recruit people from the union to help me make all the calls.

She laughed softly. "Shelley, you need to step out of the 1980s. We have software that can make all the calls for us, and we have the phone number for every member of the union in our database. I'll send you a number to call where you can record the message and within five minutes of you hanging up nurses' phones should be ringing."