Free Stubborn Love - A Contemporary Romance: Falling for Him (Falling for Him Contemporary Romance Series Book 6) by Jessica Gray

lifetime.

Chapter 17
     
    Clara woke up in the wee hours of the morning and rushed for the bathroom. She was horribly sick, running a slight fever, her entire body ached something fierce, and her head was throbbing in time with her heartbeat. I have the stomach flu that’s been going around the office! Great!
    Kaylee had been the first employee to come down with the illness, and two other employees of Bella had also fallen ill. Rather than a twenty-four hour bug, this one seemed to hang around for several days and Clara groaned in defeat. There’s no way I can go to work!
    She got dressed and then headed to the building next door. Her friend had left her a list of emergency services, and a general practice doctor happened to have an office in the ground floor level of the building next door. According to the note by her friend, he welcomed walk-ins and was reasonably priced.
    Clara didn’t care so much about the cost; she just hoped he could give her something to help lessen the nausea and stomach cramps. She’d already taken something for her fever and the body aches, but even now her stomach was threatening to rebel the intrusions.
    The doctor turned out to be a kind older gentleman who agreed with her assessment of the stomach flu. He wrote her a note excusing her from work for the next three days, and then ordered her to go straight back to bed.
    Clara wasn’t able to stand on her feet for a long time anyways, so it was easy to follow the doctor’s orders. At the apartment, she called Nigel’s secretary who wished her well and said she’d let everyone know.  A few hours later the medicine for the nausea had finally done its trick, and even her fever was down slightly, but she still felt like she had been trampled beneath the feet of a dozen horses.
    In bed, she thought about the night before, smiling wanly as she realized she’d done an excellent job with the moderation. Unfortunately, her mind soon turned to her last interaction with Nigel and then the good-looking guy she had left with the night before.
    He’d been cute, but when they’d arrived back at the apartment, she hadn’t even been able to kiss him goodnight. She’d sent him away, her thoughts and heart still on Nigel. They were always on Nigel.
    Throughout the day, she received several text messages and phone calls. She let the first few go straight to voicemail and didn’t grab her cell phone until noon. When she did, she was startled to see all of them had been from Nigel.
    She took her phone back to bed with her, but when it rang again an hour later, and caller I.D. showed Nigel’s name, she just let it go again. Today she just didn’t have it in her to deal with Nigel. When the phone rang again and again, she the ringer to silent, rolled over and went back to sleep.
    Clara still felt horrible, and she spent the next two days either sleeping or watching movies on TV. She didn’t answer the phone calls, nor did she return the text messages. She had firmly resolved not to have anything to do with Nigel ever again. That road only led to heartache! No thank you!
    Three days later when Clara returned to work, she still hadn’t spoken to Nigel. She was nervous about seeing him, but the secretary informed her straight away that Nigel had been called away on a business trip and would be out of the office for the rest of the week. Clara was relieved and smiled for the first time in days.
    The first person she met once she entered the office space was Kaylee. If she’d been a bitch before, she was now in Über Bitch mode.
    “Nice of you to finally deign us with your presence.”
    Clara looked at her in shock, wondering what had crawled up her ass! “I’m feeling much better, thanks for asking.” She wasn’t letting this woman destroy her good mood.
    “I understand you did a passable job at the event.”
    Passable? Really? “Oh, I think I did at least as good of a job as you would have done. I trust you’re better now?”
    “Of course. And