Page 88 of Sex Positive

She’s so preoccupied by her thoughts of Wes combined with the to-do list for the Expo, she doesn’t even process the name of the first patient until she’s standing in the room and a chipper voice calls out a cheery hello.

Emilia Quinn sits on the exam table, her jean-clad legs swinging over the side, smiling at her.

Charlie gives herself a mental shake, trying to clear her mind from her many distractions. “I didn’t even realize it was you.”

Emilia beams, the familiar dimple making an appearance. “I’ve been coming here for years to get tested. Dr. Angelo put in my IUD last year when they started offering it with sedation. What a game changer.”

Charlie manages a smile while feeling somewhat breathless at Emilia’s bright exuberance so early in the morning.

Setting her laptop on the counter, she begins taking her vitals.

Emilia watches her maneuver the pulse oximeter on her finger. “How’s planning for the Expo coming?”

“Good,” she says, noting her pulse and oxygen level—normal. “Betsy’s confirmed, and we’re working on a few other comedians.”

“I knew she would. She loves that kind of stuff.”

Charlie hums in acknowledgment, wrapping the blood pressure cuff around Emilia’s upper arm. The room fills with the hum of the machine. While she waits for final reading, she returns to her stool, opening Emilia’s chart to record her vitals.

“Can I tell you something?” Emilia asks.

“Of course,” Charlie says, not looking up from her screen.

“I hope this isn’t weird, but I knew who you were the second you walked into the room at the party.”

Charlie snaps her head up.

Emilia casts her a rueful smile. “Wes talked about you constantly when he came home freshman year. He’ll probably kill me for telling you this, but I’m his favorite and only sister, so he’ll get over it.”

Charlie stares at her, the confession making her heart beat erratically in her chest. She feels the familiar flush coming on, and she’s about five seconds from it spreading down her neck and across her chest.

The blood pressure machine finishes its reading, the final numbers flashing on the screen. Charlie stands and removes the cuff from Emilia’s arm, not looking at her as she does.

“You could say I’ve wanted to meet you for a while,” Emilia adds softly.

“Wes and I aren’t—” Charlie begins before pausing. “We’re not particularly close anymore.”

Emilia’s eyes light up with a challenge before she says, “So that’s why he skipped out on my parents’ New Year’s Eve party to take a four-hour train ride to see you?”

Charlie wants to refute whatever Emilia’s implying, wants to insist it isn’t what she thinks it is. But her throat clogs with emotion, and she’s desperate to escape under the much too observant gaze of Wes’s sister.

Gathering up her laptop, she sends her a polite smile. “Dr. Angelo will be with you shortly.”

Emilia smiles, so reminiscent of her brother, her chest aches at the sight. “It was good seeing you, Charlie. I’m sure I’ll see you again soon.”

Twenty-Four

Three days later,with no word yet from Wes, she comes across an LSAT prep book buried under a pile of textbooks at the foot of her bed.

Flipping through the pages, she recognizes Wes’s handwriting in some of the margins, and when she opens the front cover, his name is scrawled across the top like they’re in elementary school.

Unless he has other materials, he hasn’t been studying. Given his dislike of the LSAT, she’s unsurprised. Part of her doesn’t want to return the book to him, but the other part—the louder, more insistent part—wants to clear the air. And to see him.

She knows she could text, but another part—smaller, quieter—fears he won’t respond. Which is probably what she deserves.

All through her shift at the clinic the next day, she weighs the pros and cons of stopping by his apartment after work. Even as she’s stepping off the bus and heading in the direction of Avalon Place, the book heavy in her work bag, she wonders if this is the right call.

She signs in at the front desk, then takes the familiar path to the sixth floor. She tells herself she’ll leave the book in the hall if he doesn’t answer, but his door swings open not even five seconds after she knocks.