Barely a moment later, Adrian's message pinged on the screen. It read, [The shirts are wrinkled! You haven't ironed them yet? I can't show up in the office wearing them.]
It did not stop there. Another one came, saying, [You haven't prepared breakfast either?]
Just then, the department head happened to call me over, so I did not have time to reply to Adrian. "Madeline, good news!" he boomed, "After assessing your performance, it looks like the hospital wants to discuss your further training. Oh, look, you're fully recovered now, too."
I had initially planned to marry Adrian and have children, so I declined the hospital's offer before I was pregnant. But now I figured it out. Marrying him, building a family, those naïve aspirations had lost their charms. Staying with Adrian felt not just pointless, but foolish.
"I've thought about it, sir. I'll go," I replied with a newfound conviction.
"Excellent choice!" The department head was practically beamed. He then asked me to prepare everything and said he would notify me when the date was set.
His enthusiasm was infectious. I agreed that the time was indeed right. This was my ticket to a future I could finally design on my own terms.