Ch. 4

”Yes Mr. Burlingame. I’ll let Mr. Parker know and he requested you call his office and set up a time to fly in and sign the contracts. He wants to break ground in January…….Yes and I am as well. This medical center will put your company on the map…..Yes and thank you Mr. Burlingame”

Bette ended the call and before she could take her ear piece out another call came through and quickly answered it.

”Bette Porter”

”Hey Bette. It’s Tina”

Surprised to be hearing from Tina so soon, Bette hesitated and momentarily forgot where she was heading as she quickly looked down at the GPS then back at the road.

”Hello?”

”Hey Tina. Sorry…I was trying to make sure I didn’t miss a turn on the way to this office I’m looking at renting”

”Oh well I’m sorry I won’t keep you but I thought maybe you could stop by my office at the hospital and pick up the designs I had. Maybe you could get something in mind before we meet at the property Sunday”

”Of course. I can stop by there in a few hours. When would be a good time?”

”I have rounds until noon so anytime after that. Just come to the oncology floor and have them page me at the desk” Tina answered.

”Ok. I’ll see you then” Bette said as she turned on the street of the office building she was going to check out.

”Ok..Uhmm? Bette? You said you were looking for an office to rent?”

”Yes as well as a home. Even after the medical center is built I plan to stay here”

”Well I was asking because I have a space that I used to use for my research before they let me move into the old lab here at the hospital. When you get here I’ll give you the key to go look at it and if you decide to take it we can work something out”

”I would love to see it. So I will see you later then”

”Ok, Bye Bette”

”Bye Tina” Bette answered and pulled up to the office building and parked. After gathering her purse and folder, she exited the car and headed to the entrance of the building.

Ch. 3

”Hello…Bette Porter here”

”Hey Bette..It’s Tina”

Bette felt a lump form in her throat upon hearing Tina’s sweet voice sound in her ear.

”Bette are you there?”

”Yes Tina. Sorry. I was adjusting my ear piece” Bette lied but knew Tina wouldn’t think anything otherwise.

”Oh ok. Listen I got your message and I wanted to call you instead of texting you since I wanted to see if you would rather me bring a lunch out to the property and maybe have a picnic. It’s so beautiful out there and the weather is supposed to be perfect I thought I could make us something. I could meet you out there instead of meeting at my house. Does that sound ok?”

Bette couldn’t help but smile as she pulled into Alice’s apartment building and parked.

”Sure Tina. That sounds great. Where is the property located again?”

”It’s located at 525 Pacific Trail in Malibu” Tina answered as Bette quickly grabbed a pen from her purse and wrote the address on the palm of her hand.

”Ok. Got it”. So what time did you want to meet?” Bette asked wondering why Tina opted to have a picnic there instead of brunch at her home as originally planned.

”We can still meet at 10am. I will bring the designs to show you and hopefully we can fit a lot of things in the design I was wanting to have in the facility”

”I think we will be able to come up with a perfect design with you and me working together on this” Bette responded then silently scolded herself for sounding cheesy.

”Oh I hope so too. Well I need to go. I have a new patient I’m trying to fit in for surgery so I’ll call you and confirm plans again. I hope I won’t have to cancel but my schedule leaves me little time for anything else. Being a doctor and head of the oncology department has pretty much derailed any social life for me but I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I love what I do” Tina explained and Bette couldn’t help admire Tina and her passion for her job and commitment to her patients.

”I know and I feel the same way about my career. This opportunity to build Westwood Medical Center has been the best thing to happen for me and now I get to design your research facility as an added bonus” Bette said scolding herself for once again sounding cheesy.

Ch. 2

After presenting the plans for the new medical center to the board and to Tina, Bette shut her laptop down and felt a hand touch her shoulder.

”Bette? We are absolutely thrilled with the designs and you have stayed within our budget. We would like to break ground in January. Will that be enough time to get Burlingame Construction contracted for this project?” Mr. Parker asked as the board members looked on.

”Yes sir. I will call Mr. Burlingame and get him to fly in to sign the contracts. When will you have them ready?”

”I’ll have my legal team work on them this week and by next week they will be ready to sign. Have him give my office a call to set up the appointment. I’ll have your check waiting for you when you sign your contract. Also, whatever Dr. Kennard wants for her cancer research facility please provide us with the figures so we can make a budget for that alright?”

”I’ll get with Dr. Kennard and set up a time to go over the designs and call you when I have that ready. Hopefully by next week”

”Excellent and we are looking forward to breaking ground soon” Mr. Parker stated before walking out with his board members. Tina remained at the table looking over the plans with Alice sitting beside her.

”Damn I need new glasses because I can’t read shit anymore” Alice complained bringing the booklet close to her face and squinting her eyes.

”Alice? When was the last time you went to the eye doctor” Bette asked walking over to sit in the empty chair next to Tina.

”Like…Uhmm?…Well I don’t know….Like 7 years ago maybe” Alice answered hesitantly.

”Why haven’t you gone since then?” Tina asked

Alice shrugged her shoulders then sighed ”Couldn’t afford it”

”Al? Can I speak to you for just a moment” Bette asked then looked at Tina ”Do you mind waiting here just a second please?”

”Of course not..Go ahead… I’m still looking at the plans anyway” Tina answered smiling at Bette before turning her attention back to the booklet.

Bette turned and walked Alice outside the room and turned her around with both hands to face her.

”Al? You are my best friend and now you are working for me and along with your salary I’m going to get you a benefits package that will provide you with Health Insurance, Vision, Dental, a 401K, vacation time, medical leave, everything ok?” Bette explained as tears started streaming down Alice’s face.

Ch. 1

Staring out of her window at the mountains some thousands of feet below, Bette Porter smiled as the plane she was currently aboard started its decent into Los Angeles. As the captain made his announcement over the speaker, Bette turned her head away from the window and rested it against the seat feeling excited as she was about to begin the next phase of her life and what she had been preparing her entire career for.

As the plane landed safely on the tarmac and begin its short taxi to the gate at the terminal, Bette grabbed her purse and pulled out her cellphone hitting #1 on her speed dial.

”Hello”

”Hey it’s Bette. I just landed”

”Damn Bette. I thought your ass was never going to get here. I have been waiting on you forever”

”I know Al. I’m sorry..I got delayed in Denver because of the storm.”

”Yeah I know. I was worried that your flight was going to be grounded and if you couldn’t make it here for tomorrow the project was going to be pulled out from under you and given to someone else”

”Alice? That’s why I sent the plans to you and asked you to work with me on this. If I couldn’t have made it, I would trust that you could cover until I was able to get there. You would have no problem going over the plans.”

”Bette you really need your head examined. I mean thinking you could send me into a room full of executives and expect to present them with the plans to build the most state of the art medical center in the world. You do know I barely passed Speech 101”

”Yes I know and I’m shocked quite frankly since you can’t stop running your mouth. So I don’t know why you would have a problem running it in front of a roomful of people”

”Porter just get to Baggage Claim #4 so we can get out of here. I’ve got your room all ready and it will be just like old times. We are roomies again!”

Bette chuckled and rolled her eyes

”Well just until I can find a house. There is no way I’m going to stay and listen to your screaming through the walls with whoever you are entertaining in your bed that night”