Maria

Maria showed up on Sunday night, she was a sweet girl around my age who was eager to do every single thing I asked. She was very helpful but still lacked confidence in her skills.  She always asked a million questions to make sure she was on the right track or doing things exactly the way I liked them. 

"You have to make some decisions by yourself" I told her on Thursday after she asked me to try the salads she had put together to tell her what was missing.  She looked hurt at my comment and I felt awful.  But I knew she had to grow a spine and make decisions on her own if she was going to make it in the real world. "Listen, Maria, I’m not trying to be mean, but next week you are going to be the one bossing me around.  I want you to be making decisions.  I will be here to support you, but you need to assert yourself." She nodded at me, her big brown eyes full of tears.  I pulled her into a hug and rubbed her back.  "Maria, don’t cry" I said sadly, "I’m trying to help you" 

"I know you are, I'm sorry, I hate being in charge" she replied. She left the kitchen with tears coming down her face.  I huffed as I returned to the dishes finishing up late. As I walked out of the kitchen I noticed Maria walking from Gabriel’s cabin to ours. I threw a dirty look at Gabriel’s cabin but refrained from asking Maria about it. I made it to my room, showered and went to bed. 

Maria left with Gabriel for the weekend while I stayed behind. I was annoyed with my boss for sleeping with the kitchen help but I wasn’t responsible for what Maria did while she was here. It was her own problem if she got her heart broken. 

It was a very hot weekend in which a dip in the river seemed like a good refreshing idea.  None of the cabins had air conditioning other than the kitchen so Matteo and I spent most of the weekend by the water. It was late on Sunday when we returned to the camp playfully racing and shoving each other while laughing. I caught sight of Gabriel’s truck coming into the camp and watched as Maria looked up at Gabriel with lustful eyes. I elbowed Matteo in the side so he could witness what was going on as well. 

"It's her funeral," he said to me in a low voice. I pulled my towel up from my waist to cover myself when I noticed Gabriel watching us approach, his eyes not leaving me. I rushed to my cabin and quickly changed out of my bikini before Maria arrived.  I pulled on a black t-shirt and jeans and made my way to the kitchen to unpack the special groceries they had brought from town. Maria was being incredibly bubbly and chatty which was irritating Gabriel.  I smirked at this and encouraged her chatter. 

"So what did you do all weekend?" I asked in a friendly voice.  I caught sight of Gabriel rolling his eyes and glaring at me. 

"Oh, my god! I had the best weekend ever" she said and flashed Gabriel a smile, "I spent the weekend with this guy and it was so much fun, I really think we hit it off" I cringed inwardly at her statement while Gabriel left the kitchen in a huff. 

"Are you ready to be in charge this week?" I asked her.

"I think so," she said with a determined look on her face. The week went by great but Maria still needed a lot of support in making decisions. I was patient with her but tried to push her out of her comfort zone as much as I could. 

"Harper," I heard Gabriel's cool voice calling as I made my way to the river. "Can you lay off Maria, please" he asked desperately. 

"Lay off?" I asked, confused, "What do you mean?" 

"She comes crying to me every night and I have to hear about how hard you are on her" 

"Wha-?" I gasped dumbstruck. 

"Just whatever it is, can you please go easy on her. I can’t take it anymore" 

I nodded angrily, turned on my heels and continued my way to the river where Matteo was waiting for me.  My friend looked over my shoulder with a frown on his face and I looked behind me to see that Gabriel had followed me down. 

"What?" I bit out harshly. 

Gabriel looked from me to Matteo and shrugged, sitting down beside us.  I removed my shirt and shorts and jumped into the river, frustratingly walking against the current just to let myself float back down. When I came back down the third time, I noticed Matteo had left and Gabriel was just sitting on the bank by himself smoking a cigarette. 

"Where did Matty go?" I called out. 

"Work" he said, watching as I toweled myself dry. 

"Guess I should be going back too then" I said.  We walked back in silence, my wet feet making awkward noises in my crocs. Gabriel chuckled as I tried to walk without making my feet rub against the inside of the rubber shoes. I shoved him playfully and he rested an arm around my shoulders pulling me close to him, a smile still etched on his face. 

I took over for Maria for the rest of her time with me. I was nice to her, answered all her questions and didn’t bother putting her back in charge.  Her evaluation reflected her attitude and I felt bad that she was going to end up with a low mark. I thought I was fair and easy going but clearly she had a different opinion.  I was upset and wanted to stop doing the college this favour. I sucked it up and welcomed the third student of the summer. 

William Rogers was short with dark brown hair and matching eyes.  He followed instructions well and rarely asked for validation unless he felt it was important. Our first week together was fantastic and I could hardly believe he was a student. He was very passionate about cooking and had excellent skills.  I rarely had to give him directions or advice. 

"Harper!" I heard someone call out while I was cleaning the pantry and doing stock. I poked my head out and saw Gabriel. "Phone in my office" he said. 

I ran over to his cabin and took the phone. 

"Hello, Harper Saunders speaking"

"Miss Saunders, this is Amanda calling from Doctor Helm’s office we were simply calling to book an appointment. Is there a day that you have some availability this week?" 

"Uhm, usually I’m off work on Fridays and can be there later in the afternoon" I offered. 

"Perfect, how about 4 pm this Friday?" she said in a cheery voice. 

"Sure, I'll be there" 

"Thank you, have a nice week!" she said before hanging up. Gabriel looked at me with a raised brow. 

"Could I get a ride with you to town on Friday?" 

"Sure"

"Could I make another phone call too?" He motioned for me to do just that as I dialed Janice’s phone number but got no answer. I made another phone call to the motel I usually stayed at when I went to town and booked a room for the weekend. 

"You could have stayed at my place," Gabriel said, annoyed. 

"Oh, well thanks, but I will be fine there" I smiled at him and returned to my cleaning. 

Gabriel dropped me off at the doctor's clinic and offered to come in with me. 

"I'll be fine, thanks.  But if you don’t mind picking me up from the motel on Sunday I would really appreciate it." 

"I'll wait here until you're done and drop you off," he replied. 

"No, no, it's not too far from here I'll be fine." I said as I grabbed my backpack.  Gabriel held on to it and motioned for me to get out, refusing to let me get my things out.  "Fine!" I said resigned, "I'll be right back" 

I registered at the front desk and waited patiently for Dr. Helm to call me in his office. 

"Miss Saunders, how are you?" he asked, sitting close to me and giving me his full attention. 

"Good" I replied nervously, awaiting the news he was going to give me. 

"We got your biopsy results back and unfortunately the results were inconclusive.  At this point it means that the only way of knowing if it's cancerous is by taking the thyroid out and doing a biopsy on it that way.  it's not likely to be cancerous considering you have no other risk factors so I'm going to suggest we just monitor it with regular blood tests, and ultrasound in a year. If it grows beyond a certain amount we will remove it, but I don't feel it's necessary at this point." 

I took in all this information without batting an eyelid. 

"But it could be cancerous though, couldn't it?" I asked

"It could," he said, simply. 

"I do have a history though, I had cancer as a child and radiation at this level" I said pointing to my chest where two small dots had been tattooed, indicating where the tumors had been. 

"Yes, I understand, however the radiation was at the lung level and it's very unlikely your thyroid was affected by it.  Radiation is very precise and all precautions were taken to protect your other organs while you received it."

"Okay, well that makes me feel a little better" 

"I will get my secretary to schedule your next ultrasound and blood work for 6 months from now so just have a talk with her on your way out to make sure we still have the right information, if there are no other questions, Ms Saunders, that will be all, but feel free to contact me at any time." 

"Thanks Dr. Helm" 

Gabriel dropped me off at the motel, offering me his house for the weekend claiming he was going to be away. I declined one more time and checked into my room. I tried to call Janice again but the phone just rang and rang. I rented a movie and ordered a pizza for supper then went to bed incredibly early. 

I walked over to Janice’s house and noticed a huge for sale sign in front of it. I tentatively knocked on the door and my friend answered the door wearing a white house coat and fluffy slippers on her feet. 

"Harper!" she squealed excitedly, inviting me in "What are you doing here?" 

"I had an appointment with my doctor yesterday. Your house is for sale?" 

"Yeah, my dad got sick and I told my mom I'd move back to Rhode Island to help her take care of him" 

"Oh, no! I'm sorry about your dad" 

"It's okay he's been sick my whole life, but my mom is getting old and she needs some help. I've been wanting to move closer to them for a while.  Did you get the results of your biopsy?" she asked, changing the subject. 

"Yeah, I still don’t know anything," I replied sadly. 

"Let me get dressed and we can go for a walk or something" she said walking towards her bedroom. We walked down main street stopping in a few shops along the way and eventually grabbing some coffee.  When we returned to her house I helped her pack a few boxes of books and other knick knacks she had around the house. It was well past 11 when she returned me to the hotel where I immediately went to bed.