The Right Shoe

The Right Shoe

“Ok, Mark, which shoe should I wear?”

“What?”

“Can you please tell me which shoe looks better with this outfit?” Valerie put her hands on her hips and waited. 

“Just a sec.” Mark finished watching a video on his phone and then looked up at his girlfriend who was shifting around on two completely different-looking shoes.

“Wait. Why are you wearing two different shoes?”

“Oh. My. God. MARK! I am asking you which one looks better!” she sighed and then turned around to view her reflection again.

“Oh. I don’t know. Um. I guess the one on the right?” He went back to scrolling on his phone.

“Really? Ya think? The right?”

“I mean, yeah. The other one is ugly. And does it really matter? Aren’t you just going to work?”

“Well, yeah, but then you and I are meeting up for dinner later. Right?”

“Oh, yeah, yeah. Are you gonna change? Or will you be wearing that?” he pointed to her golden-yellow blazer with an obvious disgust.

Valerie rolled her eyes, “Hey! I love this blazer. It’s like wearing a piece of sunshine. It makes me happy.” He didn’t even see her flash a cute, flirty smile as she tossed her long, chestnut hair behind her shoulder.

“Ok, cool,” he mumbled back.

Valerie stopped smiling. It was no use trying to wean him away from his phone. Sometimes she wondered who he was in a relationship with; her or his cell phone that seemed to be giving him everything he could ever want. She pivoted toward the mirror once again and even though she was leaning toward the shoe on the left, which was definitely more comfortable, she let Mark’s opinion take over. She took off the unwanted shoe, put on the winner, and nodded her head in approval. The blazer really brought out the small flowers that outlined the toe of her shoes, so she decided the discomfort was worth it. The heels were a bit high, which gave her those inches she so desperately needed, and the straps were somewhat loose around the ankle, but not enough to deter her from looking her best.

Valerie headed out of her apartment building, smiling at passersby, in search of a taxi. When she finally spotted one, she took a few steps toward the street while a man with a dog was headed in the opposite direction. The dog tried to catch up to his owner by trotting quickly up the curb and got his paw caught in Valerie’s loose strap. She never saw it coming, but as soon as she felt the pull, there was no stopping the momentum of her fall. She knew she was going down, and she was going down hard. 

“Miss, are you okay? Miss?”

Valerie started to open her eyes and could hear a man talking to her. “What? What happened?”

The man responded, “Miss, you just fell and hit your head. Pretty hard. Ohhh, you’re bleeding!”

“Am I?” she started to reach to feel her head and then suddenly felt the pain. Yep, she was indeed bleeding. And lying on concrete. With a stranger holding her arm.

“You should go to the hospital,” the man tried to help her up, but she faltered. 

“Oh my goodness, Val! What happened? Are you all right?” Kim, her apartment neighbor, who she had just had a margaritas girls’ night with last week, was running toward her when she realized she was hurt. 

“Oh, hey Kim, I’m ok. I’m fine. I have to get to work,” she looked down at her shoe. Her stupid, strappy shoe that failed her. It was all torn up, and one of the flowers fell off.

“Girlfriend, ya got blood all over your smiley-face blazer. You ain’t goin into work today. I’ll take you to the hospital,” Kim stopped the cab, helped Valerie into the back and followed her in.

“Oh my God, I can’t believe this is happening. I’ve gotta text Mark.”

Kim shook her head, “No, no. I’ll text him for you. Just sit back and relax. You might have a concussion. That man said you fell and hit the ground hard. You’re lucky you weren’t injured any worse than that!” She grabbed her phone and started to compose.

Valerie looked down at the blood that stained her beautiful jacket and wanted to cry. Not because it hurt, but because her favorite blazer was now ruined. “Well, I guess Mark will be happy.”

“What?! Happy about you getting hurt? That’s disturbing.”

“Oh . . . no, no. I meant the jacket. The blazer. He doesn’t like it.”

“Of course he doesn’t,” she said under her breath.

“What?”

“Oh, nothing. Nothing at all. Just relax; we’re almost there.”

As Valerie laid in the hospital bed, waiting for the doctor to come in, Kim tried to distract her and entertain her the best she could.

“I really appreciate you helping me, Kim. Did Mark text you back yet?” she winced at the throbbing pain. 

“Nope, not yet. Don’t worry about it though, I’m here for you! I just have to use the bathroom real quick, and I’ll be right back.”

Valerie waited until Kim was around the corner and then she started to reach for her phone. As soon as she saw she had one new text, in walked the doctor.

“Hi there, are you Miss Roberts?”

“Yes, hi. Hello there. I am she, I am her, yes.” she couldn’t help but stare.

“I’m Doctor Osborne. I’ll be examining you this morning.” He smiled beautifully. 

“Oh ok, yeah, cool, that’s fine,” she tried to hide her excitement at the sight of this cliche tall, dark, and handsome man. Oh, and a doctor.

“I like your jacket; not enough people wear yellow anymore. I think the color is too happy for some people, what do you think?” he seemed to chuckle at his own joke.

“Yes, very handsome— I mean happy, yes. Happy . . . and sunshine,” she didn’t even know what she was saying anymore. But she did know he had the most perfect features.

“Looks like you have a pretty big gash in your head there,” she let him move her head around. “How in the world did this happen?”

She tried to take a few deep breaths before speaking again so she wouldn’t continue sounding like an idiot. “Well, I was wearing those heels,” she pointed to the mangled, not-so-white shoe on the chair, “and a dog got caught in the strap and boom- took me down on the concrete. It’s all pretty embarrassing.”

“Wow, I’m so sorry that happened to you. Can I take a look at your ankle?” 

“Of course,” she brought up her leg onto the bed.

“Oh boy, pretty swollen. Not the best way to start your day, Miss Roberts! Are those shoes comfortable?“

“Oh hell no,” she laughed. “None of this would have happened if I had just worn the other shoes.”

“What made you wear these?”

Valerie paused and didn’t know what to say at first. She knew why but now she didn’t want to admit it, so she shrugged her shoulders and smiled. They continued flirting with each other every chance they got. And even though she felt guilty, she couldn’t help but be drawn to this doctor. He was hot, no doubt about it, but it was much more than that. He was a magnificent, bright light of a human, and she couldn’t remember the last time she had met someone like this, especially these days.

Just then Kim walked back into the room and practically gasped. “Well, well, well. What do we have here?” 

Dr. Osborne greeted her and then started to walk toward the door, “I’ll be right back, I just need to grab some ice for that ankle.”

As soon as he stepped out, Kim and Valerie both screeched like teenage girls. Valerie went on and on gushing about Dr. Osborne when Kim interrupted her, “Well, Mark texted me back while I was in the bathroom.”

“Oh, he did? What did he say?”

Kim pursed her lips, “OK.”

“Okay, so what did he say?”

“That was his text back, Val. Just… OK.”

Valerie’s face completely dropped. “You mean he knows I am bleeding? From my head? He knows that I’m in the hospital? And that you took me here?“ Kim nodded yes to each question, fully knowing how bad this was. “He knows all of it. I’m sorry.”

Valerie remembered she had one new text, from Mark, so she picked up her phone and read it aloud, “What time dinner?” Her face reddened.

Kim’s eyes bulged out. Valerie went from sad to disappointed to angry all within a matter of seconds. “That mother-“

“OK, sorry about that, Miss Roberts.” Dr. Osborne looked at both of the women’s faces and clearly read that something was wrong. “Oh, I can step out again if you would like me to?”

Valerie looked down, still in disbelief. The nerve of him to not even ask if she’s okay, or if she needs him, or the want to rush to her side. Something just clicked in her brain and it was like every terrible comment, awful reaction, crappy gesture that Mark had ever made flashed through her brain. Suddenly it all became incredibly clear and overly simple to her. 

“No, Dr. Osborne. No need to leave. Kim was just telling me that she won’t be able to join me for dinner tonight like we had planned. Right, Kimmy?”

Kim squinted her eyes, trying to figure out her strategy, and then started to grin once she caught on. “Yes, my dear friend, I am so sorry to flake on you. I completely forgot . . . that . . .  my mother is coming into town. And didn’t you already make those reservations?” She made sure that Dr. Osborne saw her lips form a sad face.

“Yes, Kim, I did. Dr. Osborne, what are you doing this evening? Would you be able to join me for dinner?” She used her cute, flirty smile and tossed her hair.

“Oh, I’m not sure I can do that,” he looked down at his clipboard. 

Valerie instantly felt foolish. Of course he can’t go. He must be taken, a guy like this. “Oh, it’s no problem, really, I just thought…”

“Miss Roberts, you can’t go anywhere tonight with this head injury. You need to relax. As your doctor, I must advise you to stay home and take it easy for the next 24 hours or so. However, I would love to go to dinner with you another night? Say Saturday?”

She was able to breathe again, “That sounds great. I’ll make sure to wear different shoes.”

He laughed, “I won’t be looking at your shoes.” They both blushed at his cheesy, yet fantastic comment. 

She couldn’t help but think about how insane this day had turned out to be. She texted Mark back: Dinner 7pm do not be late, so Mark showed up at the restaurant at 7:15 and was seated right away. He scrolled on his phone as he waited for Valerie. Then he waited some more and scrolled even deeper watching videos, playing games, posting on social media.

The waiter finally asked, “Sir, are you going to place your order soon?”

“Oh, I’m waiting for my girlfriend.“

“Are you Mark?”

“Yeah, why?”

“The reservations were made for two…”

“Yeah, for me and Valerie. Obviously she’s late.”

“Well underneath the reservations, it shows Mark Campbell and his cell phone.”

“Wait. What?” 

The waiter held back his laughter and then straightened his face, “I’m sorry, sir.” 

“No, no, no. She wouldn’t dare.” Mark quickly and furiously texted Valerie, “What the hell is going on, Val?”

She responded, “Enjoy dinner. And thank you for picking the right shoe.”