Chapter 6 - The Monday Morning Interview
The interview at Baptist Hospital’s pediatric wing was scheduled for 9:00 AM sharp.
Clare sat in the brightly lit waiting room, wearing a tailored navy blue blazer she had purchased with her own savings, her dark hair pinned into a sleek, professional French twist. Her palms were slightly damp against her leather portfolio, but her mind was crystal clear.
For the first time in years, there was no shadow hanging over her. There was no voice in her head telling her she wasn't good enough.
“Ms. Jensen?”
A cheerful nurse manager with silver-streaked hair and kind eyes stepped out of a side office, holding a clipboard.
“I’m Dr. Alva. Come on back.”
The interview went better than Clare could have ever hoped. Her seven years of high-stress postpartum experience, combined with her calm, authoritative demeanor, blew the hiring committee away. By the time she walked out of the office forty-five minutes later, she didn't just have a verbal offer—she had a senior charge nurse position starting the following Monday, complete with a salary that would allow her to rent her own place within six months.
As she stepped out through the automatic glass doors of the hospital into the warm Miami sunshine, her phone buzzed in her pocket.
It was a text message from an unknown number.
“Job secured?”
Clare smiled, shaking her head as she typed back a quick reply.
“Senior charge nurse. Starting next week. Don’t flatter yourself—I earned it.”
Almost instantly, a reply came back.
“I never doubted it for a second. Dinner tonight? There’s a place by the marina that makes the only espresso in Florida that doesn’t taste like swamp water.”
Clare stared at the screen, her heart skipping a traitorous beat.
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“Are you in Miami?”
“My private jet landed fifteen minutes ago. Leo wanted to thank his favorite nurse in person.”
