Someone to Watch Over Me Read Online Free PDF Page B

I’m a grown woman who happens to not have a lot of friends.” Do Facebook friends count?
    When she left the room, I picked up the phone to call a taxi myself. Why were these people acting like everyone has to have a million friends? A zillion contacts? I mean, some of us are busy with work. We’ve dedicated ourselves to being the best at what we do. Is that so wrong? Isn’t that the American dream?
    Besides, I did have a boyfriend. He and I had friends. Well, they were mostly his friends, but I knew them. I saw them at Target and McDonald’s and said “Hi!” They always said “Hi!” back to me.
    The social worker arrived shortly after I’d psyched myself out. My life isn’t so bad, really . I’m perfectly fine.
    â€œHello. Tori Henderson?” A chubby Hispanic lady with glasses and a long braid down her back tentatively stuck her head into my room. “I’m Josephine Sanchez with Social Services.”
    I couldn’t be rude to this lady. She was just doing her job. Plus, she was at least twenty years older than me, so I had to be respectful. “Yes, I’m Tori.”
    â€œGreat.” She entered the room and came right over to me, stretching out a hand for shaking purposes.
    I returned her gesture and she pulled up a chair. “Well, as I understand it, you’re going to need transportation from the hospital to your home. Will you need someone to pick up your prescriptions for you as well?”
    â€œWhat prescriptions?”
    â€œFor pain.”
    â€œWell, my boyfriend will be back in a few days. He travels a lot.”
    She laughed slightly. “I don’t think you’ll want to be without pain medication in the interim. My son actually had this same surgery a few years ago. Trust me, you’ll need it.” Her eyes turned to slits when she smiled, but the warmth therein still came across. She had the kind of demeanor I wished I could have when I was in those “What went wrong with your campaign?” meetings with Mr. Harvey.
    â€œDon’t hospitals have pharmacies?” I asked.
    â€œSome do,” she said, nodding, “but this one doesn’t. Don’t worry about it though, Miss Henderson. I can help you with that, too.” She produced a notepad from her purse and scribbled. “And, by the way, I can also help you to connect with other people in the Houston area so if you’re ever in a bind like this again, you’d have people to help you.”
    I shook my head and smirked. “I don’t need help meeting people.”
    She shrugged. “Well, that’s part of what Social Services is all about. If you’d . . . already been meeting people, it might be easier to get along in life. Especially when things like this unexpected surgery happen. Life has lots of surprises. The longer you live, the more you get.”
    â€œMs. Sanchez, I thank you for taking the time to arrange for the taxi and the medications, but I don’t need any other Social Services. I do have a life, I have a boyfriend, and I’m one of the top producers at my job—”
    â€œTori.” Josephine stopped me, taking off her glasses and peering at me for a moment. She seemed to be deciding something. She looked toward the sky, seemed to nod, and then took a deep breath. “I’m going to tell you something off the record. Something I wish someone had told me a long time ago. Do you want to hear it?”
    Do I have a choice? “I guess.”
    â€œI think you’re ready.” She smiled, as though she had been waiting for this moment since she first heard my name. “I used to work for a huge bank. I was well on my way up the corporate ladder, bringing in millions for the company, looking forward to that corner office.
    â€œOne day, a colleague in my department died of cancer and we all went to her funeral. We carpooled together that morning. We went to support the family and represent