Danielle Steel - The Apartment

“OB/GYN. I want to do high-risk and infertility eventually. Right now I’m doing pretty much everything in OB, but there’s a lot of high-risk now, and multiple births with older mothers, so it’s pretty interesting.” Helen seemed very interested in Sasha’s work, and put her at ease with intelligent questions about it.

“Sasha has an identical twin,” Alex added, and Helen looked fascinated by that.

“I always wanted twins,” Helen said, “but there are none in either of our families,” she told her, looking mildly disappointed.

“My father was a twin, but his brother died when they were very young,” Sasha said. Alex hadn’t known that, and was interested to hear it. “My sister and I are totally identical,” she said to Helen, “except in personality.” She laughed. “Our parents could never tell us apart, which was a lot of fun. We used to play on it every chance we got. I used to write papers and take exams for her, and she flirted with boys for me, and got me dates. And then I’d blow it by being boring on a date. But I got her pretty good grades on exams.” They all laughed at what she said.

“Is she in medicine too?” Helen inquired as they drank their tea, and there was a plate of homemade cookies that smelled wonderful—they were gingerbread and chocolate chip.

“No, she’s a model,” Sasha said simply. “She has a much more glamorous life than I do!”

Alex nodded ruefully. “Sasha forgot to mention to me that she had an identical twin when we first met,” he explained to his mother. “I saw them at the cafeteria together at the hospital, and thought I was seeing double. She had just said she has a sister. They look the same, but they are day and night.”

“She’s pretty out there,” Sasha admitted comfortably. She already felt at home with them, and she accepted her sister as she was. “She showed up at the hospital that day in a stretch jumpsuit that looked like a leotard, high heels, and a leopard coat, which is pretty tame for her. She fools my roommates all the time, pretending to be me, except one of them can tell us apart. Our parents used to dress us identically but in different colors, and my sister would make us switch clothes. It drove them crazy, and I have to admit, we loved it. No one could ever figure out who was who. But they can now. She wouldn’t be caught dead in scrubs and clogs, which are all I own. No one in my family can figure out why I wanted to be a doctor. And some days, neither can I,” she said as she smiled at Alex, and he laughed.

“Yeah, me too. They’re trying to kill us with the schedule we’re on. We go on dates and see who’ll fall asleep at the table first.” His father and brother had been through it too, so Helen knew what he was talking about.

“I could never go to the movies with your father when he was a resident. He fell asleep during the trailers for future films, and I had to wake him up after the credits. Actually,” she said, with a twinkle in her eye, “he still does that now. Nothing’s changed.”

“What do I do?” a handsome man with gray hair asked as he strode into the room and kissed his wife. “Are you giving family secrets away?” He glanced at Sasha and included her in his smile, and hugged his son.

“It’s no secret you sleep at the movies,” his wife said, teasing him.

“Did you tell them that I snore?” He pretended to be worried, and turned his attention to Sasha. She was startled by how good-looking he was. He looked like Alex, but taller and older. He was a very handsome man, fit and youthful, as was his wife. Alex’s parents made a beautiful couple. Neither of them looked their age, and could easily have claimed they were ten years younger. “Don’t believe anything they say about me,” he said to Sasha. “Welcome to Chicago. We’re pleased you could come,” he said, as his wife handed him a cup of tea, and he helped himself to a cookie. “We can’t get Alex here often enough. They keep him too busy to come home.” They all knew it was true.

“We had to agree to work on Christmas and New Year’s to get Thanksgiving,” Alex told them, and his parents weren’t surprised. They’d been through it too thirty years before, and with young children. Tom Scott had been in medical school, and she’d been in law school when she had them. Looking back, they could never figure out how they managed. Helen thought it made life easier for this generation that they didn’t marry as young, although she thought Ben should be thinking about it now. He had been about to get engaged to his girlfriend when they broke up a few months ago. Helen was philosophical about it, and said she obviously hadn’t been the right one. She had decided that she didn’t want to be married to a doctor who worked as hard as he did. And there was no denying, their older son was married to his work. Alex was a little more moderate, and their father loved his practice, but had always made time for his family too. He had set the boys a good example about priorities, and they’d had a warm home life as a result, and still did, and strong family ties.

“So what’s on the agenda for tomorrow?” Tom asked his son. “A little sailing in the morning?” He looked hopeful, and Helen shuddered.

“You’re all crazy. You’ll freeze. If you go, don’t take Sasha. We’ll find something to do here. We’ll set the table and keep the home fires burning, and maybe crochet a little.” She was kidding, and they laughed. “Can’t you find something else to do except freeze to death on the boat?”

“It’s too cold for tennis,” Tom said practically. He played several times a week, and it showed. “And I’m terrible at Scrabble.” He grinned. Alex had told Sasha that they had their Thanksgiving meal midafternoon, and his family liked to do an activity in the morning, usually something active. On the weekend, he was planning to take Sasha to a museum and a nice restaurant for lunch, of which there were many, and she wanted to do some shopping, since she wouldn’t have time before Christmas, once they went back to work. They had made lots of plans.

They chatted until dinnertime, and right before dinner, Ben joined them. And he was even more handsome than his younger brother. They were the best-looking family she’d ever seen, and Sasha silently wished that her sister would go out with someone like Ben, but she wouldn’t have given him the time of day. He was too normal, healthy, and clean.

Ben was obviously curious about Sasha, and talked to her all through dinner. He asked a lot about the orthopedic service at NYU, they talked about the residency programs she and Alex were in, and the conversation was mostly medical all through dinner, and Helen held her own. Her husband talked a lot about his cardiology practice, and she was very knowledgeable and well informed about new developments in experimental surgeries. His father was very interested in Sasha’s passion for infertility and innovations they were implementing in Europe, which they discussed at length. It was easy and fun for Sasha to talk to people who shared the same interests she did, and a little while after dinner, Ben left to go back to his apartment, and the elder Scotts and she and Alex retired to their respective rooms.

She flopped onto the comfortable bed and smiled at Alex, and he beamed at her.

“How are you doing? I’m sorry about all the doctor talk at dinner. It’s like hanging out in the doctors’ lounge. Being with my family is like living at a medical convention.”

“I love them,” Sasha said with a broad smile. “They’re all so nice. My family is like a soap opera—everyone hates someone, they’re always fighting or badmouthing each other. You’re so lucky. This is great!”

“I like them a lot too,” he admitted, and was thrilled that she did, and she had been totally at ease all evening, and he could tell his parents and brother approved, not that it mattered. He loved her anyway, but it was such a good feeling to know that they were pleased for him, and it was a perfect fit.