Introduction

Some secrets don’t live in shadows—they live in plain sight, behind soft smiles, polite nods, and casual hallway glances. No one suspects them. No one asks. But for Dorena, one such secret began on an ordinary day in April 2019, and it would change her life in extraordinary ways.

She wasn’t looking for romance. Not then. After twenty years of service in a demanding profession, she had finally walked away, hoping peace would greet her in retirement. Instead, she found silence. Loneliness. And a longing she hadn’t expected.

When a temporary job placed her in a new hospital, it felt like a second chance at finding purpose, connection, and perhaps even herself. What she didn’t expect was Arcadius.

He was bold, playful, and much younger. Their connection began with jokes about scrub caps and evolved into late-night messages, flirty exchanges, and Friday visits that blurred the lines between comfort and desire. But what they shared remained tucked behind closed doors. There were no dates, no hand-holding, and no outings. Only Friday nights. Only in private.

For two years, they lived in this unspoken arrangement—lovers when no one was looking, strangers beneath hospital lights. Dorena, a woman of faith and discipline, wrestled with the quiet ache of wanting more while knowing she had settled for less.

A Friday Secret is a tender and honest exploration of desire, vulnerability, and emotional rediscovery. It is the story of a woman who dared to feel again, even if only on the weekends—and the strength it took to choose herself finally.

Chapter 1: A New Beginning

After twenty years of loyal service, Dorena finally stepped away from her dialysis job. Her retirement seemed like the reward she deserved, a long-awaited exhale. But the quiet didn’t suit her. It felt empty. So when a staffing agency called about a position at a hospital she’d never worked in, one completely outside her specialty, she hesitated, then said yes.

In April 2019, she walked into that hospital, uncertain but willing. What began as temporary quickly turned permanent. The staff welcomed her. The rhythm suited her. After five or six months, a full-time opportunity opened. Dorena took it without hesitation. She liked the people. She liked the work. It was just in time, too. The first warnings of a virus called COVID were beginning to stir.

She was tasked with keeping things organized, enforcing protocols, and overseeing staff compliance routines on the units. It was during one of those rounds that she met him.

Arcadius.

He was young, confident, and wore his scrub cap with a bit too much pride. When she first saw him on the elevator, she gently reminded him that caps weren’t permitted in common areas. His eyes narrowed with resistance and attitude. But he complied.

She thought nothing more of it until the next day, in the basement, where she ran into him again—same cap, same attitude. She reminded him again, and again he frowned but obeyed. Over the next few days, it became a pattern. No matter which unit she was assigned to, she kept running into him. And each time, the cap was there.

“What does it take for you to stop wearing that thing?” she finally joked one day.

To her surprise, he smiled. Still, she brushed it off.

One day, she was making her rounds on the floor where his office was. A door was open to a storeroom, and she saw him in there organizing boxes.

“You’re Arcadius, right?” she asked playfully.

He laughed. “Who said something about me?”

“No one,” Dorena smiled. “I just find it funny—everywhere I go, you’re there.”

Dorena decided to stop and talk with Arcadius while he organized boxes. They began discussing diabetes, his family, and her work. He opened up about his mother and sister, both lost to diabetes. The conversation flowed easily, and when he learned she was an author, he suggested they become Facebook friends. So he sent her a request.

Soon, they were liking each other’s posts and seeing each other more and more in the halls. One day she asked, half-laughing, “Am I always going to be running into you?”

He answered her: “God keeps putting you in front of me.”

In Dorena’s mind, she was thinking, “How do I know it’s not the Devil putting you before me?”

Soon, their hallway run-ins became more frequent—no longer just a coincidence, but something quietly anticipated. Sometimes they stopped for casual chats about the day, sharing small glimpses of their lives. Each exchange revealed a little more, drawing them closer in subtle ways. Dorena found herself looking forward to those moments, even adjusting her pace during rounds. One of her assigned units happened to be on the same floor as his office, and she knew, without question, that she’d see him. And that thought made her smile.

 979829739