Saving the Doctor Pt. 02

Saving the Doctor

Part 2. One Fateful Night.

On Monday morning everything seemed back to normal. Beth walked in wearing what he was sure was an honest attempt at an appropriate professional outfit, but what she had achieved was a sexy-librarian stereotype, with the tight red dress-shirt still open enough at the top to tease her cleavage and the remaining buttons stretched enticingly.

"I didn't know you wore glasses," Jon said.

"Yeah I usually do contacts. Just thought I'd mix it up," she replied.

"It suits you well," he said and gave a friendly smile.

She looked down at her clipboard in a tight smile, almost looking like she was fighting off a blush.

"Your first 2 patients are here. Your 3 o'clock canceled. Want me to make some calls and try to fill the spot?"

He thought for a moment. "You know what just leave it free. It'll probably help keep me on time."

"Good call," she said writing on her clipboard.

"Hey Beth before I forget, are you doing anything on the Saturday after next?"

She froze and looked up confused and nervous, biting her lip.

"Elaina and I are throwing a housewarming party," he quickly added. "I just wanted to throw out an invite to you and Jared, if you're not doing anything. The list is finally growing to a decent size, but we could always use a few more. Don't feel obligated though," he shrugged.

"Oh," she relaxed and thought, "Yeah maybe... what kind of party?"

"Well, it'll be hopefully fairly laid back. Elaina's gonna have some fancier hors d'ourves. There'll be a supper. If the day's nice we'll probably spend a lot of it outside on the deck. We've got a jacuzzi and a big yard. You might be the youngest ones there, not gonna lie, but you're more than welcome. At least a couple of the docs from clinic here are coming, so you might know a few people."

She thought some more, "Actually that might be kinda cool. Something a bit different, it'd be good for us. I've been trying to get Jared to do some classier stuff lately."

"Ooookay great," he said, trying not to look too surprised.

"Sweet. Do I need to bring anything?"

"No. No please no housewarming gifts or anything, I feel like we're swimming in stuff already. Just yourselves. A few drinks if you want, but we'll have plenty of beer and wine and other stuff there for everyone."

"Okay cool. So just ourselves and our swimsuits I guess," she shrugged and smiled.

"Uh, yeah," he said. Not having thought of that part. Now putting effort into not picturing it.

"What time?" she asked sounding more excited and playing with her hair.

"People can start showing up 3-ish, and it'll go into the evening, until people get tired I guess."

"Awesome," She smiled wide. "Text me the address at some point," she said as she bounced out of the room.

Even the business-style pants clung around her hips and ass in a way that would catch the attention of any man. He sighed. He had expected her to decline, but Elaina had continued to insist that she be invited. Hopefully it wasn't too awkward for anyone involved.

The day went smoothly after that. Almost boring if he was honest with himself, but he preferred it to the chaos of the past week.

At 3:30 he got a text from Carly.

-Is our "date" still on? ;P

He smiled and replied.

-I'm still feeling good since you fixed me last week, but I could go for a coffee and a chat...

-Good, maybe you can return the favor :) I'm off at 5:30.

-Sounds good. I'm running a tight ship today for once, might be done before you.

-Ooo check this guy out :P If you are maybe grab me a coffee and meet me in the park?

-Lovely. See you then.

The last set of patients were actually fairly challenging, but he kept focused and worked through them efficiently. The thought of staying on time for Carly had lit a fire under his ass and by 5:15 he was out the door.

He texted her to ask what kind of coffee she wanted and she warned him she was a little behind. He decided to get a couple pink frosted cookies as well.

He took the longer way to the park down the street, not wanting to jump over the ditch with his arms full, and found a park bench.

He thought about Carly as he waited. She was amazing. As a friend. As a person. As a woman... Deep down he knew he had fallen for her at least to some extent, but he wanted to believe he could just keep it suppressed in the back of his mind, and hopefully the more time they spent together as friends the easier it would be to ignore.

Every day that he got to talk to her seemed that much better. He worried how much the stress and burnout would be ruining him, had he not met her. The thought scared him. The thought of losing her scared him. He was a bit nervous about her coming to the party, in case Elaina had the same jealousy towards her as she had towards Beth. Despite what she had said, he didn't trust that Elaina could completely change her paranoid habits. He would simply have to keep himself in check to make sure things stayed platonic. They were both settled in relationships, so it shouldn't be that hard right? There were some moments though...

6:00 and she finally arrived. Looking a bit frazzled.

"Hey, I'm so sorry. It took longer to finish everything up than I thought," she looked genuinely sorry and worried.

"It's okay. You were just a bit late don't worry about it," he tried to reassure her.

"I was scared you might have to leave," she said furrowing her eyebrows and working to slow her breath.

"No way," he reassured her as he stood up. "At least I would have texted like... seven times first."

She gave a soft laugh, "I would have begged you to stick around after each one."

He tried to hand her the coffee.

She gestured towards the bench, "Put those down I want my hug," and looked up at him with a pout.

He didn't think he'd seen a cuter face in his life.

He put the coffees down and they fell into each other. She nuzzled her face into his shoulder and squeezed into him, the soft pillows of her breasts meeting the top of his abs, he pulled his hands against the wide curve of her lower back and lowered his face into her hair, breathing in. They stood there for several long comfortable minutes.

"That's a lion by the way," she said, not moving her head from his shoulder.

"What?"

"Your text said you were on the bench by the dog statue, but that's a lion."

He looked over at it. "Ohhhhh I see it now," he said. "Sorry I'm a dolt."

"Yeah," she said endearingly, and giggled. He chuckled with her and squeezed her back.

Then she sniffed, and he looked down and realized her eyes had welled up.

"Rough day?" he asked.

"Ughh," she sighed and leaned into him. "I know I try not to act like it, but my life isn't all sunshine and roses."

"Well lay it on me little miss grumpy, what's eatin' ya?"

She pulled her head away and looked up at him adoringly.

"How much time have you got?"

"As much as you need," he said.

She seemed to hesitate.

"Come on," he gestured towards the bench. "I've got cookies"

She grinned, "Ahhh my weakness."

They sat down and she immediately took his hand and leaned against his shoulder.

They talked and ate and drank. One of the other pharmacists apparently had left 2 weeks ago and they were taking a long time to hire a replacement, so work was heavier. She had very little say over her hours and days off. The past weekend had seemed like one giant argument with her husband Brent, whenever he wasn't avoiding her.

She seemed to be at a crossroads. She either wanted to start a family, or start living her life. Neither was happening. She wanted kids and he at least seemed to begrudgingly agree to not-NOT want them, but it was a question of when. She adored her two nephews who lived an hour away with her sister, but knew exactly how much work they took, and how much they changed your life.

If not, she wanted to travel, see Greece, Australia, maybe even South America, and she felt like she should be making the best of her time as a free adult before they started their family, but there were always excuses he came up with to avoid making any plans. She had apparently backpacked around the country between university semesters in her wilder days, but had never had the funds to do much international travel back then. Her husband seemed indifferent though, content to immerse himself in his role as a college professor, and seemingly nothing else.

They changed the subject and he asked again about her singing, and apparently besides being classically trained she had been in her own rock band back in the day. She had once had dreams of being the next Stevie Nicks or Alanis Morissette. She was self-conscious about the topic, but he insisted that one day he'd figure out how to get her to sing for him.

The coffee and cookies were long gone and the evening was getting colder. The conversation died naturally and they finally decided to get up and walk back to their cars. One last soft warm hug as she thanked him, and their bodies finally slipped away from each other as she flashed her perfect dimples and said goodbye.

Monday was a good day.

Tuesday was worse. Every little thing that could go wrong in the clinic seemed to happen. He wasn't even close to finishing on time, and a couple texts from Carly kept him going, but they never had time to meet. That night he pissed Elaina off more than he could remember in a long time, when he simply blurted at her that no one would care what color scheme she picked for the party, and that she was trying too hard with the food, threatening to grill up fucking hot dogs instead and seeing who's food was eaten more.

The next week and a half went by and he would notice that the days continued to be very up and down.

On a good day, he went for lunch with Carly, and she spent most of the time trying to convince him to go skydiving with her. She had never tried it and couldn't convince anyone else to go with her. He agreed in principle, but she couldn't get him to set a date. He apologized to Elaina that night and helped her finalize the last few details of the party, and they picked out the next two wedding venues they wanted to visit, feeling like they were definitely going to pick one of the two and getting closer to setting a date. It was exciting. They had what felt like make-up sex that night, and it felt incredible, like they both needed it. Their naked sweaty bodies clinging to each other under the covers like they had rediscovered one another and why they were engaged.

On another not-so-good day, clinic was uneventful, but dragged along with a million tiny setbacks and delays, despite Beth's best efforts to keep him on time. He noticed she had kept wearing her glasses every day since his comment, and she asked a couple excited questions about the party. Carly apparently had to head home early that day to let a plumber into their house, so he didn't get to see her. In the evening he kept his distance from Elaina, still irritated at how much she was trying to make the party into a high-class wine-and-cheese type affair. He decided to just let her run with it and whatever happened happened. As long as she didn't hire a cello player... She seemed happy to ignore him as well.

Near the end of the next week as he lay in bed, he started to finally realize consciously how much his daily mood depended on Carly.

On the Friday before the party, Jon and Carly had another park date at the end of the day. This time she brought the coffee, and surprised him with a massive cinnamon bun. He jokingly accused her of reading his mind like a witch. They walked and talked, exploring a different part of the pathway, discovering a duck pond next to a children's playground.

"...Yeah I listened to their latest one anyway it's got a bit more of a pop vibe than I had expected from what you told me, but it was still really good," Jon said, finally finishing off his cinnamon bun and licking his fingers.

"Oh! K yeah I agree but the first 2 albums at least, are just gold. More experimental and sort of like an industrial feel sometimes. I finally just got the second album on vinyl and it's just...ughh! So good!"

He smiled down at her, "Carly I've been meaning to break the news to you.. They've made some amazing technological developments that I think you're kinda out of the loop with. So like, first they invented tapes, and that was nice, but then, there were these amazing things called CDs!"

"Oh for fuck's sake," she rolled her eyes and swatted him.

"And then!... they made it so you can just listen to music on your computer and even your phone!"

She chuckled, "Whaaaat? Why didn't somebody tell me?" she said sarcastically, "Goddammit I've been collecting all these clunky records like a schmuck this whole time!" She smiled up at him and pinched him hard in the side.

"OW!" he flinched away from her with a laugh. "That really hurt!"

"Good you deserved it!" She said giving him a light elbow.

"Probably," he chuckled. "That's okay I can take it."

"Oh yeah? How about this?" she said and suddenly shoved her hands under his sweater and tickled him.

"HA! No! Goddammit!" He laughed in agony. He grabbed her soft arms strongly and tried to move her away but she pushed her body into him and laughed as she mercilessly attacked him with her fingers. "I can't believe I told you my weakness!"

"Yup! Your screwed now!" she laughed with him they struggled against each other.

"Okay! HaHA! I admit it! Records are cool! They're the best way to listen to music! Just stop it! Hahahh!"

She broke down in laughter and collapsed against him victory. Her fingers relaxed and suddenly felt amazing sliding along his torso.

They slowly broke apart, and settled down. She sipped her coffee with a fading blush and they started to stroll down the path again.

After a long comfortable silence she spoke again, "So, 3 o'clock tomorrow hey? Don't forget to text me the address."

"Yeah, is Brent gonna make it?" he asked.

"We compromised," she sighed. "He'll make an appearance, but he'll likely head home before supper. He always has a pile of grading to do. Between you and me though he's very selective at what activities he lets it interfere with."

"That's fine," he said. "I'm glad you'll be there anyway."

"Anything I need to bring?"

"Nope," he said "No gifts or anything. There'll be plenty to eat and drink. So just yourself and maybe a bathing suit for the jacuzzi."

She seemed to stiffen up, "I don't know. Not sure anyone needs to see me in that."

He stopped and turned his head to her in in amusement. "If you're worried all the men's jaws will drop to the floor with too much force and break through the deck, don't worry, it's built really well, I think it can handle the impact," he said, with a sly smile.

She laughed heavily, wrapped both her arms around him and squeezed, her breasts jiggling into him as her giggles subsided.

She looked up at him fondly and sighed, "Okay you convinced me. I'll bring one." She bit her lip and smiled up at him.

"Should we head back?" he asked.

"Yeah I guess," she sighed.

She kept her arm around his as they slowly strolled back to their cars. He couldn't help notice how incredibly good it felt, and once again stifled the warning from his subconscious, and let himself enjoy the beautiful soothing bliss of her company.

**********

The Saturday of the party had finally come.

Carly looked out the window as Brent drove. Her stomach fluttered.

"This is one of the more impressive neighborhoods," Brent said. "They did well to find a place here."

"Mhm," she responded quietly.

Just a party at a friends house. She kept telling herself Just a friend's house. Just a friend. You and your husband, he and his fiance, a bunch of other people... It'll be fine.

She played with her dress. Would he like it? She had chosen a thin yellow floral-pattern sundress. It wasn't the most fashion-forward choice, but she liked how it clung and complimented certain parts of her. Between last night and this morning she had spent nearly 2 hours in front of the mirror trying to decide what to wear, thinking of him the entire time. In her purse was a balled up black bikini. She felt stupid for even packing it, but it was there. The thought of Jon seeing her in it filled her with dread and excitement at the same time.

The thought of being around him with their partners right there worried her as well. She was so used to them being alone together, and she wasn't so naive to not know how it must look when they had their 'dates' together, hugging, and snuggling close on the park bench, and even occasionally holding hands while they walked. She would have to be careful. She still believed he mostly thought of her as a good supportive friend, something he obviously needed these days. In a way it would feel tragic to ruin that by trying to take it further. She couldn't help but feel like he wanted more too though, the way he looked at her sometimes... and it felt so good. She shivered.

They parked on the street and walked up to an incredible-looking white and grey house.

The area was well treed, on a gradual slope that led down to the main city. It had a very private feel, despite being only a few blocks from a major roadway. All very rich, well taken care of houses. It felt intimidating.

Brent pushed the doorbell and a chiming church-bell style song played.

The door opened and a beautiful, elegant and confident looking woman smiled down at them.

"Hello!"

"Hi, I'm Carly," she said forcing a smile.

"OH! Yes, and Brent! Come in! I'm Elaina," the woman beamed at them as they stepped inside.

Carly tried to shake her hand but Elaina leaned in for an awkward hug and did the same for Brent.

"Thank you so much for coming," she said taking their coats.

Elaina looked perfect. Like a queen in her palace. Carly felt like a chamber maid in comparison, whom she had taken pity on to invite to the royal ball. Her face had such defined, symmetric features. Her eyes shone out gorgeously and piercingly, the kind that could probably make any man do whatever she wanted. Her svelte figure glided through the room covered by a very expensive looking dark purple cocktail dress.

She led them through the house and pointed to the far end of the living room.

"Everyone's out by the sun room and on the deck, we're so lucky it's such a beautiful day out. I'll put your coats in the guest room."

Carly noticed Brent watching her leave and they made their way over to the group.

"Really nice place," he said looking interested in the ceiling and windows.

Half of the people were inside the screened-in sunroom, and half outside on the deck.

Carly saw Jon out on the deck with his back turned to her, already caught up in conversation with another group. She slowly made her way through the dozen or so guests to get to the deck but her eyes met with Doug, one of the other doctors from Jon's clinic, and they recognized each other, having met in passing a few times.

He immediately waved her over as he called out, "Carla!"

She corrected him amicably, as they said hello and introduced themselves to their significant others. His wife Helen seemed sweet, looking like the quintessential 50-something housewife, but she was actually a pediatrician. She felt like apologizing to her and embarrassed as she felt Doug's eyes drift obviously to her cleavage as they shook hands. That was the problem with dressing to be noticed is that attention never exactly comes from where you want it, she thought.

She knew Doug was harmless, and overall a nice guy, but he was just oblivious to his ways. She felt even more sorry for Helen as Doug turned his attention back to the young woman across from him. He introduced Beth as one of the receptionists at the clinic.