When Ordinary Isn't Ch. 02

Neither Nina nor Stephanie did anything but stare at her for a few moments. Nina had even stopped chewing.

"Wait," she said with a full mouth. She chewed for several seconds and swallowed. "You said just a few minutes ago that you two screwed--"

"I know. I lied." She grinned. "Now let me finish. We have to be back at work in less than a half hour."

"Okay," Nina said.

"So, yeah. I was so ready to, well, you know... it really surprised me when he called it a night. Like really surprised me."

"Just who was that guy?" Stephanie asked.

"Your guess is as good as mine, but just wow. He was so charming, so handsome, so... so vulnerable. And so... well-behaved." She sighed.

"Were you frustrated?"

"A little bit. Yeah."

"Were you horny because you were on your period--"

"Nina!" Stephanie interrupted. "Knock it off!"

"Possibly," Peggy answered, nonetheless.

"Keep going," Stephanie urged.

"Well, we met at McDonald's at 8:30."

"Good morning," she said as he stepped out of her car. She'd been waiting for just a few minutes.

"Good morning to you, too. Wow. You look really nice this morning."

She smiled. "Thank you. It's amazing what proper wardrobe, freshly styled hair, and a little makeup can do, huh?"

"I didn't realize your hair was so long."

"Yeah, I keep it all tied up when I work because I can't have it getting in the way."

"I can understand it being an issue."

His eyes couldn't help study her fine appearance. Her blonde hair glowed in the morning sun as it cascaded over her shoulders in flowing waves which moved hypnotically in the gentle breeze.

She took his offered hand as they began to walk from the parking spot to the entrance but held him back a few paces from the door, quickly stepped close to him, and kissed him softly.

"Wow. What was that for?" he asked.

"I just wanted to see if... Yeah. It was just as nice," she cooed, subconsciously licking and rubbing her lips together.

He smiled at her and kissed her in return. He sensed her delicate, subtle perfume, the scent of her fresh breath, and the minty flavor of her lips. He felt himself becoming immediately aroused, but begrudgingly separated himself from her.

"Before I forget, can I take a look at your taillight?" he asked.

She grinned. "Is that a euphemism?"

He chuckled and smiled back. "Well, no, but since you mentioned it."

She started walking toward her own vehicle and gave her rump a little extra sway as he checked it out.

"Nice," he hush-yelled.

"It's this one." She pointed to the red lens of the taillight.

"Can you pop the trunk?"

She grinned broadly at him, turned, and twerked her butt once.

He laughed. "Knock it off, Peggy!"

She double-tapped a button on her fob and the trunk latch released.

"It isn't working this morning, either."

He noticed a small chunk of woody material fall from the rubber gasket. He saw the deep impression it'd left in the neoprene and the wet fabric liner underneath it. It was damp near the taillight housing. He pulled the fabric back and noticed droplets of water on the wiring harness. He disconnected the plug and removed the bulb. Peering into the recessed connector, he saw moisture.

He puckered and blew forcefully into the socket and the water was evacuated. He repeated the process several times then re-seated the bulb. He dried the wiring harness and its connector and situated everything back in place but left the liner loosely folded out of the way.

"Okay, give it a try," he said.

She climbed into the vehicle and pressed the brake pedal.

"Et voila !"

"Seriously? That was all it was?"

"Every time it's gone out, had it recently rained?"

She thought for a few moments. "You know what? I think so."

"Yeah. There was some junk caught in the gasket, so it leaked. Water got into the connector. Just a little short circuit. Enough to keep the lamp from lighting, but not enough to blow the fuse or cause the other lights to stop working."

"Something so simple earned me a ninety dollar fine?"

"Well, no guarantees, but yeah, sometimes it is. The gasket will need a little help to re-seat, though. The sunshine today might get the metal warm enough to soften and relax it back into shape, but if not, you can use a hair dryer or something to heat it until it does."

"Incredible," she said. "Thank you!"

"My pleasure." He smiled, took her hand, and led her inside.

Not standing on any ceremony, the two settled into a booth with their breakfasts. She'd ordered the big breakfast with pancakes. He ordered two egg and sausage sandwiches with hash browns.

"So, what are your plans for adventure today?" Peggy asked.

"I don't have any. I usually don't. I just go wherever. When I find something which sparks my interest, I check it out."

He waited to see if she made the connection. By her smile, he knew she'd picked up on the clue that he genuinely wanted to be with her.

"Have you been to Cocoa Beach?"

"No, but I don't think I could manage with..." and he pointed at his foot.

"Fair point if you want to walk barefoot or get in the water," she acknowledged. "Is it tender?"

"A little, especially if I'm on it for a while."

"Gets throbby?"

"Yep."

"It'll feel better in a few days," she said. "So. Anything requiring a lot of walking is out, so no theme parks, unless you get a motorized scooter. Water parks are out of the question, too." She thought for a few moments. "You like go-karts?"

He chuckled. "Do you really need to ask?"

"Guess not. I've been in your rental. Would you enjoy Andretti's?"

"What's that?"

"It's an activity place with an arcade, bowling, games, and stuff. But the big draw is the indoor go-kart tracks. The karts are battery powered. If you go through a training sort of thing, they will adjust the governor to almost forty miles an hour."

He grinned. "Now you're speaking my language. Sounds fun. You want to drive?"

"Of course I do!" She laughed. "It's why I suggested it. But they're single seaters, not tandems, so we'll both be driving."

He chuckled. "That's not what I meant. You want to leave your car here and drive us in my rental?"

"What?" she gasped. "No way. Huh-uh. I'd be in serious trouble if I got us in even a little fender bender."

"Nah, it'll be okay. I promise. I took the insurance."

"You're going to let a stranger drive that car?"

"You're not a stranger anymore."

He could see the obvious excitement in her eyes. After all, she'd never driven anything more sporty than a Mustang GT. She'd never driven anything close to such an incredible automobile as his.

"You're joking," said Nina. "An Audi R8?"

"Yeah. It was a gorgeous car. It roared . It was almost as good-looking as him."

"Almost ? Are you out of your mind ? It'd be gorgeous even if a greasy, fat slob was wheezing out of one of those."

"That offends me. You're disgusting," Peggy groaned.

"Peg, do you know how much an R8 costs?"

"What do I care? It was a rental."

"Maybe," Nina countered, "but a new one can cost almost a quarter million, so I would bet a rented one would cost more than a thousand bucks a day."

Peggy visibly paled. "Oh my god."

Nina laughed "Yeah."

"Cut it out. Don't mess with me like that," she said with a touch of desperation in her voice.

"I'm not, honey."

"I knew it was a pricey car, but not--"

"So, what happened? Did you wreck it?" Stephanie asked.

"No ! I didn't put a scratch on it. I didn't have a chance to take it beyond eighty miles an hour."

"Why not?"

"Because there's no Autobahn here, stupid, and neither of us were willing to take the risk of getting pulled over."

"Wimps," Stephanie teased.

"That was incredible ," he said, almost breathlessly, as he unbuckled himself from his kart.

"I thought you'd like it." Peggy grinned from ear to ear. "How's your foot?"

"Well, I wasn't using the brake much, so it's fine. Wanna go again?"

She laughed. "Hell yeah."

He bought them three more sets of races. The fifty-pound difference in weight gave her a slight advantage, and her skill allowed her to capitalize on it. She beat him on every heat.

"I've got helmet-hair," she groaned, looking at her reflection in the window as they passed through the briefing room for the last time.

"A little, maybe, but you still look fantastic," he said honestly.

They went to the bar and sipped on a couple of soft drinks while they conversed and chatted.

They played laser tag twice. The second time, she studied the monitors in the staging area, noting on the CCTV observation cameras a few places in the arena she could use to her advantage.

It was a slow day at the center, and they had the arena to themselves for the second bout. As soon as they were ushered in, she ran away from him and waited in her chosen spot, an area devoid of coverage by the cameras. She didn't want the operator to see what she was planning.

He sought her out, canvasing, he thought, the entire field. She'd beaten him squarely in the kart races, but he was bound and determined to top her score in tag again.

He hunted her slowly and methodically. He thought his pursuit was so stealthy he was startled when a hand grabbed his target vest from behind and pulled him aggressively between two corner shields. The next thing he knew, Peggy's tongue was in his mouth and her hands were grasping at his ass. The vests were an interference, but they didn't prevent him from enjoying the taste of her mouth and the scent of her breath. He pawed at her bottom, seeking to draw her tightly to him, but the vests were too bulky and cumbersome to allow it.

He felt her hand snake up between them. She pushed him against the wall and shot him squarely in the chest with her own weapon. The wicked smile on her face made him laugh out loud just as the time ran out and the end-of-game alert chimed. She'd beaten him with a single shot.

He kissed her softly before they walked out of the arena, hand in hand, both laughing at her treachery.

"You hungry? They've got lots of good food here," she asked. "You've been so generous to me, please let me buy lunch."

He sat on a bench and slipped off his shoe to rub his foot.

"Starting to get achy?" she asked.

"Yeah, just a bit."

"Maybe laser tag wasn't the best idea. We should rest."

"I'm okay. Besides, I'm really having a lot of fun with--"

"Hold on a sec," she said when something caught her attention.

Her brows furrowed. She knelt on the carpet in front of him and lifted his foot.

"Nope, we need to get you back to your place and get your foot propped up."

"Why?"

"You're oozing through your sock," she said, matter-of-factly.

"Oh, great," he groaned. "Should I return to the ER?"

"Probably not, I can check it out when we get you back."

"Huh-uh. No !" he argued. "The last thing I want is to make you work."

She laughed tenderly. "Are you kidding? Compared to what I see in a day, you've got an itty-bitty boo-boo. Let's go. We can stop and grab some food on the way there."

"Okay, okay, you win," he said, slipping on his shoe but leaving it untied to relieve the pressure.

He tucked the laces out of the way. She smiled when he handed her the fob to the R8 again. She loved driving it, and she particularly enjoyed the passenger even more.

"I picked breakfast, you pick lunch," she said.

"Panda?"

She laughed. "It's like you're reading my thoughts."

That he had something instantly in mind impressed her. In her experience, most dates would be unnecessarily deferential. The moment he said it, she knew exactly what she planned to order, and her stomach growled audibly.

"Hungry?" He chuckled.

"Like you can't imagine."

Eric enjoyed watching her delight in his rental and was pleased the high-performance engine was coupled with the 7-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission. While he was a bit of a purist and would have preferred a manual, he was happy the lack of it left her hand unoccupied so she could hold his during the drive.

He was a bit confused when she pulled into a small shopping center until he saw the sign on the building to which she'd driven. It was the drugstore.

"Wait here. I'll just be a minute," she said as she opened her door.

A short time later, she returned carrying a bag containing a small bottle of hydrogen peroxide, a box of sterile gauze pads, adhesive bandages, and other sundries.

"You're taking the prescription, aren't you?" she asked.

"Yes, doctor." He chuckled lightly. "One last night and one this morning."

"Good. Now, let's get some food!"

After passing through the drive-through, earning some appreciative automotive ogles from employees at the window, and completing the drive to Eric's resort, Peggy carefully parked his rental in the structure, and they returned to his suite.

He placed the to-go bag on the counter in the kitchenette and she motioned toward the sofa. He took a seat.

She pulled the rolling chair from the desk and sat in front of him, placing the supplies she'd bought at the pharmacy atop the coffee table.

"Okay, let's see what's going on here," she said, carefully removing his shoe and sock. She propped his foot on her knee.

"Anything wrong with it?"

"Well, yeah, you've got a hole in your skin, and it's been sewn up," she said, paying close attention to what she was doing.

"Nothing to worry about, it's what I expected, and it's completely normal," she said as she moistened a square of gauze with peroxide and dabbed it on and around the sutured wound at his instep.

"Does this hurt?" she asked.

"No, but it's cold."

"I'll bet," she said. She covered the site with an adhesive bandage. "Change that every two or three hours until it stops draining. The sutures can come out in a couple of weeks."

She deliberately tickled the arch of his foot, and he reflexively pulled it away from her.

He laughed. "What was that for?"

"Checking for nerve damage," she said, grinning.

He sat for a few moments just looking at her.

"You know what? I'm really having a lot of fun being with you. I like you."

"Yeah? Well, I kinda like you, too," she replied, smiling.

"Come here," he said, patting the cushion next to him.

She sidled next to him and he wrapped his arm gently around her shoulder.

"Can I ask you a question?" he said.

"Of course."

"What you do. What you do at work. How do you do it? How do you go through the day with what you see and have to do for those kids?"

"Well, it took practice, of course.

"When I was beginning my internship, I seriously thought about changing disciplines. It was so hard to see little kids in the states they were in. It was emotionally draining, but I was encouraged by my attending to keep at it. I soon learned I have to distance myself from them as children. I know this sounds dark and heartless, but sometimes I have to stop thinking of them as humans when I first see them."

"Yeah, you're right. That's harsh."

"But it makes it easier for me to remain objective, to stay in the moment, and to do what needs to be done if I think of the patients as... more like broken machines. I assess the mechanics and do my best to put things back together. Same as you in some ways, I guess.

"But, usually, that's where the total objectivity ends. After I get them out of the surgical center, I see them as humans again. When I see them improving during follow-ups, I..." she paused.

"You what?"

"It's when I get sappy and weepy. I love kids, you know? The joy it brings me to see them leave the hospital usually wipes out the bad days."

"Usually?"

"Yeah. Usually. Sometimes it... Well, sometimes things go quickly wrong and it feels as if I'm getting the rug yanked out from underneath me. Those days are rough."

"I can only imagine," he said, stroking her shoulder. "Thank you for what you do. Really."

"You're so sweet." She released a relaxed sigh.

She enjoyed the close, tender contact between them, the feel of the heat of his body radiating into hers soothed and comforted her. She felt him kiss her temple softly. She was worried he'd taste the residual dried sweat on her skin. Instead, he inhaled against her hair and sighed.

"You smell really nice," he said.

"You don't have to keep paying me compliments, you know," she said as she pivoted around and embraced him.

She licked his lips and pushed her tongue between them. His darted into hers as they exchanged heat, passion, and moisture.

"You've already got me hooked," she whispered.

She repositioned herself fluidly, straddling his legs and pushing her knees under the back cushions of the sofa with her bottom on his thighs. She grasped his hair in her hands and brought his mouth to hers, allowing him to consume her. Her mouth watered with the flavor of his kisses, and he relished the moisture with his own, drawing her into him.

He held her rump in his hands, feeling the heat of her body through the cloth covering it. Her driving embrace and the intensity of her affection aroused him. He was certain she could feel his state through the crotch of her shorts, and the worry began to rise within him as she ground against him and groaned.

"Eric, what have you done to me?"

"I don't know... but... but please stop."

His heart was pounding so hard he could hear his pulse in his ears. He wasn't sure if he'd spoken loudly enough because he wasn't even certain he heard his own words. But when she immediately froze and stopped kissing him, he knew.

She pushed herself away from his chest with her hands against his shoulders and looked at him with concern in her eyes.

"Why? What did I do wrong? I thought you--"

"God, Peggy. You're like no other woman I've ever met, but I can't stomach the idea of..."

"Of what, Eric?"

"A one-night stand," he meekly said.

"Talk to me. Tell me what's going on in your head," she challenged, gently stroking his cheek with her palm, and rubbing his lower lip softly with the pad of her thumb.

"For one thing, I'm afraid I'm hooked on you, too. And I'm going back home tomorrow."

She watched his eyes for a few moments. His demeanor astounded her. She knew with certainty he was as into her as she was him. She could feel the evidence between her thighs. She was confused why he'd be turning away what would undoubtedly be a mutually enjoyable experience.

"I know, but... what if maybe you stay another day or two, considering you don't have a job waiting for you, you know?"

Her eyes conveyed a desire he'd never seen.

"I can't. I wish I could, but no. I just can't. I don't have a desk job anymore, but there are other things going on which I can't neglect."

"Listen to me, will you? Why does the idea of a one-night stand put you off?"

"It's... wrong."

"I don't get it," she said, kissing him softly again.

"It's not a nice thing to do."

"Oh, okay. I think I understand. You're a gentleman. You're being chivalrous, which is an incredibly rare trait these days, and one of the things that's really attracted me to you. But I think your mind is twisted in the wrong direction."

"How so?"

"A one-night stand is a bad thing because it's intentional, and the separation the next morning is convenient and preferred, and usually one-sided. Like an abandonment. Am I right?"

"You are. I'm not the kind of guy who takes what he wants and then drifts into the wind. I don't want you to think of me like that."

"Would you stick around longer if you could?"

"You bet I would," he answered.

"Well, then this isn't that. You need to go. I need to stay here. It's not convenient. It's not preferred. It's unfortunate for both of us, so don't think of it as a one-night stand. This could be a night I hope we both enjoy and regret having to see end."