Pursuit For Lucidity (Crashing Waves) (4 page)

“Hello, Alex,” I whispered.

“Hello yourself, Claire.  This won’t take much of your time, I promise.  I was just wondering if you work at Downtown Memorial Hospital,” he asked.  I suddenly froze.  Was he following me?  Was he stalking me?  I had never mentioned anything about my work location.  Crazy thoughts were racing in my head.  Was this some lunatic who was following me around?  Maybe he was following me the day I had a flat tire.  Or did he cause the flat tire?  No, no, that couldn’t be.  The flat tire sensor in my car had constantly notified me of that before I even pulled into the mall parking lot.

“Uh, why do you ask
?” I asked, in a shaky voice.

“Because I could swear
I just saw you walk into the hospital administration kitchen,” he replied.  I turned my head to the side when I noticed someone entering the kitchen from the corner of my eye.  I almost dropped my phone.  It was Alex, standing there in hospital scrubs!  The words
Alex Blake, MD Plastic Surgery
were embroidered across his left chest.  Alex was a doctor?  He wasn’t just a doctor.  He was a surgeon, a
plastic
surgeon.  Oh my.  My heart began to race and I was afraid of having a panic attack and humiliating myself.

“Alex?
” I said as I ended our conversation on the phone.  “What a surprise. I d-didn’t know you worked here…or were a physician, or…uh…a s-s-surgeon.” I stuttered.

“Yeah, I have to admit
, I am also surprised by the fact that I’m a physician,” he joked.  “I have to be honest, Claire, I was hoping I’d see you before Friday and here you are, working in the same hospital.  What were the chances?” he asked.

“Today is my first day.  That’s why I said I would meet you on Friday evening, since I will be working
all week,” I replied casually. 

“I normally don’t perf
orm surgeries on Fridays.  I do consultations in the clinic, in the medical office building across the street.” He’s so down to earth for a surgeon, I thought.  “Did you think I was stalking you, I mean, when I called you and asked you if you worked at this hospital?  I’m sorry if I freaked you out,” he said honestly.

I laughed, “Yes, it was a little creepy at first.  I’m just glad that you actually wo
rk here and aren’t a stalker,” we both laughed.  “I better go, Alex…I mean
Dr. Blake
. I just came to get some coffee.  I don’t want to get into trouble, especially on my first day,” I said as I began walking back to my desk with my appetite lost and butterflies in my stomach from what had just taken place in the kitchen.

“
I’ll text you later,” he whispered loud enough for me to hear almost all the way to my desk.

Every time I tried to focus on my work, A
lex’s face appeared in my mind.  He was tall, handsome, nice, and a
surgeon.
  Oh how I hated to have to work in the same building as someone I had a crush on.  I had a do-not-like-or-date-a-guy-from-the-workplace rule.  Ugh!  Why did life have to be so complicated when it came to men?

Laura appeared at my desk seconds after I s
ettled down, “Claire, was that cute doctor talking to you in the kitchen?” she asked, her eyes wide.” “Yes, he was, Laura…why?” I asked nervously.

“He seems to like you,” she winked.

“No, he just happened to change my flat tire in a parking lot this past weekend,” I explained.

“Really?
” Her big eyes widened, if that was even possible.

“You’re so funny, Laura.  Let me finish some of my work
, so you can help me decide where to have lunch,” I said.

I plugged in as much work as I could get in and realized it was almost one in the afternoon.  Laura walked me down the street to an eatery called The Falafel
House, which was very delicious.  I decided I would be eating here quite often.  We went back to work on a very full stomach and just as I sat down at my desk, I received a text from Alex.

I noticed you didn’t invite me out to lunch today.  I’m going to scrub into surgery now.  Hope the rest of your day goes smoothly.

I sat there, thinking about what I should reply.  Or if I shouldn’t respond at all…no, no, that wouldn’t be nice.  I took a deep breath and composed my text.

I just thought it would be a little weird if I asked one of the surgeons out to lunch on my first day.  Good luck with your surgery.  Hope it goes smoothly.

<><><>

The rest of the day flew by and before I knew it, it was five o’clock and time to head home.  The traffic was horrific at five o’clock.  It took almost two hours to get home.  Everyone started calling to hear about my first day.  My mother called first, followed by Katherine.  Kyle and Calvin texted to see how everything went and I texted back assuring that my day was great.  Katherine nearly fainted when I told her about the encounter with Dr. Alex Blake.

“
What?  Did you say he’s a plastic surgeon?  Claire, this is crazy!  Who would have thought, you go to work on your first day only to find that the gorgeous man who saved the day by changing your flat tire, looked like he modeled, is a plastic surgeon at the same hospital you work in.  And to top it off, you’re going to have dinner with him on Friday night!”  Katherine was so excited, maybe a little more than I was.  I was getting anxious about Friday to be quite honest.

“
Okay, Claire, I’m going to go now because John is dying to hear the story.  He won’t stop bugging me to tell him the whole story,” she hurried to get off the phone.

John wa
s Katherine’s boyfriend of many years.  He was such a nice person, very genuine, exactly the type of guy that Katherine deserved.  We could talk to him about anything, and I was sure he was going to be ecstatic to hear about Dr. Alex Blake.

Just as I was getting settled in, my cell phone rang.  It was Alex.
  “Hi Claire, I hope I didn’t catch you at a bad time.  I just wanted to check in and see how you’re doing.  Tell me about your first day at the great Downtown Memorial,” he said. “You looked beautiful this morning, by the way.  I wanted to say something this morning, but I refrained. I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable.”  His voice made me melt.

“
Hello, Alex…I mean
Dr. Blake
,” I laughed.  “Thank you for the sweet compliment.  I had a good day, for my first day there.  There’s a lot to learn so I’m still in the learning process, but everyone seems so nice and helpful.  I think I’m going to really like it there.”

“
That’s good to hear.  I would like to see you stay there.  I’m really looking forward to dinner on Friday night.  Now that I think about it, Claire, Friday night seems so far away,” he said, sounding impatient.

“
You know, Alex, I have a rule that I don’t have dinner with a male whom I work with.  We might have to cancel our dinner plans for Friday night and I could just buy you that cup of coffee from the coffee cart at work, if that’s okay,” I said, biting my tongue and anxiously awaiting his reply.

“
Not a chance, Claire.  That does not sound fair at all.  We made those dinner plans before we knew we worked in the same place. Besides, as a surgeon, I’m not necessarily employed by the hospital.  I just have operating privileges there. I’m really looking forward to it and would like to get to know you better.”  I could not argue with his decision because I wanted so badly to spend time with him.

“
Okay, Alex, you win.  I will treat you to dinner on Friday night, as a thank you for your help.  But only one dinner, and no more dinner or coffee dates after that.  I take my ‘no dating your coworker’ rule very seriously,” I said firmly.

“
We will see about that.  See you at work.  Goodnight, beautiful,” he said.

“
Goodnight, Alex,” I replied and hung up the phone and put it on my nightstand.

I couldn’t stop thinking about his dreamy eyes, so blue, so crystal like.  He looked even more masculine in those scrubs.  I couldn’t get his image out of my mind.  I drifted onto sleep, with
high hopes that I may dream about him that night.

<><><>

I awakened before my alarm clock the next morning, ready to face the day with butterflies in my stomach every time I thought about Alex.  Traffic was light that morning, so I got to work a little earlier than the day before.  I hurried to my cubicle and began working on the spreadsheet Laura had gotten me started on the day before.  Thirty minutes before noon, my phone buzzed with a new text message from Alex.

Good morning, beautiful. I’ve been up since four, so it doesn’t feel like morning to me at all.  Can we have lunch together today?

Good morning. I’m sorry you had to get up so early.  Lunch is not a good idea.  Did you forget my rule already?

Please, Claire, it’s not a big deal.  People go out to lunch with their colleagues all the time.

It just doesn’t look good.  I take my job very seriously and if I’m seen having lunch with you, what do you
think people will think?

How about this, I know a hole in the wall at least a ten-minute drive from here.  Nobody goes there from this hospital.  Will you meet me there? Please?

Oh, Alex, you just don’t give up, do you?  Fine, just this once, and I hope nobody sees us having lunch together or they will think we are sleeping together and create rumors.

He gave me the information on where to meet him and I made up an excuse and told Laura that I had to run some personal errands.  She understood and didn’t ask any questions, so I hurried to my car to make it to the hole in the wall that Alex was waiting to meet me.  It was an old fifties diner called Bradley’s Diner
with red stools in the bar area, red and white leather booths, black and white checkered tile floors, and colorful paintings of 1950’s classic American cars covered the walls.  Alex was sitting at a corner booth across the way.  He stood up so I could see him. “Hi, beautiful.  You look amazing, as usual,” he gave me a hug.  He smelled intoxicating.

“
You smell great, Claire,” he said.  How ironic, I thought.

“
Thank you.  This place is really cool.  I love the mural of the classic cars,” I replied as the waitress came to take our order.  She was dressed like she had just stepped out of the 1950’s, which I thought was adorable.

“
How are you, Dr. Blake?  What would you two like to order today?” she asked with a friendly smile.

“
Do you mind if I order for you?  I come here a lot and I promise you won’t be disappointed.  Their burgers are delicious,” he said.

“
Sure, go ahead.  I love burgers,” I noted. I knew he wouldn’t order anything that didn’t taste good, as he had been there quite a few times.  Alex ordered a couple of burgers for us, and leaned forward, trying to take a hold of my hand, but I pulled it back.  I looked around the diner.  What if there was someone from the hospital?  I could see it in the headlines already: New girl sleeps with Dr. Blake
.
  The thought of that kind of gossip made me sick.

“
I’m sorry, Claire, I shouldn’t have done that.  I didn’t realize it would make you so uncomfortable.  You’re just so beautiful and I feel a connection with you.  I guess I couldn’t help myself,” he said genuinely.

“
No worries, Dr. Blake.  Just try to stay on your side of the booth, please,” I winked.  He laughed at my remark.

“
I must warn you, I may not be able to resist holding your hand during dinner on Friday night.  We’re on work hours now, so I will respect your wishes, but I cannot keep the same promise for Friday night,” he stated.

“
Let’s play it by ear and see if your behavior gets you to dinner with me on Friday night,” I joked.

“
You’re feisty.  I like that in a woman,” he replied, his eyes fixed on mine.

“
Thank you. I must warn you, though. Looks could be deceiving. You haven’t seen anything yet,” I warned, as Alex only grinned.

Lunch was great.  Alex talked about his family in New York.  His father was a neurosurge
on and his mother a radiologist.  He didn’t talk much about himself and I didn’t want to interrogate him.  I thought I’d leave that to Friday night.

“
Look at the time, Alex. I have to go back to work.  I don’t want to lose my job,” I said, realizing I had to return to work right away.

“
I’m done for the day, so I’m going home.  I’ve been in surgery since early this morning,” he advised.  “Can we do this again, sometime?  I promise I won’t reach over and touch your hand,” he grinned.

“
I will think about it,” I said looking into his crystal blue eyes.

“
Please don’t overthink.  Your first instinct is always your best,” he said as I got up to leave.