Pursuit For Lucidity (Crashing Waves) (7 page)

“
Oh, Alex!  It’s beautiful!  You really shouldn’t have.  It’s so thoughtful and sweet of you.  I love it!” I thanked him.

“
It’s not as beautiful as you, Claire.  I hope you like it,” he said as he hugged me, giving me a kiss on my cheek.

I put the flowers in the vase, added water and admired them one more time.  What
a sweet gesture, I thought.

“
Claire, are you hungry? I’m starving.  I barely ate anything today,” he complained.

“
I’m so glad you said that Alex because I haven’t had a bite to eat today.  I’m starving too,” I laughed.

We decided to have sushi.  I was so glad Alex liked sushi because I couldn’t live without it.  We were so hungry
that we ended up ordering half of the food on the menu.  We laughed when we realized we had so much leftover food.

“
I have a surgery really early tomorrow morning.  As much as I don’t want this night to end, we both need a decent night sleep.” I agreed with him and he drove me home.  He walked me inside, gave me a hug and a kiss on the lips, but nothing more.  “I had a great time, Claire.  I really like spending time with you,” he kissed me again and walked to his car.

“
Thank you for the beautiful vase and flowers, Alex, and thank you for dinner.  Drive safely,” I said as he drove away.  I sighed.  This man really knew how to take my breath away.

<><><>

The next morning was very busy at work.  Walter had many meetings scheduled for the week, so he needed us to help him prepare his presentations.  Laura was still training me on the things I hadn’t learned my first week at the hospital.  She even showed me how to assist the nursing payroll department, as they needed help often.

“
Claire, could you schedule a meeting for Wednesday, early in the morning with the surgical team? That department has been patiently waiting for a meeting to discuss their issues and needs.  Please do not forget to invite Taryn Simmonds, the Director of the Post Surgical Recovery Unit,” Walter asked, standing next to my cubicle.  “Laura will show you how to book the conference room and order breakfast.  That department will not attend a meeting in which they are not fed,” we all laughed at his remark.

Laura showed me how to book the meetings, how to invite the guests via email and gave me a laptop
, as I would take notes from the meeting and document all the important facts.  She even gave me a recorder in case something was missed, I would be able to use that as a reference.

T
his would be the first meeting where Alex and I would be in one conference room.  I was very curious if he would be able to attend or if he had another surgery that morning.

“
Oh, Claire,” Laura began, “not all of the surgeons will be able to make it to the meeting because some of them have surgeries booked on that date and time, so don’t be alarmed if less than half the staff the accepts the invitation,” she said.

“
Oh okay, thanks Laura.  I hadn’t thought about that,” I replied.

Laura was right, quite a few surgeons declin
ed due to a booked procedure, but Alex wasn’t one of them.  He accepted the meeting invitation via email and a text soon followed.

Will the lovely Claire be attending this meeting?

She will be attending and taking notes. 

Then I will enjoy every minute of it.  Would you like to come over to my place on Friday night?  I want to cook for you.  I promise I won’t poison you. I actually know how to cook.  Please say yes.

Hmm, that sounds nice, actually.  Will you have time to cook after work? Won’t it be late?

I’m only working in the clinic until noon on Friday.  I just have a few pre-op and post-op patients.

That sounds great, Alex.  I look forward to it.

Perfect.  Can’t wait.

He cooks, I thought as I put my cell phone down.  I was still looking for flaws.  Wasn’t there anything wrong with him?  He seemed too good to be true.  I had to stop looking for the bad in people and just absorb the good, and I saw a lot of good in Alex Blake.

<><><>

On the drive home, I called Katherine to fill her in on all that had taken place since the last time we had spoken.  I told her about the incident the other night when the kissing got out of hand.  “Claire, you have to talk to him.  He seems like he’s crazy about you.  That was really nice of him to apologize and want to see you again and again.  Promise me it won’t be long before you talk to him and tell him your story.”

“
But what if he doesn’t understand or doesn’t want to see me anymore or thinks that I’m weird or stupid or…”

“
Stop, Claire.  You’re doing it again.  If he doesn’t understand, then he’s one big jerk just like James was and he does not deserve you.  Honestly, I think this guy is really crazy about you,” Katherine assured.

“
I hope you’re right.  I miss you, Kathy.  Let’s get together soon,” I replied and continued to drive home in the horrible traffic.  It took much longer to get home that day.  It must have been the usual Monday traffic.

My cell phone rang shortly
after my conversation with Katherine.  It was Alex, “Hi beautiful, what are you up to?” he asked.

“
I’m just driving home in this crazy traffic.  What about you?” I asked.

“
I’m still at the hospital, just finished the last surgery for the day.  There have been so many unexpected emergency surgeries this week.  I’m exhausted, but I wanted to hear your voice. That always makes me feel much better.  I’m really looking forward to cooking for you on Friday,” he said.

“
And I’m looking forward to eating whatever it is that you will be cooking,” I replied.  Alex told me he would call me after he got home.

After what seemed like eternity, I finally made it home.  I couldn’
t wait to take a warm bath, surrounded by scented candles.  My new condo included a very large Jacuzzi tub in the master bathroom.  I didn’t have that in the old place, so it was a real treat.  I loved soaking in the tub at my parents’ house.  After my bath, I realized my refrigerator was empty, and so was my pantry.  I found a few things to snack on and made a note to myself to stop by the grocery store the next day to stock up on food.  I wanted to do yoga so badly, but was too tired to move.  The past weekend had been very draining with the move on Saturday and Sunday and staying out late the night before with Alex.  A new text message arrived from him.

Go to lunch with me tomorrow.  I will be done with my morning surgery by noon.  Will you meet me at Bradley’s Diner?

I will let you know how my schedule is tomorrow.  It’s been very busy and Walter has a lot of meetings scheduled for this week.

Let’s play it by ear.  I hope you had a good day today.  I have an early morning surgery, so I’m going to turn in now.  I miss you already.  Goodnight, beautiful.

Actually, I kind of miss you too.  I’ve been getting used to hanging out with you.  Goodnight, Alex.

He was so sweet, so gentle.  I was still looking for flaws, but couldn’t find any to save my life.  I surrendered to sleep quite quickly that night, but was awakened by the same nightmare I’d been having for years, the white van and the shadow of someone chasing me. I was running as fast as I could until it caught me and I collapsed and woke up screaming and covered in sweat.  It took hours before I fell asleep again and was awakened by the alarm too soon.  I noticed I had received a text from Alex at five in the morning.

Good morning, beautiful.  I’m about to leave for work now.  I just wanted to say good morning and hope to do lunch today if you’re free.

I was hoping I could meet him for lunch as well.  As soon as I arrived at work, Laura began to talk a mile a minute.  The information was overwhelming and my head began to spin.  The deadlines were getting tighter and tighter.  I decided I would grab some coffee and start working right away, not wasting any time.  Hours passed like minutes, it was so busy.  By the time it was noon, I had completed almost an entire days’ work.  I was very happy with myself.  Now, I could text Alex and let him know I could meet him for lunch.

Hi Alex, I might be able to meet
you for lunch after all.

That’s great!  I was about to text you to confirm.  Meet me there in 15 minutes.

I told Laura I had some personal errands to run and she understood.  I got to Bradley’s before Alex and looked around to make sure nobody from work was having lunch there.  I didn’t notice anybody familiar.  A few minutes later, Alex arrived.

“
Hey, you look really good, as usual, Claire.  I missed you yesterday,” he frowned.  I missed him too, but I didn’t want to open up that quickly.

“
Thank you. You don’t look so bad yourself,” I winked.  We ordered the usual right away, so we wouldn’t waste time.

“
Claire, I don’t know what it is, but there’s something about you that’s so captivating. I can’t get my mind off of you.  These feelings are new to me, as I don’t normally feel this way about someone I have just met.  It’s like I’m a teenager again.  It’s difficult to explain,” he confessed.

“
Really?  But you don’t even know me, Alex.  You just know my name, where I live, where I work.  That’s all you know.  And I hardly know anything about you. At least you know where I live. I don’t even know where you live and I’m coming over for dinner on Friday night,” I laughed.

“
Malibu.  I live in Malibu, not too far from where we had our first dinner date.  Now we’re even,” he smiled.  We finished our lunch and he walked me to my car and planted a kiss on my lips.  His kisses were getting more passionate, if that was even possible.  “I have a few patients to see in the clinic and I’m done for the day.  Maybe we can get together after you’re done,” with one last kiss, I drove back to work.

<><><>

It was five o’clock before I knew it.  I recalled I needed to stop by the grocery store on the way home if I didn’t want to starve.  Alex called while I was driving and I asked him if he wanted to come have dinner with me, since I would be buying at least a week’s worth of food.  He liked the idea and told me he was on his way from work.  I had gotten a rotisserie chicken and would make a green salad.  After the amount of sushi we had consumed the other night, we vowed to eat light all week.  Alex arrived about an hour after we spoke.  My new furniture had not arrived yet, so we would have to eat in the kitchen bar area, since I already had the bar stools.

“
This is perfect, Claire.  I really don’t care if we have to sit on the floor and eat as long as I’m spending time with you,” he expressed.  We were in the middle of dinner when the guard called to notify me that my parents were outside by the main gate.  I started to panic and Alex noticed.  I covered the receiver and let him know that my parents were outside, but he didn’t care.  “I would love to meet them,” he said comfortably.

“
But they should have called,” I said.

“
They’re your parents, they don’t have to call.  Besides, they own this place, remember?” He reminded me.

I asked the guard
to let them in, but I was so nervous.  I wasn’t ready to tell them about Alex yet.  It was too soon and I didn’t want them to get too excited or jump to conclusions or what if they didn’t like him.  So many thoughts ran through my mind.  The doorbell finally rang and I answered the door and let my parents in.

“
Hi honey!” my mother exclaimed.

“
Hi mom, hi dad, come in…I uh…wasn’t expecting you guys.  Is everything okay?” I asked.  My mother noticed Alex standing there in his scrubs first.  My father turned to look in the direction my mother was facing because her jaw was on the floor.  Alex started to walk over to them and put out his hand to shake their hands.  “Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Morgan.  I’m Alex, I work with Claire at the hospital,” he said.  My mother’s mouth was still hanging open.  I wanted to tell her very badly that she needed to close her mouth because she was embarrassing me.  My father took a good look at Alex then put out his hand to shake his hand.  “Good to meet you, Alex,” he said.

“
Oh yes, hello, Alex, very nice to meet you,” said my mother.  She was almost lost for words.

“
Alex helped me move on Saturday,” I reminded them.

“
This is who helped you with the move?  How sweet of you, Alex.  Thank you for doing that for Claire.  She mentioned she was going to have help, but left out the good parts,” my mother laughed.

“
Mom,” I looked at her with my eyes wide. I was mortified.