Unfolding - A Late Bloomers Short Story (Contemporary Romance)

by Betsy Talbot

  Chapter 2

  Lily wrapped herself in her warm coat as she pushed the elevator button, thinking of Nico in hot and humid Haiti at that very moment. Was he alone in his tent, or was he drinking beer with the other doctors and nurses? Lily had never been on assignment in Haiti, but she knew the camaraderie that developed in a team like that. The intensity of the situation created an energy that bonded people to deep friendships in a very short time, and often sexual relationships, too. That’s what happened to them, and she knew an attractive man like Nico wouldn’t be alone for long.

  Was she even allowed to be jealous when she was the one who called it quits? Lily didn’t know how to stay married, and she didn’t know how to handle a divorce. How could she be so smart and so ignorant at the same time?

  The job consumed her, no doubt. And the problem was that she didn’t feel bad about it. Being a doctor was all she ever wanted to do, and working for Doctors Without Borders was a dream come true. But did it mean that she had to give up on love? Lily wondered if she hadn’t tried hard enough or if Nico was just the wrong man. And then she realized she had no way to test it, no way to make one or the other scenario a scientific probability. The uncertainty plagued her logical mind.

  The elevator dinged at the top floor, and she stepped into a dingy hallway. There was a brick wedged between the metal door and the wall, cold air swirling into the tiny space. Lily opened the door and stepped out into the chilly night, pulling out her emergency pack of cigarettes at the same time. She flicked her cheap plastic lighter, feeling the burn on her thumb as the cold bit into her skin. No flame. Lily flicked it a few more times without luck, shaking it to release the last bit of butane.

  “Need a light?” A voice called out from the dark and slowly approached her with a lighter. It was the bartender from the restaurant. God, he was good looking. “Don’t worry; I don’t bite. Just grabbing a smoke break before I go back to work.” He lit her cigarette and put the lighter back in the pocket of his black pants. “My name’s Simon, by the way.” He flicked a section of wavy brown hair out of his eyes, blue eyes still piercing even in the darkness.

  “Thanks, Simon. I saw you at the bar downstairs. I’m Lily. I don’t usually smoke, which is why I didn’t realize my lighter was a dud.” Lily took a long draw on the cigarette, reminding herself again how terrible they were for her and what a horrible example she was as a doctor for smoking. And then she took in another drag, savoring the flavor of this rare treat.

  The rooftop was bare except for a rickety table and two chairs, obviously the smoke break area for staff at the restaurant on the ground floor. The ashtray on the table was empty, but cigarette butts littered the asphalt floor.

  “If you don’t normally smoke, why are you up here by yourself lighting up in the cold?” Simon took a drag of his cigarette and waited for her to answer. He towered over her, but then again, most people did.

  “I forgot about nicotine philosophy,” Lily said with a brief smile.

  “Come again?” Simon said.

  “I’ve had some pretty deep discussions over the years in these 15-minute smoke breaks. I’d just forgotten how much they were like therapy, that’s all.” Lily took another drag, looking out over the buildings in the neighborhood. The city was always beautiful at night, lit up like a Christmas tree year round.

  “Nicotine philosophy.” Simon nodded his head slowly. “I like that. Mind if I borrow that phrase?”

  “Feel free.” Lily kept her cigarette to the side, hoping to keep the scent off her clothes. She didn’t want her friends to know she was smoking.

  “I saw your table, you know. Tell me why you’re up here and your friends are all downstairs. You’ve got 9 minutes left on the clock before I head back.” Simon set a timer on his phone, holding up the display to show her. “Better start talking.”

  She didn’t want to, but Lily started laughing.

  “Alright, Mr. Know-It-All. I’m having a great time with my friends, all of whom came from far away to be here tonight. But it doesn’t change the fact that tomorrow I’ll still wake up and have to divorce my husband and figure out why I can’t have a career and love at the same time. And if you’ve got an answer to that problem, you wouldn’t be a bartender in New York. You’d be dozing on a beach somewhere with millions in the bank.” Lily took another drag.

  “Ah, you’ve made your first mistake.” Simon crossed his arms and leaned against the wall of the building, sizing her up. “I am working tonight as a bartender, but I’m not a bartender. If you’ve misjudged me, maybe you’ve misjudged other things, as well.”

  “Please don’t tell me you’re an aspiring actor and just working in restaurants until you get your first break.” As Lily looked him over, she realized he was good looking enough to be an actor, with blue eyes and dark curly hair. His coat covered up his chest and arms, but she wouldn’t be surprised if he was gym-honed like all the other wannabe actors in the city. His fingers were long and slender, out of proportion to his hands. Maybe he was a struggling musician, too.

  “We aren’t talking about me, now are we? Tell me why you think you can’t have love and a career at the same time.” He watched her patiently, taking a drag and waiting like a psychoanalyst for her to respond.

  “It’s ridiculous for me to spill out my problems to a stranger on a rooftop. We’ll freeze to death before I’m done with the whole sorry tale.” Lily stomped her feet to get some feeling back into her toes. She wasn’t used to wearing high heels.

  Simon held up his phone. “The clock is ticking. Let’s see if we can solve your problem before my pinkie toe turns blue. If I can’t, I’ll send a bottle of champagne to your table. If I can, then I’ll send a bottle of champagne to your table. Either way, you win.” He grinned.

  “Maybe my luck is changing already,” Lily said, eyeing him a little more closely. She narrowed her eyes and decided to take a chance. “Alright then. I work as a doctor, mostly in Africa. I go for weeks or months at a time, and when I come back, everything is temporary until the next gig. I thought by picking another doctor with the same type of job we could adapt to this weird way of living, but it didn’t work out. Next week I file for divorce, and there is nothing left to even fight over.”

  “I’m sorry for your divorce, Lily. Breaking up is hard.” Simon’s voice was quiet, his face partially covered in shadow when he leaned against the wall. He could have been an actor in a 1940s movie, and Lily wondered what his story was.

  “See, it’s the same story over and over throughout the world. It’s just too hard for people to stay together anymore.” Lily extinguished her cigarette in the ashtray as she spoke, then walked over to the trashcan by the door to dump the evidence.

  “You didn’t let me finish, Lily. The problem is not mixing the yin with the yang. If you picked someone just like you – a masculine yang – then it’s not a surprise it didn’t last. You didn’t need what he had to offer because you already have it within yourself. You were too much alike.” Simon nodded his head firmly as if finalizing his statement.

  “You can tell by looking at me that I’m half Chinese, so don’t give me the yin and yang bullshit. I’m a doctor, and I’m trained to be logical about these things.” Lily thought of the necklace she wore underneath her dress, a delicate chain with a number eight on it for luck. Maybe she had a streak of sentimentality for her grandmother’s traditions, but she didn’t plan her life by it.

  “Was your ex-husband also an artist? A musician? A poet? Or did he rely on the same logic as you away from work? Because someone has to smooth your sharp edges, or you’ll go through life cutting everyone around you.” Simon tilted his head as he looked at her, searching for corners.

  “My sharp edges, huh? What does this softer person get from me, then? Because a true yin and yang would be complementary, and it sounds like anyone with half a brain would stay far away from my razor-like personality.” Lily’s dark eyes sparkled as she challenged him.

  “You are the fo
cus, the bright light, the fire that the passive yin needs to flourish. I can see that as clear as day.” Simon looked down at his phone as the timer sounded. “Looks like we solved your problem just in the nick of time.” His mouth slowly spread into a smile.

  “Clear as day, huh? It’s almost midnight, Mr. Nicotine Philosopher. I think you need to have your eyes checked.” Lily cinched her coat tighter and walked toward the door.

  “Ouch! I’m feeling your edge, Lily. Definitely feeling your edge.” Simon held the door for her as they walked in, then kicked the brick to the side as he shut the door. The faint bulb overhead barely lit the dark hallway in front of the elevator. Simon reached toward the call button, stopping when Lily turned and put her hands on his chest.

  “Are you yin or yang, Simon? Because according to this crazy philosopher I just met on the rooftop, I need a little darkness to balance my light right now.”

  Simon reached up to the bare bulb on the ceiling, twisting it until it went out. They were plunged into total darkness. He leaned down toward her face, right hand circling her waist, pulling her to