by Gina Kincade
“God damn it, Mike,” he berated himself aloud.
“Well then, I’m glad I hunted you down after you skipped out on our nightly beer and darts at MacRiley’s.” Brad’s voice cut into Mike’s thoughts, had him round in place.
“Hey,” he nodded in Brad’s direction. “Yeah, I’ve had a rough day.”
“Clearly,” he nodded towards the open Crown bottle, the empty tumbler beside it, remnants of his last drink stained the bottom.
“Help yourself,” Mike offered, then added. “Actually, there’s a second glass in the drawer, can you pour us both one?”
Brad moved from the door, closed in on the desk, and pulled the drawer open, retrieving the clean tumbler, then set it on the desktop before reaching for the half-empty bottle.
“You sure you need another?”
Mike cocked a brow. “Don’t ask, just pour.”
Brad followed orders without asking another question, pouring a knuckle into each, then closed in on him. He held the glass out, nodded. “Drink up, then spill it.”
Mike took the glass. “Aren’t you and Kate doing dinner tonight since she missed last night?”
Brad sighed, shook his head. “Nope, she’s on a mission, remember? Some New Year something or other I told you about last night. Anyway.” he waved his free hand in the air. “I’m alone again.” He paused, lifted his glass in the air. “And it seems it’s a good thing, because you look like you need a friend.”
Mike forced a dry laugh, lifted his glass in cheers, and downed the warm liquid. “You could say that.”
Brad lowered his glass from his lips, reached for Mike’s and filled them both, before returning with a sly grin on his lips.
One that had Mike shaking his head. “No, Brad. Not happening.”
“Come on,” he stepped closer and closer until they were nose to nose, Mike stumbling back under the weight of warm whiskey.
Brad’s grin widened. “The way you’re stumbling there’s no way you’d beat me at darts now.”
“I don’t need the bar scene right now.”
Brad gasped, feigned shock. “How dare you say that. We all need some healing.”
But he didn’t feel it. Not tonight, and he said so. “I’m sorry, Brad. But I can’t tonight.” He tunneled his fingers through his hair. “I just can’t.”
Silence filtered through Mike’s office.
Neither of the men moved. Until Brad finally broke the tension pounding at Mike’s temples.
“Okay, so I’ll get us both a refill, this time doubles, you sit.” He lifted a finger to point towards the patient settee.
Mike shook his head. “No. I’ve told you before, I’m the doctor, not the other way around.”
But Brad would hear none of it. “It’s after hours, no one here is on the clock.” He motioned with a jerk of his head to the settee, then turned to fill their glasses.
When he returned, Mike was on the couch, staring at the same plain white ceiling all his patients did.
“So, Mister Thorpe, please tell me what’s distressing you?” He held the tumbler out to him and Mike gratefully took it.
“Good thing I’m not on the clock because feeding liquor to your patients is a no-no,” Mike grumbled, then closed his eyes and exhaled. “I was heartless today. Had a woman lose her shit on me.”
“Seriously?” Brad interrupted from Mike’s usual chair. “Women lose their shit all the time.”
He shook his head. “No, this was different. I let Becky win after all. She may have slandered my name, but I am responsible for the destruction of my practice. I threw years of University, multiple degrees away.” He lifted a hand to squeeze the bridge of his nose. “How long? How many clients have I failed because I didn’t truly listen?” He paused long enough to catch a breath, but not enough for Brad to counter. “That was what she said. She called me heartless, uncaring.”
“Who?” Brad asked.
“My last client today.”
Silence filtered between the two.
“She got under your skin, did she?”
Mike took another sip, exhaled a heavy sigh. “Yeah.”
More silence save the click, click click of the Newton’s Cradle.
“Are you in love with her?”
“What?” Mike shot up on the settee, faced Brad. “I only met the woman today, first of all, and secondly, do you know how many kinds of wrong that kinda question is. She’s my client.” Unable to stay seated anymore, he pushed himself up onto his feet, downed the last of his drink, turned his attention to his desk, where her folder sat open.
Brad raised his hands in defense. “Hey, how am I supposed to know you only met her today? It’s not like discussing our clients is something we do over beers.” He paused, then added, “Speaking of...that dart game?”
Ignoring Brad’s second attempt at getting him out of his office, he contemplated his words. He knew he felt something for the brunette with fire burning in her dark eyes, but it wasn’t love. It couldn’t be. At forty-five, he was well past believing in ‘love at first sight’.
He rubbed a hand over his forehead and through his hair.
Brad sighed, resigning to the fact that Mike would not be swayed into a nightcap and stood from the leather chair. He closed in on him, placed a hand on his shoulder. “That or you can take Kate’s advice and find a way to right your wrongs, then move on.”
Mike rolled his eyes. “Great advice, doc.”
“Hey,” he laughed. “I’m not the one with a doctorate.”
Mike’s gaze moved from Pam Mason’s folders to the silver balls, two outer ones swayed back and forth clinking against the unmoving ones in the center.
“I can fix it,” he nodded. “I have to.”
***
The following morning, Pam woke up feeling well-rested. Outside her bedroom window, the sun was cloaked by the heavy downfall of thick snowflakes.
From the kitchen, where she just finished making a pot of coffee, she heard the front door open then close.
“Good morning sunshine,” Kate’s voice bellowed from the entranceway. “I let myself in.”
Pam laughed, “Clearly. You want coffee?” With cups in hand, Pam moved to the table.
“Do I ever,” Kate replied as she popped into the kitchen, dropped down into a chair at the table.
She reached for a mug, lifted the dark brew to her lips, took a sip, her sky blue gaze never leaving Pam.
Pam rolled her eyes, sat in a chair opposite Kate, wrapped her chilled fingers around the hot ceramic mug. “Just spit it out. You know you want to.”
Kate grinned, lowered her cup to the table, steepling her fingers before her. “So, I made lunch plans with Brad this afternoon, and…”
Pam nearly choked, her eyes bugged. “You can’t be serious. So soon? No. Come on, Kate. Give me a breather.”
“You had a breather. Last night. Today is a new day, and another one on the path to your…”
Pam cut her off. “New Year, New Me. I get it. But we don’t have to rush these things.”
Kate reached for Pam’s hands, covered them with her own as her gaze bored into her.
“We are on a quest. And quests don’t stop until they are complete.” She paused, softened her voice. “Plus, yesterday was a great day for you, why not make it two in a row.”
Pam sighed. Kate was right. If she had the chance, she’d delay this inevitably. But life wasn’t endless and if she wanted to be a part of it again, she had to do it while she still had time.
“Alright. So, I assume you booked two tables?”
“Yes,” Kate’s smile widened. “On opposite ends of the restaurant, but in clear view of each other.”
“How did you pull that off over the phone?”
“I didn’t,” she shrugged. “I went in and pointed out the tables I wanted.”
Pam couldn’t help but laugh at Kate’s gall. The woman had balls that was for sure.
“Alright. So what time and where?”
“Yo
u don’t want to see who I have chosen for you?”
Pam shook her head. “It’s hardly a blind date if I see the guy, isn’t it?”
Kate shrugged, reached behind her back, withdrawing a 5 x 8 color photo and held it out for Pam to see. “This is the twenty-first century, nobody does blind dates anymore. I was just pulling your leg about that one.” Before Pam could interject, Kate pointed towards the picture and continued. “His name’s Chad White. Forty-two. Never married.”
Pam turned her attention from the picture to Kate. “And you know him?”
“Yeah, I work with him. Several shifts at the hospital. He’s a nurse too. A nice guy. Just bad luck with women.”
Pam turned back to the blond-haired pretty boy, studied his green eyes when her cell began to chirp, pulling her attention.
Kate leaned forward, eyeing the ID. “Who calls from an ‘unknown number’ anymore unless they’re a telemarketer, or a pervert?”
Pam ended the call, flipped her phone over on the table and picked Chad White’s picture back up. “So, this is my first date.”
“Yup,” Kate confirmed. “Twelve-thirty, at Burger Barn.”
Mortified, Pam’s mouth dropped open. “Are you kidding me, a burger joint for a first date?”
“Just don’t order wings,” Kate threw her a wink.
Chapter Five
Pam stared at Burger Barn’s large windows from the warmth of her parked car across the street. Inside patrons sat at tables, a feast before them, some laughed while others sat silently chewing. Servers milled about dressed casually in jeans and a red t-shirt, Burger Barn emblazoned across their chests.
It had been too long since she’d gone into a restaurant, let alone one that was always busy. She sighed, wondered if this was really what she wanted to do when her cell chirped, pulled her attention. Rummaging in her purse, she pulled it out, checked the ID.
Unknown Caller.
A rap on her window had her squeal, jump, and hit the end call button as she turned to the window and Kate’s hand motioning for her to get out of the car.
“Come on, the guys are waiting. If I’m any later, Brad’s gonna think I stood him up again. Let’s go.”
Pam’s hands shook as nerves took over. With shaking fingers, she pulled the keys from the ignition and shouldered the driver’s side door open.
Her attention moved back to the restaurant and the cacophony of voices that filtered out into the street each time the front door opened. Her heart thumped, legs turned to Jell-O, but she quickly caught up with Kate’s receding form.
Once through the door, brisk January winds pushing her through, there was no turning back.
Ahead of her, Kate wove through the bodies, met Brad who stood as soon as he caught sight of her, a wide smile on his face.
As awkward as a person could feel, she looked around the busy restaurant searching for the man from the headshot. Chad White.
Before long, she caught sight of him walking towards her, his green eyes twinkling with the smile that rose on his lips, revealing straight, white teeth. When he stopped before her, he reached a hand out, looked her over, and nodded.
“Just the lady I was looking for. The name’s Chad. Chad White.”
Pam reached for his hand, shook it. “Pam. You were looking for me?”
“Well of course. We have a mutual friend, I take it?” He jerked his head towards the far corner of the room where Brad and Kate sat, fingers entwined. “She’s always playing cupid.”
Releasing her hand, Chad motioned back where he’d come from. “Would you care to join me?”
Pam exhaled softly, nodded. “Sure.”
As she followed him through the crowd of patrons, one particular couple caught her eye, brought a hitch to her heart. The way they held onto each other’s hand, seeing no one but the person before them, a blush on the woman’s cheeks, smile on the man’s reminded her of all she’d been missing these last few years. The memories they were creating, the love they were sharing. Just as she and Mark had.
“Here we are,” Chad’s voice broke through, pulled her attention to him. With one hand on a chair, the other motioned for her. “After you.”
With a nod and smile, she closed in on him, took her seat and rubbed damp palms on her lap. In the back of her mind, Kate’s voice sounded, calming the shake in her legs, the anxiety building in her chest.
‘It’s time to make new memories, happy memories.’
Minute by minute, under Chad’s attentive gaze, the anxiety she’d come into the restaurant with slipped away.
Chad was good looking, had a gorgeous smile, and eyes that shimmered in any light. He spoke eloquently, and laughed frequently, didn’t rush her when she took too long to decide on what to eat, nor did he comment on her choice of non-alcoholic beer to his alcohol version.
It didn’t take her long to get caught up in his charm. Even less time to snap out of it.
Chad lifted his beer to his lips, took a long swig. When he lowered the bottle to the wooden table, his gaze turned on her, the smile he’d worn through the date thus far slipped away, the twinkle in his eyes disappeared.
“So, can I ask you something?”
Pam’s chest tightened, her stomach knotted. “Sure.”
“Kate mentioned you’ve been celibate for two years.”
Pam’s mouth dropped. “I beg your pardon?” Her brows narrowed.
Kate was many things, loving, caring, pushy, but she would never overstep bounds like that, even if it meant securing Pam a date.
Chad shrugged as if the question was a valid one, not out of line whatsoever. His earlier dashing good looks and suave aura were now stained by the ugliness he smeared over himself with his words.
“It’s a valid question, you don’t have to get all uppity about it,” he snapped. “I was just curious if you’re as tight as…”
The one-eighty degree turn of Chad White caught Pam unaware, had her heart racing, her hands shaking. Whether the threat had been verbalized or not, the instant change in his personality was enough to rocket her out of her chair. She yanked her jacket from the back, and purse from the ground.
Feigning illness, she gripped her stomach. “I’m sorry, but I’m not feeling so good all of a sudden,” she pointed to her half-eaten burger. “I did notice the last few bites were not as cooked as the rest. I’m sorry.”
With that, she pivoted on her heels, raced from the dining room towards the front door. Without breaking stride, she pushed the door open, stepped out into a winter wonderland, and nearly slammed into a broad chest.
Pam gasped, one hand to her throat as she rocked back on her heels.
Strong hands cupped her elbows, pulled her straight.
“I’m so sorry,” she shook her head, swiped at the tears streaming down her cheeks. “I was just leaving.” She tried to pull free from his grasp, only for his fingers to tighten.
“Pam?” Doctor Michael Thorpe’s gaze softened on her, worry etched his brow. “Are you okay? What happened in there?” Without waiting for her response, he turned his attention on the front door just in time to catch Chad White push his way out, stopping several feet away from them.
“Pam,” Chad started, his earlier compassionate gaze returned which only increased her unease.
Doctor Thorpe looked from Chad, then back to her, his lips tightened into a thin line, his jaw hardened.
Pam caught the unsaid words that hovered between them as his grip on her arm loosened, released. At his sides, his hands fisted and he pivoted on his heels, closing in on Chad, stopping but inches from his face.
From her position, she caught the sudden shift on Chad’s face, as earlier. Almost as if he were a chameleon that could blend into whatever his surroundings were, able to be someone he wasn’t just to fit the mold needed for the moment.
Pam shivered, pulled her jacket up around her neck.
“I don’t know what you did or said, and considering you had the gall to pull it in public, I doubt you even give a
damn. But I’m warning you right now, if you go near that woman again, I will see to it that you never use your legs again.”
Chad’s nefarious grin lifted as he leaned towards the doctor, unafraid or just suicidal enough to test the limits.
“Ahhh, now I see,” he paused to tilt his head, peering over the doctor’s shoulder to her. “So I was just to feed you, he’s to ravage you later, end your saintliness?”
Pam gasped, a hand lifting to her lips seconds before Doctor Thorpe pulled one fist back and slammed it into Chad White’s once perfectly straight nose.
***
Mike Thorpe wasn’t a violent man, at least he never was before. He’d been the professional when it came to his practice, the dutiful husband when it came to his home life. Rarely things got under his skin.
That was until Pam Mason entered his office and his life. Her anger, her fury, her pain shot out of her like a beam, ensnared him, cracked the shell he’d so carefully constructed around himself and his life after Becky.
Since then he’d been unable to get her out of his mind. He felt remorse, guilt, the need to reconcile, to mend what he’d carelessly broke. And nothing could bypass those blinders. Not the fact that she didn’t answer her phone or that when he drove by the home listed in her file, she was nowhere to be seen. That is except for the growl in his stomach.
Pulling up outside the Burger Barn he couldn’t have expected his day long hunt would come to an end. But it did when he caught sight of Pam Mason through the restaurant window. Across from her, a blond pretty boy smiled, laughed, reached for her hand.
A niggle of jealousy tickled his spine. The thought of that smile being given so freely to her date, where with him it had only been anger and rage only added to the gnawing feeling in his stomach.
But all that came to an abrupt halt when she bolted up out of her seat, coat in hand. Seconds later, she pushed through the doors, straight into his arms, tears in her eyes, and he’d never felt as heated as he did at that moment.
Now, rubbing his left fist, standing at her car door, he knew his quest to find her was not just to make amends for how he’d treated her, but for something much deeper. There was no way he could just let this woman disappear from his life.
