More than ‘JUST’ Friends

by Ford, Mia

  Of course, I suspected there might be another reason he kept bringing his dog in to see me. On Patrick’s first visit I’d picked up on a little flirtation and attraction on his part. I am tall, attractive, and curvaceous with long, brunette hair. I’d always had it easy with attracting men and often it had been a curse. Ever since I was a kid I wanted to be a veterinarian and I’d worked too hard to not be appreciated for my mind. Due to this reason a lot of men found me cold and standoffish. I was fine with that, especially after breaking up with Devon six months before.

  “OK,” I said to Patrick. “I think you are all set. Just make an appointment out front for the next round of shots in another six months.”

  “Great,” Patrick said tucking the miniature Dachshund under his arm. “I’ll do that.”

  “Fantastic. Bye Pepper. I’ll see you next time,” I said in a baby voice as I made a cute face at the dog.

  The dog did not seem impressed. In fact it was downright annoyed at having been stuck with a needle, which was very understandable.

  Patrick suddenly stopped as he headed for the door. He sighed and then looked back at me.

  A familiar and awkward feeling came over me. I knew this was coming, but I didn’t know when. Ugh… I hated this so much, but it was often unavoidable. Patrick was going to ask me out. I’d seen it building and yet I hoped that he would never get up the nerve to actually do it. I didn’t want to crush him. He was a very nice guy, despite being socially awkward and very nervous. But he was just not my type. I wasn’t looking to date anyone at the moment. The emotional scars from my nasty breakup with Devon were still too much to handle, but I never would have gone for a guy like Patrick. I had always gravitated towards strong guys. I knew that the bad boy type was always going to be my downfall, but I just couldn’t help how they made me feel.

  “I was wondering…” Patrick began. “Um, would you like to grab a coffee sometime?”

  He managed a smile, but I could tell that inside he was shaking like a leaf. The look on his face was one of terror and sickness. He was almost green.

  “Um, well,” I began. I was not quite sure how to manage this…

  “I’m actually just getting over a nasty breakup. I’m really just focused on some ‘me time’ right now. I’m sorry,” I said.

  Patrick looked almost relieved for a moment and then he appeared on the verge of a massive panic attack.

  “Oh… um… alright…I….”

  It was painful to wait through.

  “I’ll…I’ll just…go…” Patrick said stammering, trying to find the right words.

  “So, he finally did it?” Heidi, the veterinarian technician and my best friend asked a few minutes after Patrick left.

  “Yes! Can you believe it?” I asked.

  “Yeah, it only took him six months. That’s a new record,” Heidi said. “Maybe you should work on making yourself less hot looking. I swear we lose so much business because of your supermodel appearance.”

  “Oh, stop it. I’m far from a supermodel.”

  “Yeah, right,” Heidi said. “You are gorgeous and every time one of our patient’s owners gets a crush on you and when you turn them down we suddenly never hear from them again. I’m telling you, your hotness is costing us a fortune.”

  “You have issues,” I said. “Besides, you are hot. Do they hit on you?”

  “No,” Heidi said. “I think they know I’m too crazy and they are afraid to find out just how much. Besides, I think so many guys have that doctor fantasy.”

  “I’m not that kind of a doctor,” I said. “I’m a vet.”

  “Still, you wear the white coat… guys are weird.”

  I headed to the supply closet and Heidi followed. The day was almost over and she just really wanted to get out of there. As much as I loved my job and the beautiful animals I got to work with each day, sometimes I just wanted to leave the place and have a cold beer somewhere. Or a hot meal. At the moment I was starving. It was a bit of a tossup which craving might win out on this one.

  “Maybe the guys you go for are weird,” I said. “I don’t give in to the weird ones. I think I’m pretty good at sniffing them out.”

  “No, you just go for the jerk types,” Heidi said with a grin.

  “Hey, that’s not fair.”

  “What’s not fair? Bryce, Tony, Devon… Do you not see a pattern emerging?” Heidi asked.

  I smiled. Yes, I’d lost this argument. There was not much I could really say to counter it. I had a thing for bad boys.

  “Well, I’m over it now,” I lied.

  “Yeah, right. You are over it by not going out with anyone for six months. That sounds healthy.”

  “What? It was a bad breakup. I’m still pretty fragile over it,” I said.

  “You are not,” Heidi said. “It’s been too long. You knew that Devon was a jerk and it was no surprise to anyone but you when he just texted you that it was over. I mean, seriously? A text message?”

  I gritted my teeth. “Why do you have to remind me of painful things?”

  “Because I’m your friend and I’m concerned about you. It’s time. You need to get over it and get on with your life.”

  “I have,” I protested.

  “How? By turning down every guy who so much as looks at you? I’ve seen the wall you’ve put up. It’s pretty intimidating.”

  “It is meant to be. I’m trying to weed out weirdos and weak guys. And I’m just fine alone.”

  “How long has it been?” Heidi asked.

  I looked around to make sure no one else could hear us. Some of this was private.

  “What?” I asked knowing fully well what Heidi was getting at, but hoping that somehow my friend would just drop it. I didn’t want to talk about it.

  “How long has it been since you’ve had sex?” Heidi asked with a smile.

  “What? That is none of your business.”

  “Of course it is; I’m your bestie.”

  “That may be true, but you are on thin ice with regards to that position at the moment. Drop it,” I said. I looked through the supply closet totally forgetting what I’d come in there for, but hoping I could look busy enough that Heidi would get the message to drop this.

  “It’s not healthy to go that long,” Heidi said. “I hear if you don’t use it then you will eventually lose it.”

  I laughed. “What in the hell does that mean?”

  Heidi shrugged. “I’m not sure, but it seems to fit, right?”

  “Wrong. I’m not talking about this right now. I’m trying to take inventory for next week.”

  “No, you are avoiding the question. You have to be feeling weird,” Heidi said.

  “What do you mean by weird?”

  “Well, surely you have sexual desires and we both know they are not being met.”

  I groaned. My friend was not going to give it up. It was best to just humor her and move on.

  “OK,” I said. “Yes. I’m… lustful…OK? Does that get it right?”

  “Sure, but now you have to ask yourself what you are going to do about it.”

  “I’m not getting involved with anyone right now. I’m not ready.”

  “You keep saying that, but I think you are just afraid. I know that after you find someone interesting and get back on the hobby horse again then all that will disappear.”

  “I think you should pay more attention to your own life and less attention to mine,” I said.

  “I’m very satisfied with my sex life, thank you very much. I just don’t get what you are afraid of.”

  “I… I don’t know…” I said. “I’m just scared to start again. I’m tired of being hurt, I guess. I’m sick of things not working out.”

  “Well, that’s life,” Heidi replied. “You have to get through that and move on from it. That’s part of the deal. They should tell you that in Sex-Ed class, but they conveniently left out all of the really complicated stuff.”

  “Right?” I asked giggling. Heidi occasionally made very valid
points. I wondered if I could call up my old fifth grade health teacher and give her a piece of my mind. Now that would be an interesting phone call…

  “So, you are afraid of getting hurt,” Heidi continued. “That’s understandable.”

  “I’m glad you see it from my perspective,” I said.

  “Yeah, but who says you have to get emotionally involved? Why not just hook up with a few random guys and then ignore them if they ever call you again?”

  “What? That isn’t me,” I said. “I… I’ve never been the type to love ‘em and leave ‘em.”

  “Well, this is the perfect time to start,” Heidi replied. “It will be easy. You just have to dive right into it. With your looks, that should be a snap.”

  “You are suggesting that I go clubbing or something and just throw myself at various guys?” I asked.

  “Well, you don’t have to throw yourself. I mean, you should have a little bit of fun with it.”

  I shook my head. “You are crazy. That is not happening.”

  “Why not? What do you have to lose?” Heidi asked.

  I glanced around to make sure that Alice on the front desk was not listening in. She was sixty years old and had absolutely no life. Eavesdropping on other people’s conversations was pretty much what the old bird lived for.

  “I don’t have anything to lose, but what do I have to gain?” I asked.

  “You will have sex; isn’t that enough?”

  “I’m not as obsessed with it as you are. I’m fine. I don’t see why you can’t understand that?”

  “I’m worried about you,” Heidi said. “And I’m very bored.”

  “Why are you bored?”

  “I think I’ve been with every interesting guy in this entire town,” Heidi said. “And now I’ve got none left. It’s very depressing.”

  “You are so wild,” I replied.

  “But I keep things entertaining, right?”

  “Yes, I’ll give that to you.”

  “Just think about it,” Heidi said. “You might just surprise yourself.”

  Heidi went into the back to prepare another round of booster shots for the next few patients that were on the schedule. As she walked away I found myself thinking a lot about what my friend had said. Was I letting my past few bad relationships dictate my life now? Could I just throw caution to the wind and have some fun for a change? Without an agenda?

  “I guess, anything is possible,” I whispered to myself as I continued to check the inventory.

  I finished the day with a few more patients. There was a Golden Lab who had a dry cough and a cat with a running nose. I gave prescriptions for both, said goodbye to Heidi (we agreed to have a girl’s night that weekend) and left the clinic.

  I had a one story house just outside of town. It was more peaceful out there, I’d gotten a much better price than she would have in city limits, and I really enjoyed the drive to and from work. There was something interesting and almost nostalgic about watching the rest of the town going to and from work. It was a nice way to feel connected, and to feel that I really belonged there.

  Growing up in the big city of Louisville I had decided to join the practice out in a smaller town on purpose, even though the pay was less. I was a bona fide partner in the clinic now at the tender age of twenty-seven since Dr. Callow had retired and I got to do what I loved every single day.

  Not to mention I had made the best friend of my life in Heidi. The two of us just clicked the moment we met. There was an odd, sort of soul mate feel to their relationship. I valued Heidi like a sister. But like sisters we sometimes fought.

  There was some merit to what Heidi had to say about my love life, but I was sick and tired of her meddling in it. Then again, sometimes I needed a bit of a push to get out of my comfort level. I knew this and deep inside I appreciated it.

  What if I could just let go and stop putting that barrier up between myself and any guy who seemed remotely interested? After all, it had been six months. And I was no closer to letting that wall down then I’d been the day after Devon broke my heart, the bastard. A text message? Really? He didn’t even have the balls to step to me like a man and tell me that he didn’t want to be with me anymore.

  And then there were the signs that he might have been cheating on me. I couldn’t prove it and trying to probe deeper into it to get proof was a futile idea that would only hurt me and wouldn’t change the fact that we were broken up. Besides, being deceived didn’t make me any less of a woman; it made him that much less of a man.

  I was fine with it all.

  My stomach was rumbling as I headed towards the outskirts of town, so I decided that I would stop and stuff myself full of the best country fried steak this side of paradise at Nick’s Diner. The service was friendly and the food was perfect.

  Chapter Three

  Jay

  I had stopped at the small diner a few times before after a long day’s work. I loved the food and I loved the service. Every single member of the staff treated you like family at Nick’s Diner, especially Little Nick, who had taken over the diner from his father Big Nick about ten years earlier. The place was always packed with regulars and the wait to get a table was routinely ten minutes or so. I didn’t mind the wait one bit; it was always worth it.

  The place was packed and noisy with friendly banter as usual when I first entered. I gave the hostess my name and she told me it would be a few minutes. While I waited I tried to adjust to the atmosphere of the restaurant and just enjoy myself. I might have been alone, but in a place like that somehow you always felt that you were with friends. I could hear people talking about sports, about their workdays, what their kids had going on, and what they were going to do that summer. It was boring, small town talk, but I found it very interesting all the same. I just wanted to relax and blend into it all. Maybe if I stayed around long enough I’d find myself at one of those tables with real friends and having those same types of conversations. And maybe I’d have a family of my own to talk about.

  A waitress eventually seated me at one of the only tables that eventually became free. It was a table that was attached to another half booth/half table where four older gentlemen sat around talking about baseball.

  I sat down and ordered myself a cup of coffee. I hoped they made the pot strong. I needed something to get me over the hump of a hard day. The waitress who brought my coffee kept giving me the eye. She was new since the last time I’d stopped at the diner about a week and a half ago, but she didn’t seem that new to waitressing. She was sassy and sexy. Her name tag said Roxy. Yep, that was a sexy southern name.

  She was short, with long blonde hair, and a large bosom that displayed her beautiful cleavage in her modified uniform which she’d tied around her waist to show off the midriff most likely to get more tips out of customers. And I was sure that it worked. She was pretty sexy.

  “What will you have today, darling?” Roxy said laying on the Kentucky accent pretty thick. I almost laughed. I was sure that she didn’t sound that way normally, but I played along.

  “I’ll have a Nick’s Big Burger with everything, and French fries,” I ordered. It was nice to be able to order what I wanted without worrying about cutting weight for a mixed martial arts show like I used to have to. It had been several years since I’d done any martial arts on a professional level (and even then I’d only done it part time when I had a break from my military service) but anytime I ordered something fatty and delicious I always thought about it and felt a twinge of guilt.

  “That sounds perfect, darling,” Roxy said. “I’ll be right back.”

  I smiled and watched her walk away shaking her backside. She glanced back and winked at me. Even though I was quite aware she was laying it on very thick, I couldn’t help but be flattered by it.

  “I think she likes you.”

  The voice came from my right. It was feminine and a little raspy. Without looking I thought the voice sounded very attractive and I was intrigued, although I supposed I should
have been more embarrassed than anything. But I wasn’t.

  I turned my head to look at the woman who had voiced her astute observation. I was pleasantly surprised to see a beautiful brunette sitting right across from me in the small table next to mine. I hadn’t even seen her sit down, but I was very glad she had. A few things stood out to me instantly. She had the most beautiful green eyes I’d ever seen, a sweet smile formed by ruby red lips that wore no lipstick, slight dimples in the cheeks that gave a her a mischievous quality, and a body that had the most amazing looking curves I’d ever seen, and so far I’d only seen them for two seconds while she was sitting down.

  Wow. That was about the only word that came to his mind. Any flirtation with Roxy was instantly gone. My full attention was now on this beautiful, mystery woman.

  “You think so?” I asked.

  “Sure,” the woman said. “I think she is ready to get married. I might ask her when the big day is when she comes back.”

  “Oh, you are just assuming that I don’t know the answer to that question? What kind of a fiancé would I be to not know that?” I replied, playing along.

  The woman giggled slightly. I was instantly in love with her laughter. There was an innocence to it that also gave me a peak into something that suggested she was naughty too. Or it might have just been my own imagination. I liked to think that every woman had a naughty side, and of course she would reserve that side only for me, right? That was the delusion of being a man and it was something I, even at the age of thirty, was still trying to get over.

  “I’m Jay,” I said extending my hand.

  “Naomi,” she replied. I loved the sound of her voice. It was confident and bold. I had always loved that in a woman. Her voice also told the world that she was intelligent, educated, and that she was as independent as they came. Those qualities all added up to beautiful in my mind.

  “It’s very nice to meet you, Naomi,” I said.

  “Likewise,” she replied.

  “So, do you—,” I began.