Because that would help absolutely nothing.
“Thanks.” I wanted to say so much more. Enrique helped slow the flow when things got hectic, fixed paperwork I botched without a complaint, and put out any fires that started along the way. I’d heard such horror stories of the “office manager” type medical clinic set-up and almost didn’t consider this position, and then they dangled the carrot, the one I just couldn’t resist; prove yourself in urgent care and you will be given first consideration for your own family practice when an office opens up.
Which was a great deal more than the other places that even considered me. No one ever said it out loud, but being an omega had them seeing paternity leave and logistic nightmares for most places I looked into.
“You should take a shower and go grab a nice dinner and then sleep for a week.” Both of those things sounded fanfreakingtastic. I’d skipped lunch trying not to let the wait times get too far ahead of me, and I was ready to eat my arm. Maybe not my arm, I needed it, but even the protein bars my coworker left in the shared office were looking like food, and from the one time I’d eaten them, I knew that not to be the case.
“I work tomorrow,” I reminded Enrique. I could still get a decent sleep, but sleeping in wasn’t going to happen.
“Okay, not a week, but get some sleep, or better yet...find a nice alpha and go out and have a good time.” And here we were back on this train. Enrique—dear, sweet, efficient, and helpful Enrique—saw his happy life with his hubby as what everyone should aspire to. Which would’ve been fine if his mentioning it didn’t hit me in the gut. I wanted that too, more than anything. Watching my roommate back home fall in love and start a family already had me on that track.
The problem remained; I was quick to fall in love, but it never stuck. Turned out I was in love with the idea of falling in love, and honestly, my career needed to come before that bullshit. This was my chance not to work in a hospital and make a practice for myself. I wasn’t going to bung it up by dating.
“Sleep’s the plan. I’m still figuring out all this.” I swished my hands indicating the office. It was bustling, but two doctors came in to take my place for the evening shift which was usually the crazy one thanks to the closing of most family practices for the day. “Dating is going to wait.”
“Sacrificing your happiness for work is never a good plan.” Why did the older man have to make so much sense? Still, this came first. So many of the people I graduated with were floundering since completing their residencies, choosing positions they didn’t want simply because it was better than nothing. I wasn’t going to blow this opportunity.
“Dating doesn’t equal happiness either.” At least not in my experience, not at the end, anyways. And I tried the no-strings thing and discovered I sucked at it. I either left wanting more than they could give or wasn’t interested, period. No, casual was not my friend.
“But a balance between home and work does, and right now you just have work.” He tsked his finger.
“Because I have to find my place here.” And play all my cards right so I could slide into one of the practices rumored to be opening up in the next couple of years thanks to a proposed expansion plan.
“Whatever you need to tell yourself.” He closed his eyes and shook his head as if exasperated. “Just think about what I said. All work and no play makes Dick a lonely boy.”
Gods, I hated that abbreviation of my name, especially said like that by someone who I regarded as a father figure.
“Ewwww...just ewww.”
“You’re welcome.” He stepped back. “Now scram. You had a long day, and tomorrow will probably be just as bad.” If the incoming stream of people was any indication, he was spot on. “They need to send a case of disinfectant to that school, I tell you,” he half-teased.
“Possibly a pallet of it.” I took off my doctor coat and hung it on my hook. “Night, Enrique.”
I gathered my things and ordered take-away instead of going out to eat. I just wanted to be home and in my own bed. The next day I had an extra-long shift, and thanks to Dr. Tyler being on a cruise, I was going to go without a day off for the next while. Worth it, if it meant I could realize my dreams.
Pulling into the driveway of the small bungalow I managed to get for far below market value, I saw what looked like an animal scurry under the porch. Great. Looked like I needed to fix that hole where the lattice lost a crossbar sooner rather than later. The last thing I wanted was a family of skunks or the like nesting under there.
I brought my food inside, put on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, and headed out to the garage for my tools and to see if I had anything that could temporarily close the hole and buying some time for the creature I spooked under there to leave before I got back out there.
The family who sold me the home had wanted to dump it quickly after they lost their grandmother who had lived there for over fifty years, and they left a lot of junk pretty much everywhere, much of it surprisingly useful, including the scrap board I was able to dig out for the lattice repair.
I turned on the flashlight app on my phone as I made my way to the hole, crossing my fingers the creature was gone or at the very least not a skunk or some rabid opossum or any of the other things my imagination was currently conjuring up. Setting down the board, nails, and hammer, I got on my knees a distance from the fence and flashed the light to see two little eyes glaring back at me, two eyes belonging to a cat.
“Here, kitty kitty,” I clucked my tongue and held out my hand, and to my surprise, he came out. And even more to my surprise, the cat wasn’t a cat at all; it was a small, very scrawny and matty dog. Poor thing.
He came right over and plopped himself in front of me, his chin on my knees, looking up at me with sad little eyes.
“Let’s see who you belong to, little fellow. Maybe I can get you back to your family.” I tentatively reached over and rotated his collar, finding a bone-shaped If Found tag, and as I flipped it over, my heart stopped...the address was mine. “Let’s get you some water and see if there are any vets open tonight, little fellow.”
It turned out the little fellow was Sophia, and she belonged to the previous owner, and by the time I went to bed that evening, I was the new human of the mysterious Miss Sophia, who had been on a wild adventure, the details of which she wasn’t giving up.
See, Enrique, I’m not alone.
Except even with my new furry companion, I very much was.
32
Harry
I stood at the kitchen sink and gazed at the back yard. It was late summer and the garden was in full bloom. No thanks to me, though. My roommate, Matt, had the green thumb.
I opened the window and inhaled the perfume of magnolias, sweet peas, and peonies. And I only knew the names of each one as Matt was a Type-A personality—he wore that title proudly—and had labeled them.
It was unusual for me to be home before ten p.m. And though I’d had a long day, I wasn’t ready to sleep. The deckchair in a corner of the garden beckoned, and I was tempted to grab a beer or a glass of wine and sit out there with a book that’d been sitting on my bedside table for weeks.
Water was running in the bathroom, which I assumed was Matt in the shower. Unless a very dirty burglar broke in and needed a wash. I wondered if he was headed out on a date. Matt, that is, not a burglar.
My roommate emerged toweling his hair dry and leaving a trail of wet footprints behind him. He was probably headed to get something to wipe up the water which made him the perfect housemate. Everything was clean and in its proper place in our home.
He froze as he caught sight of me. “Harry, my man!” And he slapped my shoulder. “I was beginning to think you were a vampire, only slinking home under the veil of darkness.” He clamped his teeth over his lower jaw and hissed before flicking the towel in my direction.
“Seriously?” I yanked the towel out of his hands and flung it over his face. “Vampires don’t hiss. They bite.”
“Oh, really? And you’re the
expert on creatures of the night.”
“According to you, I am one.”
“Touché,” he replied. “But talking of more serious things, we have to celebrate you being home early.”
“Huh?” My head was in the fridge as I grabbed a beer and then rummaged in a cupboard searching for a packet of spicy corn chips.
Matt took the bottle and put it back in the fridge. “We’re going out.”
“I don’t know, Matt. I’m kinda tired.”
He ignored my protest and pushed me toward the bathroom. “Shower and get changed. Meet you out front in ten.” He was already booking a car with the city’s local ride-hailing service.
“Fine.” It’d be nice to get out and see people other than ones who worked at my law firm.
“Eight minutes, I’m impressed,” Matt said as I got in the back seat beside him.
“I’m thirsty. Remember, you took my beer.”
“But think of the multiple beers you’ll have at Dave’s and the huge plate of nachos you’ll share with me after I hand you your ass at darts.”
“Dream on.” He was much better than me at the game, but I pretended otherwise.
Dave’s was our local bar, owned by a guy named Sam! It was all wood-paneling and dim lighting. In the past, when you could light up a cigarette inside, it was filled with a gritty smudgy haze that clawed at your throat and made your eyes water.
There were a couple of pool tables at the back and an alcove for playing darts, while three vintage pinball machines were lined up on a side wall.
Sam was serving customers when we walked in, and he greeted us. The place was heaving with people, and there was no chance of getting a game of darts for a while.
We sat on stools at the bar until a booth became available. Matt disappeared to chat to an acquaintance, and I nursed my beer and waited for the food. I downed my drink and checked the phone. I was tempted to drink Matt’s beer when he raced back and flung himself onto the soft, padded seat.
“Guess what?” he gasped as he gulped a mouthful of his drink and was left with a frothy mustache.
I closed one eye. “You met someone,” I deadpanned.
He made a face. “How did you guess?”
I jerked my head in the direction of an alpha who was staring at my roommate and practically drooling. I’d seen the guy at Dave’s a few times. “He looks like he wants to eat you.”
Matt’s eyes opened wide, and he licked his lips as he shot a glance in the alpha’s direction.
“Go.”
He stumbled to his feet.
“And Matt?”
“Yeah?”
I tapped my upper lip, and he wiped off the froth. Though judging by the alpha’s enthusiasm, he would have licked it off himself.
The waiter appeared at the table and nearly collided with my roommate, who stuffed two onion rings in his mouth and took off. Nachos, wings, fries, and onion rings. Mainly brown food with guacamole as the only item resembling anything green. I could hear my omega dad chastising me about my lousy diet. But it tastes so good.
I concentrated on eating until a movement in the corner of my eye had me glance up. An omega was standing in the middle of the room holding a glass of wine and a basket of chicken fingers. Delicious—and he’s not half-bad either.
I peered around half-hoping the guy was meeting someone. I wasn’t looking for a hook-up and unlikely I’d meet the love of my life at Dave’s. Besides, I was concentrating on work, hoping to make partner in a few years. I refused to let a relationship distract me.
But as I peeked at the omega again, I was tempted to override that decision. Even with the lousy lighting, the shadows under his eyes were visible. Poor guy, probably wants to eat and head home.
But as I was puzzling over whether to offer him a seat, I was struck by his dazzling, eyes. They were brown. Definitely brown was dominant, but there was a hint of green. So, more hazel than brown.
Wow! They’re as gorgeous as the rest of him.
Should I ask him to join me?
It’s not as though I’m coming on to him. In another life, perhaps where I wasn’t fixated with climbing the ladder at work. I’m just taking pity on him. He’s alone and exhausted and hungry.
I put myself in his place. He obviously didn’t know anyone, which didn’t make him a Billy-No-Mates. Just a guy who came to a bar for a drink and dinner.
I nodded at him and extended my hand toward the seat opposite. But his half-smile didn’t let on if he was grateful for my offer or peeved he had to share a table with a stranger. Does he think I want to steal his food?
But as the omega strode toward the booth, the message bag slung over one shoulder jiggled on his hip. I leaned forward and squinted. Something poked out of the opening, and I reeled backward, thinking I’d made a huge mistake. Is that a pair of ears?
33
Richard
Being the youngest in the practice, everyone assumed I could just take on extra hours and it wouldn’t be a big deal. I didn’t need the sleep they did or some such shit. Except they were wrong, I did, and taking on a couple hours here so Fran could go to her kid’s recital and a couple of hours there so Isaac could grab a beer with a friend from out of town, and now four hours for Melinda who couldn’t reschedule an appointment I was fairly sure had to do with her upcoming wedding and not something imminent had me dead on my feet.
It was my fault, though, to be fair. I could say, “no.” There was nothing written anywhere in my contract indicating otherwise. It was just an irrational fear that saying, “no”, would somehow have them thinking I wasn’t enough of a team player to be a family practitioner. Even I knew how ridiculous that was, yet there I was coming off of a 16-hour shift.
I turned the corner and was struck by how dark it was. I lived in one of those neighborhoods where people tended to turn on their porch lights as soon as the sun set, and I could see none. As I turned in the driveway and the garage opener didn’t open, I began to connect the dots. Brilliant. The power is out.
I parked the car and opened the door to find Sophia sitting there, her scraggly tail wagging.
“Daddy’s home.” I bent down, and she bolted into my arms. My guess was this was how she had been trained long before she came into my life, but I wasn’t going to complain. I knew she wouldn’t bolt out the door, and honestly, being treated like the most amazing human in the world didn’t hurt my feelings.
“Did William come let you out?” She licked my face in reply, which meant nothing other than she was glad I was there. I stood with her in my arms, dropping my messenger bag by the front door and walking carefully to the back door with only my cell phone flashlight to guide us.
The outage had to be fairly new, given that William hadn’t texted me about it when he came to let her out. William was a high school kid that volunteered at the vet and was a godsend when Sophia first came home.
She had been all kinds of a mess from dehydration to malnourishment to overgrown dewclaws and worn-out paws. We never found out exactly what had happened to her, but a neighbor remembered someone from “the family” taking her with them so my gut said she was dumped somewhere and worked her way home. They all, of course, denied their elderly relative even had a dog when my real estate agent called them.
But yeah, those first few weeks were tough when William was taking care of her on days I couldn’t be home. Of course, the money I showered on him for doing so helped on that front. We were going to miss him when he graduated and moved away.
I let her out back, and she did her business and ran to me in record time. I was hungry. More than hungry, having skipped lunch to start early for Melinda, and without an oven or a microwave, pickings were going to be slim. Added to that, my father’s warning about opening refrigerators when the power was out rattling around in my brain.
“Daddy just needs to go get some food.” I patted her head, and she jumped up on me with a whimper. Fuck. I couldn’t leave her like that, not after having been gone so much lately.
“Fine. You can come too, but you need to be good.”
It would limit my places to go, but so be it. The little furball needed some attention. I got that.
I kind of did too.
I grabbed the dog purse, or in my case, messenger bag, and her tail couldn’t wag fast enough. Who would have thought they created entire lines of bags just for bringing your dog with you everywhere? Technically, she wasn’t allowed most places I brought her, but for some reason no one ever said anything, so I called that permission enough.
“Ready to go?” She all but jumped into my arms and we were on our way. I picked a parking lot next to the park and let her run around for a tiny bit before heading to the diner to get Lou’s famous meatloaf only to find it closed. I was running much further behind than I thought.
“Well, this stinks, little lady. It looks like the options are going to be bar food or bar food. What do you prefer?” She, of course, didn’t answer because—dog, but that didn’t stop me from answering for her in a silly little voice, “How about bar food?” And off we went.
I’d never been to Dave’s before, but had been invited numerous times by one of my co-workers who said it was the place to be to find a hot alpha, which meant it was going to be a freaking meat market and I was so not ready for that.
My stomach growled.
At least they had hot food based on the scent of burgers and fried things in the air.
I stepped inside, giving my eyes a few seconds to adjust to the light. It wasn’t wall-to-wall people, but there were enough there to make sneaking in and grabbing a corner table impossible.
“Daddy’s looking for a table,” I whispered to Sophia. Not that she could hear with all of the noise surrounding us. “Be a good girl.” She understood and settled down in the bag. If the bartender saw her, he’d have no choice but to ask me to leave. Can’t have dog hair where you serve drinks.
Love at Blind Date Complete Series: Books 1-4 Page 12
