The VIP Room (5 page)

I still hadn't formulated any conclusions about Sophie, other than I wanted to see her again, and sooner than waiting until the following Tuesday. Unfortunately, I had neglected to get her cell phone number, and had to wait for her to call me at some point to get in touch with her. Regretting my oversight, I went into my kitchen to put together my post workout meal when my cell phone rang. It was a text message from Sophie.

I'm getting off work at about 2,
it read.
You want to come by the University ER and get some late lunch before I start work again this evening?

I checked my schedule quickly, and saw I had nothing except an expected phone call from a client.
I'd be happy to. Mind if I come down on the RIST instead of taking my car?

No problem,
the reply came after just a few minutes.
Looking forward to it. See you soon.

I chugged the rest of my protein shake and jumped in the shower, quickly shaving and changing into my normal casual
blend in
clothes, jeans and a t-shirt, along with some Nikes. Grabbing my phone and wallet, I clipped my keys to the inside of my front pocket and headed out the door.

There's a bus stop right outside my condo building, and I was able to catch a bus down to the terminal quickly. From there, I used the city's light rail system (Rapid Intercity Service Train, or RIST) to get within just a few blocks of the hospital. The sun was out, the sky was beautiful, and I actually felt like whistling as I walked the short distance to the hospital ER.

What I saw when I walked in the automatic doors caused my blood to boil. It took all my self control to keep a calm demeanor as I watched Sophie get blisteringly yelled at by some asshole doctor. "What the hell do you think you were doing, you stupid jackass?"

Sophie was practically in tears as the doctor, who looked like he was about forty, continued to berate her about what I quickly figured out was nothing important. Instead, it seemed he just wanted to harass her and get the perverse pleasure of trying to make her cry. "If you think you can act with such total lack of thought and become a PA, you are sadly....."

I couldn't take it any longer. Working surreptitiously, I made sure my face was covered from the security cameras, and made my way outside to a fire alarm, pulling it and walking around a parked ambulance before going inside calmly. The braying alarm caused everything to stop in the ER, as the source of the alarm was tracked down. A quick check found my pulled alarm, but with no damage, I knew the security guards wouldn't investigate too strictly.

My little trick did have the desired effect however, as the doctor broke off to check on patients while the rest of the staff started taking the steps needed for a patient evacuation. Sophie was kept busy for the ten minutes it took the security guards to check the alarm source and call it off, but she was done by two fifteen. I figured it was better than being cursed out for what would have probably been about te same amount of time.

When Sophie came out of the staff room, her frown disappeared when she saw me. "Hey Mark!"

"Hey beautiful," I said, accepting the hug she gave me. "How was your day?"

"Oh, nothing out of the ordinary," she said, taking my hand and walking with me out towards the parking lot. I noticed a few of the staff members giving us quizzical looks, but they didn't say anything. "Although that alarm at the end was a bit unexpected. The ER doesn't get prank pulls like that usually until the night shift."

I grinned and looked over at her. "I figured it was a good way to get you out of being yelled at."

Sophie stopped in the parking lot and looked at me, her jaw dropping for a moment before a smile broke out on her face. "Oh, you sneaky devil!" she laughed, giving my arm a quick hug. "That was perfect! But won't you get caught?"

"Nah," I replied easily. "I saw the security camera when I approached, and noticed that with the way the ambulance was parked in the bay, the pull was totally covered. There's no way they could have gotten a clear image of me, even if your security guards decide to investigate." I pulled her in tight and kissed her gently, her lips warm and welcome against me. "Besides, I think it was worth it. Who was that guy anyway?"

Sophie shrugged and waved it off. "Dr. Green, he's the senior attending physician. He's an asshole to a lot of people."

I let the subject drop, but remembered the name and the face, filing it away for later. "So, what would you like to do before you start your paid work? I'm not too familiar with what's in the area."

Sophie thought for a second and then grinned. "You like Thai food?"

I
took
Mark to a little hole in the wall Thai restaurant about halfway in between the hospital and the Gold Shamrock, the Irish tavern I worked at. For a guy who had looked so at home behind the wheel of his electric sports car the night before, it was great to see him also relax in the shotgun seat of my beater Civic. "I see you spent your money wisely," he joked, tapping the stereo. It is an impressive sound system, though I rarely use it. "How much did it run?"

"I don't know," I said as I turned the corner out of the parking lot of the hospital. "I bought this thing used. The stereo came with it. The guy who sold it was an old man, who said his grandson had used the car before he joined the Marines. So I don't think he knew just how good the sound system was. But, since my MP3 player pretty much sucks in terms of battery charge, I don't play it often in here. I save it for when I go to the gym."

"Where do you go?" Mark asked, "And please don't tell me you go to Planet Fitness."

"I said I go to the gym, not to waste my money," I replied with a snort. "I'm still a university student, so I have full access to the facilities they have. What about you?"

"Mostly on my own," Mark replied, "But I do have a membership at Downtown Sports. Maybe we can go together some time?"

I smiled and looked over at him. "You don't want to see me sweaty and in workout clothes."

Mark's smoldering look in reply sent little butterflies through my stomach, and I had to tear my eyes away from him to look at the road. "I've seen you in less than that, and I think every bit of it is beautiful," he said, his words causing me to shiver and smile at the same time. "And I can't wait to see it all again."

I didn't really have an answer, so I just smiled. Of course I wanted to have sex with him again, but I wasn’t exactly used to being in this kind of situation.

Soon we were at the restaurant anyway. I glanced over at Mark, grinning sheepishly. "I'm sure it's not as glamorous as what you're used to, but it's good, and the owner is really from Thailand."

The restaurant was pretty quiet when we came in, since we showed up in that dead zone between lunch and dinner. Still, the hostess was polite, and we were soon seated at an orange booth covered in a blue plastic tablecloth, drinking iced tea from large plastic glasses. "I know the decoration looks pretty plain," I said, "it raised my doubts too. But, apparently the shop used to be a pizza place fifteen years ago, and when the owner bought it, he just kept the decor. It caught on with the university and hospital people, and he's been going ever since."

"It reminds me of the small town I grew up in," Mark said, and for the first time, I could hear a faint Southern accent in his voice. I guessed he hid it pretty well unless he wanted it to come out.

"Whole town had only nine thousand people in it, most of them country folks. We had only five different types of restaurant in the whole town. You could have Southern, fast food, your large chain family restaurant, a Greek place that doubled as our Italian place, and a single Chinese restaurant, converted over from a Dairy Queen. Good Chinese food, although they kept getting shut down by the health department, so take that for what it's worth."

I laughed and sipped my tea, a nice herbal peppermint blend the owner developed himself. "So how'd you end up in the big city?" I asked, trying to imagine Mark growing up in a small Southern town. He must have been the high school quarterback or something, he was such a great athlete. "Football scholarship?"

"Hmmm?" he replied, surprised. "Not at all. My family moved here when my mother died. I was twelve, and my father thought that he could make it better in the city than in South Carolina. So, just as I was getting ready for high school, he took me with him to Boston, where he had a new job lined up. I had to learn a lot, and quickly."

"I bet," I said, thinking of a country white kid from the South landing in a Boston high school. Even the private school kids would try and tear him apart. "Must have been better when you went to college."

Mark gave me that confident smile of his, with the right corner of his mouth quirked up as if I had said something funny. "I've never been to college," he said quietly, causing my mouth to drop open. "Everything I learned after high school I picked up either through reading or through my work. It's not exactly a classical education, but I've been able to make it work so far."

I blinked, shaking my head before finally finding my voice. "Mark, how do you do it?"

"What?" he asked, his smile growing.

"You keep surprising me," I said, pausing while our plates of Thai noodles were dropped off. "I recommend the peanut sauce. Anyway, you keep surprising me. Last night while we talked, you struck me as someone who's highly intelligent, but yet you haven't been to college. You tell me Boston, and I would not be surprised at all if you had then told me you graduated from BC or even Harvard. I had taken you for someone with at least an MBA, or maybe a military officer who got out and turned your skills to the business world."

It was the first time I'd ever seen Mark actually look bashful, and it was adorable. I felt my heart lurch in my chest, and I had to remind myself that I'd only known him for less than twenty four hours. Still, something stirred within me, and it was more than just my libido.

"Thank you," he said sincerely, looking me in the eyes. He reached across the table, taking my hand again, and I could feel the spark of electricity jump between us. It was different than just the attraction we'd shared in the club or in my apartment. I was seeing him for the man, and not just the sexy body. It felt good. "But don't make me out to be more than I am. I'm still just a country boy from South Carolina who works as a freelancer."

"You seem like a lot more than that to me," I said honestly. "Not too many men would have figured out the perfect solution to my issue with Dr. Green today. Half of them would have charged in and gotten me in trouble with Green later, and the other half would have stood there impotently while doing nothing."

Our conversation continued as we lazily worked our way through the spicy food, downing it all with the large glasses of herbal iced tea.

I told him about my weight gain at the beginning of my undergrad years, and how Tabby had helped support me through getting it off. He told me he had to thank her whenever they first met for dragging me out of the apartment and to the club the night before. He also told me that he was glad I had sent him the text message during a quick break I had, since he felt like an idiot for not getting my cell phone number before I left that morning.

"I don't want to sound creepy or anything, but I really didn't know if I could have waited until next Tuesday to hear from you again."

"Considering I couldn't even wait twelve hours, I don't think it's strange at all," I said. Just then, Mark's cell phone rang, and he gave me an apologetic look. "Go ahead, I'm sure it's important."

"It is," he said before taking out his phone. "The only people who have this number are my work clients...... and you. Excuse me."

He slid out of the booth, heading outside to take his call while I considered his words. I was interrupted when the waitress, a pretty young mixed Thai and black girl who was in high school and helped out at her father's restaurants after classes, dropped off the check. "Here you are. I hope you two had a good meal."

"It was great as always, Helen," I said, using the girl's American name. She had a Thai name too, but I kept forgetting it. "And it was a great meal."

Helen walked back behind the counter to do some of her homework, and I looked out at Mark, who closed his phone and came back inside. "Everything okay?" I asked, picking up the check.

Mark grinned and took my wrist in a feather light yet strong grip, and pulled the check from my hands with two fingers. "Now, how would I feel as a Southern gentleman if I didn't pay on our first date?" he said with a smile. I could feel the blush all the way to the roots of my hair, and he stroked my cheek with the back of the first two fingers on his right hand. "Don't be shy, even if it is massively cute. And don't think this is a knock on your student status and income level. Tell you what, I'll make sure to get us reservations at Le Blanc for our next one, just to make us even."

I laughed at his joke, since Le Blanc is infamous for being the most expensive restaurant in the city. "Do that, and I'll have to move out of my apartment to pay for it," I said. "Then where would I stay?"

"Don't know," he replied, before leaning in to whisper in my ear. "I think I have an idea though."

His hand came around to my lower back, pulling me in close to him, and he cupped the back of my head before kissing me. His lips caressed mine, and I threw my arms around his back, clinging to him while our kiss grew hotter and more passionate, only stopping when Helen discreetly tapped the register bell behind us. Mark pulled back with a soft chuckle, and I took a few moments to catch my breath before also laughing. "I'd never be able to bring you by the tavern," I joked. "I'd never get any work done."

"Well, I'm sure some day the bloom will be off this romance, and we'll be able to at least go a couple of hours without kissing or trying to take each other's clothes off," Mark said, holding the bill and stepping back. "But for now, let's pay this and get out of here. We've both got work to do tonight."