“As much as I’ve thought of doing that, I need to get away. I need this time to disconnect and not be just a phone call away from the hospital. They’re all in good hands with Dr. Gas in charge while I’m gone.”
“I know, I just had to ask.”
“You could still come with me. I can call and get you a ticket, change mine, if needed, so we can get on the same flight.”
“I would if I didn’t have this thing called a job and responsibilities,” I remind him. “Not all of us can be the chief of their department,” I tease.
“Yeah, yeah,” he leads on. With that, both of our alarms start ringing from our respective bedside tables.
“Ugh,” I groan as I roll from Drew’s arms and grab my cell, turning the alarm off before I set my phone back down on the nightstand. “Life calls, I suppose.”
“That it does,” he says as he swings his legs over the side of the bed, then stands and stretches. I watch as his muscles flex. He’s standing there in just his boxer briefs and I’m struck silent once again at the beauty of his body. I’ll still never understand why I got so lucky to be the one that gets to see him like this, the one person that he lets his guard down with and can be vulnerable with.
“Are you just going to stare at me all morning?” he asks as he pulls on some shorts.
“No,” I stutter. “I need to get moving,” I tell him as I roll myself to a sitting position so I can transfer to my chair.
“That’s what I thought,” he says on a smirk. “I’ll go get the coffee started.”
I stick my tongue out at him as he smirks again at me, then takes off for the kitchen while I head into the bathroom. When I head in to work, he’ll be headed to the airport for his mid-morning flight.
“So, you’re looking a little down today,” Lucy says as she sits down across from me at lunch. “You can’t be already missing Drew.”
“I am, and I do,” I state matter-of-factly.
“You’ve got it bad, girlfriend,” she sing-songs.
“I know, and he’s only been gone, like, four hours. How am I going to make it an entire week?” I ask, dropping my head into my hands.
“Let’s have a girls’ night later this week!” Lucy suggests. “We can do our nails, watch chick-flicks, eat as much junk food as we can stomach, and then pass out on the couch.”
“Sounds fun!” I tell her, perking up at the idea. “I haven’t had a night like that in ages.”
“It’s settled then. Friday night. We can order take out. Your place or mine?” she asks as she takes a bite of her food.
“Mine is probably easiest for me.”
“You’re right, your place probably is easiest, and then we don’t have to worry about kicking Adam out for our girls’ night,” she says. Adam and her finally found a place and moved in together at the beginning of the month.
“Are you guys fully adjusted to living together?” I ask.
“I think so. We’ve finally gotten everything put away. I thought there for a little bit that we’d never agree on how to utilize some of the cabinets in the kitchen.”
“Such difficult problems to work through,” I tease her.
“Hey, just you wait until you and Drew get to the point that you move in together. I’m sure you’ll have some growing pains as you get used to all the little quirks that you never realized beforehand. Even with the amount of nights that you guys already spend together, when you don’t have the option of not being around the other person, little things you never noticed are now very noticeable.”
“Well, we’re far from that, so I guess I’ll just remember that for when it happens long down the road. Any more wedding talks?” I ask, changing the subject.
“Not really. We’ve discussed things loosely, but he’s traditional. He’ll ask my dad first, for permission, before he’ll ever ask me to marry him. I’m still holding out for this year, if I’m honest.”
“Have you told him that?” I ask.
“I’ve hinted at it, but haven’t outright told him. I don’t want it to be forced. I want him to want it just as much as I do, not that I don’t think we’re both headed in that direction, if we aren’t already there. He’s a planner, so for all I know, he’s already planning something and I’m just clueless over here.”
“Maybe he’ll ask you over the holidays?” I suggest.
“Maybe, but I don’t think so. I think he’d want it to be something not connected to a holiday, but what do I know,” she says, shrugging her shoulders.
“I guess you just have to be patient. It will happen when it’s meant to happen,” I assure her.
“Yep,” she agrees. We both finish off our lunches, and just before I go to leave the table, my phone starts vibrating in my pocket. I pull it out and see Drew’s face flashing on my screen.
“Hey,” I greet as soon as I answer the call.
“Hey, I made it to Chicago.”
“Good, how was the flight?” I ask as I pull away from the table.
“It was good, uneventful. I’m grabbing some lunch and then will be on my next flight,” he tells me.
“Sounds good. I just got done having lunch with Lucy. We made plans for Friday night. We’re going to have a girls’ night in,” I tell him of our plans.
“Good, how was work this morning?” he asks, always in work mode.
“It was fine, busy like normal,” I tell him as I slowly move toward the elevators.
“Okay, well, I should get going, I’m next in line to order and then I’ve got to get to my gate, but I wanted to call and let you know I’d at least made it to Chicago.”
“Call me when you make it to Hawaii.”
“It’s going to be late, especially with the time difference. How about I just send you a text so I don’t wake you up.”
“Okay,” I agree, even though I’ll miss talking to him before I fall asleep.
“Talk soon, babe. Have a good afternoon,” he tells me before the call disconnects. I know he needs this trip, so I check my emotions and press the up button for an elevator. I’ve got kids that need me this afternoon and they need my full and undivided attention, not someone who’s pining over her boyfriend that’s off on a trip without her.
“TO GIRLFRIENDS, JUNK FOOD AND WINE,” Lucy calls out in a makeshift toast as we sit on the couch with takeout containers around us, as well as a few bags of chips, some Twizzlers and a mixed bag of mini Hershey bars.
“Here, here,” I agree with her, clinking wine glasses together.
“This week kicked my ass,” she says as she finishes off her glass of wine, filling it right back up as soon as she sets it on the table.
“I’ll agree with that. My schedule was all over the place.”
“Hopefully they’ll get us a temp to fill in for Zoe since she had to go out early for bedrest this week.”
“They’re going to have to, otherwise, we’re not going to be able to keep up with the demand. It sucks that she’s having complications though,” I say. I don’t know her all that well, as we don’t tend to work in the same areas of the hospital, but we’ve met a few times at department meetings or passing in the halls a few times. She’s due to have a baby in a month or so but ended up on bedrest this week due to some early contractions.