Work of Art

Chapter 13

Carlisle tried to stay away from the girl, he honestly did. He rarely crossed paths with her, but when he did he always tried to walk quickly in the opposite direction. But her presence was addicting. It was like a drug, it's subtle pull always begging for more. The high of the moment never seemed to last for long until the withdrawal seemed to ache in his chest.

He knew seeing the girl would only fuel the budding addiction, yet he couldn't seem to stop himself.

He made it another week before he ventured back to the coffee cart. It was an early Saturday morning. Carlisle had been quite displeased to have been assigned such an early shift. While he didn't require sleep, and thus no need to struggle with rising in the mornings, he much preferred the night. Early morning shifts combined with windows and sunrises never failed to put him on edge as he walked down Sunny corridors.

He spent the majority of early mornings cooped up in his dark office, filing away whatever paperwork was needed for the day.

Although when he arrived early at six through the main waiting room doors, he was immediately bombarded with a familiar, and overpowering smell.

He could feel his eyes darken for a moment before he quickly shook his head. He started to quickly walk away towards the hallway before he did something he regretted, but heard his name called before he got very far.

Walking up to him was Dr. Gordin.

"Carlisle," the man greeted pleasantly. "What a surprise to see you here so early."

Carlisle smiled at the man, slightly amused to see his preference for night shifts did not go unnoticed. "Yes," Carlisle concluded, "I was called in rather early this morning."

"Care to join me for a drink?" Carlisle gave the man a crooked look. "Coffee," the doctor amended.

"I really need to get together some research this morning," Carlisle countered.

"Come on," the other doctor urged. "We rarely get a chance to work together anymore."

Carlisle reluctantly agreed and Mark gave him a friendly slap on the back to show his appreciation. He followed Mark back out of the hall and across the waiting room. As he walked up, the smell of her was almost overpowering.

The stench of the coffee kiosk wasn't nearly strong enough to counter her powerful allure. He had to put more effort into keeping his steps controlled and towards the kiosk than into Mark's one sided conversation.

Mark's excitable monologue was cut short as he heard him call out a familiar name. Carlisle kept his eyes on the ground as he heard her faint footsteps approach and her scent draw dangerously close. He kept his eyes trained on his shoes, suddenly fascinated by a speck of dust that flecked his black loafers.

"Dr. Gordin," he could hear her greet once she was close enough.

"How many times do I have to tell you it's Mark, Nick."

He could practically feel her roll her eyes even as his head was down. "Good morning Mark," she emphasized his name before breaking out in a wide yawn.

Carlisle glanced up as he heard her deep breath. She had her eyes closed and hand over her mouth as she fought her obvious exhaustion.

"You look like you could use some coffee too," Mark invited. "Why don't you join us."

"I really need to get working," Nick stated, fighting another yawn.

"Funny," Mark stated, "Carlisle offered up the same excuse. Am I really that bad of company?"

Nick grumbled. "I feel gaslighted," she complained as she walked over to join Mark standing in the short coffee line.

Mark grinned at her response. "Just some friendly coercion."

Carlisle couldn't help but scoff at the other doctor's words, drawing Nick's attention to him.

"Dr. Cullen," she greeted with an awkward nod of her head.

"Miss Lexers," he nodded.

Mark stepped between them and flung an arm over both if their shoulders, causing the pair to exchange an annoyed look.

As the sight of Carlisle perturbed face, Nick couldn't help but chuckle, which earned her a pair of squinted golden eyes pointed her direction. She smirked as his look once more then stepped up to order her coffee. She reached into the back pocket of her jeans before freezing.

"I forgot to grab my wallet out of my bag," she mumbled. "I'll be right back," she half smiled at the solo worker.

As she started to turn, she caught sight if Carlisle handing a bill to the man working. "I'll cover it," he proposed.

"I'm perfectly capable of paying for myself," Nick complained.

"I know," Carlisle shrugged before grabbing both his inexpensive black coffee and her latte off the small counter. He held it out to her and she reluctantly grabbed it.

Mark turned to the pair with a smile and steaming drink in hand. "Care to take this party to my office?" he asked.

"I really have to work," both Nick and Carlisle answered simultaneously. They shared another glance at their overlapping words.

Mark sighed. "Alright, but one if these days I'll get both of you in my office with coffee."

The three split off in opposite directions, all going about their personal morning tasks. Carlisle hung true to his words and began planning some preliminary study procedures. Nick on the other hand stared blankly at the wall for a few minutes, waiting for her latte to kick in. She hugged the warm cup in the Palms of her hands as she regretted waking up so early.

It was far too early for her liking. Arriving to Forks High by eight in the morning was already too much for her, why she thought it was a good idea to arrive at six to start painting Saturday morning was beyond Nick at this point.

Slowly, she squatted down to dig through her bag and pulled out a wad of paintbrushes bound with a hair tie. Since she's unfortunately already shown up, it would serve her no use to waste any more of the morning. Since school started and she became set director for the school play, the title which had still yet to be announced, time had become scarce. Lack of time was what pushed Nick to suffer through her early Saturday morning. And suffer she did.

Carlisle silently suffered in his office, too. While he wasn't plagued by exhaustion, he found his focus lacking. It irritated him to no end the effect that the girl had on him. It was a constant battle between some confusing emotion and loathing in his mind, although much of the loathing was directed towards himself. Deseret to focus, he took the top off of his coffee and practically held it under his nose.

He nearly coughed, despite his lack of need to breathe, at the pungent smell that wafted from the cardboard cup. He was almost ashamed to have ordered such an item off the menu. But the strong odors did the trick and Carlisle finally found himself able to power through the first bit of his planning.

Taking a moment to collect himself, he picked up the phone in his office and dialed Dr. Gordin. After a couple of rings, he picked up.

"Hey Mark, I know we said no to coffee in your office, but how'd you like to come to mine to discuss a few things?"

Mark happily agrees and Carlisle took the last few minutes to straighten his office. He dumped out some of his coffee to put on a front of drinking it, and was almost sad at the loss of stench. Maybe he'd have to invest in some coffee beans to perfume his room, he considered as there was a knock at his door and Mark peeked his head in.

"No Nick?" the man joked.

"Only business here unfortunately," Carlisle jested back, although he couldn't help but wish the girl was in the room with the doctor pair.

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Ahh it's been a while! Just a short pause while I was vacationing with family, but chapters should be rolling back out soon
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