Scrubs

Chapter 3

The drive to work is long and the normal mountainous view is covered with dark clouds and heavy rain. I blast my music and sing along, tapping my fingers on the steering wheel to the music. Suddenly my phone rings through the car speakers stopping my music. I see that Clayton is calling and nibble my lip contemplating answering the phone before sighing and pushing the green button.

"Hi"

"Are you going to be home tonight or do I need to figure out my own dinner?" The attitude is thick in the tone of his voice.

"Well I'm not off until 10pm like normal so you should probably just make you're own food anyways."

"Or I can wait for you to come home and make dinner."

"So you want me to work all evening and come home late just to cook for you before I can go to bed?"

"Uh, yea.? What's your problem?" He questions.

I roll me eyes and take a shaky breath trying to control my annoyance. "You're a big boy Clayton. You can cook your own dinner."

"You know what, nevermind. Don't worry about me Rissa." And he hangs up the phone abruptly. I growl to myself and continue my drive in silence, my mood now turned sour.

As I pull into the facility parking lot I notice the only two spots available are one beside the familiar silver Subaru Grey drives and another far from the building away from any street lamps. I hesitantly decide that if I'm to do what's right and avoid the man I can't control my feelings for then I should park in the spot further away from his car to keep some distance between us. I park and grab my bag before exiting my car and locking the doors behind me. As I'm walking toward the buildings side entrance I hear quick footsteps approaching me. I suspect I know who the owner is so I keep my eyes glued to my feet as I continue on my path.

"Hey stranger. How'd it go last night?" He nudges my shoulder now walking beside me matching my pace.

I shrug. "Fine."

"Just fine? Nothing exciting happened?"

"No."

"Well that's no fun."

I don't respond and he gently grabs my arm to turn me to face him. That's when I finally look up from my feet and directly into his stormy eyes.

"What's wrong? Are you okay?" My heart squeezes at his concern and I soften slightly.

"I'm okay. Just tired."

"I don't buy it. I've seen you running on no sleep without even batting an eyelash. But alright. If you don't want to tell me, you don't have to." He pulls me into him and squeezes me in a comforting hug before letting go and carrying on. He pulls open the facility doors and holds them open for me as I walk through. Why does he have to make this so damn difficult for me? But I already know the answer. He's a true gentleman through and through. It's the same reason all of the women at work swoon over him and it's the same reason he's got such a tight grasp on me whether he knows it or not.

We both clock in and get everything together before going out and getting to work. The first half of the shift is busy and I'm already bone tired by the time we hit the halfway mark. I wander down the hall peeking in each of the rooms looking for him. We have to take turns going to lunch so I was going to tell him to go and that I would take the later one. He emerges from one of the doors at the end of the hall and agrees to taking a lunch first. When he comes back he tells me to go and that there's something waiting for me in my favorite spot in the break room.

In one of the seats right beside the window overlooking the courtyard there's an iced tea with a note. It reads, 'I hope this helps you feel better. - G'. His thoughtfulness almost makes me tear up but I blink it away and clear my throat before sitting and enjoying the beverage he left behind for me. When I return he greets me with a huge grin.

"Thank you. How did you know iced tea is my favorite?" I question.

"I pay much more attention than you think..." I raise an eyebrow at him. "which is why I also know there's something really bothering you."

"Oh? And what makes you think that?"

"You've been snapping that band against your wrist all day," He points to the hair tie around my left wrist. "and you will not stop biting your lip." His eyes lock onto my mouth as I release me bottom lip from between my teeth. Now that he's pointed it out I realize I have. "There isn't anything wrong, I just have a lot on my mind." He frowns disappointed in my answer. "Okay. Well I'm always here to talk. You know that, right?" I nod. "Of course I do." And with that we both get back to work.

When the shift ends I pull on my coat and just as I reach for the exit door it's pushed open by an arm extending from behind my right side. Grey stands there holding the door open for me to exit and I lightly roll my eyes at him. "You know I can open doors for myself, right?"

"Yes but you don't have to when I'm around. You deserve to have someone hold the door for you."

I blush at his comment. "Well thank you. You're too good to me." I start walking out to my car.

"By doing the bare minimum?"

"The bare minimum isn't always so easy to come by Grey."

"I know but it should be." I lower my gaze to my feet then raise it back to where my car is parked in the dark.

"You know you should really start parking closer. Or at least in the light. It's dangerous out at night." I can't help myself at this point. "I know but how else am I going to convince you to walk me to my car." He smirks at me. "If that's what you wanted, all you had to do was ask." And he does just that. He walks me to my car and opens the door for me. "Thank you. I really appreciate you." My eyes meet his and I'm hypnotized by the moonlight on his handsome face and his low voice. "You don't have to thank me." He steps toward me and tucks a stray piece of hair behind my ear before glancing down to my lips. My breath catches in my throat and my blood pounds loudly through my ears.

His hand grazes my waist snapping me back into reality. I take his hand in mine and gently release it down at his side. "I'll see you on Monday, okay?" He frowns but quickly recovers and replaces it with a soft smile. "Yea. I'll see you on Monday." I enter my car and he closes the door behind me before going back to his own and driving away. My body is buzzing. Was he about to kiss me?