The Doctor Will See You Now

Perspective

"Thanks for coming, Tom." She smiled at him as he walked over. "I hope you didn't have too much hassle rearranging things?"

She held out a hand in friendship.

"Well, I won't lie and say it was easy, but this is important. You are, despite what you might think, important to me." He held her offered hand but, for once, didn't kiss her. He couldn't.

"Come on, let's grab a bite to eat. I think I could just manage to eat the entire contents of Pizza Hut!" She laughed, and he nodded. They slipped their arms around each other as they walked. Companions, not lovers. They would never be lovers again.

Not that, to the outsider, it was a change that was immediately obvious. No, to the outsider, nothing seemingly changed. One outsider in particular.

Ruth walked to the main gate. She'd packed up and was just planning what she was going to have for her now solo impromptu meal. As she looked up from the delivery app on her phone , she was sure her current emotional upheaval justified it, she saw them.

Walking, arms around each other, heads close, chatting intimately. Of course. She should have known. April. April was the last minute cause of his cancellation. Funnily enough, she wasn't instantly siezed by jealousy. Instead, it was just a dawning realisation that she needed to move on. If she wasn't careful, this would be her life. Watching him, watching them. And wishing.

No, tomorrow she would speak to Ben. Tomorrow, she would make the break. Tomorrow, she would set him free.

As Tom sat back in the cab, he looked over towards the gate. His previously calm heart leapt into his mouth.

Ruth.

Watching him. Seeing them.

Together.

Suddenly, his appetite had deserted him. Suddenly, he knew why their conversation had been so disquieting. She still thought April was... oh no. He'd done it again. His stomach plunged into his boots.

He was going to have ALOT of explaining to do.

He turned to April and took her hand. "April, darling, can we skip dinner? I think we need to clear the air, and I've made such a mess of things that I don't want to be distracted again."

She smiled at him, nodding gently." Yes, yes, of course. Driver...." she leaned forward and gave the cabbie the change of address. He nodded, and she sat back. "Time to sort us BOTH out, eh?"

April, it seemed, had decided that if they couldn't be lovers, they would be each other's therapist. He smiled. As therapists go, she was not only the prettiest but the most cleverly devious he'd come across. Not that he'd made a habit of speaking to therapists, but she'd been a welcome opportunity.

To confess. To open up. To ⁷ other than Luke. Someone who could see it from a womans perspective. He knew his sister Emma was a woman, but at the end of the day, even Emma was biased.

Now. Several hours and a gallon of tea later, he felt free.

April had admitted she was deeply into one of the technical crew, and she wanted Tom to know. She wanted him to know it wasn't that she'd thought him a 'quick celebrity fling'. She'd just realised that Iain was everything she'd ever wanted. Tom smiled and nodded and realised that she was completely genuine and very, very, kind.

Until her next comment.

"Now. You. You are a complete and total arse you know that? Blind as a bat and, where love is concerned, as thick as two short planks?" Her face and her words were about as opposite as it was possible to be. Her smile was gorgeous and generous and as warm as ever. Her words, cutting and harsh, and he had to confess, absolutely spot on.

"I know." He hung his head. "But," now he looked up. "How do you? I didn't think it was that obvious?"

"I saw you at the party scene. The way you looked at her. The way you kissed her. I didn't want to believe it, but now I realise we BOTH need to do exactly that. Believe in ourselves. Before Ruth decides, quite rightly, you're just too much like hard work and walks away." She tapped her nail on the mug she was currently holding, "You, my dear, dear,Thomas, need to get your act together." She smiled. "But if there's one person that can do that, it's you."

Tom stood up and walked around the small flat. Her home was an extension of herself. Soft, welcoming, a cosy retreat. "I think - know - I needed to hear that. Thank you." He smiled. "What do I do, though? Every time I try to make it better, I make it worse? I never seem to hit the mark." He shrugged and thumped into a chair. "What if I've left it too late?"

"Oh, Thomas. You've heard the one about the fat lady?" She winked "well I dont see - or hear - one here, do you?" She stood up. "Now, it's late. We're both hungry, and there is truly nothing you can do tonight. I'll make us something to eat, and then we can make sure you're absolutely sure you know what you're going to do, ok?"

A few hours and one giant Pepperoni pizza later, he closed the door behind him. As he stood and looked out over the evening street, a fox scuttled across the street, barking as it went. A cat yowled and knocked over something in an alley. It was almost like some sort of film set. He smiled, looking at his watch. 11pm. Only another seven or eight hours, and he could begin again.

His new resolve, cemented by the surprising support and genuine friendship of April, was buoying him up. Tomorrow, as Scarlet O'Hara once said was another day.

With the morning would come a fresh start. A new outlook, and for one of them at least, a change of perspective.