eight
Michael walked in with Matty. Luke looked up to see Matt's arm falling from Mike's back. Matty was whispering something to Michael as they both took off their heavy winter coats. Michael laughed at whatever he said, his smile the only thing bright about the cold, winter day.
"Good morning!" Michael cheerfully said as he headed to the receptionist desk.
"It's too early for you to be this loud," Luke complained, leaning over the desk to grab his schedule.
Michael didn't miss a beat, "Sorry, Grandpa, turn down your hearing aid." He grabbed his own schedule, seeing one surgery and four follow-ups.
Luke hated when the office around him laughed at Luke's embarrassment, which was often. He ignored the younger man like he did most mornings. Luke stayed quiet, munching on the green gummy bears and reading his late mail.
"We got into an exclusive club for tonight if you guys want to come," Matty said, mostly to reception. "I heard the Jets are gonna be there, so if you're looking for a sugar daddy, then this would be the right place, right night."
Mike laughed and elbowed the curly-haired nurse. "Don't encourage them to be a sugar baby." He had a giggle in his voice, his teeth gleaming in the fluorescent lights. "But, yeah, it should be really cool. We have no designated driver so get ready to order some Uber cars."
"You can't take your coworker out, that's weird," Luke said.
Michael sighed, "We're allowed to enjoy our lives, Luke."
"Michael is your boss," Luke said to Matty, "I think that's against some rulebook."
"I don't quite think it is," the British nurse responded as he grabbed a patient's file.
Luke turned around, seeing Ashton in his office looking tired and annoyed. "Irwin!" Luke called his boss, waiting for him to lift his head.
Ashton raised his eyes, his look could probably kill a man. "What, now?"
"Is it unprofessional to take your boss out on a date?"
"Are you asking me out?"
Luke tsked as the office began laughing, again. "No. Matty is taking Michael clubbing." Luke turned towards Michael and Matty, seeing excitement written over their face instead of fear.
Ash groaned as he got up. He unplugged his earphones and headed out to the main area. He squinted his golden eyes as if the lights actually hurt him. "What's this about clubbing? Why wasn't I invited?"
"You wanna go clubbing?" Michael asked, his left eyebrow raised. "Do you realize it's gonna be, like, loud music and grinding youth?"
The older man snickered. "I was president of Alpha Epsilon Pi, I know how to have a good time, Michael."
"Ay, I was Alpha Phi Delta," Matty held out his hand, waiting for a high-five.
The smile on Ashton's face fell. "We hated that frat, nice try."
Matty jutted out his bottom lip as oo's and burn's were laughed out around the secretary desk. It was still twenty minutes until opening, which meant they had the free time to mess around. "Fine, fine. You should come with us, though, it could be fun."
Ashton rested against the desk, looking up at Luke. "Are you coming?" He rested his head in his hand, curling his body up to himself to get maximum heat in the office.
