Consequences

Part 86

Doug returned to his seat, and noticed that the door was still shut. Not much change here. He wished he'd brought something with him to read. Or brought his laptop. He thought about heading out to the car to collect some stuff but then thought he might miss his turn in this line!

Half an hour later, two women he recognised walked into the waiting room. The recognised him too.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" One challenged immediately when she saw Doug sitting and waiting his turn in the line. The other people in the room turned to watch with open and avid interest.

"I'm waiting for Belle." Doug replied coolly. "We are engaged." Talk about pouring oil onto a fire, he thought as he watched them square up to him.

"Engaged? Fuck off!" One growled aggressively and walked with purpose toward him. Most men he figured would be intimidated by this show of aggression. But he'd grown up on this side of the tracks and her posturing did nothing. He quirked a brow and knew that would just annoy her some more.

"Like she's gonna fucking want to see you, after what you did. I read the fucking paper. No fucking comment." Roxanne practically yelled at him. "You are a fucking moron, man."

People in the room began to sit up straight and pay more attention. Where over the last few minutes they had avoided eye contact or showing any interest in anything going on around them, now they were avidly alert. Not that any of that had an impact on Doug.

"Roxanne!" Isabelle had heard the commotion. She stepped out of the office knowing she'd have to sort it out. Sometimes those waiting got frustrated by the long wait and ended up arguing between themselves. "What's going....Doug?" She blinked in surprise. "What are you doing here?" She looked at the people in the room and frowned.

"Does I was in the neighbourhood sound lame?" Doug approached her with a rueful smile on his lips. She quirked a brow. Roxanne and Rita watched with open curiousity. Isabelle seemed pleased to see him. He seemed pleased to see her. "I phoned your place and Cara said you were on duty tonight."

"You come to say you're sorry?" Rita demanded as she slid between Doug and Isabelle and all but went and stood toe to toe with him. "A bit late." She told him. "Fucking moron!" She glared.

Isabelle ignored the hostility both Roxanne and Rita were directing at Doug, instead she took his arm and moved him toward the door. "Doug, I'm a bit busy here just now. Has something happened? Can it wait till the morning? I ...."

"I wanted to see you were ok." Doug replied. "You should be in bed." That's why he was here. Cara told him that Isabelle was doing the night shift here, and after he'd smothered the expletives he'd nearly uttered, he'd asked for directions and driven straight over. She wasn't well enough to be working. She needed to rest. Just because he had moved back home did not mean she was well. Cara was back. That's why he'd moved home. But he was not going to sit around and watch while Isabelle made herself ill again or succumbed to a relapse.

"I'm fine." Isabelle smiled warmly at him. They had been rubbing along nicely. Cara was back, so Doug went back to his place. Which was a shame as far as Isabelle was concerned.

"No you're not. Flu is debilitating."

"And I've recovered." She told him. "Fully!"

"Give yourself a break." Doug replied.

"Doug, I don't have time for this." Isabelle said sensing the avid interest in their conversation.

Silence. Both maintained eye contact. Finally Doug said, "Ok, if you aren't going home, tell me how can I help?"

"What?"

"How can I help?"

"Help?"

"Yes. Help!" He laughed. "There must be something I can do to help out."

"I don't think there's anything you can do."

"Are you sure? I overheard a young boy said something about his brother's bed needing fixing and I heard the two women talk about a problem with the computer, I..."

"It will have to wait." Isabelle rubbed her neck, as she admitted, "We can't afford to fix it right now."

"Why don't I take a look at it?" He watched her, "If it's not too taxing I might be able to fix it myself. If some of these are waiting for something like that, I can help."

"There's no need."

"As your landlord, I'm supposed to fix things."

He seemed determined, and Isabelle did not have the time or the energy to argue with him. "Ok, fine. Fix things!" She threw up her hands in concession. "Check with Cindi at reception. She has a list of stuff that needs to be done."

Doug smiled. "Good. Now that's sorted."