Courtship

Part 22

They settled into the slow dance with relative ease. His palm in the small of her back guided her through the throng, not that they were moving at any great pace. She had her palm on his shoulder and the other was clasped loosely in his. It was a standard couple hold, but it had her heart racing.

"Word is that you are doing locum stuff."

"Sorry?" She blinked back and stepped back from that haze she was about to slide into. This she had not expected. She had spent two years seeing him, usually at a distance, across the room, and had lulled herself into believing that she was over her crush. The fact her heart was racing, and her mouth was dry suggested she had conned herself, albeit temporarily. Dancing with him was a mistake, for it opened Pandora's box.

"I hear you are doing locum stuff." Rafe repeated and wondered why she had suddenly gone tense in his arms. A few seconds ago she had all but melted against him. Now she was stiff as a plank. Maybe his disappointment in her decision to do casual work had been too obvious.

"Yes." Marina nodded and cleared her throat in an attempt not to sound husky. Ok, so he knew about her working life. She guessed he'd have heard that on the grapevine. After all it was no secret that she worked part time and on a casual basis.

When he'd first learnt she was working as a locum he'd been surprised. She had a good record at the hospital, she would not have had any difficulty securing a permanent full time post. "Why? There are lots of jobs available." It had puzzled him when he'd heard that she was working as a locum. Given Gina was pretty convinced that Marina wanted to work in medicine, Rafe had expected Marina to throw herself into her first post.

"I know." Marina wondered whether she'd be able to steer the conversation in a different direction for going down this path would lead to difficulties. He no doubt would take her reticence to talk about her career trajectory as a consequence of their past. Well at least her thoughts had moved away from thinking about her recent discovery that she still had a crush on this man.

"But you don't want to work full time?" Rafe pushed and wondered at the hue of red that suffused her cheeks.

"Exactly." Keep it simple. Don't give him any lead in opportunities. Keep to the facts. And do not look at him. She tried to focus on a spot just past his shoulder.

"Gina tried to tell me I was wrong about you." Rafe muttered, he leaned back slightly so that he could study her expression.

"Gina?" The name rang a bell. But she had so much going on in her head that the name did not register fully.

"The Ward sister on Stanley ward." Rafe reminded.

"Oh yes, right. Of course. Gina." Her last rotation. The ward sister had been very helpful and supportive. But the fact she had not remembered her name showed Marina just how addled her brain was right at the moment. Of course she knew Gina. She had kept in contact with her over the years.

"She said you were a terrific, committed doctor."

"Ah, well, there you have it. I am!" Marina replied.

"You are." He shrugged and then frowned at her as he pursued his line of questionning, "So why not practice medicine full time?"

"I've disappointed you." She looked past his shoulder, and wondered whether she ought to bail right now. She could hear it in his voice, the determination to find out why she hadn't pursued a full time medical career.

"Why go through all that training if you didn't want to be a doctor." Pursuing a degree in medicine was not easy. Why go through that if you had no intention of practicing medicine? He'd seen her over the last couple of years, and from what he had seen she had toned down her social activity, but she hadn't put her energy into medicine.

Marina was tempted to provide a partial explanation, but for that she'd need to talk to her sister to make sure Isabelle was ok about something they had kept a secret for years. Then it came to her. She knew exactly how to derail this conversation. "Because you were a doctor." She tipped her head back and grinned at him. "If I was going to marry you then..."

"You don't really expect me to believe that." Rafe's voice told her that she hadn't fooled him. He began to wonder why she was so cagey about her reasons for not working full time. What could possibly have made a young, determined, committed doctor opt out? She was not the type to put in all that hard work and then just walk!

"You did two years ago." Marina reminded him, with a wry smile. So, it looked like tonight was going to be the night they revisited their past. She wasn't sure this was a good idea. They were here at a happy event, why ruin it by discussing the past?

"No I didn't." Rafe corrected smoothly.

Marina chuckled. "Yes. You did. Someone overheard you tell the ward sister that's why you thought I was there." Amazing how the passing of time hadn't quite managed to dull the hurt caused by those words at the time. She'd been shocked when she'd heard that. Then she'd become angry. Then she decided she would give him a peace of her mind before she left. Then she had settled for just rattling his cage by telling him she was there because she was looking for a husband like him!

"Hospital grapevines!" He muttered in exasperation. She grinned. They shuffled not really moving far, "Ok, if I got you wrong, why aren't you working full time?"

"I am." She announced.

"As a locum?"
"Sometimes." She hedged. Ok, this was not going according to plan.

They shuffled in silence for a few seconds.

Rafe decided to try another line of inquiry. "I understand your sister is a fundraiser. She seems busy."

"She is."

Again silence.

He tried again. "I haven't seen you at as many parties in the last two years."

"I've been busy."

"Doing what exactly?"

"This and that."

"What? You a spy or something?" He tipped his head back so that he could look at her, "If you tell me you'll have to kill me?"

"My sister and I work together."

"Fundraising?" He pushed again.

"Yes."

Another silence.

"You know, you smell good."

"What?" Marina reared back in complete surprise.

He laughed. "Good. I wondered what it would take to get an honest response."

The music stopped. Marina breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you for the dance." She said automatically. The band changed tempo to play a fast number. She spun quickly hoping he wasn't going to suggest they dance on.

"My pleasure." Rafe replied delighted that he'd actually managed to get past that guard she had well and truly in place. With his hand in the small of her back guided her toward the table.