'Doc Juan'

Chapter 9

She was walking home to the train station after a late night at the clinic. She hated travelling by the tube alone, but had to make do for a couple of weeks, since her car was in the repair shop. Most of all, she hated walking down the street on a freezing night. But, this time it wasn't the cold that froze her and sent chills down her spine. It was the sound of the footsteps behind her on the dark and empty street. She mustered up the courage, reaching into her bag before turning around, armed with her deadly mace. The man behind her squealed, startled as she raised it up with her finger at the ready. "Don't spray! It's just me! " he yelled, raising his palms to his face in fright.
" It's a good thing I didn't use my flare gun. Were you following me?" she asked the startled doctor, eyeing him suspiciously as she put away the mace. "Scuse me...flare gun?! What else d'you have in that bag?! " he cried out in disbelief, with one hand on his chest as he felt his heart beating away rapidly in there, before eyeing her handbag suspiciously. "Just stuff...an' this half-eaten cheese sandwich....never mind that! Ya still haven't answered me." she reminded, pulling out a sandwich wrapped in foil as she spoke. "Thought I'd keep ya company on the tube tonight. Even though I seem like a tough fella, I feel unsafe ridin the night tube at times." he confessed, spotting the Oyster card that she grasped firmly in her hand. "Really? " she enquired. "Aye. Mainly cuz I slept with the station conductor's wife...an' I've a feelin he's out to get me!" the jittery doctor confessed. "There it is! Why am I not surprised!  " she exclaimed, as if she'd read his mind, starting to walk as he followed, trying to keep up with her.
"Tell me ya haven't slept with half the women here..." she muttered, noticing the amount of naughty looks thrown his way by the female passengers aboard the train. "I might have. One does get lonely ridin the tube alone, so I might've chatted em up...an' one thing led to another, ya know..." he muttered, a tad boastfully and blushing as he spoke about it. "Can't believe you! You'll shag anythin that moves, huh, Doc? " she exclaimed in disbelief, unwrapping and chomping on her sandwich before it went bad.
"Why dontcha fall for me? " was the surprising question that he shot her way as they neared her station. "Beg your pardon? " she asked, with her mouth full of cheddar. "I can woo half the women on this train....In fact, I have! But, I've been tryin to charm ya ever since ya started workin for me, but ya still seem repelled by me. So, what is it? Am I not yer type? Not cute enough...though, that's impossible...." he spoke rather highly of himself and rather boisterously. "Lemme stop ya right there. The reason I'm not attracted to you an' possibly will never be, is cuz you're my boss...an' also, cuz you're cheesy! " she interrupted, finishing the rest of the sandwich and dusting crumbs off her clothes. "Cheesy? How d'you mean? " he enquired, shooting her a quizzical look. "Your lines? The ones I hear you use numerous times to woo the patients and me? They sound like somethin outta some badly written romcom. Hence, I find em cheesy! " she clarified with a grin, before preparing to get off as the train pulled into her station, holding on to the pole as she stood up to leave. "An' yer sayin that with all that gooey cheese stuck in your teeth! " he pointed out mockingly to his judgy, hard to woo receptionist. "I love cheese in my teeth. Gives me somethin to chew on during my walk home! Some advice though, Dr. Miller? Keep the flare gun, lose the cheesiness! " she teased, handing her flare gun over to him to keep him safe for the rest of the journey (and also to defend himself from the possibily murderous station conductor or any enraged husbands and lovers lurking about!) He feigned laughter at her joky gesture as she hopped off,  bade him farewell and headed home.