Oneshot Anthology

Euphoria: Part 3

Sarah slowly rode up the elevator as she tried not to care about where she was and what she was doing. After she had finished her lunch with apparently, all of her closest female friends, she had reluctantly called James and set up an appointment time. Oh, and just her luck, Zen had half an hour of free time between meetings that night.

Wow, how great for her was that? It didn't matter that she was not a primary medical doctor, but a surgeon, or that she was experienced in heart and brain work, or that she did not under any circumstances want to be here. Nope, she was doing it. But she was only, and she meant only, doing it because the girls were horrible and said some ridiculous comment about her actually liking Zen, hence the reason for avoiding him. So hell, of course she was coming here to prove them wrong. Was she aware that she had been played by her closest friends? Of course. Did she care? Maybe a little. Did it matter? Hell no.

The doors dinged and she stepped out onto the top floor. James was of course there waiting for her, a smug look on his face. She immediately stomped up to him, "That was low Davis, bringing Emma into this. One day you are going to have to tell me what you said to Emma to get her to agree. I don't buy that crap about closure one bit."

James just smiled, "You made me do it, and not going to happen. You were too stubborn for your own good, of course, that was always one of the things that made you my favorite student."

Sarah scoffed, "Zen was always your favorite and you know it."

"You two were pretty tied. You sure as hell beat Mark, that I can promise. It's a wonder I still talk to the kid."

"Then why did you follow him after High School?" she asked, once again referring to Zen. She would deal with Mark's more than likely part, if not planning, of this whole day later on when there were no witnesses.

"Better pension, medical, pay and no kids to get on my case about reading porn at my desk. It was a better deal overall."

Sarah just smiled as his lackadaisical attitude calmed her down. Even she had to admit he was better suited for this job then he ever was as a teacher. He was absolutely horrible with anything, other than dogs, that was under five foot or still going through puberty. Hell, she couldn't imagine how bad he would be with even younger children. "Is he waiting for me?"

James nodded and pointed towards the closed doors which must have lead into Zen office. "He's expecting a doctor, but I left out that it was you."

She quickly picked up her medical bag, desperately wanting to get this over with and headed towards the doors. She didn't knock since James had said he was expecting her. She also felt like knocking would indicate asking permission, or god forbid approval for something, which was not going to happen. When she stepped into the office she was temporarily blinded by the lights from the city which were coming through the window. With a sigh she flipped on the artificial lights only to see a figure leaning back in the main office chair. It moved forward slightly, probably due to the sudden attack on his senses.

"Whoever did that, you are fired. I was sleeping," his voice seemed strained, and very worn out. That in itself had her medical senses kicking itself into gear. James wasn't kidding about Zen working too hard, of course, she should have known that. James never joked about Zen. In some strange way they saw each other as family. For James it was filling in the hole left by his non existent family and for Zen it was all about having the father his own was incapable of being.

Even with Zen's weary voice in her head, Sarah internally groaned at his arrogant tone. It was always like that with Zen, winning but losing at the same time. The closer she walked the more detail she picked up, internally memorizing everything she saw. His desk had an empty coffee cup and his trash had a few rappers for energy bars. He currently had a magazine covering his face as he draped himself back in his chair, arms folded and feet sitting leisurely on his desk. He was of course dressed immaculately, because he was him, and Sarah internally scoffed at Emma's fat and bald comment from earlier on in the day. He was Zen fricking Kingsley, ugly was incapably impossible for him.