LAYLA! & THE UNTOLD STORIES OF LOVE

𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐍𝐄𝐑 𝐈𝐍 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐇𝐈𝐋𝐋- chapter three

(Disclaimer: I did not write this story. This is an original story created by a Tumblr user named theangelwithabrokenwing. I am just uploading this to Wattpad due to my dislike of the Tumblr system. If you would like to support the original author, please follow the link in the comments and go favorite, like, and comment on her work on her blog.) 

Jan 13, 1994 (evening)

My first meeting with the staff at University Hospital (aka, UCLH) was set for 3:30 and I just made it in time. There were about 30 people in the room for the "meet-and-greet" including one of my Stanford colleagues, Tom Elliott, who had come on an earlier flight. Tom asked if I wanted to join a group that was going to a pub afterward.  "Thanks for asking, but I'm pretty tired. I think I'll just head back to the flat and get settled in."  He's always asking if I want to join in these group outings but he knows I always say "no thanks".  But tonight, I actually have a reason to pass, though I didn't tell him that.

It was 6:00 by the time we broke for the evening.  I said a quick goodbye, grabbed my bag and sprinted to the Resident's quarters to shower and change.  The warm water pouring over me calmed my nerves.  I was running out of time, so I got my hair half-dry and then dug through my suitcase trying to find something that had at least a bit of style.  I spend most of my time in hospital scrubs and a lab coat and the rest of my wardrobe can best be described as comfortable.  I settled on an over-sized gray sweater over a black tank top, dark blue skinny jeans and short biker-style boots. My favorite piece of jewelry, well actually my only piece, is a turquoise wrap bracelet and I wound it around my wrist.  I took a quick look in the mirror.  Oh well, this is the best I can do I thought, so I grabbed my bags and went out to the car.

**********

Jimmy was walking towards the restaurant as I passed it looking for a parking space. Just walking down the street he had a definite presence. Why on earth is he having dinner with me?  It didn't matter.  For whatever reason, he had asked me to dinner and, for whatever reason, I didn't want to sit in my apartment alone this evening – so here I was.

He got up when I approached the table. "Good evening" he said holding out my chair.

"How are you", I responded.

"Well, I got a few hours of sleep so I'm quite rested, how about you?"

"I'm good. Just tap me on the shoulder if I fall asleep in my soup."

The waiter appeared asking for our drinks order.  "Do you want to share a bottle of Rioja", he asked.

"I probably would fall asleep in my soup if I split a bottle", I laughed "but one glass would be nice."

"Two glasses of Rioja" he told the waiter. "How do you know about this place, have you been here before?"

"Yes, I ate here when I was in London last spring. I like staying around here, even though it's not that close to the hospital. I just like the area, a lot."

"Me too, I have a house not far from here.  I've always thought west London was the best part of the city."

The waiter returned with our wine and we ordered a selection of tapas to share. I like tapas for a number of reasons, one of them being that the small plates make it easier to hide how little I actually eat.

"Did you grow up around here?"

"I'm a boy from the suburbs. I grew up in a town called Epsom.  That's the place where they have the Derby and royalty watch horse races in ridiculous hats.  How about you?  Are you from San Francisco originally?"

"No, L.A."

"L.A., boy did we have some fun times there" he said almost wistfully.

"Zeppelin was my first concert, I saw you in '75 and '77 at the Forum. I even camped out overnight to get a ticket both times."  I don't remember much about my youth that was happy but seeing Led Zeppelin stands out as some of my very best times. I didn't tell him that of course.