Until My Heartbeat Stops

Convos & Coffee

Dixie stepped out of the busy O-R with a broad smile. She loved it when she succeeded at her job, the looks of the patients and family members always warmed her heart and made her feel more than and helpful. Noah stepped out behind her. "Wanna grab lunch? " He asked startled as if just inquiring the words that left his lips. Dixie didn't have any friends in the workplace, she had Griffin but it wasn't like that, she never had anyone to hang out with more or less a guy. She would call everyone she encounters at work acquaintances rather than friends. "I'd love to." She said happily, grabbing her purse. They walked across the street to Souvla, one of Dixie's favorite restaurants.

Dixie POV:

We walked in, considerately and I smiled at the sight of Addi. I met her a couple of years ago through Bryce her fiancé. He works in Trama and I see him occasionally "Dixie, what can I get for you today, and who's your friend." I gestured at Noah who's face formed a gentle expression. "This is Noah," I tell Addi as she walks us to an open table. "Hi Noah," she remarks happily. We get to our seats and she hands us menus. I smile because I already know what I want proceeding to look up at Addi in an attempt to hand the menu back to her. She smirks at me looking Noah up and down before nudging my shoulder powerfully. I look at Noah and realized what she was implying with her vicious smirk. I shake my head vigorously and she walks away. I just met Noah, and I just got divorced I don't need a husband, I need a friend. Noah laughs slightly and I join him. He orders a burger with a soda and extra fries. I was going to order my daily salad but I refrained from that wanting to try something new. I ordered the same thing as he did, he smiled at the sight of me changing my order as if he knew I would be happier eating what he had.

"Did you always want it?"

"The burger?" I ask confused. "No to be a surgeon." "Yeah, part of me always knew I was going to end up a surgeon because I love it so much. What about you, did you always want to be a surgeon." "I-- Yeah always."

He smiles awkwardly as if I had asked something wrong. I didn't want to make this weird. I just returned the question he asked. I moved on from it asking about his family, friends, and what he does in his free time. I did my best to move the conversation as far away from surgery as possible.

When we finished lunch I was really contemplating my food choices loving the burger I had just eaten. I said "bye" to Addi before leaving. I didn't have a night shift so going home was the next best option, I still had an apartment to unbox.

"Bye." Dixie says calmly, smiling at Noah as she walked to her car, "Maybe we can do this again sometime." "Yea I'd like that," Noah says suddenly walking to his car as well. He wanted to get home. He wanted his house to look somewhat welcoming, "homey" as they call it. He wanted to want to be home.

Noah found himself following Dixie in an attempt to return to his messy apartment. He didn't want it to seem like he was tailing her or trying to be weird; they just seemed to be going in the same direction, Every right turn was practically identical to one another. When they both pulled into the same driveway the reasoning behind the misconception was obvious. They met each other's eyes and let out a laugh fairly out of pity for themselves. They walked up the stairwell completely muted, for the mere reason of not knowing what to say. When Dixie realized her and Noah's doors were across from each other she smiled at the inconvenience, looked at Noah, and retreated into her apartment.

It was 8:46 when Dixie got a knock on her door, she had just finished cleaning up her apartment only now realized what the landlord meant when he said 800 square feet. She walked to the door rather cautiously it wasn't late but it was weird. She unlatched the door, recognizing the face behind it. Noah smiled, "I was just wondering if you wanted to come  watch a movie with me?" Dixie smirked. "I just got this new 85-inch T.V and made a fresh batch of popcorn." Dixie's smile broadened as he spoke. "If not that's totally fine --" "--I would love to." Dixie cut him off grabbing her phone before walking out.