Fighting for the Fairytale

Nora

Halloween and Valentine's Day were the worst days to work at a dental office. 

Everyone decided that the day of was an appropriate time to come or call in: frantic mothers worried for their sugar crazed child's teeth; older men upset about how painful it is to bite into a candy bar. 

This past Valentine's Day, the number of people who called for a teeth cleaning for their big date that night (and claimed it was a huge emergency) was one too many.

After informing the third person of the day that all the dentists' schedules were full (except for emergencies, which I would never tell them because they would claim that their's was an emergency), and the next available date was two weeks away, I vowed that the next time the phone rang, Alex was going to answer it. 

It would be good practice for him. 

With my best customer service voice, I wished the patient on the line a Happy Halloween and clicked off my headset.

Blinking rapidly to regain my focus, I noticed the instant messenger application along the bottom of my screen light up orange with a message. I clicked on it, and the tab popped up.

Alex Freeman: Rough call, Ta-Bartlet?

The nickname had unfortunately stuck after our first meeting. I asked him multiple times to stop, but he continued. Talking about it only seemed to make it more frequent, so I gave up trying. 

Especially after confessing to Cole about my attraction to Alex. Paying too much attention to what Alex said and did was not something I needed to worry myself about. Better to just ignore it. 

If only you could ignore Alex all together.

I stared at his message, not sure how to reply. 

Not replying would be rude. Better to just answer his question.

Nora Bartlet: Yes it was.

Thinking that was too abrupt, I added.

Nora Bartlet: Some patients' definition of a dental emergency is a little skewed.

Alex replied almost instantly. 

Alex Freeman: Example???

Nora Bartlet: The patient who just called said there was a spot on their tooth that hadn't been there before.

Alex Freeman: That could be serious.

I shook my head and typed my reply.

Nora Bartlet: Not if that patient happened to eat a chocolate bar right before. I told the patient to brush their teeth. He did while he was on the phone with me, and it disappeared. 

Alex Freeman: You're kidding.

Nora Barlet: I wish I was.

Alex sent a laughing and crying emoji. 

I smiled. Making him laugh felt good. 

Making anyone laugh feels good, I assured myself. It's also nice to share stories with someone who understands and has worked in customer service roles before.

I started typing again.

Nora Bartlet: Last year, I had a teenage boy call on Halloween to ask about the fastest way to rot his teeth. He wanted his zombie costume to be authentic.

Alex Freeman: What's wrong with a fake set of teeth from a store?

Nora Bartlet: I asked him that. Apparently he broke the set he had while playing football with his friends and wouldn't get his allowance til the following week. Gotta love Halloween pre-parties.

Alex Freeman: No way.

Nora Barlet: You can't make this stuff up.

"What's got you so smiley?" Celeste asked, suddenly beside me.

"Oh my god!" I jumped, putting a hand over my heart. Quickly, I minimized the messenger app and turned to my co-worker. "Where's your bell?"

Celeste looked down at her cow onesie complete with a pink udder and a pair of black satin pumps and grinned. "I took it off. Part of the Halloween fun is scaring people, and the bell kept giving me away."

I shook my head but couldn't seem to make the smile on my face disappear. 

Lucky for me, Celeste moved on. "You and Cole are coming tonight, right?"

I nodded. "Yes. We'll be there around six." Celeste's annual Halloween party was tonight. Cole was DJ-ing and I offered my services for set up. Celeste liked to go all out for any party, and Halloween was no exception.

"Are you two doing a cutesy matching costume like you did with your parents' dog last year?"

Before I could open my mouth, Alex appeared at the desk, all smiles. "You dressed up for Halloween last year?" He asked.

"Just for the party," I murmured, the tips of my ears turning pink. "My parents' dog was old and liked to laze around, but I brought him with me as my plus one."

Alex mashed his lips together, as if to hide his smile. "What did you dress up as?" 

Celeste squealed and clapped her hands. "Oh, they were so cute! Her parents had a dachshund named Oscar—he died shortly after that party, didn't he?—anyway, Nora dressed him up in a hot dog costume and she came as a bottle of ketchup! The kids were falling over themselves to hold Oscar!" 

Alex's eyes sparkled with amusement as he offered his condolences. "I'm sorry to hear about Oscar. Clever name and costume, though."

"I'll tell my Dad you thought so," I said, resting my head on my hand.  

This is okay. Talking with co-workers. It's okay to share. No harm done.

"My sister and I thought it was cruel to name him that, but my parents got a real kick out of it every Halloween."

"I wish I could have been there to see it." Alex said, leaning against the desk.

"I have picture proof!" Celeste whipped out her phone. I moaned and buried my head in my hands as her and Alex scrolled through the pictures.

He whistled and looked at me. "Damn, you make ketchup look hot." 

I blushed and looked away as the two continued to talk.

"I know," Celeste cooed in agreement. "Personally, I thought her costume could have been a little shorter, but Nora nipped that right in the bu—"

"Oh my gosh, it was short enough, Celeste!" I blurted. "Can we change the subject, please?"

Celeste smiled, put her phone away, and turned to Alex. "You're coming tonight too, right?"

Alex shoved his hands in the pockets of his navy blue pants. "I didn't know I was invited."

"Of course, you're invited! I sent out the email chain weeks ago—oh my gosh, you hadn't been added yet!" Celeste ran around the desk and rummaged through her multiple bags. She resurfaced a few moments later, waving around a crumpled piece of paper. "I printed off the email, just in case I ran into a cute guy or two looking for a good time." She winked at me as she presented the paper to Alex like he was receiving an academy award.

Alex took it, his eyebrows rising as he read the flyer. "Costumes mandatory, huh?" He looked up at Celeste.

"Absolutely," Celeste said, her face suddenly serious, "or you'll be burned at midnight to feed the souls lingering and hungry for human flesh." She plopped back into her seat to face her computer, whistling the Monster Mash.

Alex turned to me. "I can't tell if she's joking or not."

I grinned. "Is it worth risking your life if she's not?"