Someone to Love

Eleven

Lucas
Ara was sitting down on the couch, looking so shocked as if she made the worst decision of her life when I got back to the hotel.
"Hey." I said as I removed my coat.
"You're back." She said, with no enthusiasm at all.
"Should I go back out? I mean, it's almost zero outside, but if you want-"
"What company does your family own?" she asked.
Weird, why would she ask that? But then again, there is nothing wrong with answering that question.
"Seo & Choi Group of Companies." I replied, sitting next to her.
"In short, S&C?" She said
I nodded
"Seo is my grandfather who married a Choi, thus the name." She placed her head on her hands.
"What's wrong?" I said
"Do you happen to know what company is rivals with S&C?" She said
"It's HI."
"Do you know what does HI stand for?"
"Uh, Hayden Industries." I said
I looked at her.
"You're that Hayden?" I said
She nodded.
"I haven't been truly honest with you. See, the reason why I've been sort of disowned by my father is because I lost a deal to S&C. It was a huge deal, well, an auction and I was too busy on my phone to even participate. S&C won it without even a fight. My dad hates me because of that."
"Oh, well. I think your dad is crazy for hating you because of that, surely there are other people who's done bad things, not you. In the business industry, people make mistakes, surely yours is just a minor bump on the road. Plus, again in that industry, the company or a company is people-oriented. Everything really relies on people, so if your father fired you because of that, then I think HI isn't people-oriented, but profit-oriented." I said
She looked at me as if I made sense but at the same time speaking gibberish.
"You do speak good." She said
"So, I made sense?" I said
She nodded.
"Good. So, why ask me about S&C?"
"Because my father called me a while ago. And freaked out because I'm going out with Dr. Lee Kyung Seo." She said
I frowned.
"What? We're going out?"
"Well, I'm here in Seoul, and there are photos of me and you in the business section, because they featured Jae Kyung's wedding."
"Oh, so you had to stick to the story?"
"Our story. Plus, I think he's willing to give me back my everything if I break up with you or something."
I frowned again.
"So, this is me and you officially breaking up?"
This is actually bad, because I actually bought her something nice for Christmas and we're breaking up in a few moments and I got her something that we both get to fill up for the rest of our relationship, you know if we actually become a thing.
"Actually, I want to start something real." She said
Okay, I got her a Pandora bracelet and I really hope that she likes it because I swear, we are supposed to fill it up. But if she's gonna break up with me- HOLD UP! Did she just say start something real?
"What did you say?"
"Can I break up with you, as your fake girlfriend? I mean, you're scared of my answer I know, but can I break up with you?" She said
Oh my god.
"Yeah, I guess. I think it's not you, but it's me, I'm too pushy am I? Or too suffocating?" I said
And there I was, hoping and praying that we'd actually be a thing. I really didn't think she'd break up with me in Korea, I mean, she could have done it when we get back home in New York.
She stood up and went near the bed.
"I feel like I need to be away from you when I say this." she said
"What? Are you pregnant? Oh my god, Ara I don't think we did anything, or did we? Oh my god, I forgot, I'm so sorry. Shit, I'm horrible, don't worry, I'm not the run away type, I-"
"Oh my god! Lucas, shush! I'm not pregnant, plus if we ever did, you won't forget it. Calm down!"
I just looked at her.
"Okay, all I want is for us to stop going out in a fake way. The people who know that we are dating, let's just keep it that way, but whatever happens between us, I mean, we should try to-"
"Do you want me to court you?"
She frowned.
"Court me?"
"Well, I could really do that. If you'd like."
She looked at me as if I was talking in a language other than Korean and English.
"I mean, I could cook for you, do groceries with you, drive you around, uh, maybe even give you shelter if you'd like-oh wait! I'm already doing that, but I am so willing to do it more."
"Well, I didn't think of it that way, but-"
"Okay, we'll break up today, it was nice knowing you." I said
She frowned.
"Oh my god, you're just breaking up with me like that?"
"Well! What do you want me to do? Let you down gently?!"
"If you could do that, yeah! Am I your first girlfriend?"
"First fakingly real girfriend? Uh-"
"Oh my god."
"What?"
"Ay, Doctor Seo-" she sat down next to me "-tell me about it."
"About what?"
"You're obviously hung up about someone. Who is it?"
"Well, I would have said you, but I don't think we're broken up yet. And it had just been literally seconds since I told you that we're broken up but you haven't recognized it yet so-"
"But I'm sure that there is one. Who is she?"
"I'm pretty sure who ever your boyfriend is, he thinks you're too pushy."
"I'm not pushy."
"You are. And it's annoyingly adorable."
I didn't give her the gift I supposedly got her for Christmas, we even slept separately. I got the duvet and a few pillows and lay down the floor, but we went around the country together, until we came back to New York.
I immediately went back to work, I'm gone long enough to miss a few deaths and lives come about.
"Oh, you're back!" Walsh said as he drank coffee in the attending's lounge.
"Yeah, it seems so. How have you been?" I asked. He's a general surgeon, and we are not really that close to each other. None of them are.
"Great, the neuro department didn't have a merry Christmas though." He said
"How so?"
"Uh, because they only have two attendings. One of them is cranky as hell and the other one cannot be reached."
I don't know if I'm in the cranky side or the one who can't be reached. I mean, I was in Seoul for crying out loud.
"Well, how was Seoul? You've been there long."
"It was nice to be back but I like New York better."
"What did your leggy blonde say?"
"What?"
"Come on, you took her to your home town and she didn't say anything? At least tell me what your folks thought of her." He said
Okay, this guy, Walsh and I aren't that close. We just started internship year here and he originally wanted Neuro but Neuro didn't want him and to do anything with him. Neuro wanted me and I wanted Neuro, it was a mutual thing.
"Uh, well, I think it went well-"
"Well? It went well? You took her to Korea and it just went well?" He said
Ugh, this is why I hate socializing with workmates, you share a few patients and they think you're close enough to share personal stuff about yourself.
The only person that I want to talk to is Ara, and she's weird but I love that about her and she actually made me feel comfortable living in my skin. And trust me, I haven't understood myself ever since my father meddled with my life. But then I meet this girl, and she made me see the life's possibilities and I don't think I want to let her go, at this early stage of our relationship, I think that's saying something.
"I'm actually planning to take it a step further." I said
"Oh, actually the whole hospital can't wrap it's head with the fact that you're actually seeing someone." He said
"Why? Because I kept to myself that long?" I said
"And your unnaturally, natural red pouty lips got us all thinking that you've been getting lip fillers."
I rolled my eyes.
See, they've got nothing good to do that's why they focus on gossiping about me! And I'm a bit of a loner, I think this is me getting bullied.
"You on break?" I said
"Yeah, just gave a kid a new liver."
I nodded.
"Well, I'm gonna wait up until someone pages me."
First day back and all I got was a consult with psych department and I got nothing surgical. I got paged once for the whole day. I'm starting to feel like they don't want me anymore.
At about 5pm, my phone rang and it was Ara.
"Hey." I said
"Hi, are you busy?" She said
I was just sitting down on the couch in my office, browsing through my phone and Ara's Facebook account. She posted photos of us having a great time in Seoul, our photos looked like the two of us are actually a couple and are not faking anything. We did have a great time. But comparing her posts with me and her posts before me, I have to claim that she seemed happier and more radiant when she met me.
"Believe it or not, no. I might actually come home in a while. None of them needed me today." I said
"Oh great! I was wondering if you would like to go on a date with me?" She said
Okay, I thought I was the one supposed to be courting her. That means, I'm supposed to ask her out and not the other way around.
"What?"
"I mean, I know we talked about this but I really want to go out and try it with you and we haven't really gone on a date date." She said
"What about in Seoul? We ate a lot there."
"Yeah, but that was when we were fake dating and then we broke up. Why not try it now?"
"I'm supposed to ask you that! Not you ask me."
"If I don't ask you then we would take forever and a day before we went out on a date."
"I have nothing prepared. And you didn't give me a heads up."
"That's why I'm asking you out!"
"Uh, Ara! Our first date isn't gonna be remembered by you asking me out."
"Ugh, Lucas, keep up with the effing times! Girls sometimes ask the guys out. It's a woman's world too." She said
"Okay, I guess we could remember this as our date where you asked me out."
"Just make sure you'd be the one to propose to me because it's just gonna be weird if I did it."
"What, you're gonna propose to me with a Maserati? Or maybe a Rolex?"
"Less flashier than a seven-karat ring."
"I suppose you're gonna pick me up?"
"Oh my god! You're asking too much!"
"Excuse me?"
"I already asked you out and now I have to pick you up? What is this?!"
"I didn't bring my car today because I forgot that I'm in New York and I walked. Plus, the traffic was bad this morning so-"
"Fine, fine! I'll be there in a short while. I'm seven blocks away."
"What? You're coming now?"
"Yeah. If you didn't start by arguing with me before answering my question, I could have told you that I was on my way. But no, you sir kept on talking."
"I'll meet you at the main lobby, I guess."
"Or you could just enter the mysterious Maserati outside the main lobby and have everybody think, what kind of a crazy person uses a Maserati as an Uber car."
"The girl I am dating is crazy."
"And the boy I'm dating is annoyingly talkative, so get your ass out of that couch of yours and fix yourself up! I don't like waiting, Doctor Seo!"
I swear, I am in love with this girl.