Mike couldn't help the smile that crept up his face as he spotted Eden down the hall. She stood staring at a patient's file, completely oblivious of the janitor who stood watching her. He didn't know what it was about Eden that not only managed to gain his attention, but to keep it as well.
Most likely sensing the presence of someone watching her, she turned so suddenly, it was too late for him to look away. And so, he stood there awkwardly as she approached, a smile creasing her face.
"Hey Mike. You're just the man I was looking for."
"I am?" His smile widened for whatever reason. It was certainly not because she said she had been looking for him, certainly not!
"Remember the north pole?" He nodded, remembering the day she took him to the spot downstairs with the massive Christmas tree. It had been the same day he had almost kissed. Ah, he had been so close, before her loser Fiancé showed up -he frowned. "Well, I was hoping you could help with the decorations. I mean it is not going to count as part of your community service and we'll have to work extra hours togethe—"
Working together equaled more time with her. "Sure!"
"Really?" She paused, frowning slightly. "Wow, that was easy. Anyway, I was thinking we could have three trees; there is white for a snowy Christmas and also to represent the North Pole because snow and the North Pole kind of go hand in hand, right? And then there's the traditional green, and finally, there's lavender to represent cancer."
Mike wanted to point out the fact that there were other illnesses in the hospital other than cancer, but he didn't think it would matter. Besides, three trees were more than enough. Perhaps even too much.
"Great, when can we begin?"
"How does tomorrow sound?"
"I'm all yours, doc."
"Oh, great then. See you tomorrow."
Disappointed they would not be spending time together today, he called after her retreating back, "Hey!" he called. She paused and spun around. "Want to grab a drink with me tonight?" Mike knew he didn't think his question through, or else, he would not have asked.
Why did he suddenly crave her presence?!
"Um... Sure, I guess."
"We could talk more about your plans and maybe I could throw in some more ideas," he quickly added, not desiring for her to read more into his request, even if he knew it meant more. If he was going to be honest, then he had just asked her on a date and was using silly Christmas decorations as bait.
She seemed more relaxed as she nodded.
What did you think, that she was going to be excited about spending time with you, when she has a rich, fancy -loser- Fiancé? He scoffed at his own foolishness and took hold of the cart. Turning around, he made to walk away.
"Mike?"
He paused and turned around. "Yes, doc?"
She smiled then. "I look forward to tonight." Turning around sharply, she hurried down the hall, leaving him standing there with a bright smile on his face. Maybe she was indeed excited about spending time with him.
~*~
She looked forward to tonight.
Eden could barely focus on her patients, her mind wandering to Mike more times than she would have liked to admit to. She looked forward to spending more time with him for she found, as she got to know him, that he was a likeable man -sad, and addicted to alcohol- but likeable.
She found that she enjoyed his presence much more than Philip's and while she knew she should be feeling guilty about enjoying the presence of a man other than the one she was about to be married to, she eased her conscience by arguing that she needed to get close to Mike to save him from eventually killing himself. It was her excuse, and it was a good one. She didn't enjoy his presence because she was starting to have feelings for him, she enjoyed it because she needed to save him! So technically, she was doing him a favor.
She barely heard a word Judie said while they sat eating lunch, her eyes fixed on Mike who was across the room with the blonde head she had seen him with a couple of times. Were they dating? The blonde head pulled out her cellphone and began dialing something in it. Most likely Mike's cellphone number, she thought, a frown creasing her face; for some reason, she found it displeasing to think the two had gotten close enough to exchange cellphone numbers.
"You know if you stare at him long enough, your eyes might bore a hole right through his forehead."
Eden gasped, turning sharply to find Judie watching her with a glimmer in her eyes.
"I wasn't staring at anyone." Heat climbed up her neck, setting her entire face on fire. She glanced down, embarrassed.
"I see. Very well then, I better get back to work. I'll leave you to get back to 'not staring'" She drew invisible quotation marks with her fingers, before leaving the cafeteria.
Eden did go back to 'not staring' at Mike and his new... Friend. Something unfamiliar tugged on her heart, making her want to march over to where they sat and...
She shook her head, forbidding herself from finishing her thought. This was silly! She was silly! She was silly and engaged! This was silly, she was silly and engaged and getting married in a few days! It was certainly none of her business what the janitor did with a blonde head woman.
Rising to her feet, she went back to work, trying and failing to keep her mind off of Mike and his new —or old, she couldn't possibly tell—blonde head friend.
When her shift ended, she cha nged into her casual dress, jacket, and knee length boots, before making her way to the waiting area. Thankfully, Mike was there waiting as well. He was clad in his usual shabby denim pants and shirt worn over a worn-out jacket.
"Hey." He rose to his feet as she approached, the usual charming smile creasing his handsome face.
"Hey."
"Ready to go?" She nodded to his words, and smiled as he tucked her hand in the crook of his arm before leading her to the parking lot.
"It's a pity I'm not allowed to drive, right?” he grumbled, entering the address into the GPS.
She giggled but didn't respond to his words, not wishing to rub it in further. They arrived the bar less than an hour later, and made their way inside.
"Karaoke?" she asked as her eyes quickly scanned the unfamiliar place. A woman stood on the small stage in front singing 'Joy to the world."
"You like?" He ushered her to a table and pulled out her chair.
"It's different." She nodded in appreciation and sat down.
"In a good or bad way?"
She glanced around again. The room was too dim, the furniture quite cheap, and the singer on stage did more of screeching than singing, but she had to admit she liked the live music, the Christmas decorations, and the smile on the face of the man before her.
"It is fine, Mike. Although it's hard to imagine how a man like you found a place like this."
"I got thrown out of almost every other bar for fighting." He shrugged, and she fought the urge to wince. "This bar has a strict 'no getting drunk' rule. As soon as the waiters think that you're getting drunk, they refuse to serve you any more alcohol and call you a taxi."
"I think I would have loved it a lot more if the woman on stage didn't sing so terribly." She placed her hands over her ears.
He chuckled. "Everyone is too busy drinking to notice. But you're right, it's terrible. Even I can do better."
She laughed. "You?!"
"Why? Is it impossible to think I might be gifted at something?"
Throwing her head back, Eden laughed some more. "Maybe. It's just hard to picture you being good at singing."
"Well, I'll have you know that being a janitor is not my only talent."
"Really?" she was saying, when a young, male waiter walked over to their table. "May I take your order?"
She turned to him. "Yes, but I'd like to know who's next on stage."
"No one has volunteered yet, ma'am. Would you like to go up there?"
"Oh, no. But my friend over here..." She smiled coyly at Mike who started to protest. "I'm sorry Mike, but you're definitely going up there to prove me wrong."
"That is ridiculous. I don't have to go anywhere to prove anything. Can't you just take my word for it?"
Laughing some more, Eden turned back to the waiter. "Mike Stacks, sign him up."
"Great. What song, sir?" He turned to Mike.
He had his eyes on her, a brow raised. For a second, she thought he'd dismiss the waiter and tell her just how silly she was for asking him to go up there, but instead, something brightened his hazel eyes and to her amazement, he nodded.
"It's this song by a guy I believe is called Mario? Let me love you," he said, his eyes never leaving hers.
"That's an old song." The waiter said.
"I know." He smiled, nodding. "Trust me, I know."
Eden fully expected Mike to back down. But rather than do just that, he downed the beer in his glass, and sprang to his feet as soon as his name was announced on stage.
Turning fully to face the stage with a strange feeling of excitement bubbling on her inside, the music began to play.
Eden was shocked to find that Mike hadn't been lying about his ability to sing. If anything, he downplayed his ability for he was an amazing singer. His voice blended perfectly with the instruments, and he carried the melody quite well.
But it wasn't his ability to sing that caught her attention, it was the look in his eyes as he sang, that did. He seemed to be singing to her, every word directed at her. And, considering the song was one of a man appealing to a woman to leave her boyfriend and let him 'love her' like she deserved, she found it odd that he would sing such a song to her. Unless of course he wasn't directing the lyrics to her...
Just as the thought drifted through her mind, Mike climbed down the stage, this time singing and... Dancing?
She laughed. He was a terrible dancer. He seemed to be heading in her direction, she thought, panicking. Oh for the love of God, someone please tell her he wasn't headed in her direction!
"Mike? What are you doing?" she cried, panicking.
"If I was your man, baby you'd never worry about what I do, I'd be coming home back to you every night doing you right," he sang, wiggling his eyebrows as he pulled her to her feet, and drew her close. Laughing uncontrollably, she held on to him fearing she would fall if she didn't. "You're the type of woman, deserves good things, fist full of diamonds, a hand full of rings. Baby you're a star, I just want to show you, you are... You should let me love you..." He spun her around, drawing her back to himself once more.
"Oh my goodness, you're a terrible dancer!" she laughed, completely enjoying herself.
"Oh yeah? Let's see what you've got." He winked, pulling away just as he continued to sing.
"Is that a challenge?"
He shrugged. "You deserve better girl... Go on, Eden... We should be together girl... What are you waiting for?... With me and you it's forever girl... Too chicken?... So can we make this thing ours?"
"Step aside Mike, let me show you how it's done," she said, tossing the clip that held her hair in place and flinging her jacket to the table as her hair came tumbling to her shoulders.
She swayed her hips from side to side, tossing her hair back and forth as she did so. Perhaps she was dancing flirtatiously, but he was singing flirtatiously as well, wasn't he? Besides, how else was she supposed to dance to such a seductive song?
Mike stepped forward, holding out his hand to her. She covered the distance between them and took his hand. This time, he didn't try to act silly. He instead pulled her close, and held her there in his arms, neglecting to continue singing as they swayed back and forth to the sound of the instrumentals.
People must have clapped -she couldn't tell. She could barely hear anything but the rapid pounding of her heart in her chest as he held her close against himself. Neither could she feel anything past the warmth that immediately flooded her skin.
He pulled away slightly and she raised her head to him. Knowing -hoping and desiring- that he would kiss her, she raised her chin up slightly, willing him to cover the distance between their lips. No, it didn't matter that she was engaged. In truth, she forgot that fact. It was buried somewhere in her head, shoved far away where it couldn't bother her.
She felt him lean close, her lungs suddenly constricting, her heart accelerating further.
His lips touched hers slightly, igniting something on her inside. It was so slight, that when something chirped in his pocket, she gasped and jumped back.
Color immediately flooded her face, even as memories of Philip and their impending wedding came rushing back. Stealing a look at Mike, she saw that a deep frown had claimed his face as well, as he reluctantly pulled out his cell phone and took the call.
Good, she needed to think. She needed to think and to breathe and to regulate her heartbeat. They hadn't kissed, right? She did nothing wrong, right?!
"Grace, calm down, I'll be right there." He sounded panicked.
Raising her eyes to him once more, she watched as he ended to call and buried the cellphone in his pocket. When he looked at her again, she could tell that something was wrong.
"We need to go."
"Where? I mean, of course we should go, I'll drop you at home," she murmured incoherently.
"Not home, Eden, back to St. John's."
"Why?"
"Nate," tears clouded his eyes, "he just might die if he doesn't get a kidney tonight. Grace needs me around when it happens."
Copyright © 2018 Lily Orevba All rights reserved.
A/N
You'll totally enjoy this scene better if you were in my head or, if you were listening to the song by Mario while reading it. As a result of this fact, I've attached the song to the media file above. Enjoy!
Anyway, we reached a thousand reads today! Boy, am I excited! It never ever gets old. Thank you so much for giving this story the time of day, even if I have serious doubts about it. You guys have kept me going so thank you.