Perfect Day

Chapter 1

The short, blonde woman sat there fiddling with the napkin that was soaked from the melting ice in her drink. She was trying to savour her drink for whatever reason, although her date was more than fashionably late. She took a deep breath and sighed. She looked down at her watch.

"7:30..." She muttered to herself before tucking a piece of her long, blonde hair behind her ear.

Their date was at 7. She had hoped that he would have a good reason, and decided that if he didn't show in the next 15 minutes, she would leave.

7:45pm

She felt a hand touch her back as soon as she began to pack her things back into her handbag. She turned to face the presence behind her, and there he was.

"I'm so, so sorry. I was in surgery until late, and I couldn't get a phone." His tone was sincere, and his voice was soft. It was comforting. It was that kind of voice you could listen to over and over again. Soothing, kind, gentle. The kind you never get bored of.

The man was tall, muscular. But the kind of muscular that looked good, not the 'steroids and gym freak' kind. He folded his jacket over the back of the bar-stool. His clothes, and everything about him, actually, looked expensive. She looked him up and down. His face was in an apologetic grin and his blue eyes glimmered under the bar's bright lights. His black hair was slicked back, and his cologne was strong, but it smelled nice. Like vanilla. He was wearing a green turtle-neck, and black pants, and Gucci shoes... and a Rolex? It was almost intimidating. And although she was intrigued to see how the night would go, a small part of her was a little sceptical of how perfect he seemed.

"Oh, I totally get it. Don't worry." She chuckled as he sat down on the stool next to her.

"Let's restart this, because I'm gonna have to make a hell of a first impression to un-fuck all of this up." He chuckled. His laugh was cute and awkward, and she smiled at it. It was refreshing to see that he was as nervous and awkward as she is. "I'm Brendan." He said, as he offered his hand out to shake hers.

"Ann." She said with a smile, shaking his hand.

"Ann. Nice to finally meet you in person." Brendan chuckled his awkward chuckle once again.

"You too, Brendan. So, you're a surgeon?" Ann asked with a chuckle as she took a sip of her drink.

"Yeah. Plastics. I meant to leave work early, actually. But a colleague had to go home sick, and I'm the only other one there that's worth seeing." He started chewing on a few peanuts.

"Sorry..." He looked down and chuckled nervously. "That sounded really stuck up." He shook his head.

"Oh, no." She chuckled nervously. "It didn't. Trust me." She put her hand on his shoulder as if to calm him down.

"I'm the only female OB-GYN at my practice, and I'm the only one that doesn't make horrible vagina jokes." She laughed. "So... yeah, I totally get the late surgery thing. I was in a 4-hour c-section delivering quadruplets yesterday, and lemme tell you, those babies weren't small. The larger the baby, the longer the surgery." Ann said with an eye-roll and a snort-laugh.

Brendan laughed and looked up at her. Ann could tell that he was comfortable with her, now. That was always her superpower of sorts... making people feel comfortable.

"Yeah. Like, I know I signed up to be a surgeon, and they warn ya of all of the time-consuming shit, but good god, I miss sleeping." He said as he crushed the shell off of a peanut before throwing it in his mouth.

Ann laughed and downed the rest of her drink.

"My Professor warned me that I'd never have a social life on the first day of my first year at med-school. Guess I should've believed her. I always thought I'd have kids by 25, but here I am at 29 kid-less, with my mom bugging me everyday about grandkids." She said with a laugh.

"My step-mom has been breathing down my neck about kids for years. 'Neither of us are gettin' any younger, Brendan. I'd rather be able to meet my grandchildren before carking it'." Brendan mimicked in a squeaky voice, trying to contain his laughter.

Ann let out another snort-laugh.

"She's the best, though. Part of me feels bad for not already giving her grandkids. I guess you gotta have time and a partner for that." His laughter faded, although his grin was still taking up half of his face. "Can I get you a drink?" He asked, signalling to the bartender.

"Yes, thank you." She turned around to face the bar as the bartender signalled to them to say he was ready to take their order.

"A dirty martini, please." She requested, with a kind smile.

"Whiskey on the rocks. Thank you." He said, as he pulled his wallet out of his back pocket.

"So where are you from?" Ann asked, turning to look at him again.

"Texas. But I moved here a while back for my second residency." He replied, turning to face her. "How about you?"

"France. I was born and raised there, but we moved here when I was about 12, after my father died. I went back to France for college and then came back here for med-school." Ann smiled, subtly brushing over the 'dead-dad' thing. She didn't like to talk about it on dates, just because it always gives guys the 'daddy issues' idea, or makes them pity her, although she felt no reason for pity. She was over it, and he was never around. She did have daddy issues, but she'd never admit that to anyone.

"Oh, I'm sorry about your dad." Brendan said, in an attempt to comfort her. "My mom died during my first year of med-school. I hate telling dates that, though. I dunno, just makes me feel like they think I'm fucked up from it or something." He said with a slight chuckle. He was totally fucked up from it, but he'd never admit that to anyone. He blamed his mother's death for him being as fucked up as he is.

"I'm sorry." She whispered. "I hate telling people about it. Every single guy I've dated thinks I have daddy issues." She said with a laugh. Brendan saw right through her, though. He could tell what she was thinking. He'd been getting better at reading people. It came with the 'fucked up' practise.

"Hey, there's two things we have in common, already! Dead parents, doctors!" He said, laughing.

"Cheers to that." Ann held up her glass, and Brendan clinked his glass to hers.

They spent the rest of the night talking. Mostly about the horrors of med-school, pushy parents and past trauma, and found that they had more in common then they thought. Ann felt connected to him, and she couldn't pinpoint why. She had never been able to open up this much to anyone before. She could tell from the get-go that her relationship with Brendan would be one worth remembering, but maybe not in the ways she'd thought at first. But once she had begun to get to know him more, and he began to show his true colours, she started to second-guess everything she'd ever thought about him, and herself. And that terrified her...