The arrival of a new member of staff was something that didn’t normally interest me too much. I had been in this business for too long to worry about small matters such as this.

In fact, the truth was that I was getting jaded about the whole thing. Life had turned into exactly the kind of boring set of routines that I had always tried so hard to avoid. I was starting to feel tied to the clinic almost 24 hours a day and it was grinding me down more than I cared to admit.

Then, I felt the sort of rush of excitement or passion or call it what you will. When Janie had walked into my office for an interview I knew right away that the dangers of mixing business and pleasure were closer than ever before.

Her long, brown hair fell over her shoulders seductively and her blue eyes looked out at me timidly from under the fringe. She wasn’t the type of woman I was usually attracted to and I knew she was too young for me, but something about her mixture of fun, shyness, and awkwardness had got me intrigued from the start.

I was going to have to work hard to keep a professional distance between us. Did I even want to, though?

Her first day at work was a hectic time, as I had an A list Hollywood celebrity coming in to discuss some work she needed done to try and fight the aging process. However, I made time to be there waiting for her arrival – as though by accident – and I was hooked when I saw her come in through the door looking glamorous and exciting yet modest and homely at the same time.

After welcoming her to the clinic I spent the next few hours wondering how I was going to make the move to find out more about her. I had to break the ice and move the relationship on to a more personal level, even if I knew that it was one of the most dangerous things I could do in my work.

There was no doubt that I was getting short-tempered and grumpy these days? Maybe she could help me to lighten up. I hated being in a bad mood but it was something that was getting far too frequent lately. I knew fine well that the other nurses called me Doctor Grumpy and were a little bit afraid of me.

While I was still trying to think of the perfect phrase to get started with, she came into the rest area wearing her new nurse’s uniform. It fitted her perfectly. A little too perfectly maybe, with her wide hips and perfect breasts even more noticeable than they had been earlier in the day.

“Hi Janie, how was the first day at work?” I tried to sound relaxed but my heart was racing in a way it hadn’t done in years.

“Wow, it was hectic Dr…umm…Frank. I really need that cup of coffee you were talking about.”

She sat down with her cup of coffee and silence settled over us for a few moments. I could already see that Janie was more comfortable than she had been earlier in the day, while I was feeling more nervous than I had been in some time.

“You need to get used to the fast pace. We don’t accept slackers here.” Christ, could I not have started off a bit more gently? I was very rusty at making pleasant small talk with attractive women.

“Oh, I won’t slack off. Actually, maybe I shouldn’t be saying that while I’m sitting here drinking coffee. Ha ha.”

“You’re my guest and I’m the boss. This isn’t slacking it’s…team bonding.” Ugh, I was saying all the wrong things and didn’t know to lighten up anymore.

A heavy silence fell over us. It was starting to get kind of awkward and I was feeling lost.

I tried to move the subject on to something lighter.

“How do you like the new uniform, Janie? It really suits you.” To be honest, I had never before even noticed the nurse’s uniform in my clinic in the way that I was now. My whole working life had been spent surrounded by nurses, so I just saw them as employees who were there to help out and had never even considered having a relationship with any of them. Until now.

For the first time in my life, I realized why so many men fantasized over nurses. Our clinic’s new blue nurse’s uniform fitted her perfectly, showing off her curves and bringing out the blue in her eyes wonderfully.

I imagined slowly unbuttoning the row of buttons down the front while I sipped my coffee. Would that moment ever arrive or would it always be my secret fantasy?

“I like it. Blue is my favorite color and it fits me perfectly.” She ran a hand down the front of the uniform, smoothing it out and making the form of her breasts even clearer. Was I picking up the wrong messages here and imagining some subtle flirting that only existed in my mind?

I made an audible gulp as I finished my coffee and cringed at the sound of it. If there is one thing that had characterized my career until them it was self-control. You don’t make a fortune treating the world’s most famous faces and bodies without being able to stay in control of your emotions at all times.

Yet, here I was. Losing control over a new nurse whose eyes sparkled and promised me the world of romantic adventures that I had sacrificed so long ago to chase money and a worldwide reputation. Even the infamously bad coffee sludge we drunk in the clinic somehow tasted better with her by my side.

“I need some help in an operation tomorrow, Janie.” Her name sounded so right when rolling off my tongue that I wondered how I had lived so long without ever saying it. “Do you feel comfortable enough to help me?”

“Sure. I would love to. Is it someone I know? Oh my God, is that the wrong thing to say? I need to be very discreet here, right?”

I laughed the most honest, natural laugh I had enjoyed in days or maybe weeks. Her spontaneous approach and joy of living were already rubbing off on me. It felt like she was capable of blowing away the cobwebs that had slowly built up over my life.

“Between staff members, it is okay to talk about clients. However, if you tell anyone outside the clinic about our business then our receptionist will probably track you down and kill you.”

“Ah, you mean Heidi, right? Jeez, that is one lady I don’t want on my list of enemies so I won’t breathe a word of this outside these walls.”

The receptionist was a frightening, middle aged woman with her hair scraped back into a frightful looking bun. If she ever smiled her face would probably crack and shatter, but she did a good job for me.

“So, spill the beans, Doc. Between you and me.” I usually hated it when people called me Doc but I liked the way she said it with just the right mixture of respect and cheekiness. The “between you and me” added a touch of intimacy to our conversation that was a small step in the right direction, too.

A more comfortable and comforting silence now settled over us. My cup was empty but I lifted it to my lips and pretended to drink in order to not have to get up and leave. This was the most fun I had enjoyed in a long time and I never wanted it to end.

“Is it Beyoncé getting a nose job? Maybe you’re giving Taylor Swift smaller ears? Do you work on butts as well?” her voice lowered to a theatrical whisper. “Because I think you could work wonders with Johnny Depp’s tush, to be honest.”

“Much as I would love to get my hands on Johnny Depp’s butt, professionally speaking, this lady is a movie star who feels that her nose is a little too…prominent. My job, our job, will be to give her a schnoz that doesn’t cast a shadow over Tom Cruise or poke Brad Pitt in the eye when they kiss.”

We both laughed heartily and I enjoyed seeing her perfect teeth on display. As a plastic surgeon, I was used to spotting people’s defects, weaknesses, and complexes. As far as I could see this young lady didn’t have any of these things at all.

Over the many years of seeing famous and beautiful women naked or half-dressed, I had got very, very fussy. When was the last time I had seen a woman that I liked as much as Janie and hadn’t immediately started planning how I could make her look even better?

I had never before loosened up with a nurse and talked about clients in this way before. It felt good and so natural too.

“Do you sometimes worry that it is going to go wrong? The surgery?” I was now thoroughly enjoying how she asked me awkward questions that no-one else had ever thought to ask me.

“No. I don’t want to sound arrogant but, heck, I’m the best plastic surgeon that ever lived.” Damn, that didn’t sound arrogant after all, did it?

“That’s the kind of attitude I like to see in my boss.”

“What about you, Janie? Are you the best nurse on the planet?”

“Not yet, but I will be if you help me.”

“I get the feeling that we are going to be a great team.” I tried to make it sound professional but I felt that the words came out a strong double meaning. Janie either didn’t pick up on it or else let it slide, though.

“Yeah, I can feel that there are good times ahead. In fact, if you can just sort out this wretched coffee then everything could be perfect here.”

“Ha ha. You’d think the best surgeon in the world could at least sit down to a decent coffee, wouldn’t you?”

If I could have closed down the clinic and stayed here all day long I would have done exactly that.

However, I could see that our receptionist, the fearsomely dour Heidi, was looking at us. How long had she been spying on us? Had she noticed that there was a spark between us? I think even a fool would have seen that we were flirting, and the one thing that Heidi wasn’t, was a fool.

“Doctor Sanchez.” Heidi’s voice was colder and more distant than ever. “You are needed in the operating theater.”

“I’ll be right there, Heidi. Just enjoying some coffee here.”

The receptionist looked Janie over with a withering glance that would have stripped paint off wood or curdled milk. To her credit, Janie smiled sweetly back.

“So I see, Doctor. Enjoy the…coffee.”

Our little chat had come to a slightly uncomfortable end thanks to Heidi but I quickly told Janie what time to meet me the next day for the operation before rushing off. I was taking a big chance in using a brand new nurse for such an important task but I needed to be by her side as often as I could manage it from now on.

Who knew what the next few days might have in store for us?