Sherry
I told Ava that I'd meet her out by the pool as I left her giggling so hard she was crying over my day. For the life of me, I don't know why we're friends. Of course, her response was, "Sherry, it's been so long since a man has seen your tunnel that you should've just allowed him in. I mean, at least the cobwebs would be wiped away." After that statement, I grab a tissue, since I've been sneezing since I arrived home, and my book. It'll be at least thirty minutes before she joins me. That'll give me time to read and relax. Well, that's if I can stay awake long enough. I refused to take an allergy pill when I arrived home just so I could keep my eyes open for our evening. Making my way out to the lounge chair, I cover the plastic with a towel before sitting. Adjusting the back, I cut my eyes around the place and notice that not many people are here yet. This thing will be another bust, but the food and drinks are good which keeps us coming back each month. Crossing my legs, I open my book and begin to read. I can feel my eyes growing dark, and as much as I try to fight it, I'm not going to win. Glancing at my watch, I notice that I have a few minutes before Ava will join me. Laying the book on my chest, I take this chance to rest a moment. It's not until I'm being shaken and yelled at by Ava that I quickly realize that just a moment turned into drool-worthy sleep. Sitting up, I wipe the corner of my mouth that's dripping like a Saint Bernard that just drinks from a water fountain.
With wide eyes, I glance toward Ava to get the nod of approval that I'm back to being human, leaving the canine species in the past.
"Can you ever stay awake?"
"I manage a few hours a day," I say, shrugging her off. It's not my fault that I need to sleep like twenty hours a day. Wait, I have two cats, so maybe they are rubbing off on me. You know how when you and your best friend sync up in cycles? Maybe me, Mr. Tinkerbell and Miss. Peter Pan are twins. Don't snicker at his name… I thought he was a she when I adopted him. Hint to the reason it's now Mr. Tinkerbell. It's also why his sister is Miss. Peter Pan. Apparently, not only do I have a problem with staying awake, but I also can't read the check box on the sex of my feline friends. It's not like either of them had balls or a penis sticking out saying, ‘Hey look, don't call me Tinkerbell, I've got nuts.'
"Seriously, you need to see a doctor about this, Sherry. How did you manage to live alone before I moved back in?"
"Alarms, timers, oh and really loud alarms. Look, Ava, it's nothing new, and I can deal with this," I say while standing. Once I'm upright, I stretch and work out the kink in my neck from sleeping on the hard-plastic lounge chair.
"People are starting to show up, let's get a drink and eat so we can bust out this joint," I say before walking toward the reception section of the pool patio.
"I'll follow, don't need you sleepwalking again." Ava's snide remark causes me to laugh. I can't be upset with her, because I know she's right. It's happened in the past, and pretty sure I might repeat it in the future. I'm a sleeping time bomb… I question it myself daily.
Grabbing one of the small white ceramic plates, I lean over to get a napkin and a few utensils. It's then that I drop the plate and send it crashing to the brick pavers below us.
"What the hell, Sherry!" Ava's voice booms from beside me. Quickly I grab her arm and pull her closer to me to whisper, "That's him, Dr. Tunnel Love who wants to violate me."
"He's hot as sin, and I think I'm about to change doctors now."
"Ava Williams, do you hear yourself? Come on, we need to go, now."
"Calm down, he hasn't even seen you, and why would we pass up on these mini egg rolls," she says before popping one in her mouth. I take a chance to glance at him again, and sure as shit, he's spotted me. Dr. Davis is standing with his broad shoulders across the way, sporting that sideways smirk he was giving me in the office this afternoon, and I swear he just winked at me. Who does that with their girlfriend standing next to them? Oh, the man who has no morals, that's who.
"Oh, he sees me… Smug bastard," I say, snatching another plate from the stack as I give a sad smile to the guy cleaning up my mess.
Ava nudges me in the shoulder, causing me to snap my eyes back up at her. That's when I notice him walking toward us both with the model-like female following close on his heels.
"Evening, Miss. Wilde, and…" he questions as he thrusts his hand out to Ava. Of course, my best friend breaks all code as she takes his hand. "Ava Williams, it's a pleasure to meet you."
"It's a pleasure to meet you," I repeat to myself as I shove mini egg rolls and some Bruschetta on my plate. I don't hang around and listen to them make conversation, nope I hightail it out of that tiny space and make my way back to my lounge chair. Just as I take a bite of my egg roll, I notice them walking toward me. No, not just Ava, but all three of them. Heat rushes through my body. At this point, I'm not sure if it's because they're following Ava, or just the fact that he's here at our monthly party. With eyes wide, it dawns on me. Dr. Davis doesn't even have a chance to sit before I practically scream at him, "Do you live here? I mean, in this building or are you using your powers to follow me?"
"Sherry," Ava says as she knocks into my shoulder.
"No, I'm not misusing any superhero powers that you think I have. I live here, well, since about three days ago that is."
"Oh," is the only thing I can manage to say while I calculate how many months we have left in our lease. Shit, six months before I can move.
The arm candy sitting next to him glances between us, then pipes up with her mousey voice. "How do you know each other?"
"We don't know each other. Greyson happens to have taken over my doctor's job."
"You really have a hang up over that, don't you," he says while placing his hand on my knee, causing me to jerk it back from his light touch.
"So she's your patient," the girl with no name states. I can't help but glare at her. I mean, how did she not understand my last statement. Usually, if someone takes over your doctor's job, that means you have become a new patient to said new doctor.
"Who are you?" I ask.
"Oh, this is a friend of mine, Suzanne. We go way back to our high school days."
"How sweet," I say as I divert my attention back to my plate.
Silence overtakes our little foursome we've got going on over here. Ava sits next to me, looking at us all. Suzanne stares up at Dr. Davis with eyes of hunger. I, on the other hand, am trying to get the hell away from them all. It's bad enough that he got to see a peek at my goodies today, which by the look on his face right now, he's thinking back to them.
Standing, I almost knock the small table over that's situated between the two lounge chairs. "Alright, well it was great meeting you, Suzanne. Ava, I'll see upstairs."
"Aren't you going to tell me bye, welcome to the club, or something," he questions me. I turn, square my shoulders, and glare like no other stare down before, "Nope." And just like that, I walk away from the person who causes my body to tingle in areas that shouldn't be.
Once I'm in the lobby waiting for the elevator, my back slinks against the wall, and I let out a long breath of air that I've been holding since I spotted him. The ding from the doors opening causes me to push off and enter. Hitting the button to my floor, an arm blocks the two doors from meeting. Just as I go to move away, I see him enter.
"Seriously, are you kidding me right now? What is your problem?"
"I wanted to officially introduce myself since we're neighbors; you know, to see if we can be social."
"For the record, I am social, and this is totally not acceptable."
With his hand out to me, he prompts, "Hi, I'm Greyson, and I just moved here, and you are?"
I linger for a moment as I take a quick glance to the lit up floors above the door. I know the eleventh floor is coming soon, and I give in.
"Sherry Wilde, pleased to meet you Greyson, and welcome to the building," I say with my hand in his. Even though I'm done, I can't seem to let go of his hand as the door opens for me to exit. Our eyes are locked together, not blinking, not making a move to redirect the other. The doors close and before I know it we're headed back down to the lobby.
"I think you missed your floor."
I gulp down the connection. "I guess you're right."
He steps closer to me, not breaking our hands apart but allowing them to fall in between us. "Does this mean we can be on talking terms, or are you going to hold being your doctor against me?"
"Technically, you never saw me, and I don't know how to answer that."
"Have dinner with me," he says, causing me to turn my head sideways as my eyes flutter up toward his. The one side of my brain is telling me to say no, while the other says yes. Then again, I know I have to say no because according to the five other offices that accept my insurance in this town, no one has any openings for new patients for at least four months or longer.
"I don't think so, Dr. Davis," I say, tugging my hand out of his grip before the doors open again. When I take a chance to look out, I see Ava and the one named Suzanne.
"That's a shame," he says low enough for only me to hear before stepping away from me. Now that there's space between us, I can finally breathe to slow my heart rate down and ignore the questioning eyes of my best friend. The elevator is so quiet that I can hear myself breathing. Which means everyone around me can too. When the doors open I practically race out and toward my apartment door with Ava fast on my heels.
Not wasting time, Ava starts in, "What was that in the elevator? I swear if those doors didn't open he was going to kiss you."
"You must be seeing thing's; it wasn't like that. We were just doing the official introduction of names and starting over. That's all."
"Oh you like him, don't you?"
"Like is not even a factor in any of this. Greyson could still end up being my doctor, and that would violate some kind of law and rule. Even if it doesn't, it breaks mine."
"Why do you find reasons to push every single guy away from you? When are you going to let someone get close?"
"Ava, you know it's not that simple for me. What kind of relationship would we have? I can't even stay awake long enough to drive myself to work, much less through a date."
"That's your choice; not the reason why, and you know it. I'm just saying, that man has eyes for you, and you had something going on. Plus, if you want to stay awake, you know what you have to do. It's easy, Sherry, just own up to it is all."
"I know… Look, I'm going to shower and go to bed. It's been a weird day, and I just don't think I can take anymore."
"You know where I am if you need me," Ava says as she picks up Mr. Tinkerbell and heads toward the couch. It's funny that I'm the one who rescued him, but he's closer to her than he is me. I shrug it off as I don't need to cuddle tonight with him anyway and head to my room.
The whole time I shower, I can't get Greyson out of my mind.
Yes, he's handsome.
Okay, he's more than just good looking. Can you call a guy pretty or beautiful? I don't even know these rules. All I do know is that he is so off limits for me that I need to watch out and, not to mention, I need my birth control pills before I run out. Hell, I don't even know if I have to have them; you're supposed to be having sex at my age. I'm twenty-five, single, not bad looking when my curls decide to not look like I stuck my finger in a light socket. But hey, I live in Miami, and it's humid. Not to mention, the sea breeze likes to wreak havoc on my hair. I'll sit on what to do, and until then I'm not too worried. I pat the side of the bed for Miss. Peter Pan and snuggle down as I listen to her purr me asleep.