Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in this story
Italics thoughts
AN: This is my first fanfic so it might be bad but I love reading Reela so I thought I'd finally take a stab at it myself. Please read and review and let me know what you think!
Neela's Secret Talent
Neela was standing in the kitchen humming away to herself as she shut the oven door on the cookies she had just put inside there. She was in a good mood as she had somehow managed to score a couple of days off from work and had decided to perfect her baking skills. Her previous attempts in the past had not been received in the best way but she had slowly been improving and was confident that these cookies would be at least half way decent.
She suddenly noticed that the loud rock music that had been coming in from the living room had stopped.
They must be on a break, Neela mused.
Ray and his band had been practising for the last hour and Neela had found that she had somehow been lulled into not noticing it anymore.
Well I guess putting up with the music is part of deal when living with the resident rock doc, she thought, not that I mind the music all that much, just being woken up by it in the early hours of the morning when I'm trying to get some sleep.
Neela walked into the living room and saw various band members sprawled across the couch.
A chorus of "hellos'" greeted her as she walked in.
"Neela!", Bret yelled enthusiastically as she came into the room, "what have you been doing locked up in the kitchen?"
"I've been baking", she replied and then laughed at the look of horror on Ray's face from across the room. "No need to look so scared Ray".
"Yeah I think I might just give the cookie tasting a miss this time", Ray said with a smirk, "and I'd advise you guys not to as well if you don't want a mega belly ache"
Ray wasn't joking either. The last time he had tried Neela's baked goods he had paid for it. Ever since then he had been keeping well clear of them.
Neela glared at him at his last remark and Ray shrugged. Neela always looks so cute when she's angry, he thought. Whoa where did that thought come from? I definitely shouldn't be thinking things like that about my roommate/colleague.
"I'll have you know that my cookies are really good now", She shot back.
"Hey the more for us if you don't want them Ray", said Jason.
"Your funeral…" Ray said which earned him another glare.
The guys spent the next few minutes talking and Ray watched Neela from across the room standing with Bret who was showing her how to play a few chords on his guitar. Ray noticed that she looked really hot with the guitar.
In fact, she always looks hot, he thought. Ray had always thought that Neela was beautiful but recently he had also begun to think of her as sexy.
Neela's laugh brought him out of his daze and he felt a shot of jealousy as he saw she was grinning up into Bret's face. Does he have to hold her like that? Bret had his arms around Neela's as he showed her the correct way to position her hands on the strings.
Ray felt a twinge of irritation at the sight of this and decided to call this break to an end. "Come on guys back to work" he said standing up.
"Ok you try it now", Bret was saying to Neela.
"Sure" she replied with a smile.
Ray jaw dropped open as he saw her fingers run deftly up and down the strings with the guitar pick, faultlessly playing out a complicated guitar rift. The rest of his band mates looked equally awe struck with similar open mouthed expressions as Neela played out the last resonating chords.
'PING!'
"Ooooo my cookies are done! Yey!", Neela exclaimed as she shoved the guitar back at Bret and raced to the kitchen.
Neela pulled open the oven door and removed the perfect golden brown cookies. Ha! I told Ray my cookies would be good! Neela thought triumphantly. She turned around and found Ray and the guys standing in the doorway still looking shocked.
"Neela?", Ray said with an odd look of wonderment on his face.
"Yes…?" She replied.
"Where an earth did you learn how to play like that? And why didn't I know?" he demanded.
Neela beamed; delighted that she had managed to impress Ray. He was after all the cool man of the house… she always felt drab and boring next to him. And there was another reason she wanted to impress him of course although she didn't let herself even entertain that thought. Ray of course would never be interested in her like that…
"Oh what you mean the guitar?", she said nonchalantly putting down the baking tray.
"Yes the guitar", Ray said, "Why didn't you tell me you could play like that?"
"I thought I did", Neela replied. "I learnt when I was 16. I kinda went through a very short goth phase at school when I had a major crush on this guy at school. He was in a band and it was my lame attempt to make him like me".
I guess my taste for rockers hasn't changed, Neela thought.
She grinned, "In my defence it totally worked. He did ask me out but I soon realised he was a bit of a looser so I ditched him and the goth look and went back to being my boring self".
"So why didn't you tell me you already knew how to play when I was showing you the chords?" Bret questioned.
"Hey, anything to get your arms around me darling", Neela joked. Although actually since Ray doesn't seem to want me Bret is a pretty good second and it is kinda nice to be held.
"I knew you were hot for me!" Bret exclaimed.
Neela laughed and as she glanced over at Ray she could have sworn she saw a look of jealousy flash through his eyes. No…I must have been mistaken.
"So. Who wants to try my cookies?"
She always amazed him. Just when Ray thought he had her pegged, she went and did something completely unexpected and revealed a whole new side to her.
The band had just left and Ray, who was lost in his thoughts, didn't notice Neela come up behind him holding a plate of cookies.
"What are you thinking about?", she asked as she sat down beside him on the couch.
"You", he answered truthfully.
Neela looked surprised, "Really?"
"Yeah I was just thinking about how amazingly talented you are", he said.
Neela smiled, "hey you're the talented one. I'm forever impressed at how you manage to be a really smart doctor, be in a rock band and how your still able to look really hot at all times". As if realising what she just said, Neela began to turn red.
Ray grinned, he found her embarrassment cute. "Granted I am a really hot doctor/guitarist, but I'm certainly not a smart one. If I was smart then I would have realised my feelings for you a long time ago and already made my move".
Neela gawped at him. I cannot believe he just said that. Maybe I've just been wanting to hear him say that for so long that I just imagined that he just said that. Although come to think of it, no one has spoken for a couple of minutes. Maybe I should say something.
Ray looked at her nervously. She still hadn't said anything. Ray was just about to open his mouth when she suddenly spoke.
"Ray I have feelings for you too." she said, "In fact I've had them for a while.
Ray felt his heart soar. After her silence he began to think that she was thinking of a way to let him down gently. Neela has feelings for me. For me. For me! The thought made Ray fill with happiness. He knew he had to tell her how he felt but having her feel the same way was unbelievable.
Neela rushed on, "I was just scared to tell you because I didn't think you felt the same way and I didn't want to ruin things between us because you're my best friend and I think your such an incredible person and…"
Ray cut her off by leaning in and kissing her on her lips. Neela was caught off guard for a second but as soon as she got hold of her senses she responded with as much passion as she could wanting to show Ray just how much she felt for him. She could feel the tingles run down her. When Neela and Ray finally broke apart she could tell that he was feeling the same way as her by the look of love in his eyes. "Guess you have some secret talents of your own", she said with a smile.
"Hey you know that now that you can play the guitar we should form our own band", Ray joked.
Neela laughed, "Yeah we can call ourselves 'Emergency Room'- its quite fitting really. So are you ready to try my cookies now?". She held up the plate that she was still clutching.
Ray looked at it dubiously, "Sure" he said apprehensively whilst taking one.
"Let's just hope I don't end up in the Emergency Room," he said closing his eyes and popping it into his mouth.