"You know, I always thought those two were fucking."

Dr. Tersey stirred his sugar and creamer into his coffee, swirling the beverage a cloudy mud color. He peered over the brim of his glasses at his collegue as she sipped her tea daintily. "Who? Lecter and Bloom?"

"Of course them. Have you seen the way she looks at him. It's positively puppy-doggish. She trails after him like he's tugging a leash on her." Dr. Ellison furrowed her thick black eyebrows in annoyance (or jealousy, in Dr. Tersey's professional opinion) and set her cup down on the counter of the break room. "He's got her handling all those Ph.D candidates for him, like she's a secretary or something."

"I hear he has her for dinner regularly," Dr. Tersey interjected quietly, the steam from his cup tickling the ends of his graying moustache. Dr. Ellison made a harrumphing sound.

"Yeah, I'll bet. He gives her dinner and she gives him a show."

Dark, slitted eyes watched the backs of the two doctors from the doorway. What nasty, inconsiderate things he frequently overheard about Alana Bloom. It made his fingers twitch. He cleared his throat more loudly than usual, beckoning his startled and less- than-esteemed collegues to turn. Dr. Ellison's face flushed red. "Dr. Lecter! I'm beginning to think we should put a bell on you, the way you sneak up on us all like that."

A small tug at the corner of his mouth upturned his lips in a small smile. "Dr. Ellison, I seem to have misplaced your business card upon my last referral. Might I bother you for another?"

x-x

I own Dr. Ellison and Dr. Tersey, and that's about it. Please review, guys!