It's been a long and tiring Wednesday… I had three appointments in the morning and five in the afternoon… and all of them were new patients… sometimes my job gets really exhausting and today was one of those times…
I am in the shower and suddenly there is a melody coming into my head… I wash the shampoo off my hair and run out of the shower wearing my bathrobe in the way to the piano… it's always like this… when I'm in the most impossible moments some really exquisite melodies come to my mind… I sit behind the piano all wet and dripping water from my hair and start playing it… this is even better in reality than it was in my mind… I'm about to finish the last piece when there's a knock and then the door opens…
" Hey... you home?"
It's James like always…
" Yeah… I'm here!"
He stares at me wide eyed and blinks a couple of times then he turns around… I roll my eyes at him…
" Sorry… is it a bad time?"
"No… I was in the shower and this melody came into my mind… you know how it is!"
" Yeah I do! I'll grab a drink while you're doing your thing…"
" Okay! But there's only apple and orange juice and water! So don't nag!"
" Okay then I'll go buy some beer until you get dressed!"
"Sure!"
And he leaves… I forgot to even ask him what his problem was… when I'm done I get up and go to my room… I wear my underwear and a red camisole and a pair of my khaki sweatpants… after towel drying my hair, I put on some lip gloss and some moisturizing cream on my hands and face… I go to the kitchen and I wonder what to make for dinner… while I'm going through my fridge to find something to cook… James comes back…
" I bought pizzas so you don't need to worry about dinner!"
"Oh thank God! You're the best!
Closing the fridge door I say…
" I had a very crappy day… and it's good to see a friend after all that!"
He puts the pizzas and beers on the kitchen counter… sits on one of the bar stools and says…
" What happened? Everything ok?"
I sit next to him and open one of the pizzas and take a slice and take a bite…
" Yeah everything is fine… I'm just tired… bone tired… I had a busy day… lots of patients… "
He opens a can of soda and puts it in front of me… then opens a beer for himself and takes a slice of the pizza and starts eating…
"Do you want a massage after we eat?"
I look at him all wide and big puppy dog eyes and say
"Will you massage me?"
He smiles at me and takes a lock of my hair and tucks it behind my ear and says…
"Yeah I'll do that!"
"Thank youuuu!"
I take a big bite of my pizza and he stares at me disapprovingly and says…
"Hey, easy! You're gonna choke on it… eating like this!"
" No I won't!"
I say with my mouth full! He frowns at me and says
" Don't talk with your mouth full! It's not lady like at all!"
I swallow with the help of soda and say…
" Lady like my ass! I've been acting lady like in all good situations and nothing ever happened! I want to act like whatever I want in my own house!"
" Okay, okay! Keep your hair on… do what you like I'm not gonna judge!"
" You wouldn't dare!"
He laughs hard and says…
" Yeah I wouldn't!"
He shakes his head but doesn't say anything else… I eat three slices and I'm done… can't eat more… but he eats all his and the remaining three of mine! He eats like a horse… which is a good thing… men must eat a lot… I like that! I smile at him and continue drinking my soda…
" I've bought two boxes of beers… you don't drink them so they will be for the times I come by!"
" You drink too much! You drank all of the beers I've bought last time in two days! I don't have any problem feeding you! But buying a drink that I don't even want in my house everyday is another thing! So new rule! You want a beer… bring one with yourself… cuz there's none here!"
" Okay! No problem with that!"
He smiles at me and says…
"Now you're ready for a really good Irish massage?"
" I never had a massage before I don't know the types!"
He laughs out loud and says
" It's obvious that you haven't had a massage before… come!"
He stands up and takes my hand and we go to the salon…
" Come... lie down on your front on this couch!"
I sit on the couch and when I want to lie down… the bell rings…
I look at James who has shot his eyebrows up and then frowns… I stand up and make my way to the door… I open it and see my dear old friend… He comes in and sweeps me into his arms and swirls me around... I give out a shriek and start giggling… he puts me down and speaks Korean…
" Hello beautiful! How have you been?"
He kisses my cheeks and still has his arms around me… I answer him in Korean...
" Hi Jason… I'm fine! How are you? What are you doing here?"
Jason sees James and freezes… he lets me go and speaks English...
" Didn't know you had company, Anna!"
Oh my God! He sounds disapproving… I smile and take his hand and walk towards James…
" You know James Dornan? We're friends… we were having dinner together!"
He rises his eyebrows and they shake hands… both of them evaluating each other… James is the first one to talk…
" Hi, I've heard about you… Anna told me she had a friend who taught her Korean! I suppose it was you!"
He says with a polite smile… Jason eyes me warily and says
" Yes that was me! We were in the same class in med school and we both went to the same hospital for our residency…"
" Sit down… I'm going to get some drinks… coffee?"
" Yes please…"
They both say at the same time…
"Okay then…"
I go to the kitchen and hear them talking… I am so happy to see Jason… it's been three years since his wedding and I hadn't got the chance to see him after that… I go back to them with three cups of coffee… I sit next to Jason... He is telling James the story of how we met…
" And I looked around there was this tall blond beautiful girl standing in the corner… I went up to her and when she looked at me I knew she was the girl that was arguing with me in class about one of the cases our teacher told us..."
I smile at the memory of that party and say…
" Yeah… I should have taken a photo of your face that moment!"
We both laugh… James smiles at me and says
" yeah I know how Anna can be when she thinks she's right!"
I rise an eyebrow and say
" I'm always right, even if I'm wrong… I am right!"
And we all laugh… I pick up my cup and take a sip…
" Hey, How are Mary and the kids? I miss them so much!"
Jason gives me a smile and says
" They're fine… Mary misses you so much! The girls can't wait to see their aunt Anna! In fact I came here to tell you that I'm moving here!"
" You're kidding!"
" No I'm not! One of my friends is opening a clinic here and offered me a job… I also had a job offer at one of the local hospitals here… so I decided to come here! This way we can spend more time together!"
I hug him hard and say
" Oh congratulations! I'm so happy for you… can't wait to see Mary and the girls…"
" So tell me how did you meet with the famous Jamie Dornan? It should be interesting!"
He gives me a tell-me-all-the-details-right-now look and rises his eyebrow… I look at James and say…
" I say or you say?"
He smiles and says…
" I say… So we're filming a TV series and there's this scene that I am in a shrink's office and we are talking… that morning they called and said they found the place to shoot the scene… So I go there and see everything's a chaos and nothing's ready… and they are saying that the person who was supposed to play the shrink role isn't coming… So I tell them to ask the owner of the office to play the role… they all think it's a good idea and the director himself goes to talk to her… and I see her… she's wearing a red coat with a white top underneath it with jeans and sneakers… Eric tells me she looks like anything but a shrink… and she has an all angry and get the hell out of my office kind of look on her face… but she agrees to play the role… we go for it and Bam! She's a natural… we got the shot at the first effort… she seems familiar but I can't remember where or when I've seen her… after the shot I went up to her and introduced myself to her… and she suddenly remembered me… I asked her to come to the bar with us and she has become a very good friend for all of us…"
Jason left after drinking his coffee and said he must head back to drop by at the hospital… it was so refreshing… seeing him like this… happy and healthy… I can't help smiling…
" Is he that guy?"
James asks leaning on the counter… I frown not understanding his question…
" What guy?"
" That guy you said that you liked… who is married and has two kids…"
He watches me expectantly… I smile at his curiosity and say…
" Why do you wanna know?"
He shrugs and says
" Because he seems to have feelings for you too!"
My eyes pop out and say
" Get out of here! No way! Jason and Mary are crazy in love with each other!"
He shakes his head and says…
" But he loves you, too! Anna it is possible to love more than one person at a time… And he seems to have got it bad!"
I narrow my eyes and say…
" How can you say?"
" The way he looks at you… it was obvious that he loves you… and he was jealous when he saw me here!"
I sit on a bar stool and say…
" Honey, I'm sure you're just imagining these things…"
" But what if I'm not?"
" doesn't matter anymore! Fact is… he's married to one of my best friends… and he's happy… and they have kids… So it doesn't matter that he has or doesn't have any kinds of feelings for me… if he wanted me… he had eight damn years to tell me so… but he either didn't want me or didn't have the courage to step up… which was for good because I won't go for cowards… so stop badgering…"
He looks at me shocked and says
" Dude! Get a grip!"
My tears fall off and shout…
" Screw you James! Now you made me cry!"
He comes near me and says
" I am going to hug you so don't bite!"
He hugs me and I cry even harder… what am I supposed to say? That the guy was you? You idiot moron who can't remember you kissed me ten years ago? That you're my first kiss and first love? … he doesn't say anything… he just holds me…
" So he's not the guy?"
I punch him hard in the stomach and he flinches… which makes me laugh… and he starts laughing too… the tension goes away…