Part 12: A Dozen Roses
Violet stepped out of the elevator and into the lobby of Oceanside only to see all the men of the practice gathered around Dell's desk. She chose not to make her presence known and stood behind them silently. She finally spotted the vase of a dozen red roses sitting on the desk. It seemed to be the topic of their discussion.
"Who do you think they're from," Dell asked.
"Well, look at the card," Pete suggested.
She watched Sam pick up the card. "It says, 'I'm sorry,' and it's signed by C. Hey, Coop, do you know something about this?"
"Violet's seeing some guy named Charles. They're probably from him." So the flowers were for her.
"Yes," Violet spoke up. "They probably are from him." They turned with identical looks of surprise written on their faces.
"Oh, hello Violet. I think these are for you," Dell said sheepishly.
She gave the guys a smile and took her flowers back to her office. Cooper followed.
"So you and you're short blonde person are getting serious, huh?"
"Short blonde guy," she corrected. "I can't believe you're still fantasizing about me and Charlotte. And yes, we are getting serious." At least I'd like to think.
She set the flowers on her desk, took a moment to appreciate them, and then flopped down on the couch next to Cooper.
"So it's the end of the world and you and Charlotte are the last people on it," he began.
"We are not playing this game again and why are you assuming that the last thing I would want to do is have sex?"
"It's the last thing I'd want to do."
She rolled her eyes at this. "God, Cooper."
Suddenly a shout of anger rang through the air. "What is taking you so long surfer boy?!"
Cooper and Violet looked at each other and uttered, "Charlotte," simultaneously.
"It's the end of the world Violet. She's yours for the taking," Cooper joked.
"Shut up."
He laughed and they got up and went to see what was going on.
"Charlotte, why are you shouting?" Cooper asked as they came to the receptionist desk. Dell stood behind looking flustered.
"Surfer boy can't find the file I need for my patient," Charlotte spat out, not even bothering to look at them.
"First of all he's a midwife," Violet cut in. "And second of all, I have the file. He's my patient."
Charlotte gave her a triumphant smile. "Not any more," she drawled.
She frowned. "Fine, come with me and I'll give it to you."
Charlotte nodded and followed behind with Cooper trailing after. He was grinning like a fool and Violet couldn't even begin to imagine what he was fantasizing about them.
Violet dug through her file cabinet while Charlotte stood by and Cooper looked on from the doorway.
"What's wrong with him?" Charlotte asked, pointing to the grinning fool at the door.
She was completely aware that Cooper could hear them. "He thinks I want to sleep with you," she said nonchalantly.
"What?" Charlotte asked incredulously.
"In a hypothetical situation," Cooper added.
"Would you?" Charlotte asked.
"Would I what?" She asked.
"Would you sleep with me in a hypothetical situation?"
Cooper's jaw dropped. He could not believe Charlotte, of all people, was asking Violet, a woman she hated, this question.
Violet blushed. "I d-don't know. D-depends on the situation, I guess," she stumbled. She was getting flustered. What was Charlotte doing? Did she want them to get caught?
Charlotte took the file from her and headed towards the door, but not before saying, "I'd do you, in a hypothetical situation. Nice flowers by the way."
Violet turned red and Cooper just stared at the petite doctor as she walked away.
"Oh, my God!" Cooper said.
"Yeah."
"That was hot!"
"Shut up."
Cooper rushed out, presumably to gossip to the others. She wanted to go yell at Charlotte, but it might seem suspicious if she just left. Instead she went in search of Addison. The redhead wasn't in her office, so she headed towards the maternity suite. She pushed the door open and the couple inside broke apart.
"Pete? Addison?" Honestly she wasn't really surprised. Addison and Pete have had a thing for each other since Addison first came to the practice.
Pete scratched the back of his head nervously. "Ah, Violet, hi. We were just… working."
"With your lips," Violet added.
"Lips? Well they were involved," Pete mumbled. "But it's not what you think."
Addison jumped into the fray. "Violet, do you mind…"
Violet mimed locking her lips and throwing away the key. "No problem. Not a word to anyone. Just returning the favor."
"Thanks," Pete said gratefully.
"Well, I'll guess I'll go," Violet said. "Carry on."
She went to find Naomi, hoping that Cooper hadn't got to her and told her about the thing with Charlotte.
"So those were some nice roses you got there," Naomi said.
"Yeah." She smiled. "They're beautiful aren't they?"
"So when do we get to meet this infamous Charles Lindberg? I mean you guys have been going out for what a month now?"
"About a month, yeah."
"Well, I want to meet this guy, Vi. Got to make sure he's good enough for you."
"Oh he is."
Would she have to tell them about Charlotte? It seemed like Charlotte wouldn't mind if people knew (guess she really was over Cooper). It's not that she didn't want people to know, it's that it would just be odd. She would be what? Coming out of the closet or something. And then there was Cooper. Telling people about them would not be a good idea.
Later that day, when it was possible to sneak away, she met up with Charlotte in Pacific Wellness. Charlotte was sitting at her desk scanning the files before her.
"What we're you thinking?" She asked Charlotte.
"I was just playing," Charlotte replied.
"Just playing? Do you want everyone to know," she chided.
Charlotte looked up from her papers. "Yes."
"What?"
"I want people to know."
"But… I don't know if-."
Charlotte put a hand up. "You don't have to tell anyone now, but eventually they will figure it out on their own. I don't want that to happen. There would be a scandal. I'd rather tell them myself."
Violet crossed her arms angrily. "I'm still mad at you about last night. I can't believe you. You say you're serious. You want to tell people about us and… we were making progress. I don't understand you. You stood me up," she yelled. "You stood me up!"
"I know. I'm sorry Violet."
"Sorry? You're sorry? I waited for you."
Charlotte stood suddenly and backed away from her desk.
"Hey," Violet spat. "I'm talking to you." The blonde whispered something that she couldn't hear and she asked her to speak up.
"I was scared. I-I don't know how to do this." She could see Charlotte's small form shaking now. "I'm not good at relationships. We're getting real close and I got scared and so I just didn't come. I'm sorry." Charlotte just looked so pitiful.
Violet sighed. "It's okay Charlotte."
"No it's not," Charlotte whispered.
She stood and wrapped her arms around the broken woman and pressed a kiss into that soft yellow hair. "It's okay Charlotte. It's okay." She kept repeating that phrase until the blonde believed her.
"I'm so messed up," Charlotte whispered.
"Who isn't?"
When Charlotte was ready she backed away from Violet. She seemed better.
"I loved my roses, by the way."
