They seemed to have an unspoken agreement to avoid anything work-related, including discussion of their coworkers, and that made Neela happy. Happier than she'd been in a while, and relaxed. Or maybe that was the wine. It didn't matter though, she found herself charmed and amused by some of Lucien's stories and asides about his childhood and his non-surgical interests.
"I was too short for the lacrosse team at fourteen, but my sister played field hockey. I often found myself pressed into being a practice partner with her." He shrugged, explaining how he ended up interested in a sport that most guys didn't play in Chicago.
"Did you have to wear the uniform?" She couldn't resist a smirk.
"No." He looked down at the napkin in his lap, the small smile on his face hidden from her view at first. "I didn't have the hips for it."
"Lucien…you did not…"
A laugh, he was playing with her. "No. No, I never felt the need to wear a skirt, part of an athletic uniform or not."
As the evening wore on, he had moved his chair closer to hers. Once the dishes had been removed by the wait-staff, Neela found herself holding his hand on top of the table as they talked. It was s simple gesture, but intimate. And surprisingly, a comfortable one for her. His hands were familiar to her, after all. They spent so many hours in the operating room guiding her own much smaller hands. Of course, that evening they felt different. Softer, warmer…gentler. They weren't the latex clad hands of a skilled surgeon teaching his protégé. Instead she was holding the hands of a friend, a companion, a man who wanted to be much more than all of those things: a potential lover.
Neela was almost embarrassed to realize they were the last customers in the restaurant, but Lucien didn't seem bothered by it at all. Instead, after he quietly took care of the bill, he stood and offered Neela his arm, asking if she'd like to take a walk with him. She found his chivalry a nice change of pace. He walked with her close by his side, opened doors for her, kept her from walking along the curb and even offered her his jacket when the night air became chilled.
They were stopped at the window display of an art gallery, the glow of the street lamps giving them enough light to inspect the paintings and sculptures behind the glass. It also gave Neela a chance to study them, their reflections. They looked like a couple to her. The thought startled her initially. Certainly he was older, that was obvious. But he looked happy. She looked happy. There was an easiness between them as they stood close together, two people comfortable in each other's personal space.
"I wonder if it would make a difference if that were hung from the other end?" His question puzzled her, pulled her from her thoughts.
Then she looked to where he had been pointing, some abstract mess on canvas. "I saw this show on the Animal Planet where they let elephants paint pictures with their trunks. I liked those better."
He laughed at her, tried to put on an air of sophistication and failed, finally admitting that he didn't understand the point of the artwork either. "Elephants, huh? Well if monkeys can write Shakespeare…"
"What?"
"You know, they say if you place monkeys in a room with typewriters they'll eventually manage to reproduce the works of Shakespeare…"
"They will not."
"They might."
"You're barmy."
"You're beautiful."
"And you're drunk."
By the time they returned to his car, Lucien felt sober enough to drive but Neela was still feeling the warm effects of the wine. She sat looking at him long after he'd stopped the car in front of her building and turned off the engine. He was watching her too, as if he were unsure of where to go from that point forward. She realized his problem and his nervousness by the way he chewed at the corner of lip, kept his hands on the steering wheel.
"Lucien?"
"Y…yeah?"
His stutter and boyish smile were enough to make her place a hand on his. "Walk me to my door?"
He ducked his head, looked embarrassed at having forgotten this part of the dating ritual. "Oh. Right. Sorry."
He did as she asked, getting out of the car, coming around and opening the other door for her. Walked her up the steps and waited for her to pull out her keys and let them into the lobby of the building. He was biting his lip again and looking at his feet and Neela couldn't understand the sudden awkwardness after their pleasant evening.
"Are you all right, Lucien?"
"Yeah. I'm fine. You?"
He was so odd sometimes; it made her smile. "I'm good. I had a lovely time tonight."
That brought a smile to his face, made him meet her gaze. "I'm glad. I had a nice time too…with you."
"It's late, I should probably go in."
"Neela?"
"Yes?"
"Is June off to a good start?"
"Yes it is." She stood on tip-toe and kissed his cheek.
"Does that mean you'll go out with me again?" He waited to ask until she had started up the stairs to her apartment.
"Possibly."
"I wasn't drunk when I said you were beautiful. Earlier."
"I know."
"Good night, Neela."
She stood watching him as he turned to let himself out of the lobby, back to the street. He hadn't tried to kiss her good night. She didn't know why that bothered her but it did. Without thinking too much about it, Neela found herself moving back down the stairs and after him.
"Lucien, wait…"
He stopped, turned and looked at her. "Neela?"
"Your forgot something."
"I did?"
"After all of your talk about relationships and courting…romantic methodology I think you said." She shook her head, still bemused at his choice of words, "Aren't you going to kiss me good night?"
"No." His voice was soft, his expression hard to read.
"Why not?" She was truly baffled by him now. Was there something wrong, had he changed his mind about them?
"You said you wanted to take things slow."
"I didn't meanthat slow…"
"Oh."
"Oh?"
"Do you want me to kiss you good night, Neela?"
God, sometimes she wanted to throw her hands up or throttle him. He was impossible. Didn't she just tell him she wanted to be kissed? Hadn't she followed him back outside just for that fact? Making a frustrated noise, Neela made a decision and moved closer to the curly-haired source of aggravation. Placing a hand on his shoulder to keep her balance, she stood on tip-toe again and took his chin in her other hand, bringing his face closer to hers. "I want to kiss yougood night, all right?"
"All right." He was smiling, his breathe warm on her skin as he spoke.
He didn't get a chance to say anything else before Neela brought her lips to his. He still tasted like wine and it was a welcome surprise. So was the way he placed a hand on the small of her back to steady her as he leaned into the kiss, returning it with one of his own. She would have stayed like that for much longer had he not been the one to pull away.
"Thank you for a lovely evening." He repeated her words back to her then cleared his throat softly. "You really should go inside…it's late."
She nodded, smiling and unable to resist lifting her fingertips to her lips as if to feel for herself that there was proof of their kiss still there. "Saturday."
"What?"
"I'll go out with you again."