The Work-Life Balance Disruption
Chapter 28
Declarations
"My Uber will be here in 15 minutes. I trust you'll still be up when I arrive at yours?"
Amy blinked. The wine wasn't really helping her right now. "I'm not at home," she said.
He was silent for a beat. "I'd very much like to talk this out as soon as possible. Can I pick you up somewhere?"
Amy's stomach constricted with nerves immediately. She had downed two glasses of wine in rapid succession, and if she was honest with herself, she could feel the effects the alcohol had.
"I'm at the Cheesecake Factory," she said, avoiding the looks the girls were giving her.
She heard him sigh, in disappointment she presumed. "I should have known," he mumbled. "I'll come pick you up."
Before she had a chance to say anything else, he had hung up in her ear. Both Bernadette and Penny were looking at her with questioning eyes.
"Was that Doctor Cooper?" Bernadette said with a wicked grin on her face.
Amy blushed. "Yes," she answered, looking at the last droplets of wine in her glass. "He's on his way over to pick me up."
Penny raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Wow," she whispered. "I've never seen him this determined, not even when he was dating that Ramona."
"I know right!" Bernadette exclaimed, awe noticeable in her voice.
Since it would be some time before he would be there to pick her up, Amy decided now would be a pretty great time to finally get rid of the nauseous feeling she got whenever the girls mentioned his ex. She was about to ask them to tell her more about this relationship he had with that woman, when her phone buzzed in her hand again.
10:57 PM
From: Dr Cooper
My Uber was early. I expect to be there in 5 minutes. To avoid any suggestive comments, I would kindly request you to be waiting outside for me.
Amy blinked as she read the message. He had some nerve, expecting her to be waiting for him outside, while he picked her up without asking this late in the evening. She was about to type something along the lines of 'you'll just have to suffer through the suggestive comments', when Penny leaned over the bar trying to see what she was typing.
"Some dirty texting to get in the mood?" she asked, grinning wickedly.
Amy quickly shielded her phone. "No, just logistics," she muttered. "He's here earlier than I expected, so I'll be going then." Both Penny and Bernadette looked surprised at her sudden departure.
"He's not coming in for a drink?" Bernadette asked, sounding as if she already knew the answer to that.
"Are you kidding? When have you ever seen Sheldon drink alcohol?" Penny snorted. "He does not behave well after drinking… Remember that time he took off his pants when they presented him that award?"
Both Bernadette and Penny burst into laughter. Amy looked between the both of them in shock. "I'm sorry?" she asked, laughing in spite of herself.
"I don't think he's had a single drink since," Penny said, wiping the tears from her eyes.
Amy still wanted an explanation. Her phone was buzzing with an incoming call again, and it was Doctor Cooper. He was probably outside already.
"I'd like to hear about this pants-dropping story some other time," she said, as she grabbed her purse and her jacket. Her phone continued to buzz in her hand, annoying her.
Amy swiped across the screen, answering the call. "Yeah, I'm coming," she said, the irritation in her voice audible.
"Already?" Bernadette piped up. Penny guffawed.
Amy blushed, and she could hear Doctor Cooper splutter on the other end of the line, before he answered. "I uh… I just wanted to let you know I'm outside, if you're ready," he said, he sounded almost nervous.
"Yeah," Amy said, her stomach constricting when she registered the hesitance in his voice. "I'm on my way out."
She hung up and looked at the girls. "I'll keep you posted, I promise," she said, suddenly grateful she had these two women to confide in.
The both of them smiled at her. "Remember to use protection!" Penny called after her, winking at her.
Doctor Cooper was leaning against the side of the car, waiting for her. If this were a movie, he'd be smoking a cigarette, Amy thought. Just looking at him caused Amy to swallow thickly. He looked entirely too sexy. She really was terribly far gone, she thought, when she realised that he'd probably be wearing a comic book-themed t-shirt underneath his coat and she still thought he looked so good.
At the University he always wore suits, which looked great on him. She loved seeing him in his suits. It did something to her. But seeing him in his casual clothes; khakis with a windbreaker, had the same effect on her.
He looked up when he saw her come closer in his peripheral vision. Amy immediately felt self-conscious of her looks when he eyed her up and down.
He moved away from the car, and opened the door for her. "Good evening," he said. Amy just nodded at him, trying to determine his mood. He looked stoic as ever. She climbed in the car, intending to buckle up, when he climbed in after her.
Was he doing this on purpose? It wasn't the first time he was making her slide over on the backseat of the car, causing their bodies to brush against each other in the process. She wasn't even halfway to the other side of the backseat, when he was inside the car fully and closed the door loudly.
"The next stop please, Amir," he said to the driver in the front.
He nodded in the rear-view mirror, and they took off.
The brushes of their arms and her side against his caused her heart to beat faster. She quickly moved away from him. Amy had finally crawled to the other side of the backseat, and buckled up her seatbelt. She felt a big, warm hand on her right and she looked up into a pair of blue eyes.
"I'm sorry to cut your evening of drinking with the girls short," he said, "but I do hope you understand I want this misunderstanding between us out of the way as soon as possible."
She furrowed her brow. Was he insinuating she was drunk? She only had two glasses of wine. Sure, she could feel the effect the alcohol had on her system, but she really couldn't be classified as drunk now.
And what 'misunderstanding'? Was he going to deny talking to her parents now?
"I'm not drunk," she said.
He raised his eyebrows. His hand was still on top of hers and it squeezed her softly. "I wasn't saying that," he said, blinking rapidly.
"You were implying it," Amy countered, her voice sounded bitter even to her own ears.
"I wasn't implying anything," he said, looking at her as if he was trying to figure her out, "I was simply trying to express my gratitude for your willingness to cancel your existing plans tonight, and spend it with me instead."
Amy raised her eyebrows in surprise. Spend the night with him?
Doctor Cooper must have realised how it sounded. Red blotches appeared on his neck. "I mean, - -" he stammered.
"Are we spending the night together then, professor?"
She didn't even blush as she said it. Maybe she did have a glass of wine too many, she thought. Her tongue darted out of her mouth to lick her suddenly dry lips.
The grip on her hand tightened, and Doctor Cooper looked at her with piercing eyes. They followed the path her tongue made across her lips. Amy felt suddenly very hot under his gaze.
His thumb was on her pulse point, and she was certain he could feel her heart beating faster.
"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" he whispered darkly. "I already graded your final paper, Miss Fowler. No amount of mediocre blowjobs is going to make me give you extra credit."
Amy gasped in shock. That comment felt like a slap in the face. Amy tried to pull her hand away from under his. Before she could retort however, the car came to a halt in front of her building.
"Your final stop, Doctor Cooper," the driver, Amir, said awkwardly.
"Thank you, Amir," Doctor Cooper said curtly. He released her hand and unbuckled his belt. "I'll probably be calling on you later tonight, if you're available."
"I can see why," Amir chuckled, and looked at Amy in his rear-view mirror. She shot daggers with her eyes at him, as if it was the driver's fault she was pissed off. She left the car and walked up to her building without another word to either Doctor Cooper or the Uber driver.
She didn't even look back to see if he was behind her when she opened the door to her building and marched over to the elevator. It dinged open almost immediately. Amy stepped inside and pressed the button to her floor, and the button to close the doors for good measure.
He knew where she lived, she thought bitterly, he could take the stairs.
Doctor Cooper only managed to stop the doors from closing with his hands just in time. He gave her an angry look.
"Amy, please," he barked, "I thought we would be able to talk about this like adults."
She blushed instantly.
"Whatever," she muttered, trying to appear unaffected by his use of her first name for the first time in days. They glared at each other all the way to her floor, and neither of them blinked until the doors of the elevator opened.
He made a move with his hand, indicating for her to go first. Amy walked ahead of him, towards her front door. Subconsciously, she swung her hips a little more than she usually did when she walked. Or maybe it wasn't subconsciously at all, because she pushed her bottom out as well when she inserted her keys in her front door.
She heard him groan lowly behind her and she had to suppress a smug grin. The wine made her feel reckless. And he couldn't really blame her for provoking him, could he? He had said he needed her to stay away from him, yet he kept looking for her. Through her parents even.
What exactly did he think he was? Coming to pick her up when she was out with her friends, just because he wanted to?
It was completely justified that she teased him a little.
His hand just brushed her hip tentatively and she quickly entered her apartment, walking out of his reach. In the kitchenette she filled the electric kettle with water, ignoring him as he entered her apartment behind her. She heard the zipper lowering and the sound of fabric moving around; he was taking of his windbreaker. Amy busied herself, grabbing two mugs from the cabinet and her selection of tea, which still didn't contain his preferred chamomile.
"Is Earl Grey alright, or would you rather have - -" she fell silent as she looked at him.
He was wearing the blue Batman t-shirt she had worn when she spent the night on his couch. She flushed as the heat coursed through her when she was immediately flashed back to the intensity of their first kiss in his bedroom, when he had grabbed that very same t-shirt for her to sleep in.
He raised an eyebrow at her.
"Or would I rather have?" he repeated questioningly, appearing nonplussed.
Amy swallowed quickly. "Uhm, something else?" she finished quietly.
"Earl Grey is fine," he answered, taking a seat on the couch.
Amy grabbed the two mugs and moved over to him. He was watching her walk, and she felt the tingles go up her spine as she noticed his eyes on her breasts as they bounced slightly with each step she took.
She sat next to him, putting both their mugs on the coffee table in front of them.
"So," Amy said, giving him a semi-innocent look. "If I can't improve my grade with a mediocre blowjob, what is it you expect me to do then, professor?"
He was silent for a beat.
"I'm not here to talk about your grade, Amy," he said, not acknowledging her attempts at flirting at all. "I thought you wanted to talk about the contact I've had with your father."
Amy just raised her eyebrows at him.
He grabbed his mug from the coffee table at took a careful sip. "I must say I'm surprised by your reaction," he stated, "you saw the two of us talking at the funeral, did you not? You never bothered to ask me what we talked about, and now you're angry at me because I didn't breach the subject myself?"
He made it sound like she was the one in the wrong here.
Amy huffed. She tried to think of a witty response, but the wine made her thoughts hazy.
She didn't know how to express her thoughts; she felt left out, and it was just plain weird to think about the fact that her father had been in contact with him and she knew nothing of it. But he made a valid point; she hadn't asked about their conversation that day.
Why hadn't she?
He had distracted her with his heated words and skilled fingers at his bathroom sink, she realised.
"I didn't mean to leave you in the dark about this," he started when she was silent, "but truthfully I didn't think it was my place to share any details about your father's situation at work with you. But since he's told you now, I guess I can. I helped him out with a contract. It wasn't such a big deal, really."
Amy didn't correct his assumption that she knew everything about this 'situation'.
"Wasn't it?" she just asked, hoping he'd be more forthcoming in the details.
He took another sip of his tea. "I've been a notary public for some time now, going over contracts is a hobby of mine," he shrugged.
A strange hobby to have, Amy mused.
"I'm just glad I was able to help him out," he continued, "if he had signed the original contract he would have ended up in an awful situation, in my opinion. His superiors should be reprimanded for trying to make their employees sign such contracts. Will you tell him I strongly advise him to press charges?"
Amy felt her heart palpitate. He made it sound like a small favour, but he had obviously done a great deal for her father, that much was sure. And it didn't sound like it was over yet. And while she still didn't know what had actually happened, it made her feel nervous all the same.
Her hands were clammy as she mentally prepared herself to say what she was about to say.
"You can tell him yourself when we have dinner with them," she said, trying to sound casual, but her voice was wobbly.
Doctor Cooper stared at her. Amy avoided his eyes and hastily took a big gulp of tea, burning her throat in the process. She coughed.
"I'm sorry?" he asked.
Amy wished she wouldn't blush this much. "My ehm... my mother invited you to dinner," she murmured, "invited us to dinner, actually."
Doctor Cooper just blinked.
Amy stood up from the couch and walked to the kitchen in a hurry, away from the awkward situation.
"I'll call her to say you're thankful, but decline her offer. It's no big deal," she said with her back to him, running a rag over her kitchen counter to keep her hands and mind occupied.
"I'm not declining anything," his voice came from close behind her, and Amy stilled.
She turned around and looked at him sceptically.
"What?"
He shrugged. "I'm not declining her dinner invitation," he repeated, "I reckon I should be thankful that she's willing to give me chance to rectify her earlier opinion of me. It would be most unwise to decline, don't you think?"
Amy blinked at him. "I guess?" she said, confused by his response.
He was closing in on her rapidly. Amy took a step back and hit the counter behind her.
"I've been informed by multiple people in my social circle that it would be most beneficial if your parents liked me," he said softly, and caged her in against the counter, his hands on either side of her.
"Beneficial?" Amy repeated.
His eyes roamed over her face, drinking her in. He cupped her chin almost gently and pressed his lips to hers.
An electric shock went through her. He pulled back before she could respond to his kiss however.
"Yes, beneficial," he murmured. "I have big plans with their daughter, you see."
To be continued
A/N: Thank you so much for sticking with me. The story is coming to an end, and it's been quite a struggle to wrap it all up.
I'm unable to fully express my gratitude for your continued support; it's your responses that keep me going. I'm always happy to read your reviews.
Please stay safe in this strange time we're all living in now.
