Chapter 51 : One way

They didn't know where Morgan and Alex had bought the food but all was delicious. They didn't know what to choose. There were too many things! They filled their plates with different types and food and went to sit at a table. From here, they could enjoy the whole place and saw their friends and colleagues spending a good time. The best way to come to closure with this place.

"Hi Claire, hi Dr. Melendez."

"Shaun! So glad you're here!" Claire had troubles to talk because her mouth was full of food.

"Shaun, you do know you can call me Neil, now?"

"OK, Neil." He seemed excited to call him like this for the first time. Claire and Neil exchanged a conniving look and smiled.

"I wanted to present you Vera." A woman behind Shaun waved at them. "She's my girlfriend."

"Nice to finally meet you. Shaun told us about you! Feel free to join us to eat!"

Shaun looked at Vera who nodded. "Ok". They went to take some food and came back with their plates full. Vera sat next to Claire, Shaun just next to her.

"So you're Claire! Shaun can't stop talking about you! He told me you are his best friend. And you're Neil, Shaun's former attending."

This Vera seemed very pleasant. She took time to listen to Shaun's work stories. Claire appreciated her more and more. "And you're the Vera he saved from a falling building!"

"That's me, right next to you!"

"My husband has been injured in the same earthquake."

"Shaun told me you had spent a lot of time in hospital. We must have been in physiotherapy at the same time! Lost one of my legs at the time. Old, bad memory. For you, it's the same, I imagine?"

"Not the best one, indeed." Neil let out a laugh. "But things are better now, fortunately! What about you?"

Neil and Vera shared their experiences during and after the earthquake, how they overcame their fears and the obstacles while Claire was talking with Shaun about the future. All of a sudden, Vera stood from her chair. "If you excuse me, I'm gonna look for some desserts! I'll take back some for you. Be back in a few minutes!"

Claire waited some moments before Vera disappeared in the crowd and turned to Shaun. "She's a really nice girl, Shaun. She seems to really like you and she cares about who you are… Are you happy?"

"I am…" He kept his eyes in the space before turning to his friends, twisting his hands. Claire, is it normal if I feel different when Vera is next to me? "

Claire let out a laugh. "What do you want to say by different?" She glared at Neil who smiled at her. He had heard what Shaun had just said.

"My hands are moist, my heartbeat races every time she's around… I may be sick."

"Shaun, you're in love…"

"Ah. Interesting."

Claire laughed at Shaun's reaction. He was cute when he didn't understand what was happening. And processed the information. "I really like her. You seem so fine when she's here. You're gonna be ok, Shaun. Vera is the good one. Just trust what you heart is telling you."

"But my heart doesn't speak." Claire gave him big eyes. "Ah… Ok you were telling metaphorically."

She nodded. Vera came back with two plates full of little cakes for the four of them. They kept talking about Vera's job- she was working at the public library – Raleigh and food. Vera was fond of cooking like Neil. Claire winked at Shaun. "We're in very good hands!"

After Shaun left, they ended to eat. Morgan was running all over the place, preparing only God knew what.

"What would you think about escaping this craziness and just be the two of us in a quiet place?"

"I'd love this." She took his hand and they went out of the room before anyone could see them. "What do we do now?" Claire seemed as enthusiastic as a teenage girl who had run away from her parents's on prom night.

"Indeed, there's something I've always wanted to do but I never dare to…"

He seemed mysterious. And hot. And attractive. "What are you proposing, Dr. Melendez?"

"Just follow me."

He pressed her hand in his and pulled her in Bonaventure corridors. He knew them by heart. It was night. It was calm. It was sluggish. Patients were sleeping, nurses were completing the files. They sneaked out in the corridors like two robbers hiding from people. He led her to his old office. He still had an old key he didn't give back to the HR.

"Your old office? I'm curious."

He put his fingers over her lips for her to remain quiet. He opened the door and they entered quickly. She giggled as the door closed.

"Why are we here?" She bit her lower lip.

"I've always had a dream when I was working here…"

"Which is?" She asked despite having her little idea about it.

"I've always dreamt about making love on this balcony…"

She looked at him, naughtily. "I won't lie… I may have had the same dream… Especially from the moment you booted me out of your team on this precise balcony... You were so sexy in this white shirt… Like tonight. And we're lucky… The weather is mild tonight…"

She led him to the balcony and unzipped her dress. "Claire, you're really a woman full of surprises."

He kissed her deeply, passionately. It felt good. She answered by making the kiss more intense. She pushed his jacket from his shoulder and made it fall on the ground. Then she unbuttoned his shirt to touch his chest. He loved feeling her cold hands over his torso. He kissed her strongly. She jumped in his arms and wrapped her leg around his waist. He pushed her against the wall. She smiled at him. She let out a moan as they both reach orgasm. As time passed, they were becoming better at this, finding new ways to satisfy the other. In fact, tonight, it happened several times. The fact that they were never satiate with the other allowed them to reach new territories. And many still remained unexplored. She bit her lip as he pushed one time harder. She pressed her arms around his neck to feel him more in her. She loved this sensation.

She nestled her head in his neck as he kept satisfying her. Tonight, he wanted to please her. He wanted to show her she was the only one that mattered. She moaned again and again. It was good, really good. She pressed him harder in her arms, closed her fists. She finally kissed him. Giving him all her rage, her passion, her love.

He dropped her on the ground as they were done. She put her head on his chest. He kissed her hair. Not a word. They didn't need that kind of things. They were over words. They picked their clothes on the ground and got dressed. He helped her to zip her dress while she did his tie knot. She took some moments in the small bathroom of the office to make her hair well.

"Time to go back to the ballroom."

"Thank you for this little, exciting break." Claire sent him a kiss, finishing her sentence.

As they walked closer to the elevator, they saw some nurses waiting for it. "I think we're gonna take the stairs. It'll be unconvenient to be caught now."

Neil nodded in agreement and in less than one minute, they had vanished in the stairwell. They got off the stairs, not too quickly, Claire had high heels and at level 2, Neil stopped. He bent to her and kissed her softly. She let him lead her, she loved when he was taking things in charge. He finally put his forehead over her.

"As a symbolic way."

She looked at him, puzzled. "Don't tell me, you don't remember? It was at this precise place…"

"You went on one of my roughest days and put your hand over my shoulder. The first day I allowed myself to cry over my mother's death…"

"The day that changed everything…The day I allowed myself to be closer to you…"

"A perfect moment in one of my darkest place." She kissed him back and pressed him in her tiny arms.

"The moment when I unconsciously knew you were a special person in my heart… I had never run after one of my residents before. In fact, I had never run after a person before you…"

They remained there for a while because this place had shaped their relationship. At this precise time, they had decided to be friends. At this precise moment, they had decided to go against the hospital rules. It was also the moment she started to call him "Neil" for the first time and but only when they saw outside of the hospital. It would have been too weird to call him by his first name inside Bonaventure, in front of the other residents. The moment they were dating without ever knowing it. Calling them "platonic friends".

They finally got off the final stairs which separated them from the ballroom. When they came inside, it was as if nothing had changed. People were laughing, drinking and eating. Morgan was running all over the place and Alex was asking to everyone if they were OK.

They entered the room the most natural they could and returned to the table they were seated at before. Claire nudged Neil and showed him Vera dancing a slow with Shaun in one of the corner of the dancefloor. He was uncertain, he was stressed but he was doing it. And for Claire it meant the world that her friend could do such a thing when she knew he disliked being touched.

"My little baby brother is growing up."

Neil came closer, just behind her and wrapped his arms around her. He kissed her in the neck, she shivered. "You have taught him well."

They remained a while like this watching them dancing. Moving themselves to the rhythm of the song.

"Always so in love, lovebirds."

"Greta!" Claire let go of Neil's arms to go and hug Mrs. Weeks.

"Nice to see you here, Greta. You look great!"

"You too, Neil ! In fact, look at how gorgeous you both are!"

It was good to see Greta here. "So glad you could come! We're gonna miss you so much! You promise to come and see us in Raleigh."

"Of course, sweetheart. I don't know North Carolina. I count on you to make me discover this country!"

"When we will know the place by ourselves. We're leaving in a place neither of us know but it's kind of exciting. And the day we find our house we promise there'll be a room just for you!"

Neil explained to her they had given up on finding a place to live from here. "We're renting an apartment close to the hospital and once we'll be there, we're gonna explore the area and find our haven of peace."

"But before we need to take our marks in our new hospital, our new position. A lot of challenges!"

"I'm not worried, sweetheart. I know you're gonna be well, like you Neil. And I'm sure you will find the perfect place for you two. As long as I have a place to sleep when I'll come and food, a lot of food, everything is OK."

They kept talking for hours sharing their memories and talking about the future. They hugged again before she came home. Her cab was waiting for her outside. They escorted her up to the car and waved at her until the car turned in the large avenue.

It was already midnight and guests were leaving, greeting Neil and Claire for their new adventures. When they were (finally) alone in this big ballroom, they took time to analyze all they had lived this night, including the crazy moment on the balcony.

"I could never forget about this place, even more after tonight. " Neil was teasing Claire.

"It makes it even more special."

"Why is it so special?" Morgan surprised them.

"Just the place, it'll always have a special place in our hearts."

They remained again a while, talking and laughing. The place was a mess, so much to tidy. "We'll take care of it tomorrow with Alex. Go home and sleep, tomorrow is a big day."

They hugged before separating and promised to see soon. Claire and Neil got back to their apartment one last time. They knew this way by heart. It was weird to realize it was the last time they drove it. This night, they didn't sleep well. Shared between the fear of the unknown and the excitement of the novelty.

On the morning, the movers came and loaded all their boxes in a truck. All they had left was their 4 suitcases right in the middle in the living room. In a few hours, they will leave San Jose, heavy-hearted to leave their friends and freed from their old bad memories.

"Mrs. Browne-Melendez, I think it's time to go and grab our cab."

"Yeah, I think it's time."

They walked through the empty apartment one last time. They took some pictures of the place. Claire took a selfie of them. One last memory there. And they got out of the apartment. As he locked the door, Neil felt a pang of emotions surrounded him. End of an era. End of a whole chapter in his life. He turned to see Claire rummaging in her hand bag. And all of the sudden, he knew everything was gonna be alright. He let out a laugh.

"What?"

"Nothing, I was just thinking about you never finding something in your bag and it was funny."

"Ah ah ah. You can't understand, you're not a woman."

He let the key in the mail box. Alex will come and get it later to give it to the real estate agent. Claire was already helping the cab driver to put the suitcases in the trunk. A new chapter had started!