Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters... I wish I did, though.
A/N: First of all, sorry for the lack of updates during the past few weeks. I'm a senior in school now - school and work kept me really busy. Apart from that, I had a major writer's block. I hope you're still reading this fic, and I promise that I'll update again soon.
Then I'd like to thank Kara for being such an awesome beta reader.Kara- Thank you so much for your help and all those useful suggestions. I really appreciate it!!! hug
Lots of love going to all my reviewers, britgirl2003, gezzy, PinkSparkle02, Cat & especially girlintheyankeeshat :)
Last time on THINGS WILL NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN :Oh boy, I haven't updated in a looong time... Doug calls Susan in the morning to make sure she arrives at work on time. Carol changed her shifts so that she doesn't have to work with Doug and Susan again. Carol and Susan meet at El station, but Carol ignores Susan....Hmm, I guess that was all.... Let's move on to chapter 12 now....
COFFEE TALK
"Well, if it isn't my favourite pediatrician..." Doug heard a familiar voice say as he stood at admit, flicking through some charts. Looking up, he glanced into the blazing eyes of an elegantly dressed, dark-haired woman. It was none other than his ex, Linda Farrell.
He hadn't heard from Linda in quite a while, and the sight of her caught more than a little off guard. "Linda! I haven't seen you in a while...You look great..."Doug said as he glanced at her. Like most of the women he'd been with, Linda was beautiful. Her chocolate brown eyes and dark, silky hair still managed to get him more than distracted. The tight black pinstripe pants along with her black blazer and high-heeled shoes caused more than one memory to come flooding back to his thoughts, her irresistability coming back to him in waves.
Linda smiled sweetly at him and moved a little closer. She ran her french-manicured hands down his chest. "Well...thank you, but so do you. Have you got any plans for tonight?"
Doug shook his head.
Linda grinned. She leaned over to him, placing her hands on his shoulders. "Well, you and me could have a little fun together, don't you think?"she whispered into his ear. "We could, say, start out with dinner?"she added.
Doug hestitated for some time. He knew he should say no, he knew his sleeping around already been causing enough problems in his life.
"We always had a great time together, " Linda whispered is a tone that beckonned a new wave of memories to emerge. Doug didn't reply.
"Yeah. You're right," he finally managed to say. At first, he was going to turn her down. But then again, he didn't have a reason to say no. After all, he was single. He could do whatever he wanted. His friendship with Carol was already screwed up, and apart from her, nobody else would care about this date anyway.
"I get off at seven tonight," he heard himself lightheartedly say.
"Great. I have a neuro convention to attend, but it should be over by then. I'll meet you here at seven. We can head straight to the restaurant," Linda suggested.
"Alright. We're all set then. See you at seven, Linda. I've got to get back, " he said as he pointed to a pile of charts that was waiting for him on the desk.
"I'm looking forward to it." Linda flicked him another flirty smile as she walked away.
Doug picked up a chart and tried to find his place as Susan walked up.
"Hey," she said and sat down on a chair next to him. Susan looked remarkably haggard. She was wearing a light blue blouse and dark pants which had almost the same color as the circles under her eyes. Even though she looked pale and tired, she was still beautiful.
"Susan." Doug put his pencil down. "You look like you need some coffee."
Susan chuckled and got up from the swivel chair she'd been sitting on. "Understatement of the year. I was about to go over to Magoos." She said almost invitingly.
"I'll come along if you don't mind?" Doug offered, ignoring the fact he already had taken a break some minutes before.
Susan smiled at him. "Not at all," she said lightly, happy to have the company.
"Have you heard about Carol changing her shifts to avoid working with us?" Susan asked after they had taken their seats at Doc Magoo's.
Doug sighed "I wish we could keep this out of the hospital, out of work, but...that isn't going to happen."
Susan nodded understandingly.
"I tried to call her this morning, but she wouldn't talk to me..." Doug continued. He sighed and listlessly flicked through the menu. He had read it a million times before, and probably eaten everything at least once or twice. "It's not like I can't understand her reaction... I can't really blame Carol for being mad at us, but then again, Carol and I broke up a long time ago. Apart from that, we could never be like we once were. And I'm pretty sure she's aware of that."
Before Susan could answer, a blonde waitress approached their table. She was balancing a small tray with two large cups of coffee.
"Thanks." Susan stated as she wrapped her hands around the warm cup.
"You're welcome." The waitress replied with a smile that spoke understanding to Susan.
"Ahhh. Caffeine at least," Susan said, taking a sip of the delicious smelling beverage. Doug smiled at her. After he had paid for their coffee the waitress trailed off. Susan brought back the orginial subject.
"I saw Carol at the El today...but she ignored me... she didn't even acknowledge I was calling her name. I'm going to call her after work, although I don't think that's going to change anything. After all, she more or less kicked me out of her apartment last night, and she has made it pretty obvious that she doesn't want to talk to me again anytime soon."She sighed as she leaned back on her seat, closing her eyes for a few seconds.
Doug put his cup down, and reached out for Susan's hand. "You and Carol have been friends for so long, it's rough right now, but I'm sure you two will work it out," Doug said, gently squeezing her hand. "There's nothing we can do about it anyway except give her some time, " he added.
Susan didn't reply. She just sat there, clutching Doug's hand, knowing that he was right, just like he had been right about Mark.
"What are we going to do about Mark?" Susan had asked Doug on the phone earlier today.
"Nothing. First of all, he was the one who walked away from us. Besides that, he's married and has no reason to react like this." Doug had replied.
And Susan knew that he was right. She had felt horrible for Mark, she hated hurting him. But then after Doug saying that...well, she realized she was a little angry at him.
The events of the last two days had brought Susan and Doug closer. She was beginning to realize how much she was leaning on him, confiding in him. He becoming closer by the day. Which she counted as a good thing, since no one else was talking to her.
For as long as she had known Doug, she couldn't really think of a time when she had had a serious conversation with him, excluding her birthday. She was quite surprised about that the way they were talking now.
"We'd better get back to work now...Our beloved Chief Resident could be in at any minute...And we don't want to make her angry, do we?" Doug said sarcastically after a little while with a grin.
"Yeah...right..." Susan's face lit up and she let out a small chuckle. Ouf of all the people, Doug was the one who always managed to make people smile. Susan counted that as a blessing at this point.
Susan let go of Doug's hand and stood up. "Thanks for the coffee, " she said with a smile.
"You're welcome," Doug replied as he followed her outside and towards the ER.
...TBC...
He he. I just had to bring Linda Farrell in. She's always been one of my favourite guest stars ;) New chapter is coming as soon as possible :)
I love reviews, just like everybody else does. So please do me a little favour and tell me what you think about this chapter... I'll appreciate that more than you know :)