"Hey, Boone," she said.
"Hi," Boone replied.
"Lunch with Jack, right?" she asked cheerily.
"That's it," Boone replied, looking down the hall.
"Out of luck I'm afraid," she said.
Boone looked at her again. "What?" he asked.
"He's got stuck in some complex surgery," she replied, looking at her watch. "He's been in there hours. If you wanna wait though I was just about to take my break, I'll keep you company," she offered. "I'm guessing he won't be that much longer."
Hmm, no Jack. Well, Boone did come all the way down here, he guessed he could stick around a while. Hell, it's not like he had anything better to do with his day. "Yeah, okay," he replied.
"Cool," Maria said. "Follow me." She led him through to the doctor's lounge. "Take a seat," she said as she went over to her locker.
Boone sat down on the sofa and looked at his watch. Okay so he had nothing to do but he'd rather do nothing on schedule. He was used to doing things within a certain time frame. His life was all about dates and meetings and deadlines. Even on the island time mattered. There was a time of day when you were most likely to catch the boar, a time of day you could get more fish, there was the time in the evenings when everyone would seat down together to eat the main meal, when he and Jack would catch up on what they'd been doing. Now all Boone had to report was that they were showing 'I Love Lucy' reruns out of order.
"So, how's the job hunt going?" Maria asked as she sat down next to him with her sandwich.
Boone looked up at her, snapping out of his daydream. "Job hunt?" he asked.
"Yeah. Jack mentioned you were looking for a new career path," Maria replied. "You want some of this?" she asked, referring to her lunch.
"No, I'm good," Boone replied. Maria shrugged and tucked in. "So, Jack talks about that then?" Boone asked.
"Yeah, I guess," Maria replied vaguely.
"Did he sound pissed off?" Boone asked.
"Pissed off? Why would he be pissed off?" Maria asked, confused. "He just said that you were wanting to do something different now, which, more power to you, right?"
"Yeah," Boone replied, a little distant. Maybe Jack wasn't mad at him.
"So, what are you wanting to do?" she asked.
Boone looked at her. He kind of wished people would stop asking him that. "I don't know," he replied, hoping she'd drop it. No such luck.
"You don't have an inkling?" she asked.
Oh great, just the conversation Boone wanted to be having again. "No," he replied simply.
"So what did you do before?" she asked.
"I was the CEO of my mother's company," Boone replied.
Maria looked impressed. "CEO? At your age?"
"You heard the part where it was my mother's company, right?" Boone asked, raising his eyebrows.
"So? You still did it, that's pretty impressive," Maria replied.
"It is?" Boone asked. He'd never really gotten any credit for his job let alone thought about giving himself any. He knew, as did everyone else in the company, that he would never have gotten that job if he wasn't Sabrina Carlyle's only son and heir. But he did rise to the occasion and he did prove himself he guessed.
"Sure is," Maria replied. "So, what else?"
Boone looked at her, not getting it. "What else what?" he asked.
"What other jobs have you done?" she clarified.
"Nothing," Boone replied.
"You only ever had one job?" she asked. "Well no wonder you don't know what you wanna do. You gotta fail at a fair few things before you work out which is the right way."
That did make sense, Boone thought. But Boone didn't like failure. Carlyle's didn't fail.
"I was a lifeguard once," Boone said. "In college."
"Yeah?" Maria asked.
"Yeah," Boone replied. "I sucked at it though."
"Well there's one thing you failed at then. Getting closer," Maria said. God she was cheery. "So, helping people, that something you wanna do?"
"I guess. Doesn't everyone want to help people?" Boone asked.
"Guilty in my case. There's only so much dogsbody work you can do and being looked down on you can take if you don't really care about the patients," Maria replied. "But, no, there are a whole world of people that don't want to help anyone but themselves. So it's good you have that. I think that people should do something everyday that's completely selfless."
"Can you do something that's selfless? I mean really?" Boone asked.
"Probably not. I mean, I help someone else it gives me a buzzy feeling but I don't do it for the buzzy feeling, I do it to help them. I think," she said.
Wow, Maria was a really good person. Selfless acts, that was such a noble thing to do. Maria really wanted to help people in a way that Boone could never know about.
She smiled at him. "What'cha thinking?" she asked.
God that was a beautiful smile. And Boone wasn't exactly sure what happened next but at some point in the next few seconds he leaned forward and kissed her. Her lips where soft and seemed to instantly reciprocate. She had long hair that Boone could put his fingers in and she seemed to smell of sherbet for some reason. And what the hell was Boone doing? Yesterday he was telling Jack that he didn't trust his declarations of love and now he was kissing his hot work friend. Maria really was hot. And a good kisser. And why was Boone still kissing her?
He pulled away and looked at her, more than a little embarrassed and quite stuck for words. She just looked right back at him, apparently not entirely sure what to make of the situation herself.
"Oh God, shit, please don't tell Jack that happened. I'm sorry, I'm really sorry, that was stupid, please, please, please don't tell Jack," Boone pleaded. He was officially the biggest idiot ever. Not to mention a huge, huge hypocrite.
Maria smiled at him. "Do you think I'm stupid? Like I'm gonna tell Jack I made out with his boyfriend. He'd probably stab me to death with a scalpel. And that would probably take a really long time cos those blades are really small," she said.
"So you're not going to say anything?" Boone asked.
"No," Maria replied, shaking her head. "What would I say? 'Hey Jack, you know the love of your life? Well me and him made out in the doctor's lounge'. I don't think that would go down very well somehow."
Boone looked at her, intrigued. "Did he, erm... Did he tell you he loved me? Loves me?" he asked.
"He doesn't have to say it," Maria explained. "I hate those people that go around saying 'I love you' all the time. What's the point? It doesn't mean anything. Every time you use that word you just devalue it a little more. Love isn't something you say, it's something you show. It's in all the little moments."
Right, Boone thought. That made sense. Anyone can say 'I love you', which is why Boone had such an issue with being able to tell if people meant it or not. It was a stupid word that brought about so much anxiety but maybe there was a better system. Maybe you didn't have to listen to how they said it or when they said it or how much they said it. Maybe love was in other stuff, not in a stupid phrase.
"Like when he sits around and helps you find a job even when you're as uncooperative as hell. Or when he gives you a foot massage even though he's just done an eleven hour shift and you've been sat on your ass all day. Or when calls you up in the middle of the day just cos he was bored and his mind drifted and he wanted to say 'hi'. Or when he goes to five different stores on his way home from work cos he wanted to find the candy that you always talked about loving when you were a kid but couldn't find anymore," Boone said, getting the hang of it. And he had a million more examples to boot.
"Yeah, that's it," Maria said. "He sounds like he's a good boyfriend."
"He's the best boyfriend," Boone replied. "And I don't think that I show him in enough ways."
"Oh, you should hear the way he talks about you," Maria said. "I think he knows."
"Well, I'm not really willing to take the chance. I'm gonna make sure he knows," Boone insisted. He was going to stop being such a whiny brat and get on with his damn life. Jack showed him how much he loved him a hundred times a day and Boone was busy worrying about it that he missed all the signs. "And I'm sorry," he said, turning his attention back to Maria. "About the whole kissing you thing. I don't know why I did that."
"Don't worry, I promise not to tell," Maria said. "You just hold onto what you got there. Cos life doesn't throw you a whole lot of second chances so when something good happens you should always hold onto it with both hands."
"You're so together, you know that?" Boone commented. "How are you still single?"
"Who said I was single?" she asked coyly.
Boone looked at her. "You have a boyfriend?" he asked, images of heavyweights running through his head.
She smiled at him. "Cupcake?" she asked, offering one up to him.
Boone smiled back and nodded a little. "Sure," he replied.