"Woah woah woah, wait a second. You're a surgeon? For real?" Lexie almost choked on her beef steak. More than a half of her wine bottle disappeared, and she was a lot more relaxed than at the beginning of the evening. She was smiling and laughing a lot more too. And that was something that a handsome man in front of her clearly enjoyed seeing.

"No, Lexie, I'm an imaginary one. Did you notice how all of these people are looking at you?" Lexie narrowed her eyes and looked around, trying to figure out what was he implying. "Like you escaped a loony bin? It's because all of this time, you've been just talking to an empty chair."

Mark couldn't remember the last time he met a woman who made him comfortable enough to make that kind of jokes without feeling bad. And her humor was just one of many things about her that amazed him.

Playfully rolling her eyes, her hand instinctively headed towards his, like she actually believed him for a second. His smile faded when he felt her warm and soft fingers caressing his knuckles. Secretly praying for them to never pull back, but also for her to not notice a half fallen jaw grimace on his face, Mark bluntly stared at her and tried his best to memorize the way her skin felt against his. He felt his skin grow hotter within every second.

"You feel pretty real to me." Lexie whispered and then slowly took her hand away from his, realizing how her action made the surrounding air suddenly felt a lot heavier. "And anyway, that's not what I meant. I'm just surprised. And delighted. I'm a surgical resident myself. Forth year." she proudly exclaimed, and tangled her fingers in front of her, preventing them to again reach for the places they are not suppose to.

"Wow. I definitely didn't see that coming. Impressive." His face got lighten up in a smile again at that discovery.

"So, what is your specialty?"

"Plastics... And I'm also an ENT." he added, not wanting to leave anything that could amaze her even more.

"Well, that's impressive..." she declared, emphasizing the word impressive. Her eyes were glowing in amazement. "I haven't actually chosen anything yet. I mean, for the last couple of months I'm slightly leaning towards the neuro, but I don't know. When did you start to feel like plastics is just right for you?"

"I honestly don't know." Mark admitted, "What I do know is that now... I can't imagine myself doing anything else."

"I wish for that. That way you feel... doing something you know is just right for you." she said dreamily.

"Come on, don't worry... You gonna find yourself too." he comforted her, this time his hand reaching for her and landing on her shoulder. She shivered a little, clearly surprised by his movement. His hand slowly traced over her bare skin, from her shoulder over her upper arm before he pulled away and commented, "And thank you for reacting like that. People don't usually get all wow when they hear I'm a plastic surgeon. The first thing they always think about is..."

"Boob jobs?" Lexie raised her eyebrows in question.

"Yeah, boob jobs." Mark laughed at her let's pretend it wasn't so blunt assumption. "But they obviously don't know that our planet is actually full of women who would pay 7,000 dollars for me just to get them one."

"It's not bad. I wouldn't pay that much. Even for you." she teased him, as she took another sip of wine, looking at him from under lashes.

"And how much would you pay?" He purposely lowered his tone a little. "For me."

"I will have to think about it." Lexie answered laughing, and then added, "For now, I think we should stop talking about boob jobs."

"You started it." Mark raised his hands in defense.

"Me? I think you had enough of that scotch." She burst into laughter again. A few strands of her brown hair fell over her face. "Why would I, between the two of us, start the conversation about boobs?"

"I think you had enough of that wine because you clearly don't remember what you said just a minute ago." he replied, as his fingers grabbed the stem of her glass and pulled it a little towards him and away from her. She immediately grabbed the glass to pull it back, softly brushing her fingers against his.

Shyly ducking her head and pushing the strands of hair that previously fell behind her ear, Lexie quietly admitted, "I'm sorry. My inner filter is kind of non-existing even when I'm not buzzed."

"I don't mind. I like when people say exactly what's on their mind. No hidden motives or anything…" Hidden motives... Is it possible for a man to have a beautiful, sexy and humorous woman in front of him and not have a hidden motive? They talked, they laughed, and for him, it was just getting harder and harder to accept that all of that is gonna end soon. And he hoped she felt the same.

"But Mark, you say that now..." Her words brought him back from the same trans she put him in. "I don't know will you think the same at the end of the night." Lexie's eyes widened at the realization of what she just said. "Evening. At the end of the evening. You see, I just did it... I say things, before actually thinking about them and then... then sometimes people come to the wrong conclusion." Lexie started rambling and then gestured her hand towards him. "Like you probably just did..."

"Like I said, no hidden motives." Mark smirked leaning slightly towards her face.

"Like I said, wrong conclusion." Lexie's cheeks flushed as an actual thought of them spending the whole night together popped up in her mind.

He was widely smiling as his suggestive words left his mouth. "If you say so... but hey, I would be flattered if you indeed want to..."

"Do not. finish. that. sentence." She playfully pointed towards his face as she emphasized every word. "This is... this is just a dinner." Lexie added, lowering her voice. "Christmas dinner, but still..."

She didn't know where that came from. It's not only that Mark turned this night from terrible to amazing, but he was funny, he was sweet, he was charming, he was confident in the way that made her like him more than it should... Let's not forget how incredibly attractive he was. Like... insanely. In the way that his eyes on her were literally causing her to melt. But she didn't know him. Not really. For God's sake, she met him an hour ago. And she wasn't one-night stand kind of girl. So there is no way that she would get out of this without getting hurt if she let this go any further than a dinner.

And not to mention that she was still kind of involved with someone else. Someone who bailed on her on the most special night of the year... so that fact probably doesn't count anymore.

"Why?" Mark's voice returned her to earth.

"Why what?" she asked, hoping that he wasn't referring to suggestion about them spending the whole night together.

"Why you're making so big deal out of this day?"

"Because... no matter how hard life is at the moment, you can always use this one day... to just be happy, unconditionally, no matter what you're going through or how bad you were feeling lately, you know?" Her lips curved into a warm smile. Oh God, why she had to smile like that? Why she had to make him feel like they had known each other for years? Why was she everything that a man like him should be afraid to want?

"I understand, I decided to come here for similar reason. Because I didn't want this night to be like any other." That was the truth. But he didn't have the intention to end up here. He didn't plan to end up with someone.

"Exactly. It shouldn't be like any other night."

Lexie inhaled and shook her head like she was trying to chase some thoughts away. Mark narrowed his eyes at her suddenly changed mood. Her smile faded away, and Mark could see her eyes glowing, but this time it was different from every other time that night. "Christmas was pretty important to my mom." she added quietly. "That's why I wanted to be perfect. This one especially… It's the first one without her."

Lexie felt tears begin to sting her eyes and she tried to blink them away. "I'm sorry. I just... I need to use the restroom."

For the first time that night, no screw that… for the first time in years, Mark didn't know what to say to a woman. What was he supposed to say? He was just staring at her, as her hand went up to wipe the tear from her cheek.

Lexie stood up and fixed her dress in a few quick motions, when he tried to say something...

"Lexie..."

"I'm sorry, I just need a minute." she mumbled, trying not to look at him.

"Lexie." Mark tried again. He wanted to get up and follow her, but he was frozen in the place. He couldn't think, let alone move as he watched her walking away from the table.

It had been a minute, or maybe even less than that, but he felt like he was sitting there by himself for hours. He felt a sick feeling in his stomach, guilt and regret for not being able to say anything, or do anything. He thought about following her and checking if she's alright. But he just couldn't bring himself to do that... He wasn't the man who does that. He wasn't the man who cared about other people's feelings. But he cared. He wanted to know if she's okay.

The moment he finally decided to swallow his pride and go check on her, some kind of vibration distracted him. He reached into his pocket, but it wasn't his phone.

It was hers. On the table, right next to her glass, her phone was buzzing. He hated himself for not hesitating for even a second before reaching for it, but he just couldn't help it. Hoping that it was only some family member wanting to wish her a Merry Christmas and not anyone that could ruin their evening, Mark pulled her phone towards him to see who was calling.

Rolling his eyes and sighing heavily, Mark slowly leaned back in his chair. Should he tell her whose name he read… yeah, probably. Did he want to… absolutely not.


Author's Note - Hope you enjoyed it... and thank you all for reading. Chapter 3 is coming soon...