She actively avoided him for the next couple of weeks while Jessica was in town. She developed a sixth sense for him and would always have an excuse on hand to leave the room if he appeared. She was a little disappointed in herself that she was feeling this way and figured that avoiding him would take away some of the sting.
Unfortunately, her actions did not go unnoticed by the other residents and even some of the first years commented on her peculiar behaviour. They had deduced that Audrey plainly didn't like Neil and she didn't discourage that sentiment among them. It was better than the alternative, gossip generating option.
Eventually, her luck ran out and he cornered her as she was leaving the ladies locker room at the end of her shift. Bag and jacket in hand, she tried to make her excuses but he was having none of it.
"What's going on Aud?" he asked her, following her to the elevator.
She pressed the button, willing it to hurry up so she could excuse herself.
"Nothing is wrong, I'm just running late" she replied in a non committal tone.
"That's not it" he replied. "The is more to it than that."
"I can't do this right now" she said as the doors pinged open. She breathed a sign of relief and got in, only for him to follow her, not happy with her evasive answer.
"Yes, we do this right now please. I'm hearing rumours about myself from the nursing staff that we've fallen out and it's not okay."
"Fine" she sighed. There was nobody in the elevator car with them so she blurted "I saw you and Jessica in Hellyer Park a couple of weeks ago. I avoided you guys on purpose. I felt...I don't know how I felt but I didn't like it. Sorry, I know I've got no right to..."
"It's ok, I get it" he said softly. He was about to continue but they had just arrived on the ground floor and he didn't want to cause a scene as the elevator doors opened.
"How can we fix this? We could be great friends if we could work this out. I know we could" Neil continued as they walked towards the front doors.
"I don't know, give it some time. We'll figure it out I'm sure" she replied with a small smile. "Best stop this conversation here though, Kash is driving me today, he'll be outside already."
"Can I meet him?" Neil asked unexpectedly. "Fairs fair, you know Jessica" he shrugged when she looked at him quite confused.
"I suppose" she replied. "Lets keep the chatter work based though, okay. I don't want the third degree on the car ride home."
"Sure" Neil smiled as they exited the main doors. Kashal was waiting leaning up against the hood of his car. He stood as they approached and the first thing Neil noticed was that he was a good head in height above him. He was dressed in a sharp suit, shiny shoes and had a well maintained beard.
He gave a small smile as Audrey approached but did not stop to kiss her. He just held out his hand and Neil shook it firmly.
"Nice to meet you Kashal" he started. "We were just comparing some notes on the way out, Audrey is quite the font of knowledge" he said with a smile.
"Nice to meet you too, Dr..."
"Melendez" Audrey jumped in. "This is Dr Melendez, one of my fellow second year residents."
"Neil" he confirmed. "Any plans for the weekend?" he asked politely.
"I've got a lot of work on" Kashal said. "But Audrey is off to see a movie tomorrow night. Some comic book thing as usual."
Neil looked with raised eyebrows.
"The new Transformers movie is out. Haven't had a chance to go yet" she confirmed.
"Nice, enjoy" Neil said smiling.
Kashal let out a laugh. Neil noticed that Audrey just closed her eyes as if she was hoping the ground would open and swallow her up.
"She's going by herself" he laughed. "Her friends aren't interested in that sort of stuff. "
"I'm sure you'll enjoy, movies aren't really for socialising anyway, are they? Can't talk in the dark, can you" Neil laughed, looking at Audrey who have a small smile.
"Well, it was nice to meet you" Kashal said effectively ending the conversation.
"You too," Neil replied. "Enjoy the movie" he said to Audrey. "See you in a couple of days."
They said their farewells, Audrey opened her door and got in while Kash walked around. Neil turned and headed back inside before they pulled away from the kerb. As much as he wanted to, he did not turn and look back.
X
Something was bothering him, it niggled at him for the rest of his shift. He saw some interesting patients, but nothing could quite distract him from the feeling he had after his meeting with Kashal.
By the time his shift finished the next afternoon, he thought he had figured it out so he showered and changed as quickly as he could once he was free to go. He grabbed a quick takeout from the diner just by the hospital and headed out to complete a task which he hoped would put his mind at rest.
He pulled into a parking lot and shoved his dinner down his throat before he went inside. They had learned in the early days of their residency how to eat fast without suffering the after effects and he smiled at himself.
He went inside, got himself a soda and sat down to wait. He watched crowds come and go but did not see what he came to see.
He waited... for over an hour, almost two.
Eventually, he saw her. She arrived at the movie theatre about five minutes before the feature was due to start. He had a brief moment of panic when he thought he might look like a stalker but figured it would now be a thousand times worse if she caught him leaving.
She joined the back of the short line to buy a ticket and he decided that now was the time.
He joined the queue behind her and casually asked "Fancy sitting together?"
Her head spun like a top to look at him and the initial reaction of shock faded into a confused smile.
"Sure, that would be nice" she replied. "Although, I'm not here to socialise, you know?" she smiled referring back to their conversation from the day before.
They purchased their tickets along with one or two items from the concession stand and went inside to claim their seats. The theatre was not crowded so they had their pick and sat in comfortable silence until the feature started.
The movie began with a bang. Neil glanced over at Audrey a few times and decided that the look on her face was one he'd quite happily look at again and again. She was totally enthralled by the action on screen and sat with a small smile on her face the entire time.
Over an hour in, Audrey looked over and saw Neil with his head back on the seat and his eyes closed. She stifled a laugh as she realised he had fallen asleep. He had just finished an extremely long shift at the hospital and she didn't have the heart to nudge him awake.
She pretended not to notice when the movie finale got louder and louder and he startled awake but just smiled quietly to herself.
"Did you enjoy that?" Audrey asked as they walked back towards the foyer.
"Erm, bits of it" Neil replied. "I've not seen the first one so not sure what was going on to be honest" he smiled as he held her jacket for her to put her arms in.
As they walked to the car, Audrey tried to compose the words to a question she needed answering.
As they got to her car, Neil leaned past and opened her door for her to get inside. She turned to face him.
"Why did you come tonight?" she asked looking confused.
He leaned on his forearm along the top of her door, his fingers stopping just millimetres from hers and took a deep breath in.
"I just thought you might want some company" he replied. "It's what friends do right?"
"But how did you know what theatre? What viewing to come to?"
He looked down at his feet and mumbled something she couldn't catch.
"Pardon?" she pushed, "I didn't get that."
He looked up, right into her eyes. "I didn't know, I guessed. I waited over an hour and would have waited until the last showing if I had too" he said quickly. "Sorry if that's weird" he said looking back to his feet.
"It's a little weird" she agreed. "But it's also the nicest thing anyone has done for me for a long time. Thank you." she smiled.
They just stood a moment, looking at each other with goofy little smiles on their faces until a nearby car store slamming made them jump.
"I'd best be heading back..." Audrey started.
"Sure," Neil replied, stepping back for her to close her door. "See you in a day or so."
He stood and watched as she pulled away before heading to his own car on the other side of the lot. Anyone walking past would have thought he was coming away from a successful first date, looking at the little smile on his face.
He got into his car, leaned back against the headrest and sighed. He had enjoyed the parts of the film he saw and had definitely enjoyed seeing Audrey. Maybe he could suggest this as a 'thing' when the moment presented itself.
X
He was back at St Bonaventure about 36 hours later to start his next shift. Dropping his bag on the bench in the locker room, he went to put the combination on his locker when he saw the door slightly ajar. He didn't keep valuables in there while he was away from there hospital so just figured he hadn't closed it properly last time he left.
He threw his bag into the bottom and as he went to hang up his jacket, he noticed a packet on the top shelf. Frowning to himself, he gently took it down and peered inside. His face broke into a large smile as he picked out a DVD copy of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.
There was no note or tag on it, but there was no doubt who had put it there. This friends thing was going to work out after all.