So, this chapter was devised and pretty much written in full by 'themintjournal'. All I did was some formatting and a little editing to change a few bits to fit in with the upcoming story that is already planned out. All done with their permission. Please give them any credit due, they did an amazing job :-)
X
"Are you sure you okay with this?" Kevin asked Audrey while they waited for Jo and Matt in the hospital lobby.
"Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?" she asked innocently, knowing exactly what he was implying.
"C'mon, Aud. We're formally meeting Louise tonight. The girl Neil's been seeing for the past few months?" Kevin said sarcastically. "And you're fine?"
"I'm fine, now stop stirring" she warned "This is our annual Christmas dinner it just so happens to be a couple of extra people this year, that's all. Nothing to worry about" she said nonchalantly.
Tonight was the last night they were all available together before Christmas, despite it still being two weeks away. A combination of anti social shift work, family commitments and Jo going to Florida with Matt this year meant that they'd scheduled this in at the last minute.
It had originally clashed with an evening Neil had planned with Louise until he suggested that he could bring her along and none of them felt they could say no. Jo then invited Matt along as a further distraction and that set the stage for this evenings outing.
"What?" she continued after catching Kevins look of disbelief. "They've been seeing each other for some time now, it's only reasonable for us to meet her properly outside of work, right?" she asked.
Kevin didn't respond but scowled at her instead and Audrey let out a laugh at her friend's grimace. Both Jo and Kevin had always been big fans of the idea that Audrey and Neil would end up together, but whereas Jo had been the one doing all the teasing, Kevin had always taken it a bit more seriously despite him being the one actively encouraging Neil to start dating. Audrey wasn't aware of that titbit of information and he was hoping it would stay that way.
"Neil and I have been doing well as friends for a while now. If he's happy, then I'm happy for him," she said.
"Yeah, but doesn't it bother you at all, him being with someone else? Not even a little bit?"
Kevin's inquisition got her thinking. This was a subject she'd had avoiding taking about, even thinking about. Somewhere deep down, the thought of Neil being with someone else did have quite the sting but she had been trying to ignore it. Every time Louise would come up in a conversation she had purposely zoned out and never really pondered about it until right now when she was outright confronted with it.
"Aud?" Kevin asked, searching for her answer.
"I.. Uhmm.." she stuttered. As if on cue, Jo and Matt emerged from the elevator, half walking, half running towards them.
"Sorry, sorry you guys had to wait. My last patient decided to vomit all over me right before I left his room. I couldn't spent the evening smelling like that so I had to shower" she explained as they were all getting into Kevin's new car.
"Well, you wouldn't want 'barf-smelling' to be your first impression." Audrey joked, relieved to be free of Kevin's grilling. She was certain it would come up again, but she was glad that it was over for now.
X
Arriving at the bar, they found Neil and Louise already sat in a booth plenty big enough to fit them all in. Neil was a little apprehensive about this meeting and had regretted the suggestion almost as soon as it had left his mouth. Unfortunately, his friends then insisted on it and Louise had agreed it was time to meet the people Neil hung out with in his rare spare time.
They exchanged pleasantries as they took their seats and greeted each other with smiles, handshakes and the odd hug.
"Rough day?" Neil asked, trying to hide his uneasiness leading Jo into explaining why they were late.
"Sorry, were you guys waiting long?" Kevin asked.
"You guys are fine. Neil here was just telling me a few more tall tales about you guys." Louise said with a smile looking at Neil who tried not to squirm in his seat.
"All good things, I hope?" Audrey chimed in, eyeing Neil with raised eyebrows. He broke into a smile and nodded.
"All good things and nothing less," he answered with a little laugh.
"Well, it's great to officially meet you, Louise. I know we see each other in passing at the hospital, but it's nice to see you somewhere normal" Jo started.
Before Louise could even respond Kevin interrupted. "Perhaps we should order some food first before we get into all that? I'm starving," he suggested making everyone laugh.
The night continued smoothly and as they got to know Louise better as she was getting to know more about the group. Neil kept shooting glances at Audrey from across the table to see how she was reacting to all of this, but she was joining in the conversations and seemed to have no problem so he relaxed more as time passed.
The flow of the conversation was going great. They caught up on family news, Kevin's parents were still not in touch but he had sent them a card for Christmas this year with the encouragement of his new partner Ju-long. Neil updated them on Gabi and the trouble they'd had settling her into a new group home after her previous one had closed a few months ago. They teased Jo about meeting Matts parents next week which made him laugh out loud and even Audrey didn't escape. After their conversation the previous week, Jo had been pestering her to let her set up a dating profile for her. Something she declined again tonight arguing that she had only been joking at the time.
What nobody noticed while all this was going on, was when Neil and Louise were being attentive just to each other Audrey would look away. Eventually, there was a distinct part of the conversation that somehow ended up with Louise planting a quick peck on Neil's cheek and at that point, Audrey decided she needed a break.
"Next round is on me." Audrey declared as she got up to head to the bar.
"I'll help you with those," Neil offered, getting up to follow. "I just have to go to the restroom first."
X
As Audrey was waiting for their drinks to be prepared, a man approached looking a little unsteady on his feet.
"Hey there. You're way too pretty to be here alone." the stranger said, walking up a little too close for Audrey's liking and obviously not noticing the line of drinks the barman was currently putting out.
"Oh, no. I'm here with my friends," she responded, instinctively taking a step back to try and increase the distance between them. She glanced at the direction of their booth towards the back of the bar and the man followed her gaze. The remaining foursome were far too engaged in conversation to even look over and suddenly she felt a little vulnerable. She turned back to the bar and found the man looking back at her with a leering grin
"Seems like they're doing just fine on their own. Why don't you ditch them and come join me instead?" he asked taking a step closer and resting his hand on her arm.
"No thank you. I think I'm just going to get back to my table now," she said moving to pick up some drinks, trying to avoid further tension. She tried to politely free herself from his grip, but he held onto her even more.
"Oh c'mon, babe. You know you want to," he said, inching close enough that Audrey could smell the alcohol on his breath.
Looking around again, she hoped to see them looking back, or Neil returning from the restroom but no. The bar staff were busy serving other customers and the whole place was too loud for anyone to even notice the situation she was in. She had never been a shrinking violet and could easily hold her own in most situations, but this guy was just too strong and had a vice like grip on her arm.
Walking back out into the crowd, Neil headed to the bar as promised to help Audrey take the drinks back to the table. As he got closer, the first thing he noticed was a stranger with his hand firmly gripping Audrey's forearm. He saw her trying to pull back against him with no success and the next thing he felt was his blood starting to boil.
"Audrey, everything okay here?" he said with authority as he stepped up next to her. He was doing his very best to keep his composure and was glad to see the guy let go of her arm.
"Who are you? The boyfriend?" the stranger sneered looking down on Neil. He was at least a head taller than him and was clearly used to using his size to intimidate people.
Neil positioned himself in between him and Audrey. "It doesn't matter who I am, the lady is clearly not interested."
"Oh yeah? And what are you gonna do about it?" he challenged, taking a step forward.
Neil could feel his temper rising into his chest and the sound of his heartbeat echoing in his ears as instinct began to kick in. He could feel Audrey behind him; one arm linking with his and the other hand on his shoulder trying to pull him away.
"Neil don't, just step away. Let's just go back to the booth" she said as quietly as she could, not wanting to cause a scene.
Neil looked up at the drunk, "We don't want trouble here, I think it's best you leave her alone." he said as both he and Audrey gathered their drinks and turned to leave.
"Whatever. She's being a bitch anyway" the stranger muttered.
Hearing that made Neil's head snap around as he turned on his heel to unleash a tirade on the drunken letch but he never got that far. The stranger lashed out and landed a clean punch on the side of Neil's head, cutting him by his eyebrow and almost knocking him to the floor. It sent the drinks he was holding crashing to the ground with glasses breaking around their feet.
Regaining his balance, Neil took a step forward and landed a perfect hook into the strangers jaw knocking him to the ground. With a look of shock on his face, the guy scrambled to his feet, turned tail and walked quickly from the bar out into the street, disappearing into the night. He clearly wasn't used to people standing up to him and thankfully, didn't know how to react.
The show was over even before most people in the bar even realized what was going on. The rest of their party however, had witnessed the final altercation and swiftly made their way over to find Neil with a bloody cut on his eyebrow and bruised knuckles on his right hand. The perpetrator was long gone and thinking quickly, Jo took charge of the situation.
"Audrey, take Neil out there to cool down." she ordered them, gesturing to an empty table in the small outdoor seating area. Jo and Matt started to attended to the smashed glasses on the bar and the floor which had been scattered when fists began to fly. Kevin began talking to the bar staff, to try and find out what happened.
Audrey grabbed Neil by his undamaged hand and led him out to the empty patio, an action that didn't go unnoticed by Louise as she followed along behind them.
"Stay here, I'll be right back," Audrey told Neil sternly as she went back inside to find some first aid supplies. He sat on the edge of a free table and looked up as Louise came to him.
"Are you okay? What on earth happened in there?" she asked with concern as she cupped his face to try and take a closer look at his injuries.
"I'm fine." he snapped, shaking his head and batting at her hands. It sounded like he still needed a bit of time to cool off so she just let it slide and stood there in silence with her hands resting on his thighs.
Audrey burst back out through the door, breaking the silence and both Neil and Louise looked around with very different expressions on their faces.
"Louise, would you mind giving us a minute?" Audrey said as she approached. "I need to talk to him".
She wanted to protest, but what for? She was worried that if she opened her mouth, her current frustrations and obvious jealousy would come out so she nodded mutely and stepped back, turning to go inside.
"We'll just be a few minutes, I'll come inside in a bit," Neil assured her. Louise sighed knowing there was nothing else for her to do but leave them to talk.
They both watched the door close as Louise walked back inside. Neil was still leaning on the table and Audrey walked up between his knees, dropping the first-aid kit and the small ice pack she was carrying a bit harder than was necessary.
"Aud, are you..."
"You didn't have to do that." Audrey interjected before Neil could even finish his sentence. Taken by surprise that Audrey seemed to be mad, he just sat there with his mouth agape.
"Why did you have to piss that guy off even more? Didn't you see how much bigger he was than you?" Audrey continued aggressively.
"Aud, he was clearly harassing you. I was just trying to get help." Neil answered finally finding his tongue.
"I could've walked out of that situation just fine without turning it turning violent!" Audrey answered back.
"I wasn't just going to let him talk to you like that, Aud." he said, his own voice rising.
"Why not? Why do you always do that? You don't have to come to my rescue like some superhero. You're not my boyfriend. You think I can't take care of myself?"
"Because I..." Neil stuttered, trying to find the right words. "You mean a lot to me, Audrey!"
At this point, both of them were yelling at each other and heads were beginning to turn at other tables.
"As a friend or otherwise, you mean a lot to me. I didn't like seeing you in that situation" he said in a quieter tone. Audrey let out a breath not knowing how to answer. The initial anger faded from her face and she gave him a look he couldn't quite put his finger on. Without saying anything more, she turned to pick up the first-aid kit she had brought and started tending to the cut on Neil's face.
"It's not that deep. You won't need stitches, just don't ask Kevin for a second opinion." Audrey said plainly. Not having anything further to say, Neil just let her get to work. He relished at the warmth of her touch as a cool December breeze blew around them. Neil watched her as she focused on cleaning the wound in a comfortable silence. He briefly thought he'd gladly take a punch in the face if it meant being this close to her.
After clearing up and dressing his wound, she didn't step back right away but looked at him directly in the eyes instead.
"You could've gotten seriously hurt back there, you know" she said, breaking the silence. There was no more anger in her eyes, just concern.
"Don't worry, I'm tougher than I look. I was young and stupid once, got in my fair share of scrapes" he said jokingly, in an attempt to lessen the tension. Audrey smiled at him as she put her hands on the sides of his face.
"Thank you for being there for me" she whispered as she leaned in pecking him on the cheek. It was that moment Neil realized he'd practically do just about anything if it was Audrey's safety and happiness on the line.
"Anytime" he whispered back, flinching as she cracked the ice pack and held it on his bruised knuckles
"Also, these are the million-dollar hands of a future cardiothoracic surgeon. You should really be taking care of them and not punching drunken idiots in bars." she joked.
"Chief of Surgery" he said with a smile.
"No chance, that one's mine" Audrey replied and they both laughed, forgotten all the yelling from just a few moments ago.
They were both quite oblivious the fact that they were being watched. Louise had found herself a seat by the window and had seen the whole interaction. She has seen everything from the screaming match, to the wound dressing and even down to the kiss on the cheek and now she was watching Audrey hold his hand a lot longer than was necessary.
Kevin and Jo had been busy inside making things right and sorting the bill for dinner, meaning one less thing for them to worry about. "You guys good? C'mon, let's get out of here." Jo called from the door, eager to leave.
"Any sign of the other guy?" Audrey asked.
"He's long gone" Kevin confirmed. "Coast is clear. Bar staff confirmed he's a regular trouble maker so doubt we'll hear anything."
"Ready to go? Aud, we'll go with Kev and Neil, you drive Louise back home?" asked Jo, confirming arrangements, trying to get their full attention.
On hearing her name, Neil head spun around to see Louise looking downcast sat alone at a table inside. She looked lost in thought. He hopped up from the table and headed straight inside.
"Ready to go home?" Neil asked, breaking her out of her trance. She didn't reply but just looked up with a thin lipped smile. She stood to leave and didn't take the hand he offered as they headed to his car.
X
Pulling up to the kerb outside Louise's apartment, Neil parked, turned off the engine and moved to unbuckle his seatbelt before feeling her hand on his.
"Not tonight" she said trying not to sound as sad as she felt. "Sorry."
"Sure" he said. "I'm sorry tonight was so..."
"It's okay" she interrupted
"It's not okay" he said, after letting out a deep breath. "I am sorry" he said looking her straight in the eye.
"I know you are" she replied. "I'll see you at work" she said before getting out of the car and walking up the steps to her front door. She didn't even kiss him goodnight.
As soon as Louise was safely inside, Neil started the engine and headed home. He was pulling into his usual parking spot when his cell buzzed. Unlocking the screen, he smiled when he saw it was a text from Audrey.
'Make sure to put ice on those bruises and keep that cut clean to avoid infection. Doctor's orders.'
'Yes Dr Lim' he text back before heading inside to try and sleep without replaying the evenings events too much.