The elevator doors opened and Lim saw Melendez step onto the elevator, trying his best not to smile at her, "Hello," he greeted her.
"Hello," she answered him back, and then, went back to staring straight ahead. She could hear shuffling next to her and she glanced out of the corner of her eye to find Melendez slowly scooting closer to her, Here we go, she thought. She looked over toward Melendez and he averted his eyes when she caught his gaze, but that didn't stop him from scooting closer to her, "Don't be stupid," Lim finally said.
"What? There's no cameras in here," Melendez said as he went to lean in for a kiss. Lim knew she shouldn't even attempt to reciprocate because whenever they started kissing, she wanted to do much more than a quick kiss with him, but his smile was getting to her. She smiled softly and went to lean in for a kiss when the elevator bell rang and Andrews walked onto the elevator, Really? Now of all times? Lim thought.
"Dr. Lim, Dr. Melendez," he greeted as he pushed a different button from the floor they were going to, "How was your respective weekends?"
Wonderful, they both thought simultaneously as they had barely left Melendez's apartment all weekend, but they couldn't tell Andrews that, "Good. Checked out some bikes," Lim said, glancing over at Melendez before looking at Andrews.
"Brushed up on some reading," said Melendez, not taking his eyes off of Lim the entire time. Lim didn't fail to notice.
"Excellent," said Andrews.
Good. Andrews had bought the lie, though it wasn't a complete lie, as Lim had browsed some new Ducatis on the internet and Melendez had done some reading, even if it was about sex, "I heard the search for Chief of Surgery is back on," said Melendez.
"Yes, but I wouldn't get either of your hopes up since you're both being investigated by the medical board," said Andrews. The elevator stopped and the doors opened, "It's probably for the better anyway. It's nice to see you two getting along better," Andrews stepped off onto the floor.
Melendez and Lim glanced at each other and sighed, Does Andrews know about us? Lim asked herself.
Though they both had their own patients, Lim and Melendez couldn't help but wonder about their encounter with Andrews that morning. Lim was walking toward the cafeteria for lunch when Melendez called out her name, "Dr. Lim."
She slowed down her stride as he caught up with her and she turned to face him, "Dr. Melendez. What do you need?"
"A little cold, are we?" asked Melendez in surprise.
Lim lowered her voice and said, "If we're going to hide the fact that we're…" she looked around to make sure no one was listening, "Getting along better, then we need to act like we always did at work."
"This is about Andrews, isn't it?" asked Melendez.
"No," lied Lim, "What do you need?"
"I have a patient with a mechanical heart. Her surgery was done in China, so I need to speak with her cardiac surgeon, but I don't speak Mandarin," Melendez admitted.
"Let me guess? You need me to play translator?" asked Lim knowingly.
"Please," Melendez smiled cutely at her.
"Come on," Lim started toward her office, "You owe me one," she smiled at him.
After helping Melendez with his patient and doing a few more rounds of her own, Lim went to the locker room to change before she started her walk to the bus stop. She was so wrapped up in her own thoughts that she didn't even know Melendez had pulled up beside her. It was only when she heard his voice did she turn to face him, but whatever Mandarin he was trying to speak was utterly confusing. She chuckled a little and walked over to his Tesla, "Who taught you that?" she asked amusingly.
"Ms. Villanueva. It means 'where are you going?' in Mandarin," explained Melendez.
Lim knew what Melendez had asked her hadn't mean 'where are you going?' but she decided to drop it, "Not exactly," she mentioned, "Bus stop," she motioned her head toward the bus stop.
Melendez nodded and hesitantly asked, "Colleagues can give each other rides home, right?"
"They can also stop for a burger, and then, have sex in someone's apartment too, right?" asked Lim more bluntly.
Melendez nodded and smiled, "Yes they can. Get in," Lim grinned elatedly as she climbed into the passenger's seat, the both of the smiling the same way when they had first drove away from St. Bonaventure right after she had recovered from the virus. Melendez pulled away and glanced over at Lim, "So what place did you have in mind?"
"I was hoping for a quarter pounder with cheese and bacon," she admitted.
"Alright, McDonald's it is then," said Melendez. The couple arrived at the restaurant and ordered their food before finding a table, "Thank you for helping me earlier, by the way."
"You're welcome," said Lim, eating a few fries before she said, "It's a good thing too, because your Mandarin is terrible."
"Oh God, what did I ask you earlier?" Melendez scrubbed his hand over his face.
"You asked me if I wanted a cow to cross the street with me," she smiled and laughed.
"Oh God," Melendez laughed with her, "Well, it's safe to say you'll need to give me better lessons."
Once they finished their burgers, they discarded their trash and headed back to Melendez's apartment. They settled in and changed into their pajamas before Lim pulled up Netflix with the Amazon Fire Stick, perusing through the content to find something to watch, "Hey Audrey?" Melendez asked.
"Yeah?" Lim replied.
"Do you think Andrews knows about us?" asked Melendez bluntly.
Lim sharply turned her head toward her boyfriend, but sighed, "I don't know," she answered honestly, "I'm not sure if at our encounter with him earlier he was genuine about us getting along better, or if it was code for 'I know you both are sleeping together'."
Melendez rubbed Lim's hand and said, "Well, I'm sure if Andrews suspected anything, he would probably ask us about it or demand we tell HR."
"True," said Lim. They finished the episode of Stranger Things and Lim scooted closer to Melendez. She began to kiss him and snaked her hands up under his pajama shirt. She stopped kissing him briefly and ran her fingers through his dark brown hair, "I don't know why I ever doubted about us being together, because when I'm with you, everything feels right in the world."
He shifted to allow her to lie on top of him and she straddled his lap, yanking his pajama shirt off and tossing it across the room. He did the same to hers, and since she didn't wear a bra to bed, that was one less item of clothing he had to remove. He gently ran his fingers along her spine, causing goose bumps to form underneath his touch. He stroked her back for a few more moments before he ran his finger around to her front, circling her nipples and areolas. Even though they had been close friends for most of their careers, Lim had always been so tough around him. He loved the fact that he now got to see her vulnerable side and that she would completely let her guard down around him when they came together.
Lim's hands were free at this point, so she began to remove her pajama pants and fiddle with the tie on Melendez's pajama pants. He stopped his motion long enough to help her free themselves from their bottom attire, and Lim could feel that Melendez was all ready to go. Jeez, it only ever took him five minutes max. He looked up into her eyes and softly stroked her cheek. He asked, "How did I get so lucky to be with a woman like you?"
"I don't know, but it certainly took us long enough to find our way to each other," she chuckled.
"Well, we're together now, and that's all that matters," said Melendez. They removed their panties and boxers before Lim shuffled to the edge of the bed and began to give Melendez all she had to offer. Melendez returned the favor, and then, rolled back over to his side of the bed, Lim positioning herself on top of him.
Lim ran her fingers through his hair and whispered, "I love you."
"Then show me," Melendez answered.
Lim gave a soft smile and started off grinding her hips slowly, increasing her pace when Melendez's cries of satisfaction motived her to do so. When she felt him come and release, her knees buckled a little as she felt her orgasm build since the man's release inside of her almost always felt good to her. She could feel Melendez playing with her lips and she shuttered on top of him and he brushed against her clit, "Neil," she moaned his name.
He shifted so he could better support her weight and continued to revel in her cries of ecstasy. She dug her nails into his chest as she climaxed and released, immediately falling onto his chest and laying her head against him, both of them panting heavily. Lim ran her fingers over the outline of Melendez's elk tattoo, but didn't say anything. Melendez finally looked down at her and asked, "Is something wrong, Aud?"
"No," she answered, "Just thinking about things, that's all."
"About what?" asked Melendez curiously.
Lim leaned up and kissed him, "Just thinking how glad I am to have you."