Jackie grabs her bag, out of her locker, and heads for the door. Eleanor catches her, near the elevator.
"Where are you going?" Eleanor inquires, "It's only four thirty."
"I have a doctor's appointment."
"A what? You hate doctors. Wait, do you mean...? But he's still here."
"I hang out with you."
"I don't count."
"I have an actual doctor's appointment."
"Why? Are you dying?"
"No it's for my annual."
"Your annual? You actually go to those?"
"The last time I went to one Fi was about a year and a half old."
"Oh. So why are you going now? Is something wrong?"
"No, nothing is wrong. I just want to make sure that..."
"You're not falling apart in your old age?"
"Basically," Jackie nods.
"Have fun."
"Fun? With stirrups, and a speculum? I doubt it."
After her appointment she finds herself, at a certain doctor's home. She knocks on the door. He checks the peephole, and pulls it open. She closes the door behind herself.
"Why do you always knock?"
"It's polite."
"A, I have never known you to be polite, and B, you have a key."
"For emergencies."
"If your here, it's an emergency," he steps closer.
"That's not what I came over here for."
"You came to tease me?"
"I don't think that we should do this, anymore."
"Your appointment didn't go well?"
"It went fine. It's not that."
"I don't understand."
"I can't keep doing this."
"What we have is great."
"What we have is carnal."
"Like I said, what we have is great."
"I am a recovering addict."
"I know."
"I am only as sick as my secrets. This is killing me. I can't keep it up."
"Three and a half months in, and you're having second thoughts?"
"Don't make this any harder."
"You're the only reason I haven't lost my mind."
"I am enabling you."
"Enabling me? To do what?"
"Keep from dealing with losing Charlie."
"No, you're not."
"It's better if we end things, now, before they get messy."
"What are you talking about?"
"I am a nurse. What do you think the board is going to say, if they find out that we're sleeping together? It's going to raise questions."
"How are they going to find out? Are you going to tell them?"
"No."
"Then how?"
"We should disclose what's going on."
"Since when are you miss by the book?"
"Since I want a bottle of pills, and a gallon of vodka."
"We aren't in a relationship."
"I know."
"It's not as if we're going to dinner, and a movie."
"I know."
"Do you want that?"
"No. My divorce isn't even final yet. I don't need another relationship."
"Ok, then what?"
"I have two daughters, and I need to focus on them."
"They aren't home half of the time."
"Please..." she begs.
He looks at her. His fingers cradle her chin. He takes another step closer. She is ready to push him away. He sees the look of panic in her eyes, that she's let him get too close. She expects him to kiss her, the way he always does. Instead, he wraps his arms around her. He hugs her tightly.
"You love me?" more of a statement than a question.
She doesn't answer, she simply buries her head in his shoulder.
"Why does that scare you, so much?"
She takes a deep breath, and a step back, as he lets go of her. She can't fight the tears. She clenches her jaw, trying to slow them down, but she can't.
"You're my boss," she answers simply.
"So?"
"I can't. I can't always cross the line, and find a way to justify it."
"What if I wasn't your boss, anymore?"
"I am not going to quit my job."
"I would never ask you to."
"This can't work."
"I'll find another job."
"No."
"So, you're just going to let this go?"
"Let what go? It's just sex," her voice grows louder.
"Is it?"
"That is what it appears to be. We have a lot of sex, and not a lot of anything else."
"Do you want something else?"
"No," she lies.
The following morning, she wakes up, in his bed. He's sound asleep. She stares at him, for a moment. Her eyes fall on the clock behind him. She rolls over, and stares at the alarm clock on her side. She turns it off, knowing she only has two minutes before it screams at her, to get out of bed. She heads into the bathroom, for a shower.
She comes out in a towel. He's still sleeping, as she makes her way into the closet. She grabs the clean uniform that hangs there. She slips on her clean clothes, and goes into the bathroom, to dry her hair. By the time she is done brushing her teeth, he's out of bed. She finds him in the kitchen. He sits on the counter, next to the coffee pot. He holds out a travel mug full of coffee to her. She takes it from her. He slides off the counter. He kisses her.
"Don't. I don't want to be late."
"See you, in a little while."
"Bye," she turns to go.
She's to the door, with her hand on the knob, when he calls out to her.
"Love you."