It was now twenty-four hours since I'd seen Sid. I called his mobile.
"Sid Walker."
"Hi Sid, it's Nicole."
"Nicole, hi," he answered in his deep voice. "I'm glad you called." I could hear the sounds of the hospital in the background.
"Oh I'm sorry, you're at work, I'll call back later." I felt like an idiot.
"No, it's fine," he said, "why'd you call?"
"I, um, oh, I was just wondering if you're doing anything tonight?"
"No," and I could hear the smile in his voice, "did you have something in mind?"
Arrgh, was he really gonna make me say it? "Well, I was thinking of coming over."
"Sure," he said, "about eight?"
"Ok eight. See you then." I hung up before I made and even bigger fool of myself.
I spent the rest of the afternoon fussing over what to wear. I chose a sexy red dress in the end, after all it was no secret to Sid about why I was going over to his place. I did the best job I could on my hair and make-up considering I was disabled at the moment. I scrubbed up pretty well, even with the bandage still on my arm.
xxx
When I got to Sid's he wasn't there. I was deciding what to do when my phone rang, it was Sid.
"Hi Sid."
"Hi Nicole. Sorry I'm not there, I got held up at work."
"Oh that's okay," I said, he was a doctor after all.
"I won't be long," he continued, "there's a key under the plant, let yourself in, see you soon," and he hung up. I found the key and went inside. The house was so big and empty. I turned the kitchen light on and figured I might as well cook him some dinner as sit around doing nothing. I checked the fridge and the pantry and settled in chicken caesar salad. I didn't was him too full for the physical activity that would hopefully follow. I cooked some chicken pieces and broke up a lettuce. I had to cut the chicken up without the full use of my hand and you guessed it, I ended up with a big greasy chicken stain down the front of my dress and half the chicken wasted on the floor. Damn it. I was scooping the chicken up off the floor when Sid walked in.
"What are you doing?" he asked, confused. How embarrassing.
"Oh shit," I said, "I was trying to cook you dinner because you've had a long day at work and my hand still hurts so I couldn't hold anything properly and it went on the floor and now I've ruined my dress." I stood there pouting at him with floor-chicken in my hand and a big, ugly stain on my dress. And then he laughed. I pouted more. He came over to me, planted a quick kiss on my mouth, took the chicken from my hand, threw it in the bin, led me to the sink, washed my hands for me, wiped my dress as best he could and steered me to the nearest chair.
"It's okay," he said with a smirk, "I appreciate the help." He finished putting the salad together and got two bowls, even though there wasn't enough food for two.
"I don't want any thanks," I told him, "I've already eaten." He put one bowl back and came to sit at the table with me to eat his dinner.
"Busy day huh?" I asked.
"Yeah, it's been flat out since I started, I've been on since six this morning. The only days I've had off are yesterday and the first day you came over." He stuck another forkful of salad in his mouth. That explained why it'd been so easy to avoid him.
A couple of things were bugging me. I figured it was best to get them out of the way now, so I wouldn't have to dwell on them. I was going to have secrets from everyone in my life now; I needed one person I could be completely honest with and since Sid was the secret he was my one.
"Are you still seeing that other woman, the one I caught you with?" Sid nearly choked on his chicken.
"What?! No, why would you think that?"
"The last time you were here you made it pretty clear you preferred her over me, I just wanted to be sure." Sid got out of his chair and came to kneel in front of me. He took my hand and looked at me with those intense blue eyes.
"I didn't even sleep with her Nicole." That surprised me. "You wouldn't take no for an answer. My kids hated me and everyone in town was starting to give me a hard time about carrying on with a school girl. It was the only thing I could think of to make you hate me." I was stunned.
"Oh. I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"For not taking notice when you told me to leave you alone, and for doubting you now."
Sid stood and lifted me with him. He held me tightly and whispered in my ear. "You're the reason I came back here. I love you." I held him too, hardly believing he'd felt this way about me all along.