"Why are you locking the door?"
She asked, taking in her surroundings. The room was small and cramped and smelled of feet and antibacterial gel. Only a chair and a coffee table in amongst the shelves full of equipment and a kettle that looked as though it had seen better days.
"I think you'll thank me when you calm down."
He said, pouring water from a bottle into the kettle and setting it to boil.
"Right..."
She watched him, arms still folded tightly across her chest, the patient notes dangling by her hip.
"So..."
He leant against the shelf that the kettle was set on.
"What happened last night?"
He asked, folding his own arms across his chest, mirroring her.
"What do you mean?"
She asked, glancing at the kettle that began to rattle as it boiled.
"You left without saying goodbye."
He said, the kettle clicking off behind him.
"You were asleep!"
She watched as he placed two mugs on the shelf and dropped in two teabags.
"Yeah...but you went off me when Robyn came up."
He said as he poured the tea.
"I didn't 'go off you'..."
She drew in a long breath and breathed it out between gritted teeth.
"What happened then? Did I do something wrong?"
He asked, holding out a mug for her.
She paused before accepting.
"Max. Is this what this is about? Is this the part where you're all 'We need to talk'...?"
She put air quotations about the last of her words with the hand that held the files.
"No..."
He moved to sit on the edge of the coffee table and looked up at her.
"This is the part where you avoid a difficult conversation by being unnecessarily hostile."
He said, the steam from his tea rising up and curling at his lips.
She looked at him, his blue eyes were without a trace of his usual humour and his jaw was tense, she could see the tendons flexing in his cheeks.
"Sit down."
He said.
She pursed her lips but sat down nonetheless, placing the files onto the floor next to her. She rested her tea on her lap, the heat warming her thighs.
"What did you want to have a conversation about then?"
She asked, crossing one one leg over the other, preparing herself for what he had to say.
"Something is bothering you, and I want to help."
He said matter of factly, sipping his tea.
She rolled her eyes.
"Isn't it obvious what's bothering me? I'm under huge amounts of pressure with this job, I've got the best fucking surgeon in ,oh I don't know...the world?! Breathing down my neck and belittling me in front of my staff and going behind my back to make sure I end up doing something to lose it."
She paused to draw in a breath.
"I don't need you to save me, Max."
She whispered.
He took another sip of his tea.
"I don't want to save you."
He said.
"I just want to be your friend."
She looked at him, he leaned towards her from where he sat perched on the edge of the table.
"Is that ok?"
He whispered.
She sighed again.
"It's too complicated."
She said eventually, breaking eye contact with him and sipping her tea. It was strong and bitter and made her cough.
"Complicated?"
She shook her head slightly.
"Last night. That's not what friends do, that's what..."
She paused.
"Is that why you were angry with me?"
He asked, setting his tea down next to him.
"I wasn't angry!"
She raised her voice, exasperated.
"Ok!"
He leaned back, resting his body on his arms so that his chest, in his red porters t-shirt ,was exposed.
"What were you then? Because unless I'm mistaken things nose dived pretty quickly after Robyn's interruption."
He said, watching her.
"It wasn't Robyn's interruption."
She said curtly, still refusing to regain eye contact with him.
"What was it then?"
He asked, watching her draw in and hold a long breath before speaking.
"Whatever her name was."
She said quietly.
"Hmm?"
He leaned forward again to catch her words.
"Whoever Robyn was with. Stephanie...Jessica..."
She prompted.
"Ye-es...?"
He said, waiting.
"What's she got to do with it?"
He asked.
She threw up her hands, exasperated.
"Before that happened who knows what we could have got up to. You made me feel relaxed, which by the way I haven't felt even remotely close to since I began this job. I wanted you...I wanted to kiss you so many times. You made me feel 'special'."
She cringed at the word, unable to find a better suited one in her rush.
"You made me feel like me again."
She paused.
"But when Stephanie...Jessica...whoever she was knocked on the door, I realised how old I am...how much older I am than you."
He made to speak but she shushed him.
"You obviously have plenty of women vying for your attention..."
She breathed, watching him as he began to smile.
"You were jealous?!"
He asked, the hint of a laugh behind his words.
"No..."
She began.
"You were jealous!"
He repeated, he smiled again.
"Perhaps."
She conceded, leaning back in her chair and dipping her head to take another sip of tea.
He watched her, still smiling.
"You don't have to be."
He said after a while. Finishing his own tea and placing the cup underneath the coffee table.
"Jealous?"
She asked.
He nodded.
"Stephanie and or Jessica passed out in my room last week when she took a wrong turning to the bathroom. The closest we got to sharing bodily fluids was when she threw up on me. Before that I'd never met her before."
He explained, still smiling.
Zoe felt the hint of a smile on her own lips, a tension that she hadn't known was there seemed to ease at the back of her neck.
"Contrary to what I'd have people believe, I don't have girls queueing up to sleep with me."
He added.
"And as for the age gap. Just how old are you anyway?"
He asked, the glimmer of mischief was back, glittering behind his eyes.
"Never you mind."
She smiled, sipping the last of her tea.
"Not that it matters."
He said.
"So..."
He leaned forward a little more, watching her intently.
"Do you still want me?"
He asked, a long slow smile slipping across his lips.
"Or more importantly. Do you still want to kiss me?"
(Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to comment. I am new on here and have no idea how to reply to your lovely comments but I thoroughly enjoy reading them! I will update again very, very soon...this evening or tomorrow evening. I have two small toddlers to contend with! x)