3. Abigail
When Jason left the office, I didn’t know how I felt about it all. He was handsome, a bit rude, but he had a great sense of humor that helped smooth it all over. He was blind, something I hadn’t noticed at first, but it was surprising to know that, considering how well he moved around. I never would have thought that he was so disabled, if I would have met him without seeing his charts.
After he left, I looked at his charts a bit better and realized that there wasn’t enough information on him. Sometimes, the patient didn’t fill out the questionnaire, but I didn’t think this was it. I think that he ignored it on purpose. There was something about Jason that pulled me in, and it wasn’t just the square jaw and immaculate body. Jason was hard and muscular in all the right places. I literally couldn’t keep my eyes off of him. I didn’t know what was going to happen next, but I was ready to find out.
Dana came in after a few minutes to rush me along. She likely didn’t know that I was still thinking about Jason. He was too cute not to think about it more and before I could say anything, Dana asked about him.
“He was actually a bit snarky, but nice. I think he is a grump by second nature. He was grumpy at first but pulled it together pretty quickly. He was nice once we talked for a minute. He has a long way to go, but he has already taken on so many other challenges, I am sure he will do just fine here. We will get him all fixed up as well as we can.”
Dana said that she was happy about it, but then I noticed the pink in her cheeks, and I asked her if she was okay. I hadn’t seen her like that before, not that I could think of.
“I mean, I was just wondering if he is single. The chart doesn’t say, so I was just wondering if he was married or not. Did you notice a ring?” Dana asked with hope in her heart. I didn’t want to tell her that I hadn’t noticed. When Jason was towering over me, there was no way that I was going to be thinking about much of anything, definitely not if he had a ring on. Sadly, I was ashamed to admit to myself that all I did was gawk at him most of the time. It was made worse with the fact that I knew he couldn’t see me. It didn’t make it worse, just made it easier.
“I wonder if he is.”
I told her that I doubted he was married, he didn’t seem like the type. He was too grouchy to be with someone. Not because he couldn’t find someone, of course, but because he didn’t want a woman holding him back likely. He was the one in charge and if he was single, it was because he didn’t want a girlfriend.
“He is blind, you know that right?”
Dana agreed that she knew and that she didn’t care. I couldn’t blame her, he was that good looking, but I wondered if she would have felt the same way, if she had met him. I had a feeling that she would. I know that I still did.
“He is going to be here a lot, so I am sure that I will find out. I can’t wait until he comes in Thursday.”
I just nodded again, not sure what to say. I wasn’t supposed to feel anything, but, of course, that was impossible to stop. Dana was young, single, she had a nice demeanor, and I really liked her. I wanted her to be happy, but not with Jason. I wanted him, that grumpy wit, I liked that. It was rare to get someone that would say much more than what was necessary. I liked Jason, but I wasn’t looking, and I wasn’t looking for such a commitment.
Why then, was it so hard for me to think of Dana with him? Why did I hate the feeling of it so much? It was the sort of thing that I was supposed to help her with. I shouldn’t be feeling the way that I was. I wasn’t happy at the idea of it at all. I wanted her to see that he was off limits. I wanted him, but I wasn’t going to do anything about it. It was a pure waste to try and dissuade her from trying to date him. I didn’t know how it would work out for her, but she should try it. I thought about it for a second. I would likely just ignore the conversation and hope that she wouldn’t bring it up again. For some reason, I couldn’t find myself saying the encouragement out loud that I knew she wanted to hear. It was very selfish of me not to give it to her.
We talked about the next client, and I did my best to skirt any more questions about Jason. I thought about him the rest of the day, but I wasn’t going to let Dana talk about him more. She tried to later in the afternoon, but I pretended that I couldn’t hear her. I think she knew that I was trying to avoid it, and she finally stopped asking about him. I didn’t know what it was about Jason, but he was too magnetic and made me think too many things.
I tried to keep him off of my mind, but as soon as Thursday rolled around, I was there early in anticipation of him coming. I didn’t know what we were going to say to each other, but I knew it was going to be something. I was getting all excited, and for what?
Dana camein a few minutes before we opened, ten minutes early for her, and I saw the sly look on her face. It wasn’t hard to see what it was she was there for. Or rather I should say who. “Fancy seeing you here this early, Dana,” I said with a smirk.
She gave me this look that tried to be innocent but didn’t quite make it. I could see that she was trying her best to focus on anything but why she was there. It was hard for her to focus; I could see that, and I finally asked her how she had finally managed to get here on time.
“You know, traffic wasn’t too bad.”
I scoffed in response because I knew that she wasn’t driving far enough for the traffic to affect her. She was early because of Jason and for some reason, I wanted her to admit to it. There really wasn’t a reason for her to do it, it wasn’t going to accomplish anything, but there was nothing else that I could do about it.
“I mean, I figured that it was going to be a busy day, and I wanted to make sure that you had all the help that you were going to need.”
“Uh huh. I just figured that you knew that Jason guy was going to be in, and you wanted to prance around. Don’t think that I can’t smell that perfume and I see the way you are dressed. You know he can’t see, right?”
Her smile fell for a minute, and I was actually sad that I had said anything at all. It wasn’t like there was anything else that could be done, but I was sure that she would have luck if she tried. Dana was small and petite, with black hair and devastatingly blue eyes. She made me feel plain, my brown hair too drab, and I was tall and awkward next to her small form. We were different in many ways, so I knew that most men went for women like her. I was not what most men looked for. I was too curvy, too tall. Basically, I wasn’t the size of Polly Pocket like Dana.
The doorbell rang and we both looked toward the door. I didn’t want to feel like there was a competition for this guy’s attention, but damned if that wasn’t exactly how I felt. When he walked in, my heart started to race in my chest, and I started to move toward him. I was stuck in the moment, and I had no idea what to say.
“Hello?”
It took me a minute to realize that Jason was still blind, and I had to say something. I wanted to make it all better, me and him somehow, but I was in the middle of trying to figure out what came next.
“Sorry, Jason, please come on in. Would you like some help?”
He bristled at the suggestion, and I looked to Dana with a smile, like “told you”. Next, I watched her move toward him and slide her hand into his arm. “You sure you wouldn’t mind giving me a little help?”
Her voice was sugar sweet and while I could see right through her ploy, Jason didn’t seem to at all, and he smiled in a good-natured way. I was so green with envy that I could just throw up. Why didn’t I ever get the guy? This one I really wanted.