by Brynn North
Alex: I regret ever telling you about the opening in our apartment building.
Luci: Too late. Are you going to let me give the senior citizens a Merry Christmas or what? I talked with my boss and he gave me some ideas, so I’m good to go.
With that, Alex broke. He didn’t think this was a good idea. but he wasn’t some kind of ogre, trying to deny lonely senior citizens a good time during the holidays.
Alex: Dammit. Be here at 7. We’ll order dinner.
Luci: 7:30. Can’t miss spin class and need to freshen up after. Can’t look sweaty for....you guys
Alex threw his phone back on his desk. Sebastian rubbed Alex the wrong way, had ever since he met the guy a few years ago at a drunken college party where he was grinding up on several women at once, but he knew there was no talking sense into Luci. All she saw was his handsome face and perfectly gelled hair and was already a goner. Having an MD after his name didn’t hurt Sebastian’s chances with the ladies, as Alex noticed based on the amount of buzzing noises he heard from Sebastian’s phone when he was actually around the apartment.
Debating whether or not to warn Luci, Alex was once again distracted by his students.
“Mr. Garcia, can we do a rap interpretation of Amendment 1 if we’re feeling ourselves?”
Winter break couldn’t come fast enough for Alex.
“Hey, Luci! Good to see ya again!” Sebastian leaned in for a hug.
Alex couldn’t help but make a retching face at Luci behind Sebastian’s back. Luci stuck her tongue out at him.
Seriously, she’s feeling up his back? Alex grudgingly had to admit that Sebastian had a muscular back, not that he was jealous or anything, though he made a mental note to go downstairs to the apartment building’s gym more often.
“Glad I could make it for dinner!” Luci said in a most cheerful, breezy voice. Alex narrowed his eyes, knowing exactly how hard she was trying to make that voice casual. Luci smirked back at him.
“Yeah, I’m glad I could make it for dinner. Just enough time to eat before I head to work,” Sebastian said, taking a quick glance at his Apple Watch. Alex noticed he’d closed all his rings already. “Residency life is no joke.”
Alex monitored Luci and Sebastian as he called in everyone’s order for Indian, not so sure why the interactions between Luci and Sebastian bothered him so much. He thought of Luci like a little sister, even though they were the same age. She seemed younger in some ways, needing protection. Shaking his head as he recited their usual order, he decided Luci was a big girl and he should treat her as such. The last thing he needed was yet another kid to mentor.
They were just sitting down to their curry selection, taking about Sebastian’s first week in Minneapolis, when Alex, realizing he hadn’t contributed much to the conversation got an idea on how to liven up the lame conversation.
“So Sebastian, tell us, how did you get involved in geriatrics?” he asked casually, mopping up some sauce with his naan bread. “You like it?”
“Oh, man, I love it. They are hilarious. So full of stories and experiences,” Sebastian said, enthusiasm shining on his face. “I really got into it though, growing up with my Nan and Grandpa. They were already older when I moved in with them after my parents died. As I got older, I started accompanying them to the doctor and stuff. Guess it just took off from there.”
Alex snuck a look at Luci, and a pang went through him when he saw her face. Luci was an orphan too. Her mom had died their freshman year in college. Fuck cancer.
“That’s really admirable, Sebastian,” Luci said, her voice ringing sincere.
Alex reached over and speared a large piece of chicken off Luci’s plate, hoping to lighten the mood. “Luci here is into helping senior citizens too, aren’t you, Luce?” He grinned at her, sensing her reaction.
“Really?” Sebastian’s face lit up. “What do you do?”
Luci had a straight-up oh shit look on her face, making Alex’s night.
“Oh, I volunteer here and there, but my main thing right now is organizing a Christmas party, with the help of my company for publicity, for seniors. We’re calling it Santa for Seniors, and will have attendees get shoeboxes full of useful things, like candies and bottles of booze, that type of stuff. There will even be an open bar and blackjack tables at the party,” Luci said, clearly proud of her ideas.
Alex almost spit out his drink and Sebastian’s eyebrows shot up.
Open bar, blackjack? Is that what Luci’s boss had suggested for a nice holiday luncheon with the seniors?
Alex grinned mischievously. “Know what else would go over well at that part? Strippers. Both men and women. Get some guys with tight abs, oil all over maybe, girls in sky-high heels...”
The look on Luci’s face could kill him. Hell, the look on Luci’s face made it clear she was planning on killing him.
Sebastian’s eyes got wider and wider. “Sounds like a hell of a party,” he finally said. “I went to a few like that. In Las Vegas. Bachelor parties.”
“Oh, there will be other things too. Like, ummm, cake?” Luci said in a hurry. “I haven’t sorted out all the details yet. Still need to get sponsors, figure out which senior group to partner with, it’s all new.”
By the look on Luci’s face, he better watch out because seh was going to fucking kill Alex. He grinned.
“Well, tell you what,” Sebastian said, standing up and stretching. “I gotta get to work now, but why don’t I ask around on my rounds over the next couple days, see what my patients like in a holiday party?”
Alex watched Luci almost squeal with delight. “YES!” She caught herself. “I mean, yes. I would love your expertise. I don’t have any grandparents, you see. It was just me and my mom, until she died that is.”
The sympathetic look on Sebastian’s face had Luci melting into a puddle of goo, Alex could see that a mile away.
“I’m so sorry to hear that,” Sebastian murmured.
“Thank you,” Luci whispered, eyes tearing up. Sebastian reached over to squeeze her hand. A jealous feeling welled up in Alex. He was Luci’s comforter, best friend. What the fuck was Sebastian doing? He barely knew her!
They watched Sebastian cross to his room in silence. Luci gave Alex an excited smile. A brief, halfhearted smile was all Alex could muster back.
Just then, Sebastian appeared in the living room again, wearing his jacket and shoes.
“Say, Luci, I’m free on Tuesday night. Do you want to get together and talk more about your project? Grab dinner somewhere?”
“I’d love it,” Luci said, voice as thick as syrup. “Here, I’ll quick airdrop you my contact info.”
“Got it.” He gave her a thumbs up a second later. “I’ll see you on Tuesday.” With a million watt smile, he shut the door behind him.
The second the door clicked shut, Luci whirled in Alex’s direction.
“What the hell was that?” Luci demanded.
“Nothing.” Alex shook his head and crossed his arms in front of him.
“Please. I’m supposed to be the girl here, not you.”
Alex rolled his eyes. “Didn’t anyone ever tell you not to assume gender?”
“I don’t think it counts when you’ve been best friends with someone for ten years, Alex. I know what the hell gender you are by now.”
“Fine. It’s just that...I was having a little fun stringing you along to him, but I really don’t think you should chase after Sebastian, is all.”
“Why not?”
Luci’s face darkened into a warning sign. Better mitigate that, he knew from experience
Alex struggled for words. Luci could be so sensitive about her dating life, or lack thereof. She never seemed to get past a few lame meetups with men. Not bubbly enough, not well spoken, you name it, she overanalyzed it and blamed herself, not the man, every time. He didn’t know how to tell her that Sebastian was a dick, another guy who would get her hopes up and let her down. He could tell. Hell, all men knew which men were total dicks.
It was written on their perfectly formed abs and smooth way of talking.
“He’s not good for you. I don’t want to see you get hurt,” Alex finally settled on, not wanting to tell her his true opinion of Sebastian, knowing that Luci didn’t really want to hear it, anyway.
“Not good for me? What do you mean, that I’m not good enough to date him? That I’m out of his league because he’s a hot doctor and I’m just an IT geek?”
“No! Not at all! You know I think you are good enough for any guy!”
Luci gave Alex a look, and he shut up, reliving the same memory as she was at the moment.
Alex leaned back on the couch. Seven years later and Alex was still ashamed of that night, what he’d done to her, though he’d apologized for what seemed like a million times. Shit, he’d been just a stupid teenage boy, like there was any other kind. But Alex knew Luci considered him the one person she could trust, the one person who wouldn’t hurt her. And he’d let her down.
Alex sighed. “Luce, I—“
Luci cut him off. “If I was given a choice to talk about that night and carving my eyeballs out with a rusty spoon, I’d head straight to your silverware drawer.”
He shut up. Didn’t even blame her.
A few minutes of silence later, Alex sighed. “Just...be careful is all. My brother told me stories about the two of them in college. Some weren’t all that nice. I’ve seen him do some pretty wild things. ”
“Point taken. But he’s a doctor now. A grown-up.” Luci gave him a side-eye, and Alex got the hint that nothing he said would change her mind.
“Point taken,” he replied right back. “He’s grown up and I should let you decide for yourself.” Changing the subject, he reached over and grabbed his phone. “Now let me help you find those strippers…” he said, right before Luci playfully slapped the phone out of his hand.
3
At 4:00 on the dot, Luci locked her computer, grabbed her purse, and bolted out the door. Her date with Sebastian was tonight, and she needed every second she could to get ready. First stop, the mall. No problem there, Luci loved the mall around Christmas, with all the music, shoppers all around, and massive Christmas tree in the middle of the atrium.
“So I googled articles on what types of girls young doctors go for,” Luci eagerly explained to the skeptical salesgirl, store chosen due to it being the closest store with an almost five-star review on Google. “I need to come across as put together, independent, and of course, hot.” How in the hell she could accomplish that in the matter of a couple of hours? Luci had no idea, but she had her hopes up.
The salesperson flicked her expertly made-up eyes at Luci. “Seems like you’d want to be that type of girl for yourself first, not just for some man.”
Easy for her to say. Her winged eyeliner was as tight as Luci’s leggings were after a brunch with bottomless mimosas.
“Does this outfit say, ‘I know how to put myself together’?” Luci asked, gesturing to her baggy black dress pants and bland button-down shirt. Hell, Luci knew the answer was a solid no. What fashion models bought clothes from the Target clearance rack? Exactly none.
She shrugged. “Can’t argue with that. Still think you got to figure out if you like him, job title be damned.”
Luci sighed. Did posh boutiques hire psychology majors or something? Did selling overpriced clothes to a desperate woman fulfill them more than someone sitting on a couch, talking about childhood woes? Looking around at the price tags on some of this stuff, Luci figured that if the saleswoman worked on commission, it may certainly pay better.
“Listen. I’ve been perpetually single since sophomore year in college, where my last boyfriend lasted approximately three point five weeks. He dumped me for the waitress at the burger joint he took me to celebrate our one-month anniversary. The guy in question is my best friend’s roommate, and is almost mine for the picking since he’s new in town. If I don’t turn this ship around and become sexier, I’ll end up a frumpy old maid.” Luci lowered her voice, even though she was the only customer in the place and gave the saleswoman a meaningful look. “You don’t even WANT to know how long it’s been since I had sex.”
The saleswoman stared at Luci after her little outburst for a full thirty seconds, then gestured to the back. “Get into a fitting room. I’ll bring some things in.”
“Shouldn’t I come with you and find some stuff I like?”
Glancing down at Luci’s scuffed booties, she just uttered one word. “Nope.”
Ok then.
Thirty minutes later, Luci stared at the mirror in awe. Gone were the frumpy black trousers, and on her legs were fitted black jeans. A colorful silk blouse with a bow complimented her figure, giving just a hint of Luci’s curves. On her feet, she now wore strappy high heels.
“This is what you will wear tonight,” the saleswoman instructed, and Luci nodded like an eager student.
“Love it. Can you ring it up?”
A perfectly waxed eyebrow was arched. “Are the rest of your clothes like that too?”
Luci looked down at her new strappy heels, and the salesperson looked up to the ceiling. “I need another hour at least, and Esmeralda is on her way with the makeup.”
An hour? Esmeralda? Who even mentioned makeup?
Luci sighed and nodded. She knew when to fold. “Noted.”
Two hours later, Luci floated out the door, four digits poorer, but a hell of a lot more confident. Between the saleswoman who she’d come to know as Maria, and Esmeralda, some real magic tricks were turned. Her hair, usually knotted up in a makeshift bun at the base of her neck, now stood atop Luci’s head in a topknot that Maria insisted was trendy. Esmerelda proved herself to be a motherfreaking genius with a makeup brush, and Luci actually had contouring on her face! Like a Kardashian! Not that she was a fan or anything, she hastily reminded herself, but hell, none of us can say we haven’t seen a thousand pictures of the sisters, all outdoing each other one way or another. Glancing down at her phone, she realized she had about twenty minutes to make it to the restaurant. Shit. She was going to have no choice but to bring her shopping bags with her.
“Hi,” Luci hissed to the host at the podium, looking around to make sure Sebastian wasn’t early. With a sinking feeling, she realized this place was posh. Seriously posh, way more than she was used to.
“I have a date here, but I can’t exactly let him see that I went shopping for it beforehand. Is there any way I can hide these bags?” Luci held up her hands, laden with bags.
The host looked at her co-worker. “I don’t know....”
Her coworker looked to be more Luci’s age, so she appealed to her senses. “Seriously. This guy is so hot. Like oozes sexiness. I’m just trying to keep up, ya know?”
The younger host gave her a rueful smile. “I totally get it. Here, let me take them.”
Luci flashed a grateful smile at the younger host as she grabbed the bags.
“Ok then, I see what you meant there,” murmured the older woman.
Luci turned around and almost bumped right into Sebastian.
“Hiii,” she said breathlessly. Damn, that guy knew how to wear the hell out of a t-shirt. They teach that in medical school too?
Sebastian’s eyebrows shot up. “Luci. Wow. You look...” he paused, as she panicked. Esmerelda promised her that she had a casual yet sexy vibe going on for a weeknight dinner. Could Sebastian tell how hard she was trying? Was she trying too hard? Luci glanced at her new skinny jeans. They looked fairly normal to her…
“Beautiful as usual,” he finished, and Luci relaxed.
“Odd that woman was carrying so many bags, huh?” Sebastian said as they settled in. “Must have gone shopping over her break. Can’t imagine why girls shop that much, can you?”
“Haha, yeah…” she trailed off and busied herself with her menu.
Dinner was great. No. Make that the best dinner in the history of ever, she corrected herself as she glanced out the window at the frozen river ahead of them, gorge
ous with the twinkling street lights. Trees were wrapped up in lights, the individual branches glowing. With the snow falling gently onto the street, it was the perfect scenery. She didn’t even know how Sebastian had found this place, but it was incredible. Low lighting, fabulous wine list, and the best warm, crusty dinner rolls Luci ever had. She was reaching for her third already.
Noticing, Sebastian slid her his butter. “Good stuff, huh?”
She flushed as she noticed he’d only finished half of one, and her knife dropped with a clank.
He laughed. “Don’t. It’s great to see a girl eat carbs for once.”
“I know, right! I don’t even get those girls who think they can live off fish and water. I’d die.” She couldn’t believe her luck. A man who liked to see a woman eat.
He laughed. “So tell me about this party of yours. Sounds pretty wild.”
Luci warmed up even more. “I talked to my boss about putting on a big party for seniors, as part of our company outreach around the holidays,” started, conveniently leaving out the fact that Steve pretty much told her she had to do it to get promoted. “I started looking up ideas, then that’s when my boss got on a tangent about how ‘old people ain’t dead yet’ according to his rum-loving, poker-playing Granny, and I panicked, thinking what I was coming up with was lame, so I started, I don’t know, embellishing it a bit more.”
Sebastian laughed even more heartily, earning the glances from a few women around them. They gave her a side-eye, and she gave them one right back. For once, she was the one at the table with a hot guy, not sitting with a friend at the bar. Felt damn good to be on the other side.
She turned back to Sebastian, leaning forward over her plate and widening her eyes at him. “So tell me what you think we can do about this event to make it the best time of their year....”
Sebastian’s hand rested on top of hers. “I love how down to earth you are.”