Page 15 of Love and Other Mental Health Concerns
“Thank you. And thank you for the ride, it was really sweet and entirely unnecessary.”
“Any time, seriously.” He is smiling at me, and the large cab suddenly feels much smaller. I am sweating while I stare into his blue eyes, his hair is a little messed from the rain; beard and tattooed arms overwhelming me. He seems completely unfazed and breaks my stare as he jumps out of the car to get my bike for me. I get out too, throwing a raincoat over my head. I walk around the back of the truck and take my bike from Nick, who is now just standing in the rain and smiling, as if he is unaware that he is getting soaked. He’s so handsome, and I have no idea what to do with that information. I suddenly feel like I should do something.
“Thank you.”
“Yes, you said that a few times already.” He just stands there, not rushing back to his truck, despite the rain. It’s almost like he is waiting for something, but I am unsure what. I can do this; I can get to know a man.
“Right. Um, I am just wondering, if you don’t already have plans, which I am sure you do. Are you…um, or would you want to have that meeting about my ideas for improving social services? No pressure, it’s just…” the words stumble out of my mouth like I have never spoken to another human before. Ialso realize that I have basically just asked him to keep working tonight, smooth.
“Like right now?” he looks around like I have lost it.
“You’re right, that is a crazy idea. It was just late, and I was going to offer for us to talk over food or something…” he doesn’t let me finish.
“Yes, definitely. Now is great.” He is beaming, so I haven’t scared him with my awkward stammering yet. This is good. Rust covered, but moving in the right direction.
“Okay. I don’t cook, but I have some connections. Follow me.” I lock up my bike near the stairs to my apartment and back entrance to Harolds. The shop is closed already, and I’m guessing at nearly eight o’clock at night, Gary and Stan have long since gone home. I walk to the back door and fumble my keys until I get the correct one into the lock. Nick is behind me, and he isn’t crowding my space, but I can still feel his presence there, making my spine shiver with nerves that he keeps reminding me are very much alive.
“Wow, you must really pull some weight in this town if you have the keys to Harolds.” He muses.
“It’s a privilege, but as you might guess, it comes with its responsibilities.” I give him a smile and am feeling more confident that I was able to put one sentence together without tripping over my tongue.
“Oh really? Such as?” We step inside and start to walk down the long back hallway toward the shop.
“Well, I get to help clean whenever that’s needed, I can jump in at a moment’s notice to play server, and sometimes even manager when Gary and Stan need a few days away.” I explain.
“Well, that does seem worth the privilege. And your apartment is upstairs?” He asks.
“Yes, but you won’t get to see that today.” I blush a little, trying to quell it as soon as I feel the heat. Hopefully he doesn’t notice from the back of my neck.
“Another day for that then.” A statement, not a question. As he passes by me and gives me a smirk over his shoulder. Now my heart is thumping, blush not successfully wiped off my face. Can confirm, he is flirting, that’s not in my head. However, if Annie’s sources are right and Nick wants a fling, I am not yet convinced I have that in me.
One way to find out.
“Yes, perhaps.” I say to him with as much confidence as I can muster and giving him my own over the shoulder smile. I then turn immediately toward the counter of the shop and flick on a couple lights so I can see what I am doing. It’s quiet, and without the clammer of people and the low lighting so that we don’t draw too much attention from the street, it feels a touch too intimate. I focus on making us sandwiches and heating some soup. Nick takes it upon himself to set a table for us toward the back of the restaurant and then comes to help me carry our dinner over.
“This might be the best perk to a friendship I can think of.” He says after taking a huge bite of his sandwich.
“I didn’t realize we were friends, I’m pretty sure this is a dinner meeting.” I clarify.
“That’s fair,” he raises his fountain soda, so I do too. “Cheers to eventually being friends, Marcy. And thank you for this.” He smiles and sips his soda in a somewhat boyish manner.
“You’re welcome. I hate to be a buzzkill, but do you mind if I run some of my ideas by you now?” I know this isn’t flirtatious, but my nerves start to take over with the intimacy of the meal and I can’t help but disrupt the romantic tension. Workplace platonic is my baseline.
“Of course, that’s how you lured me here, if I remember correctly.” He says, clearing his throat and putting on a mock serious face. I glare back at him and grab a small notebook out of my work bag, opening it to my list of ongoing thoughts. “A notebook and everything? You really were ready to meet with me. What would you have done if I never offered to drive you home?”
I roll my eyes and ignore his mockery. “Okay, so I was thinking about a few community relationships that we can develop that would add value to our social services at the hospital but not cost a fortune. Obviously, the primary goal in any of these relationships for us would be improving patient care and experience.”
“Yes, that should be the primary goal.” He confirms. He sips his drink and his lips on the straw are distracting but I persevere.
“Right, but it would also add value to some of the community members as well, so keep that in mind while I explain.”
He smiles and nods his head for me to begin. “Shoot.” He carries on eating while I start to talk.
“Okay, so we have a robust community of senior citizens in North River. There is a thriving senior center, and plenty of informal gatherings that you may have noticed.”
“Noticed? You can’t get a table at a coffee shop in this town after 8 am because of the hordes, and it is a scone desert by nine.”
“It’s true!” His observation making me giggle. “So anyway, there are incredibly high rates of volunteerism within this group. Our community service options within town often have waitlists because so many seniors are trying to volunteer. So, I propose we add ourselves to that list. One major challenge we face is that patients get discharged with a plan for follow-up that they can’t handle, and then they are back in the emergency department.Usually, it’s because they don’t have access to a car or can’t drive themselves anymore, and we know public transit out here is null. Let’s get a volunteer ride system going, asking those who can still drive to volunteer their time to take patients to and from appointments. People could also sign up for companion hours. Offer some company for our patients that end up in the ED looking for that company?”
