“Theoretical, I’m talking theoretical.” Carrie started walking again. “But that ship has already sailed. If we were going to have casual sex, we should’ve done it right after we first met. Now it’s too late.”
Glenn squeezed the bridge of her nose, trying to keep her brains inside her head. “I wish you’d told me all of this sooner.”
“You mean you would’ve slept with me then? Don’t say anything, because I think Presley has money on—”
“No. I wouldn’t have,” Glenn said. “I don’t do that sort of thing, just for, you know…casual.”
Carrie bit her lip, seeming to be holding in
more laughter. “You
“Jesus, how did we get onto this topic?”
“You were telling me about your date with Mari.”
“It’s not a date,” Glenn shouted. A passing employee paused and stared at them. She lowered her voice. “Not a date.”
“Are you sure, because you might want to think about that before, you know, you miss another boat.”
“Are you mad at me?”
Carrie brushed a stray lock of hair off Glenn’s forehead. “Absolutely not. You are one of my favorite people in the whole world. And I am perfectly happy with things between us just exactly the way they are.” She held the door open and waited till Glenn drew next to her before whispering, “And if I’d wanted to get you into bed, I would have.”
“I believe it,” Glenn muttered.
“See you at the game.”
Glenn stared after her as Carrie dashed off toward the east wing, wondering what the hell had just happened. And what any of it had to do with Mari. She hadn’t asked her out on a date. Had she?
*
Mari pulled the last chart from the stack in front of her, flipped to the discharge page, and double-checked that she’d filled out all the necessary sections before signing. The day had passed so quickly, she’d barely had time to think about anything beyond running down lab results, checking X-rays, reviewing treatment plans, and giving patients discharge instructions. She’d had a terrific day. Even Antonelli had been a pleasure, presenting patients to her in a thoughtful and thorough fashion. He seemed calmer than she’d ever seen him. She had no doubt in an emergency, he’d still be a take-charge, rapid decision maker, but that was a good thing too. There were times to take things slow and times to act. What was important was to know the difference.
Glenn stuck her head into the staff lounge. “Hey. Almost done?”
“Just finished.” Mari smiled. When she’d had a minute’s break, she’d thought about the evening to come. She was looking forward to getting out of her apartment, to meeting new people, to spending time with Glenn. “Should I meet you somewhere?”
“I drove today. I’ve got the team gear in the back of my Jeep. When you’re ready, I’m parked out back.”
Mari lifted the stack of charts. “Let me drop these off out front and I’m almost ready. I just need five minutes to change.”
“Me too.”
Glenn walked with her while she handed her charts to the clerk, signed out, and went to the locker room to switch her scrubs for street clothes. Mari was used to dressing and undressing with other people around, but this afternoon she felt unexpectedly shy and kept her body angled away from Glenn, who changed at her locker a few feet away. When she’d shimmied into her jeans and scoop-neck T-shirt, she sat down on the narrow bench to pull on her sandals. Glenn, already in a baseball T-shirt with a team logo, leaned back against the bank of lockers, her thumbs hooked into the pockets of her button-fly jeans.
“There’s something I wanted to mention to you,” Glenn said.
Mari looked up, surprised by the serious look in Glenn’s eyes. “What?”
“I ran into Carrie on the way into the hospital this morning, and I mentioned we were gonna grab something to eat before the game tonight.”
Mari tensed but kept her voice light. “Oh. Is she going to join us?”
Glenn’s brows drew down and she shook her head. “No, but she asked me if this was a date.”
Mari couldn’t stop the hot flush from climbing up her throat. “I see. Is that a problem?”
“Sorry?”
“I mean, is Carrie upset that we’re having dinner together? Do you want to cancel?”
“No, why would I do that?”
“Well, I thought—”
“I’ve been thinking about it all day,” Glenn went on in a rush, as if she had rehearsed what she was going to say and didn’t want to get sidetracked. “It wasn’t a date, when I mentioned it to you before, but I think I’d like it if it was. So would you like to have dinner with me, tonight. The two of us, like a date.”
Mari caught her breath. “Glenn…”
Glenn pushed away from the lockers. “Sorry, I didn’t do that very well. I apologize. You can forget I said anything.”
“No, that’s not it. It’s not what you think.”
“What do I think?”
Mari rose so quickly her head went light again. She rested her fingertips quickly against the locker to orient herself. “I don’t know how to say this without sounding incredibly clichéd. I don’t date, and it doesn’t have anything to do with you.”
Glenn laughed shortly. “Boy, there really isn’t any good way to say that, is there.”
