where no one lived. Sam felt incredibly out of place. She sat gingerly on the
edge of the sofa waiting Riley's return.
Riley breezed back into the room carrying a crystal vase filled with the flowers
Sam brought. She set them down in the middle of the coffee table then flopped
into the chair next to the couch.
"Thank you for the flowers they're beautiful."
"You're welcome."
The two women looked at each other unsure of what to say next. Riley finally
broke the silence.
"Would you like a tour?"
"Sure lead on." Sam said rising carefully from the sofa.
They headed into the kitchen first. It was just as stark as the living room. The
countertops were bare not even sporting your typical coffeemaker. The cabinets
were white with black accents; the counters were black marble. All the
appliances were stainless steel. There was a breakfast nook in the corner that
showed the only sign of life in the form of a small plant in the center of the table.
They headed upstairs next. There was a full bath off the hall again; it could have
come straight out of the pages of a magazine. The towels were perfectly
matched and the counter held a small basket with shaped soaps that appeared
to have never been used.
"I use the second bedroom as an office. Come on I'll show you." She offered.
The office matched the rest of the house. Everything was picture perfect there
wasn't even a pen or piece of paper on the ordered computer desk. The
bookshelves lining the room had the books neatly arranged by size. Sam
couldn't help comparing the room to her cluttered second bedroom that acted as
a guest room and housed her computer on a small desk tucked in the corner.
She was lucky if she could even find the desk under all the disks and CD's not to
mention all the papers. That's when it stuck her how little she actually knew
about Riley. She had only known the charismatic doctor in the hospital setting as
she breezed in and out of her room. This was a Riley she didn't know and she
began to wonder how the obviously upscale surgeon would view her decidedly
middle class life. Sam shook away the gloomy thoughts and followed Riley down
the hall. Riley stopped outside the last room at the end of the hall but didn't
enter.
"This is my bedroom," she said shyly.
Sam glanced in the door. It was the first room that looked like someone lived
there. There was a brass bed against the far wall unmade with clothes thrown all
over it. The dresser sitting on the wall near the window had keys, pens and
various paraphernalia strewn across the top. There were several prints that
looked to be by Ansel Adams. Riley pulled the door shut before Sam could get a
better look. She glanced at Riley and noticed her embarrassed flush.
"Excuse the mess, I didn't get home 'til late and my bedroom is the one place
the cleaning lady doesn't do." Riley explained.
"No problem, you should see mine." Sam said trying to ease Riley's obvious
embarrassment. Riley smiled gratefully before turning to walk back down the
hall.
A cleaning lady huh, well that explains the spotless rooms. It was just one more
thing emphasizing the differences in their lives.
They made their way back to the living room. Sam sat on the couch and Riley
sat in the chair next to it. They make mindless small talk for a few minutes
before the stilted conversation finally trailed off. Riley could see Sam was
uncomfortable but couldn't figure out why.
"So how long have you lived here?" Sam asked. Maybe she just moved in and
that's why everything is so sterile. She hasn't had time to add her own flair to things.
"Oh I've been here three years. My aunt and uncle pick the place out when I
started my Fellowship here."
Sam tried hard to hide her shock. Deciding it was time to change the subject she
glanced at her watch. "We need to leave if we're going to make our
reservations." She told Riley.
They head for the door and Sam breathed a sigh of relief as they left the condo.
She'd been very uncomfortable and felt incredibly out of place.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As they walk toward Sam's car Riley was having second thoughts. This wasn't
turning out the way she expected. She stopped just as they reach the security
gate.
"You want me to follow you? That way you won't have to drive all the way back
up here after dinner."
Sam frowned. Doesn't she want to ride with me? She wondered. She couldn't
quite read the look on Riley's face so decided to take a chance. "It would be my
pleasure to drive you to the restaurant then escort you home." Riley's reaction
was a bright smile. "Come your chariot awaits." Sam said smiling naturally for
the first time since entering the condo complex. She gallantly offered her arm to
Riley.
Riley took the offered arm squeezing it in response. She'd thought Sam was
regretting asking her out and was trying to give her a way out in case things
didn't improve.
Sam led Riley to her 98' Thunderbird opening the door for her. Sam couldn't help
noticing her car was the oldest one in the sparsely populated visitor's lot. As she
slid into the driver's seat, she felt a need to defend the car.
"I've never found another car with this much leg room. I was bummed when Ford
stopped making them."
Riley looked over to see Sam's long legs stretched out under the wheel. "I can
see that, I hope the seat isn't stuck in that position. I couldn't even reach the
pedals to drive."
Sam grinned; pleased Riley would even consider driving her car. "Don't worry we
could always get you those little blocks made for the pedals," she teased.
Sam burst out laughing at the look of outrage on Riley's face. Riley leaned over
the console lifting up slightly until she was next to Sam's ear.
"Watch it." She growled. "I'm a doctor and know just where to really hurt you."
Sam shivered at the sensation of Riley's hot breath in her ear. It caused a spark
of arousal to shoot through her body. Riley noticed Sam's sudden shiver.
"You should be afraid." She said with a satisfied smirk before sliding back into
her seat.
Sam grinned at her. If you only knew doc, she thought to herself. Sam reached
over and patted Riley's thigh. "I'll be good. No more vertically challenged jokes."
Riley looked over at Sam's grinning face, her eyes sparkling. Here was the
woman she'd come to know in the hospital. Her face was alight with mischief.
She relaxed back into the seat as the tight band across her chest let go. She
hadn't realized how tense she'd been.
Sam saw Riley sink into the seat and her whole body appeared to relax. She felt
the knot in her stomach disappear. They laughed and joked with each other all
the way down to the restaurant.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Riley looked around with interest as they waited to be seated. The restaurant
consisted of one large room decorated with a variety of item from maps of
Europe to photographs of Italy. The tables were covered with checkerboard table
clothes. She started noticing the clientele. She had never seen so many same-
sex couples in one place before. There were a few heterosexual couples but
they were in the minority. The hostess came over to seat them.