Page 56 of Locke 2

“Hey,Kari,” Jem called out, disrupting us. “You think they sprinkle gold dust in our coffees? Is that why it costs so much?”

The doctor looked at Jem, and his smile waned. My smile was tight as I let out a fake chuckle. “Uh, maybe!”

“Is that your partner…or work colleague?” Nick wondered.

“Neither,” I returned quickly.

Two seconds later, Jem was standing at my side, shoving the last pointy bit of his ice cream cone into his mouth. He crunched audibly as he looked over the doctor from head to toe. “Who the fuck is this guy?” he asked me, making my heart drop to my stomach.

The doctor raked a hand through his thick hair, glancing at the order station. I glared up at Jem. “This isDoctorNick Abbot.”

Jem’s brows flew up. He let out a whistle. “Doctor, hey? You know each other?”

Nick looked back at Jem. I thought he’d excuse himself, but he stared hard at Jem. “I treated Kari recently.”

Jem feigned a look of concern as he looked at me. “Oh, no. Are you alright, sweetie? Anything I need to worry about?”

I narrowed my eyes on him. “No need to worry,friend,but thanks for asking.”

Jem chuckled at the friend reference and left us, stepping closer to the serving station. My icy expression melted when I looked back at Nick. “Anyway…”

Nick smiled again, but he didn’t seem as enthused. “We should schedule that follow up.”

I nodded. “Definitely.”

“I hope things are going well with you, and that your anxiety has eased.”

This time I couldn’t help the emotion from slipping. “It’s been hard actually…a boy I cared about left class abruptly. You might have heard about him.”

His face fell. “Which boy?”

“His name’s Lenny, and he already worried me before he left. They say his mom took off, and that might be the case, but I’m worried.”

He looked like he wanted to reach his hand out to touch me, but he refrained, glancing at Jem again. “Kari, I’m sorry to hear that. Seeing kids in those situations is never easy. If there’s anything I can do to help, you have to let me know.”

“Thanks, Nick.”

Concern shone in his eyes. “What you do isn’t easy.”

“Same to you. You’re a doctor. You see people in bad shape all the time.”

“I don’t make strong connections with them like you do.”

Used to do, actually. “I appreciate your words.”

“Of course.” His eyes softened. ““Hopefully I’ll catch you in here again?”

“I hope so.”

He didn’t look like he wanted to go, but he didn’t want to deal with Jem. I didn’t blame him. He stepped closer and dropped his voice. “Have a good morning, Kari.”

“You, too.”

He moved across the cafe, but he did cast me another concerned glance, followed by a curious one at Jem.

Great, so I bumped into the handsome doctor, and it was going alright, we shared a couple laughs, and then Jem came along and blew it to smithereens.

Then again, Nick was really sweet at the end, so it wasn’t a total bust.

---