Page 37 of Doc Hollywood

Clara figured she should back him up, and she met the eyes of the other six doctors sitting at their table, agreeing, “You need to listen to him. If you do, we have a real chance of winning.”

“She’s right. He knows a lot,” Sadie confirmed.

“Like every week, we start with the picture round. These are all pictures of characters from the latest Superman movie. I want the character’s name and the actor or actress who played them,” Ron announced.

Mike jumped up and headed over to get their sheet.

Clara explained to Taylor. “We usually let him go first, or he’s annoying, and then the rest of us get to look at the pictures, and you can correct them.”

“No worries. I don’t want to upset anyone,” Taylor said, taking a sip of his pint, a look of satisfaction on his face as the beer passed his lips.

“Oh, he won’t be upset when having you here means we win,” Clara said loud enough for the rest of the table to hear.

“How do you know so much about Superman?” Hel interjected.

Clara swivelled her head to Taylor, raising an eyebrow at him, wondering how he was going to answer that question.

“I’ve always loved film. The science behind it and making movies. And I love superhero movies. The pure escapism of it, where there’s a hero who can swoop in and save the day from otherwise impossible situations. I don’t know.” Taylor shrugged. “It’s always appealed to me,”

“What job do you do?” Hel prompted.

Clara’s eyes widened, and she glanced up at Taylor, hoping he would think of something to say, but he was saved from answering as Mike had arrived back, making a fanfare about knowing at least four of the characters on the sheet.

Everyone leaned in to listen to him as he said the names out loud and began to fill them in.

“This one’s easy. Taylor Anders, Superman,” Mike declared, writing it down.

“Ummmm,” Clara started to try to correct him, but Hel broke in before she could.

“Oh my god. How can you get the easiest one wrong? That’s Taylor Anderson, not Anders. He’s the most famous man in Hollywood. Everyone knows that,” Hel chided.

Sadie helpfully started giggling again and stealing very unsubtle glances over at Taylor until Clara leaned across to poke her friend in the ribs.

“It’s definitely Anderson?” Mike queried, his pen poised over the paper.

“It’s definitely Anderson,” Taylor answered so dryly that Clara had to suppress another laugh.

They carried on through the photo round, with Mike getting the answers nearly right, the rest of them shouting him down, and Taylor stepping in to correct them when they were all getting it wrong.

When the round finished and they handed in their answers for marking, Hel held her hand out, demanding, “I want the photo page.”

“Why?” Mike asked, handing it down the table to her.

“I’m never going to meet him in real life, so I’m just going to place this picture of Taylor Anderson next to me. And for the evening, he’s going to be my imaginary boyfriend,” Hel crooned, taking the paper and folding it over so Taylor’s photo was on top.

Sadie laughed so hard that she began to cough. Taking a sip of her drink only made it worse, so she excused herself to the bathroom to attempt to pull herself back together again.

Clara managed to hold it together better than Sadie, although not by much. Hel had no clue how close she was sitting to the object of her affection.

She balled her hand on her thigh, squeezing as tight as she could to keep control, starting slightly when Taylor’s warm fingers gripped onto hers. She glanced over at him to see him also trying to control himself with his teeth biting into his lower lip.

Clara leaned into him, whispering. “It’s not too late to make an excuse to run away.”

He shook his head, gripping her hand harder, murmuring, “No, it’s fine. This is the most fun I’ve had in a while.”

“Really?” Clara’s eyebrows shot up. “Don’t you get to go to some amazing parties?”

Warmth spread up her arm from where he held her hand. She expected him to let go, but he showed no sign of releasing her.

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