Page 39 of Huge Dynamite
“All right, Dr. Wins-at-Everything. Spill. Name one thing you have done in your life that was stupid.”
Holding my breath, I hope she’s not counting the tattoo or me.
Nodding, she counts things out on her fingers as she goes. “Let’s see: I was captain of the cheer team, president of the debate club—with an undefeated record that still holds today—valedictorian, and then the top one percent of my Ivy League med school’s graduating class.”
“Ha.”
Chuckling, I pick a piece of chocolate off of her Ring Ding and she smacks my hand away playfully.
“Do not mess with my chocolate.” Her face changes then and she looks at her nails, picking at them. “Seth? Why did you laugh?”
“Because you just named a bunch of accomplishments that would make anyone proud. Heck, I’m proud of you.”
“Thank you. But I didn’t laugh at your list of stupid things. Why are you laughing at mine?” She’s serious.
“Holly, I’m sorry, I don’t understand what you could possibly mean.”
Turning in bed, she tucks the sheet around her breasts. “With all that, Seth, everything I’ve done, I forgot to live.”
“What do you want to do?”
Her face lights up. “The same thing I have wanted to do since I was six years old, playing with my dolls and pretending they were sick. I want to open a clinic and help people. With the healthcare system in this country, so many people come to the ER for every little thing, and I can’t blame them. It’s the only way they can get medical treatment. At my clinic, I’ll offer low-cost or no-cost healthcare. The same as you would get in the ER, but in a nicer, smaller environment with excellent doctors. I even know the place I want it. There’s a little town just between Hoppa and Phoenix…”
My stomach flips over as I wonder where exactly she means and whose turf it is on. Pushing my concerns away, I smile at her. “Holly, that’s an amazing goal. Why not do it?”
Sighing, she flops back and crosses her arms before her. “Because I’ve let too many people run my life for me. That’s why my greatest accomplishments are also my greatest regrets. I’ll be thirty years old soon, and I know that’s not old, but I’ve never really lived a day in my life.” Smiling, she adds, “Well, until these past couple of nights.”
There’s something in the way she says it… “Is that why you’re here? With me?”
“Excuse me?” She stiffens.
“Are you here because I’m an experience? You want to try something out? See what it’s like to go slumming?”
“Slumming?” The corners of her mouth dip down into a scowl. “I’m sorry, Seth, I can’t imagine what made you say something like that. I have never alluded that you and I were different in any way. I wouldn’t be here if I thought we were incompatible, or if I didn’t really like you.” Reaching down to the floor next to the bed, she grabs my Van Halen T-shirt and slides it on.
Damn, she’s pissed, and it’s making me feel so bad I barely notice how great she looks in my shirt.
“All I meant is that a woman like you—”
“A woman like me?” Jumping out of my bed, she grabs her panties off of the floor and slides them on. “What is that, huh, Seth? A woman like me? Snobby, spoiled, rich—a Daddy’s Girl?” Storming to the bathroom, she comes back with her bra, the sweats I lent her, and her dirty clothes. Lifting my T-shirt just over her belly, she slides on her bra and with some magic-like move, she gets both arms through and fastens it. Standing there, the way her forehead is creased and the corners of her mouth turn down, she looks genuinely sad. “What if I said that I never expected breakfast in bed from a ‘man like you’?”
“Is that true?”
Tilting her head, she sighs and her shoulders slump. “You know, I thought you were different, Seth. I really did.”
“I am different.” Holding my hands out to either side, I motion to my apartment. “Just look at this place.”
She takes a step toward me. “Don’t you get it? That’s exactly what Robert would have said. And no, it’s not fair to compare you to that jerk, and I’m sorry for saying that, but my point is that Robert judges everyone by their image and their surroundings, and you just did the same. Did I want to be with you because you were different? Yes, absolutely. But was it because you’re a Steel Knight, or a biker, or not a doctor, or rugged? No. It’s because I thought we had a connection, and you never judged me.That’show you were different. From that first night in the hospital, you just talked and listened. But now I see I was wrong. You’re as quick to give us labels and fit us both into neat little categories as anyone else.”
Clutching her dirty clothes to her chest, she turns and leaves my room. I follow on her heels.
Stopping in the living room, she turns to me. “I came to Hoppa’s Taphouse twice, Seth. Two times.” She holds up her fingers. “You don’t do that if you’re looking to go slumming for one night.” Shaking her head, her eyes become glassy.
She’s really hurt. Shit.
“Holly, listen.”
“No.” Putting up her hand, she stops me. “I think we’ve both said plenty. Thank you for breakfast and… last night. Bye, Seth.” Turning, she grabs her keys off of the kitchen counter and rushes out my door.
