Doctors And Pharmacists

Rahim FaceTime called Maryam the next morning, as was usual for them, as they were having their breakfast. Maryam was ready for work - wearing a red knitted crop-top, which exposed her neck and an ample amount of cleavage. Wearing her glasses, with her brown hair and curly brunette hair, Rahim felt he was married to a goddess, and found himself wishing he were there with her right now.

"Where'd you get off to last night then?" he asked with a cheeky smile.

They were both on each others wavelength enough to know when the other was feeling embarrassed or shy. It was clear to Rahim that Maryam was embarrassed about the topic of conversation broached at the end of last night, although Rahim surmised that she must have enjoyed it, at least somewhat, from her facial expressions as she orgasmed.

"Shut up---" Maryam replied back, blushing red on her fair cheeks, failing to repress a smile as she takes another spoonful of her cereal.

Rahim saw the opportunity to try and defuse whatever awkwardness there was, "You know you don't have to be embarrassed about anything in bed with me, right?" laughing and giving a reassuring smile to Maryam as he did. "I mean, I don't think any kink is going to be more weird than my love of feet," he added.

Appreciative of the effort, Maryam gives a smile back through the camera. "I know," she says, again taking another spoonful of cereal whilst blushing red. She half wanted to say something but seemingly stops herself.

"Did it turn you on? I mean the idea of this guy knowing how much of a slut you are?" Rahim asks with a smirk.

"I'm not a slut!" Maryam squealed defensively. Some women had a seeming duality to them - loving degrading words in the bedroom but unable to stand them outside of it, Maryam seemed to be one of those women.

"Okay, okay. But it did turn you on, right? Imagining him? Watching you? It turned me the fuck on..." Rahim said, in the hope that his honesty would inspire some from Maryam too.

"It's not that simple, Rahim..." Maryam hesitated, taking a deep breath. "I just... I don't know if I'm comfortable talking about this." Her eyes darted nervously away from the screen.

"Okay, I get it, I'm sorry," Rahim said, realising that this wasn't a battle he wanted to take on particularly. Rahim paused before changing the subject, "How's today looking at work?"

Maryam sighed in relief, happy that Rahim hadn't pressed further. Although she didn't want to admit it, even to herself, the topic was bringing out emotions she wasn't sure how to process.

She shrugged, "Same old, really." She took another spoonful of cereal, finishing it, trying to seem nonchalant. She continued, "The hospital's so busy lately. I just hate COVID, it's ruined everything. No breaks. No regular wards. The only good thing is that the roads are empty, so i can get out of that place quicker." Her voice trailed off slightly, lost in though. "Anyway, enough about me, what about you?" she asked.

Rahim leant back onto his sofa. "Yeah, same old shit, really. Yesterday's on-call was horrible. Just getting bleeped every 2 minutes, all about patients who are desaturating, I can't wait to move to surgery next month."

"Careful what you wish for, Dr Khan," Maryam says with a teasing smile, feeling more like herself again, pushing her glasses back closer to her eyes. She smiled at him warmly. "Seriously though, I'm sure you'll be great on surgery. It'll be nice to have the time to wind down a little," she added.

Rahim glances at the time on his phone. "Babe, I need to head out, We'll catch up later today, yeah?" he asked, preparing his work bag and going over to his desk to grab his car keys, his phone in the other hand.

"I will babe. Talk to you later - I love you." She blew him a kiss over the phone before hanging up, before realising she herself was at danger of being late. She quickly finished getting ready, applied light makeup and pulled her curly brown hair up into a messy bun. Grabbing her bag, she hurried out of the door and started her car.

Pulling onto the motorway, Maryam turned up the volume of Radiohead's "Creep", belting along to the lyrics. Despite herself, she caught herself replaying Rahim's words over in her head - "Did it turn you on?"

As she pulled into the car park at work, stilling humming the lyrics of the song under her breath, she parked her car, grabbed her bag and headed towards the hospital, feeling the familiar bustle and energy of the building enveloping her.

A well rehearsed routine by now, she entered the changing rooms and swapped out her jeans and top for a pair of dark blue scrubs, and walked onto the ward, where the junior doctors were standing around, on computers-on-wheels, near the nurse's station.

As she approached the nurses station, she noticed Andrew's eyes flicking upwards to meet hers, glancing quickly down to her cleavage before meeting her eyes again. He offered her a casual nod and greeted her with a polite, "Morning."

"Morning," Maryam responded, returning the polite greeting with a small smile. She noticed how his eyes lingered on her chest just long enough to make her blush. Immediately, she felt a streak of anger and irritation, shocked at how blasé he was about looking at a colleague in such a manner.

As Maryam settled in behind a desk at the nurses station, she could feel Andrew's eyes burn into her back, undoubtedly still fixed onto the curve of her hips, outlined beneath the tight fit of her scrub pants. She tried to concentrate on the list of drug charts for new admissions in front of her, but couldn't shake the feeling of Andrew watching her every movement.

Suddenly, the ward doors swung open and Dr Burns, the consultant of the ward, strode in with purpose and a coffee cup in hand. His eyes landed on Maryam and he gave her a brisk nod. Maryam felt Andrew's gaze shift away from her as Dr Burns walked past, barking orders and greetings simultaneously.

Dr Burns walked to the group of junior doctors and handed them a list of administrative tasks that he had been emailed about, before turning to Maryam, asking for a quick update on the day's medication rounds.

Maryam began updating Dr Burns on the day's medication rounds, whilst casting occasional glances at Andrew, still sitting at the desk, on the computer, who seemed to be deliberately avoiding her gaze.

"Okay, guys, I have a meeting at 1pm, so in the interest of both of our time and energy, can we start the ward round?" Dr Burns announces, which leads to the group of four junior doctors on the ward, half carrying around the paper notes of patients, ready to write down whatever Dr Burns dictated whilst the other half were on computer-on-wheels, ready to dig out whatever information they needed to about patients.

Andrew went along as part of this delegation, without a computer or any paper notes, thinking he was above such a lowly task of documenting for a medical ward round.

Maryam finished reviewing her drug charts quickly and joined the ward round. Andrew followed Maryam and the rest of the team, as they wrapped up the round, matching his pace to hers, making small talk.

"Thanks", Maryam replied softly, walking beside Andrew as they continued down the hall towards the staircase, leading to the intensive care unit (ICU). As they reached the stairwell, Andrew slowed his steps again to match Maryam's. "Busy day today, huh?" he commented.

Maryam glanced over at hime, her eyes meeting his for a moment. "Yeah, seems that way," she murmured quietly, wondering why he was bothering with her today; he usually kept his distance.

Their footsteps echoed through the stairwell as they climbed, side-by-side, behind the other junior doctors. "So, how do you like working here?" Andrew asked, surprising Maryam.

She hesitated and looked taken aback by the sudden interest. "Uh... I guess it's fine," she managed to reply. "Just the same as any other hospital, really." She avoided looking directly at him as she spoke.

Andrew smirked. "Sounds boring," he teased, showing off a charming smile. "You should come to the operating theatres sometime."

Maryam glanced up at him, catching his playful expression. She raised an eyebrow, "Boring is good sometimes."

"You'll never be bored with me," Andrew short back, a twinkle in his blue eyes. Maryam was taken aback, suddenly feeling a little defensive about her job.

"I actually hate the operating theatres. So cold and sterile." Again, she avoids looking at his eyes directly.

"Oh, I wasn't talking about the surgery," Andrew said with a smirk, watching as Maryam blushed.

Maryam wondered if she should have answered differently, or just stopped talking to him altogether. She felt outraged and irritated by such a blatant attempt to flirt with a married woman.

Andrew held open the door to the ICU for Maryam, and she stepped inside. As they approach the desk, Dr Burns talked to the nurse-in-charge and enquired about one of his patients, as the delegate is ushered toward the relevant bay.

Maryam glanced around the unit and realised Andrew was no longer behind her, instead, spotting him standing a little way off, leaning against the wall with his phone in hand.

She continued staring blankly as Dr Burns continued the ward round, occasionally stealing glances at Andrew, who was still on his phone but seemed to have his attention somewhere else. She even forgot that she technically wasn't even covering the ICU, so didn't need to be there.

As the ward round concluded, Maryam seized the opportunity to escape Andrew's immediate vicinity, making her way back to the main hospital block, checking her phone and realising it was lunch time, making her way down to the cafeteria. She grabbed a table near the window, overlooking the greenery outside the hospital, sitting with a colleague, whom she had arranged to meet for lunch today.

Yasmin, a fellow Pharmacist and colleague, joined and Maryam opened her lunch box and began eating, taking small bites of her sandwich. "I presume your day is going about as shit as mine?" she asked, putting her bag on the chair next to her and sitting down with her chicken salad.

"Worse, I think. Ward round finished at 1pm today," Maryam says as she rolls her eyes. Maryam enjoyed the company of Yasmin, who was a few years older, from the same background as her.

"It's OK though, we're just the pharmacists, always serving the holier-than-thou doctors," she says with a sarcastic smile. "Sorry, I should be more careful with what I say, now that you're in bed with the enemy," she teased Maryam about Rahim.

She fills Maryam up on the gossip taking place on her ward - a patient finding out her husband was cheating on her in hospital, two junior doctors who were caught snogging each other in the doctor's office and a consultant sleeping with yet another medical student.

Maryam felt her phone vibrate, with a message from Rahim: 'I miss you.' Followed by an emoji of a heart. She smiled at the sweet message, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, nibbling on her bottom lip, hesitating before typing out a response.

'Do you?' Maryam messaged back playfully as she glanced out of the window, watching people pass by in their cars. Thoughts of Rahim tumbled around in her mind.

Her phone buzzed again, signalling a reply. "How about I show you much I missed you tonight?" he teased, rousing a sneaky grin from Maryam. She replied with a winking emoji, finishing the rest of her lunch and separating from Yasmin.

After a long afternoon of reviewing drug charts and attending meetings, she stood up from her desk with a stretch and yawn, rubbing her sore shoulders. Before heading to the changing rooms, Maryam decided to grab a cup of tea. She shuffled to the kitchen on the ward and switched on the kettle, gazing out the window onto the hospital garden as she waited for the kettle to boil. As she poured herself a steaming cup of tea, the door behind her opened and in walked Andrew, holding a mug in one hand and a tired grin on his face.

Andrew's eyes met hers as he entered, one eyebrow raised in surprise. "You're still here," he noted casually, walking toward her as Maryam returned a mild smile. "I thought pharmacy was a 9 to lunchtime job," he joked.

He filled his teapot with hot water, then returned to her side. "We do have lots of other things to do, paperwork, emails.." Maryam said, feeling defensive and as though she wasn't making a good enough defence of herself, also a little annoyed at his joke.

Andrew grinned, "Well, I've got plenty of paperwork myself.. maybe we could help each other out sometime?" He winked playfully as he added milk to his tea. Maryam averted her gaze, unsure of how to respond, before noticing the silver wedding ring on his finger. Seriously? He was married, too?

Maryam's eyes flicked away from the ring, hesitating about what to say. "My husband is waiting to help at home," she stated plainly, taking a sip of her tea. She hoped that would discourage him without being too blunt.

Andrew's grin faltered slightly at the mention of her husband. "Ah yes, of course," he nodded, taking a sip of his own tea, eyes lingering for just a second too long at Maryam's body, almost daring her to say something, as though he were testing her. "Anyway, need to head off - lots to do!" he says with another grin, before leaving.

The rest of the week went by, where Maryam and Andrew had limited contact with each other, for various reasons.

Over the next two weeks, Maryam and Rahim fell into a routine of sharing stories about their days. Maryam decided to invite Rahim over for dinner during the upcoming weekend. As the weekend arrived, Maryam began cooking early in the evening, preparing a traditional Pakistani meal- biryani and karahi gosht. Maryam set the dining table beautifully and lit some candles. She slipped into a dark green shalwar kameez, its intricate embroidery glinting under the dim lighting. As Maryam touched up her makeup and double- checked her reflection in the mirror, she heard a knock at the front door.

Maryam smoothed out the wrinkles on her emerald green shalwar kameez, its sequins glinting under the soft glow of the hallway lights. She slipped on her

heeled sandals and took a deep breath before opening the door. Rahim stood there, dressed sharply in a black button-down shirt and jeans, holding a bouquet of white roses. Rahim smiled at Maryam as he passed her the flowers, his eyes lingering on her outfit. "You look gorgeous," he whispered, placing a gentle kiss on her cheek before entering the house. Maryam brought the roses to her nose, inhaling deeply before carrying them to the kitchen to place them in a vase.

As Maryam arranged the roses in a vase, Rahim settled comfortably on the sofa, taking in the beautiful setting she had created. The aroma of the delicious food wafted through the air, enticing both of them. Maryam plated the biryani and karahi gosht, arranging the dishes carefully on the serving plates. She carried them to the dining table, where Rahim was already seated. Rahim admired her silhouette against the bright kitchen light, the green silk clinging gently to her curves. He cleared his throat as she approached the table, setting down the food with a flourish. As Maryam set down the food, Rahim admired her toned legs accentuated by her high-heeled sandals. He stood up to pull out a chair for her. "Thank you," she smiled graciously as she took her seat.

Maryam and Rahim shared a tender look across the table. He broke the silence. "This smells amazing." Taking her hand, he brought it to his lips, kissing the back of her hand gently. She felt a warmth spread through her, happy that they were finally spending some time together after what seemed like ages. After a moment of eye contact, Maryam gently withdrew her hand and settled down. "Enjoy your

meal, habibi."

They dug in, laughing and chatting about their week between mouthfuls of fragrant rice and tender meat. As they sat in the dimly-lit dining room, savouring

the delicious meal, Rahim grew thoughtful. He considered broaching the topic that had been weighing heavily on his mind since their discussion a few weeks ago.

After dinner, Maryam and Rahim moved to the living room, relaxing on the plush couch. Maryam curled up next to Rahim, resting her head on his shoulder as he played with strands of her hair.

As Maryam rested her head on his chest, Rahim felt emboldened to bring up the subject that had been lurking in the back of his mind. Inhaling deeply, Rahim began hesitantly, "Maryam, you know how you've always encouraged me to

explore my fantasies..." Maryam glanced up at him, intrigued by his train of thought.

She nodded, curiosity piqued. "Of course," she murmured softly. His hand found her chin, tilting it upwards to look into his eyes. He searched her face, debating whether or not to share his thoughts.

"You've always been open to my ideas, like the feet stuff, the BDSM stuff" he continued, choosing his words carefully, "and I wanted to run something by you." Maryam shifted her body to face him, giving him her full attention.

She stared at him expectantly, her heart pounding in anticipation. "What is it?" she breathed, a hint of nervous excitement in her voice. Rahim locked eyes

with Maryam, the weight of his next words palpable.

Rahim hesitated for a moment, considering how best to articulate his thoughts without sounding ridiculous. "Well, you that guy who stares at you at work... and, well, I started to wonder..."Rahim took a deep breath before continuing, "And I

started to think what if... what if that guy was into you?"

Maryam's eyes widened slightly, caught off guard by his revelation. "What makes you think that?"

"I mean, you told me yourself he doesn't stop staring at you. That has to be a sign of something." Rahim glanced down at Maryam, her fingers tracing patterns on his arm.

Maryam blushed, lowering her eyes, "I... I wouldn't know," she stuttered. She began twisting a lock of hair absentmindedly, a habit whenever she felt anxious or uncertain. "What if he is?"

"That shouldn't come as a huge surprise to you, does it?" Rahim asked gently, prompting her. Maryam shook her head silently, biting her lower lip before pulling away to tuck her hair behind her ears.

"I mean... he does stare at me a lot, but-" Maryam's eyes shifted back to Rahim, searching his face for clues as to why he was pursuing this line of questioning. "-it doesn't necessarily mean anything, right?"

"...but-" Maryam stopped mid-sentence, as she saw Rahim shaking his head slowly.

"Listen," he said softly, "all I'm saying is, wouldn't it be kind of exciting if someone was?" He raised his brows invitingly.

Maryam blinked, the implications of Rahim's suggestion slowly sinking in. "Kind of... exciting?" she repeated, bewilderment evident in her tone. "What do you mean?"

"What I mean is," Rahim continued, his voice barely above a whisper, "wouldn't you like to find out if he's interested?" His thumb traced circles on her shoulder as he spoke, keeping his gaze steady on her face.

He paused, giving her space to absorb what he had just suggested. His fingers continued to trace idle patterns on her skin, drawing light goosebumps in their wake.

Maryam's mind raced, processing the implications of Rahim's suggestion. She swallowed hard, drawing a sharp intake of breath as she grasped his intent. "Are you serious?" she gasped, eyes widening in disbelief.

"I am," Rahim replied softly, his gaze steady on her. He could see the conflict written plainly on her face. "Look," he continued gently, "you don't have to answer now. Think about it. It's just an idea."

Maryam's eyes widened, searching Rahim's face for any hint of insincerity, any sign that he was joking. He simply smiled reassuringly, patiently awaiting her response.