When Ordinary Isn't

"What did Doctor Gupta do when you told him?" Nina asked.

"About what I expected," Peggy replied. "Nothing. He just said, 'Thanks for the heads up.'"

"He's such a frigging jerk," Stephanie said, finishing her margarita and swirling her legs languidly from the deck at the edge of the pool.

"Yeah, I hoped he'd give just a little bit of something resembling a congratulations." Peggy sighed, resting her arms on the coping.

"I'm empty," Stephanie said, rattling the ice in her red plastic cup toward her friend. "Did you make more?"

"Oops," Nina answered. She grabbed the plastic pitcher and turned to go inside. "Got distracted. I'll do it now."

"So. It's official. You turned in your notice and everything," Stephanie said.

"Yeah. Yesterday."

"Sure feels like my best friend is leaving forever."

"Come on, Steph, please don't go there. It's a beautiful day, and we haven't been able to chill out like this for a while. How long has it been since all three of our schedules aligned with

none

of us even on call?"

"Four or five months, at least."

Nina returned with the pitcher and refilled or topped off each of the three cups. She sat her own on the edge before she waded into the pool.

"This place has to be listed by a top-tier agent. It'll take serious talent to sell a house this nice," Nina observed.

"I'm not selling."

"Why not?"

"Well, for one thing, I don't need to. I'm thinking I'll keep it as a vacation home or something."

"Have you found a place to live in Oklahoma yet?" Stephanie asked.

"Nope. I'm going there next week to start looking."

"Is Eric flying you there in his wonder-bird?"

"No. I'm flying commercial."

"Why, girl?" Stephanie laughed. "His plane was sah

weet

."

"I can't just ask him to shell out like ten grand or more for my convenience," she answered.

"Are you out of your mind?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Peggy asked.

"You can lie to yourself, but don't lie to me, girl. The man is head-over-heels in love with you. I bet if you asked him to send his plane for you right now, he'd do it in half a heartbeat."

"Yeah." She smiled and blushed a little. "But I wouldn't do that, especially after the crap he's gone through."

"There's Miss Prissy again," Nina said.

Peggy laughed. "Shut your pie-hole."

"Peg, are you sure about all this?"

"Yeah. I am."

"You're sure you're not just doing it because Eric lives there?" Stephanie asked.

Peggy considered her question. "I wish I could say with absolute certainty, but I can't.

"What I do know is, if I'd come across the position on my own without him being in the middle of it all, I probably would have applied for it. I'm pretty damned sure I would have been chosen for it even if Eric wasn't the donor.

"But I don't know. I think the fact he was in the room with me emboldened me. It gave me more of a spark. I think his presence imbued me with more confidence than I might have been able to muster on my own.

"He told me several times he was very careful not to exert any sort of influence in the board's decision. And I believe him."

"Good," Nina nodded. "You need to believe in yourself."

"But that's the thing. He

did

exert influence. He influenced

me

. In a good way. He

encouraged

me."

"Aw, that's so sweet." Stephanie said with a sigh.

"When are you two getting back together?" Nina asked.

"I don't know." Peggy sniffled. "He told me last night that he's been hanging around at his ranch since he'd not been there in a while and had nothing going on in Oklahoma. I miss the hell out of him."

"Good

god

, girl," Stephanie said. "You really

are

in love with that man."

"Yeah, I am," Peggy admitted, splashing a palm of water on her face, trying to hide the tears forming in her eyes. The ruse didn't mask the thickening of her voice.

"Oh,

sweetie

, you are so

screwed

!" Stephanie grinned, hugging her friend. Nina embraced her other side.

"See what you've done?" Peggy said. "You've made me cry."

"Are the 'ritas helping?" Nina asked with a laugh.

"Yeah, probably, but... I'm going to miss you two so much!"

It'd been a long time since the three ladies had shared such time with each other. They spent the remainder of the night binge-watching TV, gorging on junk food and fine wine, only to wake up to do it all over again.

Workdays crawled along for Peggy. Shortly after she had turned in her resignation, the Chief of Surgery, Doctor Gupta, had removed her from surgical rotation for anything other than assists. Though she knew it was standard practice, it made for less than fulfilling days.

When her four day workweek ended, she was unneeded for three with one on-call day to follow.

She called her love, craving the sound of his voice.

"Hey!" she said when he answered his phone.

"Hi, baby! What's up?"

"I'm packing for my flight tomorrow. I am so looking forward to seeing you."

"I can't wait to see you, either, honey. Why won't you let me send my jet for you? You've got, what, a six-hour trip ahead of you?"

"Yeah. Flying Continental and laying over in Houston. But I know it costs you a lot to fly that plane," she said.

"Sweetheart. Don't think of it that way, okay? For you, it's worth every penny."

"I love you, Eric. I don't

ever

want you to think I'm using you."

"I love you, too, Peggy, and I don't get that sense at all. I'm just saying."

"You're so sweet."

"What time are you landing in Oklahoma?"

"I think around 3:30 your time."

"Can I pick you up at the airport?"

"I'll need to get a rental car."

"You can use one of mine if you want. No sense in you renting one when I have two sitting in my garage doing nothing," he offered.

"Okay, that works for me," she replied with what Eric sensed as an actual audible smile.

"

God

I can't wait to see you."

"Same for me, baby."

"Next time, you're flying private."

"You might not have to twist my arm too hard to convince me," she said.

"See you tomorrow, Peg. I love you."

"I love you, too, sweetheart. Until then."

She finished packing, then latched her suitcase before crawling into her bed. She sorely missed the scent of her lover being next to her.

The next morning, Eric finished his business at the ranch by signing the pedigree for his newest colt. Its registered name would need to be approved by several governing bodies. "Twice Struck" came immediately to his mind. In the double play, "Lucky" would be the colt's informal name.

Mickey helped push the Skylane out of the hangar in a light drizzle. Sophie wanted to jump on board, but her master kept her out.

"You can't go! It's going to be bumpy and it'll make you sick."

"You know she doesn't understand a word you're saying, right?" said Mickey.

"I was talking to you."

"Hah! You'll never get me in this dinky little tin can." Mickey laughed as he stowed the chocks in the tail under the cargo net then latched the small door.

Eric placed his luggage in the aft seat as Mickey returned to the ATV with Sophie and headed off to check on Lucky.

Preflight completed, he called clearance delivery via his cellphone for his instrument flight plan then was airborne five minutes after he programmed the assigned route into the plane's GPS.

It was, indeed, a bumpy ride. His plane flew through low clouds and several rain showers. He saw very little of the ground for the entire ninety-minute flight, made long because of a significant headwind. It was raining as he flew the ILS approach to runway 35L at Will Rogers Airport. Though visibility was above minimums, he kept the autopilot engaged until the plane was fifty feet from the ground.

Eight minutes of taxi later, he buttoned up the plane in the hangar and drove his truck to the commercial terminal, arriving about a half hour before Peggy's flight was scheduled to arrive. The same rain through which he'd flown was part of stronger storms to the south, so Peggy's arrival was delayed an hour.

He passed the time perusing a couple of magazines he selected at a newsstand.

When an app on his phone notified him of the arrival of the flight, he positioned himself in a blind spot in the baggage claim area and waited for his love to appear. He watched the beautiful woman at the carousel scan faces, seeking his.

When a buzzer warned of the impending motion of the luggage belt, she was distracted and began to inspect the bags moving by.

He stealthily approached her from behind, leaned near her ear, and whispered, "Hello, gorgeous," immediately before pawing her ass.

Intensely startled, she turned toward the apparent assailant.

"You jerk!" she hollered before embracing him. "Shame on you for sneaking up on me like that."

"Payback for laser tag." He laughed as he enveloped her and kissed her sweetly. "

God

I missed you."

"Me, too."

He chuckled. "You missed yourself?"

She tongue-kissed him in full view of at least fifty other passengers and giggled. "You know what I mean."

"Mercy, baby. I'm so glad you're here. What do you have planned?"

"Mainly looking for a place to live." She smiled. "But, right now, I'm hungry. The bag of raisins on the plane didn't quite cut it. Got any ideas for dinner?"

"Yeah. Come on. Let's go to my favorite place."

"Lead the way."

After collecting Peggy's luggage, they walked to the parking lot and placed it into Eric's truck. They spent twenty minutes slaking their thirsts for each other before they departed the airport.

"How's everything in Florida?" Eric asked.

"Well, It seems I'm

persona non grata

now. Things are drying up workwise because Doctor Gupta is being a prick. I understand I can't be assigned primary for surgeries, but he's now removing me from assisting slots, too."

"That stinks," Eric offered. "Hopefully your new boss will be better. I haven't met the Chief of Surgery there, so I wouldn't know."

"I have. I had a Zoom meeting with her the other day. She's like incredibly high-energy. She talked so fast I could barely keep up with her. She sent me all kinds of stuff so I can start prepping for Oklahoma's medical licensing commission."

"That's good, right?"

"Absolutely. I've already applied for my license. It'll take a few months, though, because of the bureaucracy and all that crap, even longer if Gupta sits on his hands for the credentials request."

"What do they expect you to do before all the paperwork gets finished? Just sit at a desk or something?"

"Well, I'll definitely be doing a lot of that because I have to staff an entirely new unit. I've already started preparing the postings for the Human Resources department. I can also observe surgeries and start getting a feel for the various standards and practices at the hospital."

"Oh. I hadn't thought about that kind of stuff."

"Yep, there's a lot to do... uh, Eric? Whoa, dude, where are we going?" Peggy asked, suddenly grasping their surroundings as they passed through secured gates into a residential neighborhood.

"My favorite dinner place," he said with a smile.

"You just happened to pick up a wayward traveler at an airport and decided to take her home with you?" she grinned.

"Yeah." He elongated the word with lascivious humor.

"And, may I ask, what do you plan on doing with her once you get her there?"

He chuckled lightly. "I plan on feeding her."

"Nice."

She laughed even more vigorously as he pulled into the driveway of a single-story brick house.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Not a thing. I only figured you'd have a big-ol' mansion or something. This place is so..."

"Ordinary?"

"It's great, and fits you to a tee." She smiled, gripping his hand in hers.

"Come on. Let's go inside so I can get dinner in the oven."

"Goody. I can't wait," she said with a grin.

He placed their luggage in a hallway.

"I hope you like Italian, because I was planning on lasagna."

"Oh my

gosh

that sounds so good."

"Hey," Peggy said after he placed a casserole dish into the preheated oven. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course."

"What's going on?"

"What do you mean?"

"Between you and me. What's going on? I want to know what you're thinking."

"Peggy, are you worried about something?"

"No. Not at all. I just kind of want to know what you think about all of this."

Eric washed his hands at the sink as he thought about her question.

"Doctor Margaret 'Peggy' Foreman," he began. "I love your name, by the way, even though I still feel pretty stupid not realizing I should have asked for Margaret when I was trying to find you at your hospital.

"Peggy, a woman who stole my heart within hours after I became aware of her existence, has asked what I think.

"It all began when a lovely, incredibly

tall

woman entered a drugstore in Florida at which I was waiting for a prescription I needed because I had injured myself due to my own irresponsibility.

"I saw her face the very second she stepped into the queue, and found her to be startlingly attractive. It'd been a long time since a woman gave me such a first impression.

"She turned her back, and I noticed a little spot on her scrubs. She told me later how she didn't think she could be attractive since that particular aspect of her femininity had escaped her control and made itself visible.

"I admit, I found it a tad confusing. I'd always assumed women were in complete control of such things, so I decided I might offer her a way to avoid any embarrassment she might have been feeling. Even though two thirds of the customers present were ladies, no other woman in the area chose to do so. Maybe they didn't notice. I don't know.

"The lovely lady accepted my offering, and later also accepted my request to join me for a bit of comfort food in the form of delicious desserts. She declined until I offered to supply her with a change of clothing.

"The woman, thank

god

, accepted my offer, and joined me for cheesecake, pie, and coffee. The conversation we shared was

miles

beyond small-talk. It was... it was how she displayed a particular brilliance which piqued me."

Peggy laughed at his recitation but didn't interrupt because she was enjoying hearing such a storied narration.

"We talked about all manner of things, and I learned more about her expertise and her aspirations. She wasn't just an attractive woman, but was such a beautiful person. I was worried she might be aware of my... um... status, because of prior horrible experiences I'd had."

It was the first time he hesitated, and she noticed it.

"Baby," she whispered, "I--"

"So anyway," he continued. "When she surprised me with a kiss in the parking lot of the café, the sensations I felt slayed me. She was the first woman to kiss me in such a way in a very long time. To say I was surprised would be an understatement, but I was thrilled.

"She asked if she could follow me back to my resort. When we were there, she told me how she was so uncertain of her appearance, and how other dip-shitted ape-men described her. It angered me how any man would treat a woman in such a manner, let alone one I found so interesting and lovely, because it was the complete opposite of how I felt about her.

"But then,

I

acted like an ape. I selfishly asked the woman to exhibit her figure overtly, and to my surprise, she did. Her form was a wonder to my eyes.

"She held me close to her and allowed me the joy of holding her somewhat intimately. I felt guilty for thinking the thoughts I was having, and I, as kindly as I could manage, ended the evening, ashamed of my behavior.

"The priceless woman invited me to continue our fated encounter the next morning with breakfast at an ordinary fast food joint. The way she looked that day made me think she knew I found her attractive because she'd stepped up her game.

"I enjoyed the woman's company more than I can describe. She showed me such genuine interest and made me feel confident and relaxed around her. I relished it. Her sweetness addled my brain, and I couldn't stop thinking about her. Her affections were incredible, and it truly knocked me off my track, just like she almost did at Andretti's."

Peggy laughed lightly.

"I didn't know I was falling for the most amazing woman I'd ever met, and I also didn't understand the pain I was feeling when we separated. I wasn't expecting it. At

all

.

"When the wonderful woman, by bizarre coincidence of fate, finally reconnected with me, and I discovered who she really was--"

"God, Eric--"

"Yeah, my love, I--"

"I love you! God!" She sniffled. "Why'd you do that?"

"Because you asked me to," he answered with a thickened voice. "And I wanted to tell you, but, I'm not finished.

"When we each discovered who the other was, it became apparent we were somehow linked across time and space. I know it sounds crazy, but I feel like I had, for the very first time, met someone I'd somehow known for a long time.

"Mathematics can't calculate the infinitesimally small odds, Peggy. But it happened. It happened in a big way. I'm in love with the woman of my dreams."

She wrapped her arms around him and settled into his warm body. "You are really something, you know that?"

"I hope that's a compliment," he said.

"It sure as hell is. You strum the strings of my soul just as well as you can a guitar's."

He chuckled at the metaphor, held her close to him, settled his fingers against the subtle ridges along her backbone, and pressed gently against a few of them.

"Here's your frets," he said, then plucked her rump with the other hand.

She laughed and pushed him away. "That tickled!"

He so delighted in the sound of her laughter. He kissed her tenderly, and brought her into the kitchen with him. He opened the refrigerator and removed preparations for a green salad which he assembled in a serving bowl. He then showed her around his house.

"Sorry, I don't have a pool."

"Yeah, not much room for one back here," she said when he brought her out to his back yard.

"I've seen a lot of the country from my planes. It's weird how backyard pools are so common in some cities but rare in others, like here. You wouldn't believe how many there are in Toronto."

"Toronto, Canada? That's weird, alright."

"There's almost as many there as there are in the suburbs of Dallas," he said, holding her hand to lead her back inside.

They enjoyed their dinner in the living room while they watched the news on the TV.

"Give me the lowdown, babe. I know nothing about Oklahoma City. Where would you suggest I look for a place to live?"

"Do you want a house, apartment, condo--"

"A house. Definitely a house. I lived in an apartment in Orlando before my parents passed. I don't have the patience for the multi-tenant lifestyle anymore. It's too noisy."

"Well, it's pretty nice here in Norman. It's more modern than Moore. Lance lives in Edmond, which is a nice place, too."

"Okay, that's good to know. I should probably start by finding a good agent tomorrow."

Eric watched the TV but wasn't paying any attention to it, partly because he was enjoying the sensation of Peggy idly working her fingers slowly and softly through his, but also thinking. After about twenty minutes, he paused the DVR.

"Can I suggest something crazy?" Eric said.

"Probably."

"Stay here."

"What?" she asked in mild surprise.

"Stay here. With me. I mean, if nothing else, it will take the stress of time off your back. You can stay here for as long as you want."

"Seriously? That'd be okay with you?"

"Of course. Why not? I mean--"

"Yeah," she said, lasciviously elongating and hissing the word the same way he had as they drove into his neighborhood.

"You can have whichever room you like." He grinned.