"Even though you're going to make an excellent dentist on your own, I truly hate to lose you around here."
Carol met his eyes, blushing. "Thanks, Dr. Mike." The compliment was genuine & touching... and she always blushed under the attention of her tall, dark-haired, handsome employer. '
Stella is one lucky woman,'
she thought -- and not for the first time.
"I'll try to see about coming back here to work during the summers at least the first year or so."
As if on cue, Stella's voice came from behind her. "That would be wonderful. You've set a high bar for everyone else to meet here -- even me." Passing by Carol, she stood next to her husband and smiled fondly.
Carol blushed even deeper, pushing a few strands of straw-colored hair from her temple. "I don't know about that. You've taught me a lot more than I probably ever could have learned on my own and
way
more than I ever learned in school."
"Well," spoke Mike, "I think having been a hygienist before-hand will make you even better to work for down the road. Your staff will be lucky; not many have a dentist they can learn from."
"We'll see, I guess."
Mike sighed, putting an arm around his wife's shoulders. She was about a head's height shorter than him, with her dark brown hair tied up in a neat bun. Like Carol, today the head hygienist wore bubble-gum pink scrubs that -- although semi-loose fitting -- hinted at generous curves underneath.
"You know," he said, "when we started about fifteen years ago, it was just me and Stella in that dinky little office across town. Imagine far along we might have been if you were working with us back then."
Carol laughed. "I wasn't even in high school then!" she protested.
"So, I would have had to teach you a few more things first!" Stella teased. Looking in to her blue eyes -- a stark contrast to the brown of her husband -- Carol again felt that strange twinge deep in her belly. It was a warm, giddy feeling, '...
almost what I feel when I check out Dr. Mike...'
she thought.
"Well, I had better let you ladies get back to work," said Mike.
"Yes, go do...
something
. Let the
real
workers around here keep this place running," teased Stella.
Carol smiled. '
Yep, definitely going to miss it here.'
***
"Where did that
go
?" she wondered out loud, searching through the drawer. The cabinet stood in an indented portion of the hallway between the front of the building and the exam rooms. It held what non-computerized records the clinic had, as well as consent forms, informational papers for patients, and other miscellaneous paperwork. That afternoon, the folder containing information on teeth-whitening procedures was playing an aggravating game of hide-and-seek with her.
The drawer was too high to squat down while looking in it, so she was bent over at the waist with her knees slightly bent. Not realizing that it put her behind in a prominent position (and not thinking anyone would particularly care), she was startled at the feel of a hand firmly grasping her cheek and giving it an appreciative squeeze before two fingers slid forward to tease her nether lips.
Shooting bolt-upright and whirling around to face the unexpected intrusion, she was equally surprised to see Mike standing behind her. His hand jerked back faster than either of them would have thought possible, and his eyes were wide in shock; his face ghost-pale.
"Oh, my gah-!
You're not my wife
!" he gasped.
Carol stood there, unable to think of what to say, her mouth opening and closing wordlessly.
"I'm... I'm
so-
so, so sorry, Carol, I... I..." he stammered.
Neither of them thought the awkward situation could get any worse... until the call of "
Michael!"
came from a short way down the hall.
***
Both turned at the same instant, their eyes popped out in terror. Carrying an armful of paperwork, Stella walked down the hall towards them -- a grin splitting her face and her eyes mischievous.
"Shame on you!" she exclaimed with mock outrage before lowering her voice to a conspiratorial tone. "Feeling up your staff! You
know
how unprofessional that is!"
"I... I thought it was you," he explained, swallowing hard.
"You dirty, dirty old man!" Stella replied with mock seriousness, shaking her head. "Get back to work and leave the poor girl alone!"
Red-faced and mortified, he turned and went the other direction down the hall.
"I'll deal with you later!" Stella called after him, although perhaps not loud enough for him to actually hear.
Laughing and shaking her head, she turned towards Carol.
"I'm, I'm so sorry," Carol stuttered, her hands up in a submissive posture.
Stella snorted and looked at her incredulously. "For what? He grabbed you." Then, her face and tone softened. "Are you ok, though? Are you all right?" she asked, placing a hand on Carols arm, concerned.
Carol nodded. "Yes. It was just... unexpected, and it's just... he's
your
husband."
She smiled, softly. "It was a mistake, and I'm not mad -- least of all at you. But, did it bother you? Do you feel... violated in any way?"
"No... it was just..." Carol blushed. "a surprise, I guess. I mean, I've seen you two a couple of times flirting like that... but you're married and I just... don't expect anything like that for me around here -- obviously." '
And I kind of enjoyed it...'
she thought, as well.
Now was Stella's turn to blush. "Yeah... we try to not do any of that when we think anyone can see. We try to keep up a professional appearance, anyway."
Carol chuckled. "Anyone who walks in this building can tell you two are head-over-heels for each other. Not in a sappy way, just it's easy to tell that you deeply love each other."
"Thank you," Stella mouthed, blushing deeper.
"Although, even in the same color, I didn't think we look
that
much alike," Carol said, twisting her hips and looking back at her butt.
Stella laughed, and while Carol's head was turned, looked the younger woman over -- not the first time she had admired her form, either.
Turning and standing by her side, she looked back and forth between the two of them. "Well, our scrubs aren't
quite
the same shade, but it's close. And, uh..." She looked over her shoulder at Carol's behind.
"Yes...?" Carol asked, feeling that twinge again with her standing so close... even more so when Stella's eyes lingered on her backside.
"Well... I tease him once in a while about checking out the other gals that work here..." she said, then bit her lip before continuing. "... and... he, uh... has mentioned before that you
do
have a nice butt."
'
... and you agree?
' thought Carol, her heart fluttering... and her face turning crimson once again.
"Are you, ok, though?" Are you sure?" Stella asked once again, turning to face her.
"Yes, I'm fine."
"Good... but, if not, tell me, ok? As I've said before, you can always talk to me about
anything
