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He knows the walk to her classroom like the back of his hand.
It’s only his third time stopping by during her lunch break, but he memorized the path almost instantly. Walk in at the front entrance, sign in with Shirley at reception, then down the hall to the left, make the first right, and another left into room 104. Simple, quick, easy. He could find her in his sleep.
Most of the time, at least. Today, he’s interrupted at the right turn, nearly running into Peter Cronk.
“Doc?” Peter looks up at him, confused. “What are you doing here?”
Martin pauses, quickly racking his brain for an excuse. Miraculously, this was the first time anyone besides Shirley had seen him, and while he suspected she knew what was going on, he’d so far managed to keep his relationship with Louisa a secret from everyone but Elaine and Sarah. He should’ve known someone would see him sooner or later. Maybe he was lucky it was only Peter.
“Peter,” he starts. “Hello. Um, I was actually just on my way out.”
Peter cocks his head. “The exit is the other way.”
He kicks himself mentally. “Right. Well. If you must know, there was, um, a student who required medical attention, but the situation has been handled. I was just…” Martin searches his brain and comes up with nothing. He is many things, but a good liar is not one of them. “Anyhow. I was just stopping to say hello to Miss Gavin before I left.”
“Oh. How come you have flowers?”
He moves the bundle of crocuses behind his back. “Shouldn’t you be at recess, Peter?”
Peter thinks this over. “Yeah, okay. Bye, Doc.”
Peter walks past him, and Martin breathes a sigh of relief. He would have to be more careful from now on.
Finally arriving at room 104, he peeks through the doorway. Louisa sits at her desk, grading papers, deeply focused. She doesn’t notice him right away, and he takes the opportunity to observe. The early afternoon sunlight shines through her window, lighting her face and illuminating the deep brown of her eyes. Her hair billows over her shoulders and down her back, and she tucks it behind one ear. Martin leans against the frame of the door contentedly. He’s perfectly happy to stare at her for hours, but her lunch break is only so long, so eventually he clears his throat, catching her attention.
She looks up from her papers and smiles. “Hey, there you are.” She rises and crosses towards him. He meets her halfway, setting down a plastic takeout bag on a nearby desk, his gaze fixed on her.
“Salty Breeze.” He speaks quietly. “I got your usual, I hope that’s okay.”
“It’s perfect,” she says, gazing up at him.
They stand like that a moment longer until Martin remembers he’s holding the flowers in one hand, which he presents to her sheepishly. “I, um, picked these up, too. For you.”
Louisa takes a step closer, her hands brushing against his as she takes the crocuses. Her face is just inches from his own now. “They’re beautiful.” She stares up at him again, and he smiles. His eyes just begin flickering towards her lips when they’re interrupted.
“You know, Doc,” Peter starts, appearing suddenly behind them. They quickly separate. “While you’re here, I do have a few medical concerns.”
“Peter.” Martin shoots a glance at Louisa. “I didn’t realize you’d followed me.”
Peter ignores him, sitting down at a desk. “Now, my knee has really been bugging me. I think I may be dealing with a torn meniscus.”
Martin looks back at Louisa, who just shrugs. He sighs, taking a step towards Peter and crouching down to his level. “Well, Peter, that’s an injury really only seen in athletes and people who do strenuous exercise. Do you play any sports?”
Peter shakes his head.
“Didn’t think so. I think we’re done here.” He stands back up.
“Okay. I just have a few more questions.” Peter reaches into his back pocket, procuring a piece of paper. Martin groans, crouching back down. “First of all, I’m pretty sure I have a tapeworm.”
“I highly doubt that.”
“Also, the other day, my jaw was hurting. Do I have mumps?”
“Peter,” Martin interrupts. “I know I was wrong once before, and I do genuinely apologize for that. But I can promise with one hundred percent certainty that you do not have a tapeworm. Or mumps. Okay?”
Peter considers this. “Alright. But what about this bump on my arm? Is it cancerous?”
Martin glances at it. “That’s an ingrown hair. Now, it’s a nice day out. Why don’t you go back to recess?”
“Alright,” Peter says, standing. “Thanks, Doctor Best.”
Martin rises, stopping him before he makes it through the door. “And Peter, if you have any real medical concerns, you should come to my office, alright?”
“Okay. Bye, Doc.”
Peter finally leaves. Martin breathes a sigh of relief, and Louisa chuckles behind him.
“Boy. You never can catch a break, huh?”
He smiles, turning around to face her again. “Sorry about that.”
“No, it’s fine,” she says, shaking her head. “Um, here, come sit. Maybe close the door first?”
As she pulls another chair up by her desk and grabs the bag of takeout, he closes the door to her classroom and then crosses over to her.
“The only other chairs I have are child-sized,” she explains. “Sorry about that.”
Martin shakes his head, though when he sits he’s admittedly much closer to the ground then he would prefer. But when he turns back to Louisa, he realizes it’s leveled out their heights, so he can look her directly in the eyes, which he likes. “No, no. It’s perfect.” He glances to the door, then scoots his chair closer to hers. “So, um.”
They sit closely together now, their faces just inches apart. Louisa smiles. “This is nice.”
He nods. “Yeah, it is.” Timidly, he reaches out for her hand, which she extends, and he takes it in both of his own, running his thumb over her knuckles. He’d missed that. As exciting as their relationship had been, they hardly had time to see each other between her classes and his patients. Aside from the weekends, her lunch breaks had quickly proved to be one of the only consistent times they could meet up. The last two times he was here were more casual — they ate and chatted like close friends, only sneaking a chaste kiss before he left. But today Martin notices something different in the air, something new between them as he raises her hand to press a kiss on the inside of her wrist.
“Oh,” she manages.
“We should, um,” Martin finally says. “We should… probably eat now.”
“Yeah,” she agrees, though neither of them move. It’s not what they’re hungry for.
They’re interrupted at the sound of the door opening, and they quickly stand and pull apart as Jeannie enters in a frenzy.
“I am so over recess duty,” she announces, storming to the opposite side of the room to her own desk, sitting down with a heavy sigh.
“Jeannie!” Louisa laughs uncomfortably. “Um, shouldn’t you be outside?”
“Yeah,” Jeannie admits. “But I just can’t with those kids today. You wouldn’t believe how many band-aids I’ve already had to give out. I mean, I don’t understand why they can’t just watch where—” She finally notices Martin standing uncomfortably in the corner and raises an eyebrow. “Oh. Hey, Doc.”
“Hello.”
“We were just having lunch,” Louisa explains quickly.
Jeannie stares between the two of them suspiciously, then looks to Louisa, who gives her a pleading look. She stands back up. “Um, right. Well. I just needed to… grab something. I should, uh, I should get back out there.”
Louisa breathes a quiet sigh of relief as Jeannie walks to the door, pausing before she leaves. “I will be back when recess ends. At twelve-thirty. Which is in exactly twenty-two minutes.”
“Yes, thank you, Jeannie,” Louisa says sincerely. “Thank you.”
Jeannie nods and leaves, closing the door behind her. Louisa sighs. “We aren’t fooling anyone, are we?”
“Probably not,” Martin admits. “Do you think she’ll say anything?”
Louisa shakes her head. “No, no. I don’t think so.”
They fall silent for a moment before Martin speaks. “I guess it was bound to happen eventually.”
“We haven’t exactly been super careful,” she admits. “I just wish it was easier for us to see each other. You know, more than, like, once a week. These lunches are great, but they’re so short, and I guess if today is any indication it won’t be long before people start to—”
He can’t wait any longer, cutting her off as he leans in and presses a kiss to her lips. She’s caught off guard, but quickly melts into it, placing a hand on his shoulder. He pulls back just slightly.
“Sorry,” he whispers. “I, um. I just…really wanted to do that.”
A smile slowly spreads across her face. She shakes her head. “You don’t have to apologize.” She leans in and kisses him sweetly, her hand moving to caress his face. Martin smiles against her, a tentative hand moving to rest on her hip. He could get used to this.
She sighs contentedly, one hand planting itself on the lapel of his suit jacket, her nose brushing against his as she tilts her head to one side. His hands wander from her hips up to her waist, moving over her shoulders and neck to cradle the soft skin of her face, pulling her closer. Martin could so easily lose himself in her kiss, an idea which would have previously terrified him, but Louisa is warm and inviting and impossibly sweet, and he finds himself wondering if maybe getting lost isn’t such a bad thing after all.
That question would have to wait, though, because when his arms wrap around her waist and her fingers lightly scratch at the back of his head, he has to force himself to pull back before he gets carried away. She pants breathlessly, her cheeks a lovely shade of pink and her lips swollen slightly, and it’s nearly enough for him to cave in and kiss her again. Still, he resists.
“Um,” Martin says, catching his breath. “We should— we should probably—”
“Right,” she agrees, pulling away. She looks up at the clock. “We only have twenty minutes.”
He nods, reaching for the takeout bag. He procures a handful of plastic utensils and two styrofoam containers, handing one to her as they both sit back down. They eat silently for a while, the heat of their kiss still hanging in the air, and when they finally make eye contact again, they burst into a fit of giggles.
Louisa, laughing, rests her forehead on Martin’s shoulder. “Oh, man. We’re in trouble, aren’t we?”
He nods, grinning. “Probably. I kept waiting for someone else to walk in.” She laughs again. He’s already catalogued it as his favorite sound. “Um, there’s no school tomorrow, right?”
Louisa cocks her head. “Well, it is a Saturday.”
“Right. Would you, um…” He pauses. “Dinner? My place?”
“Six o’clock?”
“I’ll cook.”
“Alright, then.”
It’s bittersweet when Martin has to go twenty minutes later, but Louisa leaves him with a deep, lingering kiss and a promise to see him soon. He practically has to force himself to leave after that, and he’s unseen by everyone but Shirley, who notices he’s a little lighter on his feet than when he came in.