She Definitely Liked That Smile
Carla had had a hell of a morning. Everything that could go wrong, did go wrong.
First, her alarm didn’t go off, and she had awoken with a panic 5 minutes before she was supposed to leave. Second, her squatting nephew Ryan had used the rest of the milk, meaning no coffee for her. Next, her shoe broke right as she got to the bottom step as she was leaving her building, meaning she had to run back upstairs for a new pair.
She’d be in a meeting with the board of directors all day today and Sarah had called in sick, leaving her by herself. At least they stuck together normally.
Not to mention the fact that her restless night was filled with visions of blonde hair and green eyes. Wherever the hell that came from…
Parent-Teacher night is Carla’s most loathed night as the Head Teacher. Parents demanded her attention, her time, expecting her to know every little thing about their kids.
Carla loved the kids (most of the time), but the parents? Not so much. Not at all.
One kid that always kept her on her toes though, young Betsy Swain. Full of fiery defiance, and a sharp wit that kept Carla always guessing what could possibly come out of the angel-faced girl’s mouth next.
Most of the students were either afraid of her, or didn’t think twice about her; but Betsy seemed to seek out Carla, like getting a rise out of her was a game.
Carla would deny until she’s blue in the face that she found it extremely entertaining.
Betsy had been sent to her office a couple of times. Usually for answering back, nothing serious, and nothing noteworthy for home. Just enough for Carla to tell her to respect her teachers, Betsy to roll her eyes and say ‘Yes, Boss’, and they both go on about their days.
The Head Teacher had personally looked at her grades, just to see where she was at academically. If she was all talk and no work, that might have to be a conversation with some parents. But she wasn’t, she was acing her schoolwork, scoring above average in all classes.
So Carla had left it at that.
And then she had met her mother. Her gorgeous, smart, quick-witted mother.
Carla had nearly drowned in green eyes and a bright smile, but her cocky facade had won, and put on a Carla Connor front. She knew nothing about her, and every piece of information that she learned, she wanted to know more. Lisa intrigued her, excited her.
It had meant to be an off-handed comment about drinking coffee too late to a parent, just a breath of relief on a night she hated. She hadn’t expected Lisa to steal the air from her lungs when she saw her completely.
Maybe it was the fact that she’s one of the very few parents that didn’t demand something of her. Or maybe it was the fact that Carla’s stomach fluttered whenever the other woman smiled.
Carla liked that smile.
The sound of the bell of Roy’s Rolls pulled her from her thoughts, and back into the real world. She might be running late today, but there was no way in hell she was going into that zoo without being sufficiently caffeinated.
“Morning, Roy,” Carla greeted the man behind the counter with a smile.
“Good morning, Carla,” Roy replied “You seem to be in later than usual this morning,”
Carla grinned at him “Never miss a beat, do ya? Just a latte, please,”
As Roy set about making her coffee, Carla stepped back from the counter and looked around, spotting a recently familiar blonde head at one of the side tables, head in a laptop.
“And I thought I was the only one running late today,” Carla said as she approached the table. Lisa’s head snapped up and green met green, a smile making it’s way to her face.
Yeah, she definitely liked that smile.
“Carla,” Lisa greeted before gesturing to the laptop “Technically, I’m working. No surgeries on the books today and honestly, the cafe is much quieter than anywhere in the hospital, so I thought I’d get some research in,”
Carla smirked at her before she sat down at the table “Well, I hope your day’s looking better than mine is,”
She watched as Lisa cocked her head to the side, studying her face with curiosity “Long day ahead?”
Carla rolled her eyes at the thought “If you think a budget acquisition with a bunch of old greasy men leering at me for the next 6 hours is long, then yes,”
Lisa gave a soft laugh “Sounds delightful,” she responded before leaning forward on her elbows, a playful glint in her eye “I could always write you a note, I am a doctor after all,”
Carla ignored the way her stomach was doing flips and gave a cheeky grin back, matching her position on her elbows as she leaned in closer “Oh yeah? What would the note say?”
Lisa shrugged “Anything you want it to say,”
“Careful, Doctor Swain,” Carla shot back, her voice dipping low “You’ll give me all sorts of ideas,”
Lisa’s eyes didn’t deter from hers, it felt almost challenging as the blonde studied her face. It felt natural, the joking around. Carla felt comfortable, and yet, distinctly unnerved at how the blonde could get under her skin, into her thoughts.
“Carla!”
Roy’s voice from the counter pulled her back to reality and she tore herself away from the moment, leaning back in her chair to stand up “I should be off then, good luck with your research,”
Lisa gave a grateful smile “Good luck with your creepy old men,”
Carla mock shivered as Lisa brought up what she was about to step into for the rest of the day “Ugh, thanks,” she said sarcastically as she walked over to the counter to swipe her coffee, thanking Roy in the process. Turning back to Lisa, she gave a cocky grin “See you round, Swain,”
And with that, she walked out the cafe, hearing Lisa utter “Sure will,” as she hit the door.
Carla’s feet hit the cobbles and she was suddenly feeling much better about how her day started. Hopefully this was a good omen for how the rest of her day will be.
Three hours in and Carla wanted to scream. All she wanted to do was bang her fists of the table and scream.
After being greeted by 5 men who all stared at her chest when she shook their hands, the snide comments about being the headmistress, and what it would’ve been like if she had been in charge of their school when they were boys, and the constant second guessing of her intelligence, she was over it.
She shouldn’t be surprised. It’s the same men, the same creepiness, the same jokes, the same condescension every single time. She’s been doing this for years, and yet, it made her angry every single time.
She was glad Sarah called in sick today, truthfully. No point both of them being put through this torture. And Sarah being the younger, pretty blonde girl, she was the softer target for them. Unfortunately, Sarah kept her sane. She was the one who kept her from jumping the table and beating the shit out of them.
Patience of a saint, that woman. Carla must remind herself to buy her a bottle of wine out of gratitude.
At one point, she had explained that feminine hygiene products were being put in the bathrooms, only to be met with arguments of it being unnecessary and a waste of time. Carla’s suspicions of these men not knowing how the menstrual cycle works was confirmed when one of them said that girls should simply ‘hold it until they got home’.
It took everything in her power not to slap the man. Because unfortunately, these men hold power, the power of the pursestrings. And Carla needed them.
Now, they’re talking about the sports teams, and as much as Carla doesn’t care for it, she’s trying to get funding for a girls football team. She watched the girls at lunch kick the ball around, and every year she brings it up, trying to get funding, trying to get them included in the country’s biggest passion.
Every year she gets shot down, saying it’s not in the budget, saying it’s unnecessary.
“No one wants girls sport anyway,” one of the men, Alan, said.
Carla saw red. She didn’t care for sports, but many, many people did. She knew men who watched the women’s football, the women’s rugby, the women’s cricket. Ryan was one of them, even owned their jerseys.
“That’s not true at all,” she said through gritted teeth “Women’s sport is in the future whether you like it or not, and to have young girls be told to sit on the sidelines whilst their male peers get to run around and enjoy the sport is unfair and misogynistic,”
“No need to get hysterical, love,” another piped up, setting Carla’s entire body on fire. She needed to get out of there before she did something she’d regret.
“Let’s take a break,” she stood abruptly and marched out of the room. She stormed through the hall of the office building, needing to get some fresh air.
Her feet were moving faster than her mind, immediately passing the elevator and going straight for the stairs. Just as she was about to reach the bottom landing, her foot caught, sending her forward with a jolt.
Before she could catch herself, she collided with the small window pane of the door, her fist going straight through it.
A loud yelp rippled through the stairwell as pain seared up her arm. Her elbow had hooked through the window, leaving her dangling as she struggled to find her footing.
Prying herself off the door, she lifted her arm up, the blood dripping for where the glass had cut her.
Well, shit.
Carla shoved her phone back into her pocket after calling off the rest of the board meeting. She knew how it looked, and she dreaded having to go back when they finally reconvened. But blood was dropping down her throbbing arm, and she kind of needed to get that fixed.
The hospital was only a couple blocks down from the office building where the board meeting was being held, so Carla opted to walk herself to A&E, and hopefully she wouldn’t be there too long.
Just as she walked through the automatic doors, chaos hit her. Nurses running around after patients, beds moving from bay to bay, charts being handed back and forth over the counter, announcements being called over the PA.
She’d take 300 teenage nightmares any day.
“Woah,” a young woman in scrubs behind the desk said as she noticed Carla standing by the doorway with blood running down her arm “That looks nasty,” she made her way out from behind the desk and approached Carla.
She couldn’t be more than 20, surely. The thought made Carla uneasy, but inexperienced medical attention was better than none.
“Bit of a clumsy cow, me,” Carla joked as she read the ‘student’ part of her name tag.
The student ushered her to a free bed (a miracle, really) and gestured for her to take a seat, snapping on some fresh gloves.
“Let’s get you cleaned up,” she smiled kindly at Carla “I’m Asha, by the way,”
“Carla,” she replied simply, trying not to focus too much on the pain radiating from her arm.
“Well, Carla, it looks like you’re going to need stitches, so just hold tight for a minute and I’ll be right back,” Asha said as she ripped the gloves off her hands and throwing them in the bin “You alright?”
“Yeah, all good, ta,” she responded, and Asha nodded to her and walked away.
Carla closed her eyes and let her head fall back onto the bed, focusing on her breathing. She hated hospitals, brought back too many memories, ones of fear, ones of loss, ones of pain.
So, she counted her breathing. Inhale for four seconds, hold for seven seconds, exhale for 8 seconds.
A nurse had taught her that years ago. She was a godsend, that woman. In her panic-filled state before going under the knife for a new organ, she had calmed her, breathed with her, and brought her back to earth.
She carried that with her everywhere she went now, steadying her at the worst of times.
In 2, 3, 4.
Hold 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.
Out 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.
In 2, 3, 4.
Hold 2, 3-
“Carla?”
Carla’s head snapped up at the voice, wide eyes met wide, concerned ones.
“Lisa,”
She was a vision, standing in navy blue scrubs, hair pulled back in a ponytail, stethoscope around her neck, ID badge pinned to her right pocket.
Asha stood to the side, having brought Lisa back with her to stitch her up, awkwardly standing as the two looked at each other.
“What the hell happened?” Lisa’s eyebrows furrowed as she approached, looking down at her arm and reaching for some gloves.
“Fell through a window,”
Lisa looked at her “You fell through a window,”
“Just a small one.”
“Just a small one.”
“Are you just gonna repeat everything I say?” Carla cocked an eyebrow at her as Lisa pulled a stool over to sit closer to her “Besides, don’t you have any hearts to work on today? I’m sure Asha here could fix me up,”
Lisa looked at her unimpressed as Asha jumped in “I’m not qualified to suture just yet,” she said, shifting on her feet slightly “I’ll leave you to it Dr Swain, I’ve got other patients to see,”
“Thank you, Asha,” Lisa gave the girl a smile and a nod and Asha turned on her heel and left.
Carla watched as Lisa inspected the cuts own her arm, her eyebrows knitted together, lips pursed slightly as she concentrated. She could see the cogs turning, probably faster than Carla’s ever have done in her life. She watched as Lisa rolled back and forth on her stool between the different cabinets, gathering everything that she needed.
It was fascinating, watching her in her element. Although, this wasn’t really her element, this was child’s play for Lisa. As Lisa started to clean her wounds, she had gotten extremely close, so close that Carla could smell her shampoo. Her head tilted to the side, exposing her neck, the stethoscope shifting ever so slightly every time she moved.
Carla could just reach out and grab-NOPE.
Get a grip, Connor.
“So,” Lisa said finally, not looking up at her as she continued to work “I thought you were supposed to be in a meeting,”
“I was,” Carla said simply, and when she didn’t elaborate, Lisa looked at her. When Lisa had lifted her head, Carla realised how close they were to each other, she could see the gold flecks in green eyes as they looked at her own. Freckles dusted on cheekbones.
When it seemed like that was the answer Lisa was getting, she had looked away and gotten back to work on Carla’s arm.
“I had run off,” Carla said, making Lisa pause for a moment, but not look up “I needed to get out of there, and when I was running down the stairs, I tripped and went straight through the window,”
Lisa pulled back as she looked up again, putting a bit more distance between them this time as she switched tools, grabbing what looked like a fishing line and hook “That was clumsy,” she said, a hint of a smirk ghosting at the side of her mouth “Men being too creepy for you?”
Carla huffed in frustration as she recalled the meeting “Creepy men I can deal with, I’ve been dealing with it my entire life, just like every other woman,” she said, hearing Lisa hum in agreement “It was the fact that for the fifth year in a row, I’ve been sat at that table arguing about funding for a girl’s football team, and I don’t even like football!”
Lisa looked at her again, frowning “You don’t like football?”
Carla looked at her, incredulous “That’s what you got out of that? That I’m not a sports fan?”
A smile grew on Lisa’s face and she chuckled softly “Sorry,” she replied “It must be frustrating,”
Carla tipped her head back against the bed again “It is,” she said, staring up at the ceiling “I just want these girls to have as many opportunities as their male classmates, and it’s not even just about football. It’s about hygiene products and updated sex education and STEM programs…and every time I think I’m getting anywhere, I get punched back into my place in the world,”
She felt a hand rest gently on her bicep, making her look at the blonde doctor again. Lisa gave her a gentle squeeze as she looked at her kindly. She gave Carla a gentle smile “What can we do?” Lisa asked softly “As parents, we want our girls to have as many opportunities as the boys, so what can we do?”
Carla felt like she was drowning in those eyes again, the sincerity, the kindness of them. The thumb that was subconsciously grazing up and down her arm, burning into her.
“I’ll have to get back to you on that,” Carla said softly, not breaking eye contact, but giving her soft smile in return.
All of a sudden, Lisa blinked and pulled away, putting some distance between the two of them and returning her attention to her arm.
Carla swallowed. That was another thing, Lisa had just reminded her that they weren’t…well, anything. Every fleeting touch set Carla into a dizzy, which was extremely frustrating considering she was a parent. And that was a big no.
Lisa finished what she was doing in silence. It wasn’t uncomfortable, per say, but Carla missed the banter, the easy conversation that she’d been privy to before now.
“I should’ve written you that note,”
It took Carla a moment for her brain to catch up, but when it did, she laughed. A full belly laugh and watched Lisa smile at her easily.
The tension dissipated from the room and Carla immediately felt lighter “You should’ve,” she replied “Tell you what, when they told me I was being hysterical, I could’ve flipped the table,”
Lisa snapped her head up again to meet her gaze “You’re joking,” she said, and when Carla shook her head, Lisa sighed “It’s on brand though, innit? A woman shows anything but a wide smile a giggle and she’s hysterical, whilst a man can punch a hole in the wall but his anger isn’t considered emotional,”
Carla huffed a humourless laugh “The fact that I have to do this all again because I made the daft decision to put my fist through a window before we could finish…”
Lisa stood up from the stool, snapping off her gloves and tossing them in the bin, before she stepped closer, moving Carla’s arm up so she could wrap a bandage around it “Well,” she started softly, and Carla could feel her own heartbeat quicken “I think if anyone can handle it, it’s you,”
Carla didn’t respond right away, she just watched as delicate hands wrapped bandage around her forearm. They looked strong, yet they were oh-so-soft. Fingernails meticulously manicured. Light, fleeting touches as fingers grazed her skin, moving the bandage around effortlessly.
“Thank you,” Carla said softly, and suddenly the words were coming out of her mouth before she could stop them “Would you want to have a drink with me sometime?”
She saw Lisa pause momentarily as she started to clean up the packaging of everything she’d been using, throwing them in the bin.
“Being fairly new to town and all that, you probably don’t know many people here, you could probably use a friend,” Carla started to ramble and she watched Lisa bite her bottom lip as she looked at her, a hint of a smile behind it.
Oh no. Lip biting. That was going to be a thing too, now, wasn’t it?
“And honestly, so could I,”
Lisa held out her hand to Carla “Give me your phone.”
Carla raised an eyebrow “My phone?”
“Your phone.”
Lisa waited expectantly as Carla eyed her suspiciously, her hand still out waiting. Carla pulled her phone out of her back pocket and handed it over.
Lisa gave a small chuckle at her hesitance “What do you think I’m gonna do?” She asked her as she started tapping away and then holding the phone up to her ear.
Just when Carla was about to ask who she was calling, the ringing of Lisa’s phone broke the silence. As she fished it out of her scrubs pocket, and turned the screen to show Carla, her own phone number staring back at her as she realised Lisa was calling herself.
Oh.
“There.” Lisa said, hanging up the phone and handing it back to the brunette, an easy smirk coming to rest on her lips “Next time you feel like putting your fist through a wall, maybe call me instead,”
“I’ll take that under advisement,” Carla bit back, noting the way Lisa’s form had changed into something cockier, cool and confident.
“See you round, Connor,” the smirk on Lisa’s lips as she parroted her own words to her made her stomach flip as she watched the blonde walk away.
The tables had turned, and Carla liked seeing Lisa in control. She liked seeing Lisa with the upper hand. It didn’t happen to her often, losing a bit of control, not being the cool, calm and collected one. It was intriguing, exciting even. That stethoscope and the scrubs that fit her like they were made for her made her think unsavoury thoughts.
Should she be doing this? Seeking friendship with a woman she was clearly attracted to?
But it was so easy, the conversation, the comfort. And if Carla was being honest with herself, since Peter left, even before Peter left, she’d been a little lonely. She missed having a friend that wasn’t a colleague or a family member.
So that was that, Carla would just push down that attraction, and make herself a friend.