Who: John and Susan What: First date Where: Restaurant chosen by Susan When: After this Rating: Low, brief talk of death Status: Complete
John was nervous. For the first time in a long time he felt properly nervous. The woman he’d spoken to on the ValarNet had agreed to go on a date with him after practically one conversation, and while that was a bit scary in and of itself, the thing that he was most nervous about was that she looked just like Aeryn in his Dreams. Aeryn who he felt meant so much to him and yet was basically a fantasy.
Wiping his slightly sweaty hands on his jeans, John nursed a beer waiting for her to arrive. He was dressed fairly casually, but he’d worn a smart shirt with a pair of his smarter looking blue jeans.
Susan had made sure to change into something nice after work - showing up for a date in scrubs wouldn’t do. She changed into a nicer pair of jeans with an actual blouse, something that she could wear her favourite earrings with and not feel out of place. She parked her car and then pushed into the restaurant, wondering why she was doing this at all.
It was mostly because she felt like she deserved a bit of normality. She’d also not dated after Eric and Zoe had died, and she’d felt this was as good a time as any to try. So when she saw John in the corner, she waved feebly, feeling a bit stupid.
John spotted her as she entered the restaurant. He couldn’t stop staring at her. She was just like Aeryn and she looked gorgeous. Spotting her waving, his jaw snapped shut and he returned the wave, smiling at her encouragingly. Fussing with his collar, he stood as she approached the table and held his hand out to greet her. “Hi there, Susan, right?”
“Right. You must be John.” She shook his hand firmly, smiling at him. He had pretty eyes, and that set her at her ease somehow. “Sorry if I’ve kept you waiting long.” Susan’s hands were a bit rougher than other people’s from having to wash them so often during work, but she liked them. They were strong, and they were the best at finding a line in the entire ED. It was important to like one’s self.
“Hey no, not at all, I’ve only been here a few minutes,” John smiled and reassured her then stepped back and gestured to the other seat at the table. John didn’t really register her hands if he were honest, he was still a little too transfixed with her stunning and familiar face. How the hell was he supposed to tell her that he Dreamed about her face? He had to at some point, right? “Please, sit, um...would you like a drink?” he asked.
“Sure. A whiskey?” She sat down across from him and shrugged off her jacket. He seemed really nervous, and she wondered if he had similar dating issues of some sort. Oh, man, if he was a widower, she’d feel so guilty.
“Wow, a whiskey, eh? I’m not that much of a bad date, am I? I swear, I used deodorant before I came out,” John joked, perhaps a little lamely, smiling charmingly and holding his hands out in supplication. It had been a while since his last proper date and he was definitely feeling more than a little rusty at the whole thing, but getting a girl to laugh? That was a good thing? Right?
Susan chuckled. “I could get a fizzy drink, but that seems silly to do in a bar, now doesn’t it? Besides, I just got off of work.” His smile was awfully charming, but Susan would bet money that he knew it was charming.
Maybe. A little bit, but he tried not to use it all that often. "Fair enough," he conceded, hands up as he smiled at her. "One whiskey coming up, after which you can tell me more about your work," he told her before bounding off to the bar. He returned quickly with her drink. The bar was fairly busy tonight, but not overly, so no crush to get to the bar luckily. He placed her drink on the table with a playful flourish of his hand before sliding back into his seat. "Ok, cheers," he toasted, picking up his pint, clinking their glasses and taking a sip. "So, tell me about your work. What makes today a whiskey day?"
It was sweet that he went to the bar for her. That scored him points. Not that dating was a game or something, but it certainly let Susan know he was showing an effort, which she liked. After his return with her drink and the toast, she took a long sip. “I work in the ED at a hospital. Every day’s a whiskey day. Twelve hours on any job, and I think someone would want a drink.”
Telling himself to let go of his nerves and just enjoy getting to know someone new. “Ah, so are you a doctor? Nurse?” John asked, taking a sip of his drink.
“Nurse. Being a doctor always seemed boring,” Susan shrugged. Doctors only dealt with one specialty. Being a nurse meant she could help out with almost anything, and that made her happy.
“That’s great, you must help a lot of people,” John smiled at her. “How long have you been a nurse then? What got you into it?” he asked.
Susan leaned back. “I got my certification when I was twenty-three. I’m older now.” She wasn’t about to tell a guy she’d just met her age. “I liked taking care of people. Helping fix things. Especially in the ED, if someone comes in with a broken leg, you set it. Stabs get sewn up. Things get sorted. That’s appealing, because you can’t really do that anywhere else in life.”
John smiled as she talked. It sounded so simple and the way she explained it conveyed just how much she enjoyed it and how much it meant to her. “Which hospital do you work at? For the record this is so I can know how many handsome doctors who may come and whisk you away I have to be jealous about,” he joked with a wink, not meaning it at all.
“Over at Hoag,” Susan replied. She snorted at his comment about handsome doctors, shaking her head. “Dating where you work is kind of a bad idea, don’t you think?”
“I guess,” John shrugged as he considered it. “It’s not really something I’ve experienced. Teaching classes all day doesn’t really mean you work with your colleagues, but I suppose if you work side by side all the time and things didn’t go well between you it would be a bit crappy,” he reasoned. He had to admit though, the idea of having sex on his desk during the day had always been a little kink of his, but he’d never had the opportunity to try it. Not that that was a topic for conversation on a first date.
“Exactly. I wouldn’t want to have someone who hated me working alongside me on a trauma patient. Besides, it’s really hard to flirt in a hospital. I barely get time to eat, much less worry about looking attractive.” Susan’s nose wrinkled a little bit when she thought about putting on blush or something before going to work. It’d just melt off anyway.
“Not like you need to put any effort into that,” John replied before thinking. His brain caught up with his mouth and he looked shocked that he’d said it out loud. “I’m sorry, that just kind of...slipped out,” he admitted, feeling heat rushing to his cheeks. “Not that you aren’t, y’know, attractive, just that I didn’t mean to...wow, I’m usually a lot smoother than this, I promise you,” he told her with a little laugh.
Susan’s cheeks went a bit pink, and she looked down, laughing to herself. “It’s okay. Smooth blokes are a dime a dozen, someone more genuine’s a bit ... refreshing.” Maybe she wouldn’t need the whole whisky after all.
John rubbed his hand over the back of his neck and gave an embarrassed chuckle. “Well then, I’ll try and refer back to all my bumbling attempts at dating in high school then,” he joked, tipping a lopsided grin her way. “So uh...why don’t you tell me a bit more about yourself. Where are you from? What do you do when you’re not at work?” he asked before taking a drink of his beer.
“Me?” Susan sat back, thinking about her answers. “Born in Clayhall, boring life there, then moved to Wembly when I was ten or eleven.” She blinked, then corrected herself. “Born in London, moved about a bit.” Not like he’d know neighbourhoods. “Then I moved here to go to university, just to get away from everything. It was a lark, really, I thought I’d only spend a year or so here.” Then she’d met Eric.
“So you came out here to study? That must have been difficult, to leave your family behind. How old were you?” John asked, watching her face carefully.
“Nineteen. My family and I weren’t very close, so I didn’t really care too much.” Susan shrugged, and took a big gulp of her drink. “Then I got married to a Yank and had a child. So I stayed.”
“Married?” John’s eyebrows raised at that, his gaze shifting to the exit. “Do I have a jealous ex to be concerned about?” he joked, assuming she was separated, since he got the feeling she was the honest type and wouldn’t be here if she were still attached. “Tell me about your child,” he encouraged with a smile. Dating someone with previous attachments like children didn’t faze him as they once had. People of his own age tended to have a history and he could deal with that.
“Not unless you believe in ghosts.” Susan shrugged. “They died about ten years ago.”
John pressed his eyes tightly closed at his stupidity, mentally berating himself for being so flippant. “Crap, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you,” he sighed, looking up at her apologetically and reaching across the table as if to touch her wrist. He stopped himself though, she probably didn’t wanted to be touched by the guy who’d just been so flip about an obviously sensitive subject. “Sorry,” he repeated guiltily, still mentally kicking himself. He’d probably just ruined this evening in one fell swoop.
“You didn’t upset me, it’s okay.” Susan looked at him and smiled, though it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Really. People don’t expect other people to be widows until they’re old and grey. And while I’m grey, I’m not old.”
John went to reply but shut his mouth, worried he’d say something else to bring the mood of the evening down. He sighed and tried to think of a way to lift her spirits again. Despite what she’d said, he could see she’d been affected by it. There was music playing in the bar, not high tempo rave stuff, but moderately paced country, pop or rock. “Say, would you uh...would you like to dance?” he asked hopefully.
“Dance? I can try, but I’m not sure I really remember how.” She took his hand and gave it a squeeze. She wasn’t a total monster, and he was really trying, which was completely endearing. “Let’s give it a go.”
John beamed at her as she took his hand. He stood up and led her to the area where a few other couples were swaying to the bear. "Don't worry, I'm not going to launch into some kind of Dancing With the Stars number," he grinned as he pulled her into a traditional dancing embrace; a hand on her waist, his other clasping hers in his and stood fairly close but not too close. He didn't want her to think he was coming on too strong. "I'll save that for date number 2," he winked at her cheekily.
“Well, at least then I’ll know to wear my good shoes,” Susan quipped. She had to admit, he smelled really nice, and he was handsome. He was taller than her, as most people tended to be, and she wished belatedly that she’d dressed up a bit more. Oh well, he seemed to like her well enough. After a moment, she leaned her head against his chest, risking the closer contact. It was nice, like she remembered.
John laughed at that. Well, at least she hadn’t shot him down point blank, he thought to himself hopefully. When she rested her head on his chest, he realised how tense he was. Sighing in relief that this didn’t seem to be as disastrous as he first thought, he relaxed against her, letting himself get swept along by the music and pulling her closer. “I don’t know if I mentioned it before, but you look great tonight,” he told her quietly, dipping his chin slightly as he did.
“Flatterer,” Susan chuckled. “You’re nervous. Why? I don’t look that good.”
"Why am I nervous?" John let out a little laugh, looking up slightly as he did. "Let's see...I'm dancing with a beautiful woman and I nearly screwed up the first date I've been on in over a year," he told her, deciding it was probably best not to explain about Aeryn just yet. "Aren't you nervous?" He asked, looking down at her.
“Not really, no.” She didn’t know this guy from Adam, and if the date went poorly, she’d just go home to her cat Bill and have a drink there. “But I think I have less invested than you. You asked me, after all. Which was very brave.”
John narrowed his eyes at her, a grin playing on his lips as they continued to sway. “Are you mocking me?” he asked, highly amused. He squeezed her hand in his as he waited for her to answer. He liked women with a bit of sass.
“Only a little!” Susan grinned right back up at him. Had her arms been free, she’d have folded them, if only because she’d been told she looked more stern that way. It would’ve added to the mockery. “I get the feeling not enough people tease you.”
John chuckled, looking away briefly before turning his gaze back to her. “I get the feeling that you’re about to change all that,” he replied softly, a soft smile on his face as he watched her. If it hadn’t have been the first date, he would have seriously considered kissing her, but they’d only just met and the gentleman in him didn’t think it was a good idea. He really liked her and he didn’t want to scare her off. Clearing his throat, he asked with a gravelly voice, “Would you like another drink?”
“I’d love one,” Susan smiled. She noticed the odd tone his voice took when he talked to her, and it made her smile. It had been a long time since a man had sounded that way talking to her. Squeezing his hand, she hoped it reassured him. He’d get a good-night kiss, for sure.