Post by esme verity stapleton on Mar 30, 2020 13:49:52 GMT -5
There was no such thing as an easy shift when you worked in the ER. There was a time when Esme might have called it easy if Doctor Sherwood wasn’t around to irritate her, but that had certainly taken a surprising turn lately. Oh, he still annoyed her, undermining her at frequent turns, but their fights about it had manifested into something just as passionate, but far more enjoyable. There were still plenty of moments where she wanted to hit him but pinning him against a wall had scratched that itch just as well. It wasn’t in the least bit professional but then, the fights they had shared were not exactly what the hospital expected from them either. Esme might have been a hardworking nurse, but she never claimed to be a good girl. Before the army she had been a party girl with a volatile temper; and the temper was still there. She usually could keep a lid on it...unless Oakley was around. The man got under her skin like no one else before him. She only knew two ways of handling him; yelling and kissing.
Not that Esme was going to complain about the latter. It wasn’t as though she dated frequently, or had a man waiting for her at home. There hadn’t really been anyone since she moved to New York. In the beginning her broken heart was still mending, and then there just wasn’t any time for it. She wasn’t the type to open up to strangers, to tell them her life story. No first date should involve the horrors she’d seen in the Middle East, or how she still had nightmares about it. And despite her life in England being wonderful, with incredible parents, people seemed to bristle cautiously if she mentioned she was adopted. On paper, she ticked every box for being a hot mess. To a stranger, she must have been weighed down with red flags. Esme was good at keeping her problems to herself though. Her bosses knew and offered more than enough support that she frequently ignored. She could handle it all herself, even the bad spells where she didn’t leave her apartment for days at a time. It was a burden she was okay to carry. That’s what she told herself every time a hurdle tripped her up. She didn’t need anyone.
It was late; not so late that the New York streets were quiet, but late enough that children would be asleep, and most people would have eaten dinner. Considering her career had once been filled with strict routine, Esme didn’t know the meaning of the word anymore. Her ER shifts went around the clock, eating her meals whenever she had fifteen minutes. Tonight, she had pushed on through the last three hours knowing that she stop by a take-away on her walk home and satisfy her cravings that way. Before that, however, she wanted out of her nurse’s scrubs. Back in jeans and an old oversized hoodie, Esme took five minutes sitting on the locker room bench to search her bag for her headphones, make sure her keys were easy to grab when she reached her apartment building, and then respond to the three text messages she had from her mum. Dad’s birthday was coming up, and she wanted to know if Esme had any idea for gifts. The brunette wasn’t the greatest at giving gifts and knew this was leading into the “do you want me to get something for you?” conversation that happened on most special occasions when they came around. She fired back a short response that she would call home in the morning when she knew her mother would be home alone. The door opened, and she looked up just enough to recognise Oakley. She didn’t need to see his face; at this point she knew what he smelt like, how he held himself. It would be a little unnerving if Esme actually allowed herself to think about it – so she didn’t. Nor did she choose to acknowledge him; they weren’t friends who would chat about the weather or what was on at the cinemas. Esme didn’t know what the hell they were at this point.
• • •
TAGGED! Oakley Nikolai Sherwood
WORDS! 702!
LYRICS! Favourite Place - - - All Time Low
NOTES! <3
