Meeting Doctors

Tonight was the night Luke had set for me to meet his brother Seth and his girlfriend Casey. Anne and Carmen were shocked to hear it. Luke and I have only been official one week and they kept warning me at just how fast things seemed to be going between us. I didn’t think it was a big deal anymore though. Things were running smoothly, I just didn’t think meeting Luke’s brother would make any negative impact.

Seth had confirmed the dinner on a Saturday evening. Three days after Luke called. He had said his brother’s schedule was a challenge to overthrow and three days was a good interval. Anyways, it was going to be at this upscale restaurant that was simply impossible to get a table from if it were only me and my measly budget and strings. It was a different case with Luke’s brother who knew the owner, though.

I browsed the internet about the restaurant’s menu, just so I wouldn’t get so out of my league when it came time to order. (I think that was probably the control freak in me.) And I almost died when I saw the price list. Suffice it to say that I just can’t wait to be a doctor myself if it meant I could eat without worrying about how to pay for it.

I had decided to wear a dark green cocktail dress for the occasion and matched it with strappy silver heels. I wanted to make a good impression and I was ready to go when Luke called me to say he was waiting downstairs. He was leaning against a black sedan when I got out of the building.

“I’ve never seen you drive a car before,” I said to him after I greeted him with a kiss on the lips. He looked extra nice in a crisp white shirt, black pants, and skinny black tie.

“The bike’s faster and less restraining.” He opened the passenger door for me and gestured for me to go in and I did. He handed me a long-stemmed red rose and kissed my cheek before he closed the door before I could even say thanks.

That was his thing. He’d do something so utterly sweet out of the blue and he’d act as if it was totally normal that he does these things. As if it was no big deal when it actually was.

“You ready?” he asked once he got inside the car.

“Yes.”

“Don’t ditch me when you see him, okay?” he said, looking at me seriously while also trying to stifle a laugh. He had been saying how much better Seth was than him. And that Seth’d probably be more my type than himself because Seth was a doctor and he was not. He’d always say it like it was a joke. But somehow I felt he was not so confident when it was his brother involved.

I giggled. “I won’t,” I promised with a huge smile on my face. I had long decided I would wait until he felt comfortable enough with me to open up about how he felt about his brother.

It turns out Seth was an anesthesiologist who already had a flourishing practice at age thirty. He has practically inherited the patients of the surgeons that their mother worked with four years into his fellowship when their mother decided to retire and go on an extended cruise with their father at the Caribbean just a couple months ago. I’d never have known Luke’s mom was a doctor too if I hadn’t asked about Seth! And Luke only said he never knew how to stir it into the conversation.

Luke’s father (was not Darth Vader, sorry), on the other hand, was a businessman who had a flexible time so the brothers never had to grow up alone. It was a well-thought plan, in my opinion, a doctor marrying another from a different field that was less demanding of time than her own. And it explained the reason why Luke went to a completely different direction than his mom and Seth. It wasn’t like the whole family was a bunch of doctors. It wasn’t a stuck-up thing where he was expected to follow everybody else’s footsteps just ‘cause (which actually tend to happen A LOT in families made up of doctors). It was to each his own.

“Hang on a second. I distinctly remember you saying you weren’t rich at all,” I had told him the moment I realized just how wealthy he must have been if he had an anesthesiologist and a businessman for parents. I was flashing back on all the signs: the Ducati, the big tips, the clothes, the apartment.

“I’m not, though. My family’s wealthy, not me,” he answered so nonchalantly before he kissed me into submission. And what a typical answer from a typical Richie Rich. Dang it, I was stupid, wasn’t I?

We got stuck in traffic two blocks away from the restaurant and we were already running late when Luke received a call from his brother.

“We just ran into a bit of traffic. We’re almost there,” said Luke. Seth said something on the other line. “No. Don’t be ridiculous. I just didn’t know the road’s gonna be like this. I brought the car.” A pause, and then Luke hung up.

“You okay?” I asked reaching out for Luke’s hand, noticing he was a bit agitated after the call.

“Seth just has this thing about being punctual, and we’re ten minutes late. Don’t worry about it.” I could feel just how affected he was by Seth’s call that I wondered whether there was more to it than he was letting on.

We arrived at the restaurant five minutes after the call and found Seth and Casey waiting for us at the bar.

“You guys, this is Samantha, my girlfriend,” Luke introduced me with an arm draped around my shoulders. “Samantha, this is Seth, my brother, and this is Casey, his fiancée.”

Casey was very sweet, warm, and smoking hot. She was wearing a sleek black asymmetrical cutout dress with her hair high up in a bun – a look only models could have pulled off. She hugged me so tightly after Luke’s introduction and she seemed so genuinely pleased to meet me.

I couldn’t say the same about Seth, though. He was civil about me, as far as civility is concerned, but he merely shook my hand so coldly. Not that I was expecting to be treated like family instantly, but it was anticlimactic, if you ask me. Luke had portrayed his brother as this warm, kind, and loving older brother that this cold and aloof person in front of me seemed to be an entirely different person from who I was debriefed to meet.

The moment our hands touched, my jaw almost dropped to the floor. I could see past his shoulder. Wearing a sterling suit and leaning into the other side of the bar with a glass of scotch was Dr. Karl Anderson and his wonderful grey eyes. He was talking to a couple other guys who I assumed were around his age as well. My heart stopped out of sheer admiration. Dr. Anderson looked absolutely perfect.

An usherette walked up to us to inform us that the table was being prepared. At that exact moment, Dr. Anderson looked over his shoulder towards the door. He seemed to be waiting for someone else to arrive. And then, his eyes fell on my little group. First on Seth, then on Casey, and finally on me. The recognition that clearly showed in his expression made me float in the air. He remembers me still!

I furtively watched him excuse himself from his friends and walk right up to our side of the bar. He was looking at our direction and I did not know exactly what I should do. Panic was the right word for it, I think.

Dr. Anderson greeted Seth, Luke, and Casey and it clearly showed they all knew each other well. “And how did you manage to get your hands on Ms. Miller?” he asked Seth humorously while shaking my hand in greeting. “No stealing from my department!”

Seth only responded with a forced laugh.

“Oh, there’s our table. I’ll see you around,” Dr. Anderson waved us goodbye once he saw his friends leaving the bar. “Ms. Miller, I’ll put in a good word for you in Surgery if you don’t take up this man on any Anesthesiology offers.”

I was sure my eyes were wide as saucers because Dr. Anderson merely looked at me amusedly before taking off. I think I was able to mutter an “I’d be honored” before he had gone. And Seth had returned to his previous stony expression before Dr. Anderson came by to have a chat.

My mind was immediately in a buzz. I did not know whether I could take Dr. Anderson’s word for this bright future in Surgery at such an informal meeting. But then again, much of everything in taking up posts at the hospital happened this way, as far as I’ve heard. It’s all word of mouth until they give you a paper to sign and everything becomes official.

If Dr. Anderson were being serious, him putting in a good word for me in his department would be a huge deal. His word would as good as seal the deal on a surgical residency for me in the future! No competing with other applicants. No unwarranted asskisseries to senior residents during internship just for a decent endorsement. Just a residency spot waiting for me, served on a silver platter with ice cream on top. But that’s just me counting my chickens before the eggs are hatched.

The usherette led us to our table moments later, and I found out Seth already had the chef prepare a menu for our dinner. It seemed a bit too controlling, in my opinion. But I decided to just zip my non-paying mouth and go with the flow.

“Luke tells us you’re already in third year, Samantha. How are you getting on?” Casey said over dinner. She seemed so very enthusiastic about almost everything that I wondered how she could tolerate Seth’s attitude on a frequent basis, really. He just seemed so… standoffish.

The rest of the dinner conversation was mostly shouldered by Casey on Seth’s end, who had generally been just quiet and watchful that it was almost too rude even for me. And I have an unbelievable threshold, you guys. I did not understand what I could have done wrong to even deserve such impoliteness.

Luke, on the other hand, was trying to act as if everything was normal. And honestly, it was starting to get on my nerves. I was really only putting on a nice attitude because I did not want to be rude to Casey who was trying so hard to salvage the situation. But it was simply too challenging to not be fazed by this man’s attitude.

Before dessert was served, Casey asked me to go to the lady’s room with her. I went just because I could not stand Seth anymore and any break from his rude behavior was too welcome.

“I met Seth in medical school, you know,” Casey shared once we were both in front of the mirror powdering our noses (oh, so ladylike of me).

“Oh. Luke never said you were a doctor, too.”

“Yeah, he doesn’t always know when to say stuff like that,” she agreed. “I’m guessing Luke told you last minute about Seth and his mom being doctors?”

“Yeah,” I mumbled in response.

“He’s a bit uncomfortable about it. I think he thinks people treat him differently once they know.”

“But why does he think that?”

“Oh, it’s just Luke being Luke. Trust me, I’ve known him long enough,” she said as she let her hair down glamorously. And by God, her hair was luxurious. I’d never be able to pull off a hair down from a bun in a jiffy and in one day. “And right now, that’s just Seth being Seth. I do apologize about his behavior. I really want to smack him with that attitude of his. But he is very protective about Luke, I hope you understand.” She put her hands on my shoulders and turned me to face her. “Don’t let this phase intimidate you, please. I really like you for my little brother-in-law-to-be. And I know Seth’s gonna like you, too, if he gets over his tantrum tonight.”

“Thank you.” I smiled at Casey’s kind words and was inwardly thanking I did not end up making drama at the table. I was this close to calling Seth’s ugly behavior out. That was how rude he was being. And I did not exactly care that Seth was eight years my senior then.

We went back to our table with me a little bit saner than when I left. I felt Luke squeeze my hand beneath the table once I was seated and I turned my head towards him. He was looking at me with concern and I only gazed back at him with pursed lips. In an instant, I was slightly annoyed by the fact that he never called his brother out at the way I was being treated. And it annoyed me more that the person who had enough sense to appease me had to be Casey, who was practically a stranger to me.

Dinner ended uneventfully after that. We said our goodbyes and Casey and I exchanged numbers before I quietly walked over to where Luke’s car was parked. I think I put on a good show for Casey and Seth, but now that I’ve watched their car leave the parking area, I no longer had to pretend I was happy to meet Seth at all.