Playing Doctor (16 page)

But he was too late. This time it was Nikki who stomped away, and she didn't look back again.

Trying to lighten Nikki's mood, Rachel said, “It's okay… There are other fish in the sea, as the saying goes.”

All the girls nodded, except Nikki, who said, “It sucks! He really is so cute.”

“Yeah, they're all hotties,” Kim agreed. “But they are also jerks. Imagine passing themselves off as doctors. Really…that's so lame!”

And this time even Nikki agreed. Turning to Rachel, she said, “Thank you so much for watching my back.”

“That's what friends are for.” Hugging Nikki, Rachel added, “Actually it was kind of fun…outing them. Just wish I could tell all the unsuspecting girls on those lists what jerks those guys really are.”

As they gathered their stuff, Nikki took one last look back at Hunter and cried, “Look at them! They're already hitting on another group of girls!”

It was true. As they turned to look, they could see Rob inviting another group of three pretty young women over to their table—and he already had his pen and paper in hand!

In disgust, Amy said, “Let's get out of here. Didn't I tell you that this place is just a pickup joint? You can't meet nice guys here.”

The girls nodded in agreement as Rachel said, “You were right. This club is a regular petri douche!”

The girls laughed uproariously as they left the club together to head home.

However, Nikki continued to think about Hunter—he was just so gorgeous—but she was also aware of how close she had come to getting involved with another loser.
Wow, my jerk-dar really isn't good. Thank heavens for friends who watch out for me.
Even though the night hadn't turned out well, Nikki didn't regret deciding to give herself a makeover. In the future, she would just have to be more discerning about who she enticed with her “in with the new” look, that was all.

While Nikki was glad
that Rachel had saved her from a guy on the make, she moped around about it the rest of the weekend. So on Monday, Rachel talked Nikki into some lunchtime retail therapy, and they all met at a fancy lingerie store.

“I've never shopped here before,” Nikki said. “But I'm thinking I need some new undies. I'm trying to change my style to be flashier, more noticeable. I might as well make my lingerie sexier too.”

“Well, this is the place to go for glamorous, risqué stuff. We'll help you pick something out,” Kim said, picking up a flaming, red-and-black lacy number that sparkled with little crystals. “This would look great on you,” she added, holding it out to Nikki.

“Oh, no! Really, that's way more out there than I was thinking,” Nikki responded.

“At least try it on,” Rachel urged. “Doesn't cost anything to try it on.”

“What about this set?” Amy offered, holding up a black bra and underwear pairing that was skimpy but not as racy.

“Sure that's nice too, but if you want something truly hot, then that's the real deal,” Rachel said, pointing at what Kim held.

In the dressing room Nikki first tried on the black set. Looking in the mirror, she could see that it was certainly a step up from her old, white-cotton “mommy-boughts.” Longingly she touched the striking lingerie still on the hanger. The set was so pretty. The red and black lace was gorgeous and so rocking sexy!
What
the
hell
, Nikki challenged herself as she hurriedly tried them on before changing her mind.

Yes, this is the real thing.
Nikki turned this way and that in the mirror, fingering the sparkly little crystals that hung between her breasts. Why go half measures? Anyway, it wasn't like anyone would actually see them, she realized, but she would know that under her work clothes she looked fabulous. As she rotated before the mirror, she saw that the matching hip-hugger panties were also flattering.

As Nikki emerged from the dressing room, she saw only Kim waiting for her. “It's going to be a while,” Kim said. “Rachel's got a lot of items to try on, and Amy had to rush back to work for a meeting.”

Looking at what Nikki held in her hand, Kim added, “Good for you. You're going to buy them, right?”

“Yes, but that's not all… I'd like to tell you something, but keep it to yourself, okay?”

“Sure, of course. What is it?”

Nikki whispered, “You know I'm making lots of changes to my looks and to other things…like how assertive I am at work.” Kim nodded. “Well, my annual girlie-parts exam is coming up, and I decided I'm going to get a birth control prescription. I don't know why, but it makes me a little anxious thinking about asking my doctor for it…but it's high time I joined the modern world.”

“Nikki, you shouldn't worry about asking the doctor. That's what they're there for, but…Ben was a huge jerk and I hope that his bullying didn't influence your decision,” Kim said with concern.

“No, it most definitely doesn't have anything to do with him. It's just something I want to do for me as part of my full makeover, inside and out. I've even heard that with the new pills you can eliminate having your period all together. I would love that!”

“Good! I'm glad to hear it,” responded Kim, giving her friend a quick hug. “I know there is a special guy out there for you. I just know it. And for that matter, there's one for me too!”

After they exited the store with three matching lingerie bags in their hands, the girlfriends walked back to work. It was a beautiful spring day in the bustling city, and they were young, carefree women starting out in their careers with a lot to look forward to.

Inside, Nikki thought that her transformation from not-quite-a-wallflower to outgoing sophisticate was coming along nicely. She felt her confidence growing. She knew life would hold surprises for her, both good and bad, and she was eager to meet them head-on.

A couple weeks later,
Nikki scheduled an appointment with Dr. Lisa Porter, her regular gynecologist. Nikki was very comfortable with her doctor, having decided long ago that she would only see a female ob-gyn. The appointments were unpleasant enough already without having a strange man staring at her down there.

Upon her arrival, Nikki signed in and a nurse, someone new she had not met before, showed her to the standard tiny, cold exam room. The nurse left her with the usual instructions to strip down to nothing and cover herself with a sheet. After the nurse left, Nikki began undressing and then remembered she had worn her new set of sexy lingerie that day.

Earlier that morning Nikki had seen the items lying in her underwear drawer, unworn and still brand-new. In that instant, she'd decided to wear them, even though she had no boyfriend to see them. If she was truly going to be this new modern woman, she could wear whatever she wanted underneath. It was her business and no one else's. Feeling secretly pretty and sexy would surely boost her confidence too.

And it did! For most of the morning, Nikki felt edgy and slightly naughty, like she was a risk-taker. Later, as things got busy, she forgot about her underwear. The glamorous, sexy feel became just part of her transformation into a cosmopolitan, confident, and outgoing woman, and she was already getting positive feedback. Her boss had called Nikki aside after a staff meeting and told her how he had appreciated her input and that he was glad she was becoming more forthright in her position at the company.

Now, however, Nikki felt momentary embarrassment at seeing her body in the risqué lingerie, but she tried to shrug it off.
What
the
hell! I'm a twenty-six-year-old career woman.
It's not like it is black leather—just a few sparkles and lace.
So to prove she was comfortable with her choices, Nikki hung them on top of her outerwear in plain sight on the two wall hooks, rather than hiding them underneath as she usually would with her old white undies. Wrapping the sheet around her naked body, she giggled slightly, laughing at herself for her foolishness. Surely, Lisa had seen it all and more, Nikki realized about Dr. Porter.

After sitting down on the cold exam table with its annoying rustling paper, Nikki thought about how she hated these gynecologic appointments and how she got anxious every time while she waited alone wrapped in a thin sheet. Maybe next time she would bring her cozy blanket from home. Wouldn't that be funny? But why not? She was always cold, and the room was so barren and unpleasant with nothing on the walls except charts displaying intimate body parts or things Nikki didn't want to be reminded about, such as various infections or STDs.

Then there were the stirrups!
What evil man had invented that humiliating contraption?
she thought with a grimace. Nikki always detested that part of the exam. At least her doctor put little warm socky-things over the metal and, again, at least she was a woman. It would be doubly humiliating to glance down and see a man's face peering at her vajayjay, she mused.

Nikki really liked her kind doctor and almost thought of her as a friend. Who knows? Maybe someday this same woman would be delivering her babies—that is, if she ever met a guy nice enough to marry. She'd had a string of casual boyfriends throughout her NYU years, nothing serious. Who would have thought it would be so hard to meet nice guys after college? However, it was proving difficult for all her friends.

Sitting on the table and getting colder by the minute, Nikki continued to stew over how to go about meeting someone special. Amy had been right—a pickup bar was not the place to meet nice guys.

The wait seemed especially lengthy today, exacerbating her usual anxiety about gynecologic appointments. Adding to her unease, Nikki was uncomfortable about asking for a birth control prescription and just wanted it over with. I'm an adult, she reminded herself.
I
shouldn't be embarrassed to ask for this or anything that I need.
Gathering her fortitude, Nikki resolved to speak confidently, without any mumbling—just as she had voiced her opinion in the staff meeting earlier this morning.

“It's really taking a long time… What's the holdup today?” she said aloud, frustrated.

Then finally the door opened and in walked a doctor, but it was not Dr. Porter—and even more startlingly, it was a young guy! A couple thoughts flashed through Nikki's mind almost simultaneously: she only saw women gynecologists, and who the heck is this guy anyway at this all-female practice?

The man was looking down at her file, she could see, and even as he continued to peruse her chart, he said, “Welcome, Ms. Woods. I'm Dr. Sterling. The nurse will be joining us in just a mo—”

“
It's you!
What are you doing here?” Nikki shrieked.

Clutching the sheet tighter to her body, she realized that this was the same guy who had hit on her at Club X. Hunter looked a little different—more professional in his white lab coat. But it was him, alright.

Dr. Sterling stuttered in response, “Ah, um, I'm filling in for…” But his words trailed to a dead stop when he recognized the young woman he had tried, but failed, to hook up with a couple weeks ago. She was sitting there looking just as pretty and all, but gift-wrapped for him in a too-thin sheet. After clearing his throat, he looked her in the eye and attempted his most professional tone, saying, “I'm filling in for Dr. Porter who is sick.”

Then after another glance at his clipboard, he continued. “It says here that you came in for a birth-control prescription. We…ah, usually do a full exam before…” and again he trailed off into silence as his eyes strayed to her perky nipples, which were on display through the thin fabric.

Nikki felt such acute mortification that she assumed she was blushing beet red, probably all the way from her face to her chest, but she refused to let herself look down to check. Then she spied her racy underwear displayed on the wall, and she tried desperately to figure a way that she could surreptitiously reach over and cover it up. Almost at the same moment, she saw Hunter's face blanch when he realized that he was staring at her breasts. Suddenly, he glanced back at Nikki's face, and then his eyes started anxiously shifting around the room, looking at everything but her.

“Umm,” he started again.

No, no, no
, Nikki silently entreated, but she was too late.

“The standard practice is to do a full exam before…” This time he ended with a guttural choking sound as his eyes locked on the very red, very sexy, lace underthings hanging at eye level just a few feet from his face, seemingly there for his personal perusal and enjoyment. At that point, Hunter just gave up trying to talk and seemed physically unable to take his eyes off the naughty, hot things. Leaning even closer, mesmerized, he stared at the dangling bright crystals on the bra that twinkled slightly in the light.

What
is
he
thinking?
Nikki asked herself.
Why
is
he
just
standing
there
staring
at
my
underwear? Why won't he look away, for heaven's sake!
Could this get any more embarrassing?
she wondered frantically.

Yes, it could! Suddenly a tingling awareness swept through Nikki, making her shiver. She was still attracted to Hunter—he was too damned handsome—and even in her mortification, she felt her nipples constrict into tighter buds. She realized that she still wanted him, even as she silently entreated,
Please, please, please stop looking at my underwear.
She was in a state of disbelief—at herself. How could she be so embarrassed and so hotly aroused at the same time? Nikki panicked, frantically trying to figure out how she could make this misery end.

“This isn't going to work! I thought this was an all-female practice. Isn't there a woman I can see?” she blurted out.

It seemed like it took every ounce of his willpower to fight the allure of her sexy lingerie, but he slowly turned to face Nikki, while also quickly dropping his chart to hold it awkwardly in front of his pelvis. He stared fixedly into her eyes, although it seemed to Nikki as if the sexy display on the wall still called to him.

“I'm, ah, sorry… I was just hired. I'm the first male doctor here,” Hunter muttered. “It's my first day, and I'm covering lunch and also filling in for Dr. Porter, who's sick. The nurse should have told you, but if you're willing to wait a short while longer, Dr. Jones…Dr. Brenda Jones will be back from lunch.”

At Nikki's nod, the young doctor turned to leave, still holding his chart in front of him like a shield.

“Wait,” Nikki said, halting his progress out the door. “What were you guys really doing the other night? Was I just one more number on your list of conquests?”

Turning back, Hunter said regretfully, “I'm sorry about that. It wasn't my idea. Actually it was my roommate Rob's plan. He's kind of a jerk. We were celebrating finishing our residencies, but I only went along with it…getting a couple numbers…'cause the guys were ribbing me. I didn't plan to call any of them, well except for you, that is. And I didn't plan to see how many I could, umm, have sex with either, no matter what Rob's plan was.” He paused but she didn't say anything.

Turning to leave again, he added, “I'll get the nurse to set you up with Dr. Jones. Again, sorry about this…about all of it.”

She still didn't respond, so Hunter walked out and shut the door behind him, leaving her sitting there, still shocked and mortified.

Nikki realized she had been holding her breath and let it out in a whoosh.
Should I just leave?
she wondered, feeling defeated.
No! I'm going to get what I came here for!
After a few minutes, the nurse entered and let her know that Dr. Jones had come back from lunch early so Nikki would not have to wait too long. She also apologized for not telling Nikki about Dr. Sterling. She was filling in for a nurse on maternity leave and didn't realize Nikki only saw Dr. Porter.

After the nurse left, Nikki stood up, still wrapped in the sheet, and discreetly covered her lingerie. She would stick it out and get her prescription, but she realized she would blush bright red every time she saw the risqué items hanging there, especially when she remembered Hunter's stunned but hungry expression.

Finally, much later than she had planned, Nikki finished her exam and left the office.

She was both relieved and a little disappointed that she didn't see Hunter again before leaving the clinic. After that crazy night at the bar, she hadn't expected to ever see him again, but now she realized what a missed opportunity it had been. He's a doctor! And also he seemed, nice, available, and even interested in her…or
was
anyway, she thought with a sigh.

Heading back to the office after the rather long lunch, Nikki tried to dispel her gloomy mood with the thought that her friends were going to find this whole incident highly amusing. It would be the biggest dish of the month.