Friday night.

Victor was true to his word when he said he'd be outside my apartment at 7:00p.m. Not a minute early, not a minute late. He's punctual. I like that.

There are no hints as to where he is taking me so I played it safe tonight by wearing a nice black dress that isn't too overdressed but also not too simple. The dress hugs my curves tightly showing them off. It's a go to outfit for dinner.

I find him waiting by the passenger side, opening the door for me. He is dressed in a gray suit. Suits are his thing. I wouldn't mind if he wore them more often at work.

"Thank you" I smile at him as I settle myself into his passenger seat. I'm in awe at how neat the inside of his car is. Here I am sitting inside of my residents expensive ass mustang. The good girl Stella wants to rush out of this car and apologize to Victor for wasting his time. But the wild girl side of me tends to win in situations like these, the ones where I know it shouldn't happen but she can't help but want to be risky and have a little fun while doing so. Plus this mustang is pulling me in not wanting to get out the car.

It is just dinner after all. Nothing wrong with eating out with someone you work with. I try to make the situation more appropriate. Two adults can have dinner together.

We are pulling into valet parking of a restaurant known to be one of the fanciest in Los Angeles: Le lieu. I believe it is French for the place. It is the place where people with money come to eat. A little too expensive for my taste but who knows, maybe I'll enjoy the food.

Victor hands over his keys to valet boy along with a $50 bill as a tip. The boy thanks Victor, he pats him softly on the back. Generous man. The valet boy seems young. Possibly 18/20. I can imagine the kind of tips they get here at Le lieu.

"Dr. Russell! How lovely seeing you here tonight. Table for one?" A lady with fire red hair pulled into a ponytail greets Victor, a smile showing off her dimples. Her silver eyes beam at Victor with such admiration.

"Two actually" he nervously fixes his tie. I stand shyly behind him, she must have not seen me as I am slightly shorter than Victor and his shoulders are very broad. The red head gives him a confused look. Her eyes wander around until they fall on me.

"Oh" a small breathe, "right this way." Two menus in her hand as she guides us into the dim restaurant, giving us a table with a nice view of the ocean. Los Angeles is pretty at night but I'm a Siesta Key girl at heart. Nothing will compare to their beaches at night, the calmness that washes over me listening to the waves crashing against the shore. The Siesta Key beaches beat California ones in my opinion.

"Would we like to start the night off with a glass of wine?" Her eyes bounce back and forth between Victor and I. My shoulders shrug when Victor looks over at me for an answer.

"I'll be fine with a glass of water please" I say.

"And we will do a bottle of wine please" he grins. She leaves us for a minute before returning with a bottle of white wine and two empty glasses. She pours our glasses half full. Victor reaches for his glass and lifts his up to me. I giggle as I do the same.

"I'll get that water right out for you. Any appetizers tonight?" The redhead asks, I nearly forgot she was still here. I shake my head.

"I think we'll do without some" Victor says.

"Okay. Take your time looking over the menu" the redhead says directly to me, "and Victor will we be having our usual? Steak and Lobster?" her body faces him. Why am I not surprised that is his usual? He seems like the kind of guy who enjoys eating a well cooked steak with expensive lobster. Nothing wrong with that but typical. Stop being judgey. The voice in my head sounds a little too much like Gigi.

"Yes, thank you Hannah." Victor hands his menu over to the red head. This is overwhelming. Everything on this menu is overpriced and fancy. I don't want him paying too much for me.The only thing catching my eye is a Shrimp pasta plate. A burger would be fine but I don't see any of the menu. What the actual fuck? Who doesn't have burgers?

"Get whatever you want" Victor says. "Don't be shy" he smiles. I give him a nervous look as I glance off over the menu one last time before telling the red head my order.

"I'll take the shrimp pasta, please" I hand my menu over to Hannah.

"We'll have that out for you." She slowly walks away with our menus.

"I hope this isn't too much for dinner" Victor says, slowly taking a sip from his glass.

"Not at all" I lie. I appreciate his effort but a nice milkshake and burger would've been just fine I believe. Maybe he's more accustomed to this high class stuff than I am.

"My sister is a chef here. It's why I eat here a lot, I get to see her if she's not too busy" his fingers tap against the table. This is why we don't judge first Stella!

"You have a sister?" I ask. He nods.
"Maya. Few years younger than me." Another sip of wine. I've barely touched my glass. I study his every move. He seems nervous. Russell doesn't strike me as a guy who easily gets nervous around a woman.

"She's always loved cooking for other people ever since she was little. She'd cook for me and my mom every morning" he chuckles. "Good times."

"That's nice. I wish I had a sibling who cooked for me"

"Do you have siblings?"

"Only child" I answer.
"How is it being an only child?"
"Lonely" I say truthfully. "But I sometimes wonder what kind of sister I would've been. Would I have been a good one? Actually hung out with them?"
"I'm sure you would have Stella. You would've been the greatest sister" I appreciate his words.

I always wished I had a sibling. During my freshman year of high school my mom announced to me she was pregnant. Few months into the pregnancy and she lost the baby. My mother never tried again. She was too scared and did not want to experience that pain ever.

Hannah appears with our steaming food carefully setting everything down in front of us. The pasta looks delicious.

We eat in silence for a few minutes. It's not an uncomfortable one. I enjoy the flavors I'm getting from the creamy sauce and grilled shrimp. Mentally applauding the chef who made this. I wonder if it was Maya.

"It's good isn't it?" Victor wipes the corner of his mouth with a napkin.

"Fucking incredible" I shove a bite into my mouth. That wasn't very lady like. Quickly feeling embarrassed I apologize to Victor.

"Sorry. I mean it's delicious."

Victor laughs. "No it's okay, their food is fucking amazing" his eyes on me as he empties his glass.

"So, tell me more about yourself." Victor leans back slightly in his chair, rubbing his index finger over his lip. I try not to stare at them.

"Umm... well what do you want to know?" I shift in my seat. Whenever I'm asked to talk about me I blank out. I never know what to say.

Victor shakes his head. "Whatever you want me to know that you haven't told me already. I know you love the beach, elephants are your favorite animal, you prefers to go to England over Paris. But I want to know more" He smiles.

"I'm a bit preservative when it comes to sharing information about myself" I tease "but I guess I can tell you some stuff" the wine hits my tongue. Victor is grinning. It's funny to me how I'm outside the hospital with my attending, making him laugh as he waits to learn more about his intern.

"It'd be an honor to know more about you" he winks. A sudden feeling rushes through my body, something foreign. Definitely not caused by the wink.

"Besides what you already know about me, I hate being late to places" I shrug. It's true. I've never liked the feeling of not being on time to anywhere. Appointments. School. Dates. Hang outs. Etc.

"A girl who hates being late? Shocker being that most girls are usually late" he says playfully.

"Not me. I hate it. I also hate waiting on people so don't ever be late with me" I wish I hadn't said that last part but it's too late. Victor raises a brow.

"Noted. If you allow me to take you out again I swear I won't be late" he grins.

I gulp and try to find something to say to that. Is he expecting us to go out again? Not that I wouldn't mind but at the same time I don't know how to feel about that. I find myself worrying about what people at work will say when they find out a first year is hanging out with her attending outside of work.

Victor is attractive. He's sweet, patient, kind and a bit playful even I've noticed tonight which is the totally opposite of what he is at work. I like this side of him and that wild side of me who loves doing things I shouldn't be doing wants to know him more.
As a friend.

Before I could say anything his phone goes off. He gives me an apologetic look after taking a glance at his screen and answering. Judging the look on his face it must be work. I watch his lips move as he speaks softly into the phone. His face hardens when he ends the call.

"911 on one of my patients. I'm sorry we have to cut this short" he gestures at the table.

"No don't apologize. It's work so I understand" I assure him. We're doctors. It happens. Victor shoves his hand into his jacket and pulls out cash, places it on the table. We walk out side by side, Hannah says goodbye to Victor and gives me a small smile as we leave the restaurant. I could feel her stares on me as we wait for the valet boy to bring the mustang around to the front. She has a thing for Victor and she puts no effort in making it a secret.

"You don't need to drop me off at home. Head to the hospital, I'll catch a ride with Amanda" I say. I know he had the idea of rushing me home first but I don't want him doing that when he's needed. He nods.

"Are you sure?" we're on the main road now. Thankfully the restaurant is only 10 minutes away from where we are. My apartment on the other hand is another 20 minutes.

"Yes I'm sure" I tell him.

"Hey" he looks over to me. I raise my eyebrows.

"Next time will be more fun. Promise" his eyes return onto the road, lips curved into a smile. He wants a next time. Terrified at myself that I want that too. This is not what I had in mind for when I came to Los Angeles but there are things you can't control from happening. Plus, I don't mind giving a man such as Victor the chance of changing my mind. A feeling tells me my resident has an interest in me. Maybe Gigi was right. Oh god. This has bad written all over it. I can't not be involved with my attending in that way. But why was my mind going back and forth?

The hospital comes into view and we both jump out his mustang. Victor nearly sprits into a run before stopping himself. He turns to face me but I'm waving him off.

"Go!" I say. "I'll see you around" I smile. He returns it.

"See you around" Victor says to me before running into the hospital.

Amanda is in the lounge plopped on the couch with her eyes glued on a stack of paper. She's so focused on whatever she's reading she doesn't notice my entrance.

"Hey" I stand at the doorway. Her eyes travel up and back down my body as she notices I'm not in scrubs.

"Woah, where did you just come from?" She asks. I bite my lip. I'll wait before telling her about Victor.

"I uh, went somewhere nice for dinner. Cut short and I had him drop me off here because I" I try coming up with some good lie.

"I didn't want him to know where I live, you know, in case things didn't go so well" I bullshit. Amanda buys it.

"Understandable. Did you leave your car here?"
"Nope. Gigi actually took me to work, I brought a change of clothes and he picked me up from here. I was hoping maybe you could take me home?"

"Yeah that's cool. I have to check up on a patient real quick. Fill out my paperwork and I should be good to go" she stands up from the couch.

"Is Tyler working the night shift today?" I walk to the fridge to grab a water. Didn't realize how thirsty I was until now. Tonight I had three sips, maybe five , of the wine. My body needs water.

"Yes. With Savannah" she adds. I roll my eyes.

"Gross." I plop down on the couch. For some reason it feels more comfortable tonight and I contemplate falling asleep here.

"Right? Anyways, it'll be another twenty and we'll head out" Amanda grabs her papers and heads out the lounge room.

I must've dozed off quickly. Amanda is shaking me awake.

"Girl you were out. Ready to go home?" Her huge eyes are staring at me. I rub my eyes before looking around the room. That twenty minute nap felt much longer. I nod my head at Amanda. She's changed into a flannel and dark jeans. She must be going to Manny's. The bar sounds fun but I'm beat. Drained. I can hear my bed calling out for me.

Amanda pulls up to my apartment building thirty minutes later. I thank her for the ride home and walk my way up the stairs.

The minute I walk into my small one bedroom apartment, I throw myself into my sheets not even bothering taking off my dress or my makeup. A random thought crosses my mind before I doze off.

I went out with my resident....as friends.

Keep telling yourself that, Stella.