5- Crushing

Scott stirred his cup absentmindedly. "So, you're in customer service, I'm sure you've got an oddball story or two?"

"Well, nothing as crazy as a potato plug, but one of my coworkers at the grocery store had a guy who was trying to be an extreme couponer." Rayan sipped from his mug.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, he came through the line with a bunch of glass jars of spaghetti sauce. He had one manufacturers coupon, and a stack of black and white copies of the same coupon. Of course, we couldn't accept the photocopies and when my coworker told the guy this he dead ass flipped his cart and walked out without a word."

"Wow. Really?"

"Yep. Took over an hour to clean up all the glass and sauce. We had to throw away all the candy near the register, and it smelled like an Italian alleyway for a week. Complete carnage."

"Oh no," Scott chuckled, "not the candy!"

"Oh, and have you heard about those church pamphlets that look like cash? Someone gave me one of those, too."

"No kidding?"

"You see, I work as a busboy down at Michaelangelo's,” Rayan pointed off in the general direction of the restaurant, “and this one Sunday there was a table full of old church ladies. They waived me over from a table I was clearing and one of them stuffed it into my apron pocket saying," he mimicked an old lady voice, "Remember, Jesus will provide for those in need."

"That's in poor taste..."

"Yeah. I feel kinda bad because they did the same to their waitress. At least as a bus boy I make the minimum wage there."

"So, you work two jobs?"

"Three." Rayan held three fingers up for emphasis and continued, "I'm capable of supporting myself completely. Gets a little rough sometimes, but I know other omegas have it worse."

"Three? How?"

"It's not too bad. I do two overnights a week at a private postal company. The pay there is pretty good." Rayan nursed his mug in his hands. "And, well, you see... I get a discount on groceries from the super market, and an employee meal when I work at the restaurant, and then postal company covers most of my rent. It's a system. It helps that I was able to get a set schedule."

"That's... Very impressive, actually." And in truth, Scott was impressed. Every omega he'd met before either lived with their parents, or their bonded partner. And here this guy was, supporting himself with dual purpose employment. Smart, hardworking, cute, good sense of humor... This might be worth pursuing.

"So how about you?" Rayan asked.

"About me?"

"Well yeah, I mean, I know you're a doctor, but why fertility?"

"Well, the short version is because I'm a terrible cook."

Rayan eyed him quizzically. "And?"

"My parents have run a bakery since I was young. And of course, as a kid I dreamed of helping out some day. Alas," Scott paused for dramatic effect, "I couldn't get a dough to rise even with necromancy."

Rayan snorted. "And here I thought alphas were supposed to be good at everything?"

"Yeah, my genetics didn't get that memo."

"You could have helped out in ways that didn't require you to cook though. Management, accounting, stuff like that?"

"And I thought about that for a while. But then in middle school I had my first comprehensive biology lesson. I found the inner workings of the human body fascinating. It was also about that time that my classmates and I were getting into puberty. There was an omega girl that dropped straight into heat in the middle of history class, and everything got really chaotic. I hadn't had my first rut yet so it didn't really affect me, and everything we were taught in school just kind of glossed over that kind of thing. I wanted to know the WHYs and HOWs and so I studied it on my own and well, one thing led to another."

"So your childhood dream went from cooking... to poking around at people's naughty bits?" Rayan eyed him suspiciously from behind the rim of his coffee cup.

Scott choked on his own coffee. "No!" he coughed, "thats-!" It took him a minute to get back under control. Rayan offered him his untouched water glass, which Scott accepted gratefully. Rayan had to admit, it was kind of refreshing to see an alpha caught off guard.

"You okay, man? Don't die, you're the doctor here."

Scott had grabbed a napkin to clean his face. "Ugh, it went up my nose..." He paused to clear his sinuses. "What I was trying to say was, that's not how I look at it at all." He cleaned the splattered coffee from the table too. "Gah, sorry about that!"

Rayan hid his almost-smile behind his mug. That was the most un-alpha-like thing he'd ever seen an alpha do. It was almost cute.

"Let me explain a little better," Scott continued. "I focused on the chemistry. Why alphas and omegas rely on pheromones and how betas don't as much. I studied how the different hormone pills and injections reacted with the body in different ways. My thesis was on preventative measures for alphas when it came to ruts and being exposed to omega pheromones. And well, now I help people plan families, and stay safe and healthy. I don't think of it as perversion."

"Huh, yeah, put that way..."

Rayan finished off his coffee. He'd half thought Scott would get mad at having to defend his position, but he stayed calm and cool the whole way. Well, except for the whole shooting coffee from his nose thing.

The waitress came back by. "Refill for him?" She asked Scott.

"Actually," Rayan stood, "I hate to cut this short, but I should get going. I've had a bit of a long day, and there’s some things I have to get done before work tomorrow."

Scott's heart sank a little. Hopefully Rayan wasn't leaving because Scott embarrassed himself. "Ah, wait! Before you go," he stood up and made to grab Rayan's hand, "would you like to meet up again?"

"Like, an actual date?"

The waitress moved off. This is not what she signed up for tonight. She’d seen plenty in her years in the restaurant business, but an alpha basing themselves to an omega was disgusting.

"I like your company. And... And well I happen to find you very attractive... And... And I would like to have the chance to get to know you better." Scott's face was pink from ear to ear. Rayan was a little flushed himself.

Rayan took his hand back. "You should know, it's been a while so I'm not exactly comfortable with dating..." Then he mumbled, "Or the expectations of omegas. For favors... and such..."

Scott blinked in surprise. What kind of encounters has this poor guy had? If this courting was going to be successful, Scott would have to take this slow. "I'm not looking for favors like that, just someone to share dinner and spare time with. If you're up for that. Besides, it's more fun eating with someone than it is eating alone. Here-" Scott grabbed a napkin and wrote something on it "-here's my personal number. You don't have to answer me now if you don't want to. Just, consider it?"

Rayan took the paper gingerly and looked between it and Scott before carefully putting it in his pocket. "Ah, okay, I'll... I'll think about it. Thank you, um, thanks for the meal."

Scott watched Rayan leave the restaurant. His face felt hot, but there wasn't anything more he could do. Either he would get a call or he wouldn't. He sat back down, hard. A different waitress came by.

"Refill on anything, hun?" She asked with oblivious cheer.

"Check please."

--------------------

Thursday, no call. Scott tried not to appear mopey, but since the entire office had somehow found out that he had a date - sorry, not date, apology dinner - with the cute omega from the grocery store, pretty much everyone asked him how it went. Even the senior physician got in on it.

"So," his colleague Dr. Bromsfeld asked, "I heard you had a date with that omega whose blood work you paid for yesterday?"

If looks could kill... "For the last time, it wasn't a date. I was apologizing to him." This was getting old really fast. Certainly there was something else the small office could gossip about. "And it's nothing more than a one-sided crush. I gave him my number and he might respond and he might not and that's all there is to it so if you will excuse me my next appointment is waiting."

Dr. Bromsfeld stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. His eyes weren't unkind. "I didn't mean to tease. We're all just glad our young bachelor is showing interest in someone. I'll get them to let up."

Scott let out some of his tension in a heavy sigh. "Thanks."

After that exchange no one bothered him about it the rest of the day. It would be a lie to say Scott didn't keep checking his phone every time he thought it went off. He was sure something was wrong with him. He'd admitted it to himself, it's just a crush. A one-sided crush. It's not like he hadn't had partners before. And it's not like he hadn't been around unpaired omegas before. He found his behavior unbecoming of a professional. He wondered if this all because he missed a dose of his suppressant that day... He told himself it was perfectly okay if Ryan chooses not to meet again. He would accept that. It's just a crush, it's not like he even KNEW him yet. It's just that he's cute. And funny. And clever. And beautiful... And... STOP THAT!

Scott picked up takeout on the way home and sat at his kitchen table, brooding. Then, with complete determination, announced, "I am not going to get caught up on this guy!" It felt so good to say that out loud. With that resolution, he dug in to his lukewarm food.

Friday was like the previous two days never happened. No one bugged him about it. He kept his phone in his office. No distractions. Business as usual. He had an ultrasound first thing, followed by a standard STI test. The day flowed smoothly. He and Dr. Bromsfeld went out for lunch. The conversation stayed on the topic of long-term cases. One more appointment after, a blood test for a contraceptive prescription.

It was mid afternoon by the time he got back to his office to start paperwork. There was a light flashing on his phone. He had a message.

UNKNOWN - [I'm free Tuesdays]