There are few pleasures in life quite like the taste of Brochette by the light of a cold, San Myshuno morning. It was the reason why she took a diversion from her regular route into work just to sample a little piece of indulgence.
She sat down the savour the taste and looked out over the Arts Quarter; it was well before rush hour and only a handful of souls were out and about this morning. She knew that in precisely 15 minutes this place would be awash with commuters and the lonely food stall would have a throng of hungry and eager customers all trying to cram in a pre-work breakfast they missed at home.
A busker was setting up nearby but Julia had no time to stay and watch the performance. She headed over to the subway but when she passed the busker she saw that it was Rez, a familiar face around here and someone who awkwardly tried to hit on her some weeks ago.
"Julia! You're here! Stay a while and I will sing a song especially for you!" he exclaimed.
"I really don't have the time..." she replied.
"I've been experimenting with Flamenco guitar..."
"Please, don't do this on my account"
"Here goes....JULIA...I LOVE YOU! I GIVE YOU MY BULL AND MY COW!" he sang loudly, jangling the guitar strings in the Flamenco manner.
"Please, stop" said Julia, all clenched up. "I have to go to work now" she said, gritting her teeth whilst she walked to the subway station.
"SOMEONE GET ME A ROSE!" yelled Rez.
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Sim City Medical Centre: 8:01am
There was a commotion at the hospital. One of the private rooms had a police guard standing outside and the senior surgeons were all busily heading for the intensive care ward. Nurse Francesca Griffiths pulled Julia to one side to bring her up to speed as to what was going on.
"It's been crazy like this since yesterday...policewoman was the victim of an arson attack and, as you've seen, there's a police presence on site and Dr Murakami is personally looking after the case. They've got a burns specialist and a plastic surgeon flown in from Chicago to deal with this." said Francesca.
"Golly...should I volunteer to assist?" asked Julia.
"Murakami wants you to take over a whole bunch of her cases. Relieve the pressure on the top surgeons by doing a lot of post op care"
"I can do that...it's more than my usual grind of chores Murakami gets me to do...give me the case files and I'll get to it" said Julia.
"Hello Mrs...Hager" said Julia, hurriedly checking the notes. "Ah, I see those are nasty blemishes on your face. I'll need to check your eyes, ears and get a swab from your throat..."
"Will it hurt?" said Mrs Hager. "That's all I want to know: Will it hurt?"
"There might be some slight discomfort as I'll have to swab the back of your throat" said Julia.
"In other words...it will hurt"
Another patient.
"Now, Mrs Lewis, just take this now and I'll write out a prescription for you to take to the pharmacist. You take it 3 times a day on an empty stomach." said Julia to her next patient: Mrs Vivian Lewis.
"This? This is going to cure me? I've had a bad back, bad knees, my stomach hurts, I can't even move my left elbow anymore, and then there's the headaches but this...pink goop...THIS you say is going to cure all that?"
"Yes, Mrs Lewis. That is precisely what it's going to do" replied Julia.
Mrs Lewis raised a sceptical eyebrow. "I had better not be just sugar, water and pink food colouring like last time!" she said as she gulped down the medicine.
Another patient.
"Tell me I'm not going to die! I'm too young! Tell me I'm not going to die!" said the extremely nervous patient.
"You're not going to die" replied Julia, flatly.
"Say it with more conviction!" said the woman.
"*sigh*...You, are seriously not going to die of....oh hello...actually you're going to have the opposite: It appears you're now eating for two" said Julia, checking all the symptoms and looking at the test results.
"Oh!" said the surprised woman.
During a brief respite in her shift, Julia drank an energy drink concoction of her own design to boost her flagging energy levels. It had been extremely busy picking up the senior medics workload but she relished the challenge and believed it helped her chances of promotion.
More patients, more tests but Julia couldn't find any more information about the injured police woman. The guard was ever present and the specialists came and went from her room. Julia was just too low down on the pecking order.
The shift ended but another one was about to begin: She had her regular, weekly, slot playing piano down at the Blue Velvet Club. She changed out of her scrubs, into her red skirt and top, and headed off to the club.
She played a few jazz standards and took a couple of requests before her break in sessions. Grabbing a giant pretzel and a glass of fizzy fruit drink to stave off the hunger, she sat down at a table to get some rest.
"I liked your set" came a man's voice. Looking up, she saw that it was Cole Michaels; a police officer she had recently met.
"Oh...did you? Thanks. It's 'Cole', isn't it?"
"That's right, Julia" he replied. "May I join you for a bit?"
"Oh yes, by all means"
"I've never been here before but I was tempted to come when you and Jolene told me you performed here. I like it." said Cole.
"Jolene's not here tonight; sorry to disappoint you" replied Julia, who thought that Cole was interested in her friend.
"Not to worry; I got to see you perform and you're very good" said Cole.
Julia blushed. "Well, you know, I'm not a professional or anything..." she said.
"If I didn't know you were a doctor already I would have said you were a professional pianist"
"You're too kind" said Julia, still blushing and dropping her head bashfully.
"I might make this a regular haunt from now on" he said, smiling. "May I buy you a drink?" he asked.
"Sure! Another fizzy fruit cocktail please" she replied.
Cole went to get the drinks in and they continued to chat. "Anything exciting happen at your work today, Julia?" he asked.
"Not for me, but we've got your colleague still in intensive care. It's not my case so I can't tell you much" she said. Cole nodded.
"She works at the same precinct as me, but in a different department" he said. "I hope she pulls through...Action's the lead detective on that one."
"Well, you've got the best on the case" said Julia.
"Yes, we sure do....say, change of subject...how about you and me hit the dance floor?"
"Well...I don't really..." she said, bashfully.
"Come on, I bet you dance as well as you play" he said, taking her gently by the hand. Instead of resisting, Julia took it, stood up and they headed for the dance area.
They danced and had a pleasant conversation. Julia found herself enjoying this. At one point Cole took her hand and they jived; eventually he twirled her around and she spun, her skirt flaring out and showing her legs in full. Julia almost stumbled but Cole caught her by the waist and she ended up with her hands on his shoulders.
"Whoa, steady there" he said. There was a brief pause as she felt his gentle arm around her waist but she didn't know what to say.
Cole broke the silence. "That was nice...." he said, but his face turned serious. "I want to swing past the hospital and check on Marina...that's my colleague. I've had a great time; we must do it again"
Julia nodded. The two said their goodbyes and walked away from the Blue Velvet in opposite directions. She found herself skipping most of the way home. She really did have a great time tonight...with a man. Of course, she was focussed on her work and there was no question of a relationship. Besides, how could she be sure he even thought of her romantically? Crazy suggestion, why entertain the thought? No, he just enjoyed her company as a friend. Yes, a friend. He would obviously go with someone like Jolene; someone beautiful, sexy, fun loving. And Jolene was looking for a steady relationship now so Cole would be the ideal man for her to hook up with. No, Cole was definitely a friend, nothing more.
Nevertheless, when Julia pictured Cole in her mind she let out a happy sigh.
