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Two glasses of cabernet from Jack's stash of good wine in, Samira was loose-lipped and on a roll.
"The worst part is that even when I'm right and I catch something that anyone else would have missed, he's not glad I saved someone. He's annoyed that I'm right. He's mad that my methods are justified. He'd rather I fail and learn a lesson than succeed," Samira insisted, legs swinging below where she was perched on the island of Jack's kitchen while he stood at the stove, stirring a pot of pasta sauce.
"It's not that he wants you to fail, baby," he objected, turning to face her. "You're both too fucking stubborn. Unstoppable force meets immovable object. When he looks at you, he sees... You're young and more beautiful and more brilliant and more compassionate than anyone around you. You are potential incarnate. You're him, twenty years ago. Before emergency medicine beat that light out of him."
Samira dipped a carrot into the bowl of hummus he’d set out for her to snack on while he cooked. "I am not him," she grumbled, then paused. "You think he's beautiful?"
"You should have seen him back then. Everyone thought he was. It was hard not to be enamored with him. I was not the only person to get trapped in his orbit," Jack admitted, with a roll of his eyes.
"And you're not with me just because you couldn't fuck him then and I'm your second chance at it?" she asked, uncharacteristic insecurity weaving through her tone.
"First, who says I didn't," he shot back and Samira's eyes went wide. "And no, baby. I'm telling you what he sees in you, not what I do."
"Okay. That's fair," she allowed. "But when he finds out, me having you is going to be another reason for him to hate me," she reasoned. It had never been easy between her and Robby. They seemed to both be constantly disappointed by the other. She didn’t want to imagine how her dating Jack would play into Robby’s feelings about her.
"It's ancient history, Mira," he promised.
The promise, however, was somewhat undercut at that moment, when the front door she'd locked when she'd arrived swung open and the familiar sound of Robby's baritone rang out from the Jack's foyer.
"I just don't fucking know what to do with her, brother!"
Samira turned to Jack, brows furrowed. "What the hell," she whispered.
"Sorry," he replied, voice low, his tone a touch helpless. "He has a key, but he always calls first!"
Samira closed her eyes and let out a deep sigh. She was sitting in the center of Jack's open floor plan in an old Army t-shirt of Jack's and a pair of panties. There was no getting out of this. So she slid off the counter, onto two feet and braced herself.
"I know you have a soft spot for her," Robby's voice closed in. "But Mohan doesn't fuckin–" He rounded the corner and froze, sad eyes going wide with shock as he took in Samira in the middle of Jack's kitchen. "--listen," he finished.
Samira didn't have to turn around or guess at Jack's easy stance. "I don't know, man. She listens to me just fine," Jack quipped. Samira rolled her eyes at his obvious attempt to diffuse what was about to become a very tense situation with humor.
"Seriously?" Robby directed at Jack. "I thought your thing was harmless–a crush. Are you two actually seeing each other?"
Jack smiled over at Samira, a look of proud delight on his face. "Yeah, man. A couple months now."
"What the hell are you thinking?" Robby asked, shaking his head.
"By all means, Robby. Continue to speak about me like I'm not here. Sounded like you were really gearing up to something when you barged in unannounced," Samira snarked.
Robby huffed. "I didn't mean for you to hear that. Namely, because there is no appropriate reason for you to be here. Particularly not–" he gestured vaguely to her state of undress, pink-cheeked but still stern.
"Appropriate. Right. I'm sure your problem with me pantsless in Jack's house is about propriety. And if I told you we'd done all the HR paperwork, then you'd have no further reason to object, right?" she taunted.
"I would have gotten an email if that were the case, Mohan," he hedged.
"I'm sure you did, man, if you bothered to check your emails from Gloria. Which you don't," Jack chuckled. Samira had felt nervous to talk to HR but even more so to continue seeing each other in a way that could harm either of their careers.
"Case closed, right? All above board," Samira asked, voice dripping with faux innocence.
"Your insubordination is truly breathtaking, sometimes," Robby leveled at Samira, who let out a bark of a laugh.
"Insubordination? Really? I'm not at the pitt. I'm having dinner at my boyfriend's house. You're not my boss right now. You're an uninvited house guest," Samira shot back, indignation rising in her chest.
Jack moved to her side and placed a kiss at her temple. "Play nice, Mira," he chastised.
"So this is serious, then? You called him your boyfriend," Robby intoned.
"Does it matter? If we're serious or just fucking?" Samira replied, intentionally crass. She couldn't explain why she was being so combative other than it was the first opportunity she'd had to argue with Robby on equal footing–maybe even with the upper hand.
It had its intended effect, causing Robby to stutter. "It does matter. You're in your last year of residency. Are you planning on staying here? Taking a fellowship across the country? Is it the kind of thing where Jack would go with you?"
"That's amazing, actually," Samira replied, voice thick with sarcasm and disbelief. "The first time you've shown interest in the future of my career, and it's outside of work and only because you're worried I might steal Jack from you."
"Can't steal what belongs to you, baby," Jack chimed in, and Robby clenched his jaw.
"So you are leaving," Robby accused, somewhere between angry and sullen.
"I don't want to. This is my home. His too. But my point is I could if I wanted to. And Jack would be free to follow me if he wanted to. It's really none of your business," she snapped.
"If you want to stay, it's my business. I'd be the one reviewing your attending application at the pitt. And if you leave and take Jack with you, it's still my business. He's–" Robby paused. "My best friend."
"I assumed that if I wanted to stay in Pittsburgh, I'd be applying to other hospitals," Samira replied, ignoring the way Robby's voice caught on the words 'best friend.' For now.
"You'd stay in Pittsburgh but leave PTMC? Really? That's unnecessarily cruel, Mohan," Robby jabbed, the hurt clear on his face catching Samira off guard.
"I'm not trying to be cruel, Robby," she answered, voice a little softer. "And it's not unnecessary either. Like you said, if I apply to the pitt, you'd be the one making the decision. You've made it pretty clear that you don't think I pass muster as an EM resident. I can't imagine you'd hire me on as an attending."
She tried to keep the pain and embarrassment out of her voice but she knew she wasn't successful. She didn't want to crave Robby's approval–didn't want to be affected by his obvious and abiding disappointment, but it wasn't something she could entirely help.
Robby wasn't Adamson, but she'd seen the kind of mentor he could be–to Langdon, before rehab–to Whitaker–even to Collins before she left for greener pastures. But he'd never been that with her, and she couldn't pretend it didn't sting.
Robby let out a heavy sigh, head down, bridge of his nose pinched between thumb and forefinger.
He directed his attention to Jack. "I thought you were exaggerating. I know I'm harder on her than the others, but I didn't realize it was that bad."
"I tried to tell you, man," Jack replied, voice serious for the first time.
"Yeah, but you exaggerate. You've always had a flair for the dramatic. Why hasn't she ever had this out with me before now. If she's that important to you, why haven't you," Robby implored.
"She asked me not to. I was trying to respect her wishes," Jack replied. That much was true. Jack had, on many occasions, offered to intervene on her behalf and each time, she waved him off. Robby was a problem she was intent on facing on her own.
"You're still talking about me like I'm not here," Samira intoned. "But it sounds like you've been talking about me when I'm not in the room."
Robby turned his attention back to her. "Yeah. We talk about you. And I imagine you two talk about me, too."
"Once or twice," Samira allowed. In reality, he was a more frequent topic of conversation than she cared to admit, but she just couldn't help it. Robby had a way of getting under her skin, of finding exposed nerves and plucking at them like a banjo.
"Samira," Robby said, his tone painfully sincere. "I know we don't always see eye to eye. But surely you understand that you're brilliant. You're going to have your pick of fellowships and attending positions. The pitt would be lucky to keep you."
"You've never even implied that you'd want me to stay. Most days you don't even think I should stick with Emergency Medicine. Why did it take finding me in my underwear at Jack's house for you to say that to me? Why can't it be professional?" she demanded.
"I don't know. I really don't,” Robby shook his head, looking to the floor and running a hand across the back of his neck. “And I am sorry about that. Jack says that maybe I'm not able to be objective about you for some reason.”
"Some reason. Right," Jack responded, the lightness of his tone returning.
Robby ignored him. "If you don't want to work for me, I understand. But don't leave because you don't think I want you here."
"How do I know you're not just saying that because you know that if I leave, Jack would follow? Do you really want me here or do you just want him?" she accused.
"When you're not being flagrantly insubordinate or taking patient histories that read like David Foster Wallace, you're an asset to our team. You're smart and thorough and if we lose you bringing up our average, our patient satisfaction scores are going to take a nosedive," Robby admitted.
"Thank you for that completely backhanded endorsement that didn't answer my question. How does Jack play into this for you," she pushed.
"I didn't know he played into it at all until I walked in here," Robby retorted.
"I call bullshit. You started your little rant with him having a soft spot for me, and I'm not as oblivious as the betting pool thinks I am,” she informed him. “You're his best friend. You've seen the way he looks at me. You're really telling me that doesn't bother you? That he has nothing to do with how hard you are on me?"
"What are you implying, Mohan," Robby narrowed his eyes and Samira rolled hers. For all the progress they'd made, she'd apparently struck a nerve if she was back to being Mohan.
"Just that he has a type, apparently," she answered, punctuated with a quirked brow and smirk to match.
"Smart, stubborn, and Bambi-eyed," Jack chimed in with an easy shrug. "I like what I like."
"Jack!" Robby and Samira chastised in unison, before both turning to the other and meeting gazes.
The tension seemed to snap, releasing as both of them laughed loudly at the absurdity of the moment.
"Look, you're both important to me. Just–Robby, watch it man. You know what an incredible doctor she is. Don't give her a reason to leave. I wasn't bluffing. She goes, I follow," Jack said simply, and Samira felt her cheeks heat. It wasn't that she didn't know that, she'd just never heard him voice it so explicitly.
Robby sighed. "I'll try, man."
"Don't tell me. Tell her," Jack redirected.
"I'll work on it," he reluctantly turned to Samira. "I don't know if you've noticed, but you have a tendency to get under my skin in a way other people don't seem to."
"The feeling is mutual," Samira answered honestly. "And there's not–I mean, you two, whatever it was–"
"Ancient history," Robby offered.
"It was a long time ago, baby," Jack soothed, wrapping his arms around her from behind, pressing his broad chest against her back and resting his head on her shoulder. Samira preened under his touch, relaxing into him and angling her face to brush her lips against his. He angled his body to her side so he could deepen the kiss, and she dipped her tongue into his mouth, earning a groan.
"Okay..." Robby interrupted. Samira shot him an annoyed glance. "I'm just gonna..."
"Yeah, unless she wants you to stay and join, get the fuck out," Jack instructed, hard against her hip.
"Jack," Robby warned, cheeks bright crimson.
"What?" Samira taunted. "Don't think you could keep up?"
She wasn't serious, really. She didn't think so, at least.
She didn’t expect Robby to take the bait but he leveled a look at her. “Nah, you just don’t take instructions very well.”
“That has not been my experience,” Jack chuckled.
Samira felt a pull in her stomach, but her voice was steady as she quipped, “I take instructions just fine when the person giving them has earned it.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Robby smiled, chuckling softly to himself before redirecting his attention to Jack. “Can we get together sometime this week?”
“Sure, man. I’ll have to check when I’m free,” Jack answered easily, arms still wrapped around Samira.
“Well, you were supposed to be free tonight…” Robby trailed off, accusatory.
“God,” Samira snorted, impatient. “I’ll make a Google Calendar. You can have him on a night we don’t have plans.”
“That seems fair,” Robby agreed with a nod.
“Good. Now get the fuck out so I can fuck my boyfriend in peace,” Samira added, still a little mean but softened by a teasing tone.
Robby rolled his eyes but his cheeks flushed crimson telling Samira her words had the desired effect. “See you tomorrow, Mohan. Bye Jack,” Robby nodded before making his way to the door.
Samira waited for the sound of the key latching the lock before she turned herself around in Jack’s arms.
“So. Robby knows,” she sighed.
“Honestly, it went better than I expected it to,” Jack replied, good-naturedly. His smile was kind, a little goofy, and Samira felt her chest flutter.
“Gonna be honest. I’ve imagined the conversations a dozen ways. I don’t think it ever included you propositioning a threesome,” she chuckled, bringing her lips to the place where freckled shoulder met neck, dragging her teeth across it.
“Didn’t mean to, baby,” Jack exhaled, voice shaky. “You really kissed me and it scrambled my brain a little. Always does.”
“I’m not actually totally opposed to the idea…” she trailed off, sliding her hand under his t-shirt, fingernails dragging across his abdomen.
Jack’s pupils blew wide, pushing hazel irises until they were nearly gone. “Really?” he whined, a little desperate.
“I don’t think I’d be able to let Robby tell me what to do, though,” she said honestly, pulling her other hand to twirl into the curls at the nape of his neck.
Jack moaned. “That’s fine. You can both tell me what to do. I don’t mind a bit.”
“That could be fun,” Samira admitted, her mind conjuring an image of Jack between her and Robby. “But for now, I’d be more than happy to do exactly what you tell me,” she drawled, blinking wide brown eyes with an innocent look she knew drove Jack crazy.
“Yeah. Yeah, let’s do that. Bedroom, now,” he nodded, excited and a little dazed but still with a commanding edge to his tone.
Samira smiled as she started walking backwards towards the bedroom, keeping supplicant eye contact, but pulling Jack’s shirt over her head as she walked. She dropped it on the floor, before hooking her thumbs into the waist of her panties and ridding herself of those was well.
Jack ran his eyes up and down her body hungrily. “Jesus Christ,” he exhaled, returning her smile. “There’s only one you, baby.”
Samira’s smile turned wide.
She turned to scuttle into the bedroom, padding on tip toes, giggling as she went, and she didn’t have to look back to know that Jack would follow.