dream on

Torrance | Doctor

[torr-k]

benxshyma​:

I’m Engaged || Dec. 17, 2001 || Char, Torr & Matt

Charlotte didn’t know what reaction she had been expecting, but from Matt, yes. It was probably something along these lines. She pursed her lips at his accusations. He was technically right, but that didn’t mean she wanted to hear them. 

Before she could say any word edgewise, though, he had grabbed her hand and was continuing his onslaught of questions. She pulled her hand out of his grip, maybe a little harder than she had originally intended, and frowned. “No, he’s not a doctor. He’s… in finance.” She didn’t know the specifics actually, just that he worked at the financial district and was doing well for himself. At least according to her mother, anyway. When she had asked about his job to Karan directly, his technical industry talk had mostly gone over her medicine-focused head. 

“And I’ve been seeing him for a little while, okay? Just because I don’t tell you about every little detail of my life doesn’t mean they don’t exist.” She tucked her hand under the table again, so that the sparkling light of the ring didn’t end up attracting the whole restaurant or something. 

The sudden silence seemed to ring through the table and she finally glanced at Torr, who hadn’t said a single word to her yet. 

The look on his face. That, Char didn’t expect. A pit grew in her throat that she couldn’t quite swallow down, and she quickly glanced away from him and at her half eaten soup and sandwich. She couldn’t understand the look on his face. Sure, they were close, in a different way than her and Matt were close. He always seemed supportive of the things that she did, and attentive to her questions and needs. Maybe he was disappointed in her? Worried for her? Upset that she had kept something from him?

Whatever it was, that look on his face. It seriously unnerved her. 

“I…” She said weakly, not sure how much more of Matt’s interrogation she could take. “He’s not below my benchmark, alright? He’s quite accomplished and pretty chill, actually. Very different from you - not that you’d ever be my type.” Teasing Matt felt more inline with her comfort zone. “And hey, I’m breaking the ‘doctors can only marry doctors or end up single forever’ stereotype. You guys should both be praising me.” She braved another look at Torr. 

“Right?” 

Torrance couldn’t refrain from his brows rising when Charlotte insisted she’d been seeing her now fiance for some time. Could that mean that he had been reading things between them wrong all along? No. He couldn’t even begin to believe that. He had always felt something crackling between them but somehow creating a peace and understanding at the same time.

Meanwhile, Matt rolled his eyes hearing that he wasn’t Charlotte’s type. “Good, I wouldn’t want to be your type anyway. Goodbye.” He figured he could keep up their banter to occupy Charlotte’s attention for some time longer, but then she addressed Torrance directly and suddenly both their gazes were on the man. 

Startled from his thoughts, Torrance instinctively smiled at Charlotte to dissuade any suspicion. “Right,” he said with a nod and then reached for the pager at his hip. “And there’s the call of duty,” he chuckled, looking between his two friends, shielding the blank screen from any eyes with his hand. 

Torrance pushed his chair back to stand and pointed to his half-eaten meal as he addressed Matt. “Make good use of this, will you?” 

Matt gave him a ‘yes sir’ salute with a hand but his eyes cast to the side in Charlotte’s direction, taken with curiosity as to how she would react to the sudden departure, if at all. Matt knew many things she didn’t, but sometimes she wondered if she was only pretending not to know. 

Once he has gathered his belongings, Torrance turned to Charlotte. “Congratulations. Truly. He is lucky.” It was all he had to say, the curt smile still pressed to his face before he took off.

Matt’s eyes fell back to Charlotte after their third friend was gone, but he didn’t have the words to resume the conversation between them. He simply fixed his knowing glance at her, waiting to see how she would approach the situation.

[torr-k]

benxshyma​:

I’m Engaged || Dec. 17, 2001 || Char, Torr & Matt

Now that she had talked herself out of anxiety, Charlotte felt strangely calm as Matt and Torr chattered around her as they walked toward their table. She let them discuss the mystery surrounding her ‘big news’ without interruption, only shaking her head periodically to show her ever present mild annoyance at their non-stop guesses. Didn’t she never want kids? How did she end up with two?

When Matt and Torr didn’t bring the subject up again right away, Charlotte also began eating, left hand still under the table. The food didn’t really register in her taste buds as she ate and a part of her worried that the longer she dragged this out, the more likely she might lose her nerve and come up with some lie again. For once she really noticed Torr’s gaze on her, a common source of comfort, and did not feel comforted in the slightest.

Luckily, (or unluckily?) Matt spoke up sooner rather than later, prompting Charlotte put her spoon down. She shook her head and put up a finger, indicating for them to wait, then dabbed at her lips with a napkin.

“Not a new car, although that would’ve been pretty awesome, too.” She added the ‘too’. It was awesome that she was engaged. She was excited about it. “Actually, it didn’t involve my mother at all, I should clarify.” 

She finally pulled her left hand out above the table. The diamond, like before, caught the cafe lights, and sparkled, so brightly. She stared at it for a second, then at her two friend’s faces, her chest insanely tight, her smile so, very nervous.

“Surprise…!”

It went without saying that Matt and Torrance were both blindsided by Charlotte’s news. Matt balked, even shaking his head slightly. “Excuse me, what?” He snapped, eyes moving between the ring on her finger and her face. His disbelief was not only in regards to her expression but to her engagement as a whole. “When in the hell were you even seeing someone, let alone ready and willing to get engaged?” He asked, not even attempting to hide the sheer shock in him. 

Matt even reached out, took her hand haphazardly to pull close to his face and inspect the integrity of the ring. “Who do we even know that can afford a rock like that? You didn’t agree to marry another fucking doctor, did you?” He blinked at Charlotte, wanting all of the answers at once, appalled that somehow they would just be hearing about such big news from someone they considered so close.

It was only when Matt shut up long enough to take a breath that he realized they had another friend sitting at the table with them. He glanced over to Torrance, who sat stonily still. His gaze had not moved off of Charlotte, though the glimmer of her diamond did threaten to draw his attention. If there were articulate thoughts in his mind to encapsulate how he felt, the did not see the light of day.

Matt instinctively felt inclined to nudge at Torrance with humor, push the calmer man out of his comfort zone as he always did. But there was a way to the look in Torrance’s eyes now that froze even Matt in his tracks. He turned his own gaze back to Charlotte because for a moment he’d began absorbing his friend’s expression to interpret the way he often did, but now he knew nothing good would come of it. Whatever traces he drew were already too much. 

“Char, seriously, what gives?” Matt finally carried the conversation on his own, “Since when have you even wanted a man definitely below your benchmark and a shiny ring to accompany him?”

[torr-k]

benxshyma​:

I’m Engaged || Dec. 17, 2001 || Char, Torr & Matt

Charlotte couldn’t help but shake her head and roll her eyes good naturedly at the two fools she called her friends act like idiots, even in her haggard state. Who let these dumb 30-something-year-olds be doctors? “Can’t wait to hear about it,” she said simply, her smile drooping the slightest degree, unable to shake the feeling that everything was about to change.

She made herself be preoccupied at the counter, making a show of wondering what to get out loud, then finally asking the attendant for her opinion even though she couldn’t even eat half the items at the cafe. The two men seemed to ignore her as they ordered their own meals, and she used that time as opportunity to calm her stomach and her brain. What was done was done. She had made her bed, and it was time to lie in it. Who cared what Matt or Torrance said? The fact was she had said yes to Karan, and she was getting married. It was happening. 

So once they set down at the table, she would tell them. And that was that.

With a veggie sandwich and a lentil soup on her tray, she was starting to come up with wild creative ways of how she was going to get away with paying without pulling her left hand out of her pocket when Torr spoke.

Her heart sank a little bit as she could hear the change of tone in Torr’s voice. Of course they would have noticed she was hiding something. “I ran some errands and hung out with my mom, mostly,” she said, suddenly remembering she had a pre-paid gift card in her right pant pocket. Score. “And I have some big news, actually, but let’s wait until we’re sitting down and eating, cool?” She turned to Torr and gave him the most comforting smile she could muster, perfected from years of practicing medicine. Her chest tightened when their eyes met and she quickly turned away, focusing her attention to the clerk to pay for her meal then walking back toward their table to start eating.

Torrance and Matt exchanged glances once again when Charlotte said she had good news. Both men, catching themselves in the act, belatedly wondered if anyone but Charlotte would deal with them as they were. While Torrance was distracted by the smile Charlotte gave him, Matt commented, “Let me guess, you got a new car?”

“No, a new apartment,” Torrance chuckled, teasing at the way Charlotte had been complaining about her neighbors lately. 

“Please, I’d deal with those couples any day for the view you have from your place,” Matt scoffed. And so the cycle of seamless conversation continued till the trio sat. 

While Matt began eating right away, almost forgetting already that Charlotte had news and more trusting that she would tell them in her own time, Torrance was more focused. There he was, yet again, his knee just barely brushing hers as they sat slightly closer than they did with their other friend. He kept his eyes on Charlotte, waiting for her more forwardly to speak her mind, his gaze telling her that she had his undivided attention, that his patience laid in her to be ready.

“So did you have a life-changing errand run with your mother? Did she get you a new car?” Matt spoke up finally, raising a brow, ever lacking the ability to bide his time.

[torr-k]

benxshyma​:

I’m Engaged || Dec. 17, 2001 || Char, Torr & Matt

A confusing mix of relief and renewed dread washed over her as she saw her two closest friends walk into the cafe, bickering about something or other as they always did. Her eyes caught Torr’s and she smiled softly as the two men continued closer. There was a small pit in her stomach, but she chalked it up to hunger. Without thinking about it, her hands slipped off of the table and onto her lap. It wasn’t until the ring dug unceremoniously into her thigh that she suddenly remembered again what she was here for.

“Hey,” she responded to Matt, breaking eye-contact with Torr and rolling her eyes. “About time you two showed up. I almost left to grab food on my own, friendships be damned,” she curled her right hand over her left. Not yet, she didn’t now if she wanted to just yet. “And actually, my body was so used to waking up to the goddamned beeper I woke up every time I heard anything. It was not a relaxing two days at all.” She always talked with her hands. It was so strange, holding her hands on her lap. They definitely could tell something was up. But she still held on, her grip becoming even tighter, holding on to some unknown future that would shatter the moment she let go.

Her gaze turned toward Torr, and she felt the pit in her stomach growing. “Anyway, I’m still starving, I didn’t eat breakfast yet. So… Should we do that? And then you can tell me what mess I missed out in the past two days at our dear old hospital.” Was she rambling? She couldn’t tell. She managed to sneak her left hand into her jacket pocket as she stood up and headed toward the counter. 

This was crazy. What was she waiting for? 

Matt shrugged, engaging Charlotte easily as he always did. “Would’ve been your loss, eating alone instead of with the cool kids. Torr has a story about his car you would have missed-” a small smirk appeared on Torrance’s lips- “Trust me, you left us for two days and this whole hospital came to life.” Matt continued to tease. 

Torrance, of course, was the one to come in with the more sensible answer to her words, “But at least you didn’t have to take off every time you were awoken by the phantom alarm. Glad to have you back though, I think Matt was starting to go a little stir crazy without you-” Torrance ducked out of the way of a crumpled up napkin that he had been watching his friend roll up as he spoke. His lips burst into the low rumble of a laugh. His shoulders always shook a little with how amused Matt had him during their time together. 

“It was only two days,” Matt shrugged just one shoulder, “Barely noticed you were gone.”

As they moved towards gathering meals, Matt and Torrance exchanged glances, falling half a step behind Charlotte for a moment. She tended to pitch into their conversations and banter just a little more and the two men did their best to relay their concerns, as well as a gameplan all in one bout of eye contact. 

“So...” Torrance, as it had been decided by a few raised brows, began the conversation as he neared Charlotte to examine a snack item on a shelf near her. “If you didn’t spend the time off sleeping, how did you spend it?” He asked as he committed to buying the item regardless, now that he’d pretended to be interested in it and felt guilty just putting it back. 

[torr-k]

benxshyma​:

I’m Engaged || Dec. 17, 2001 || Char, Torr & Matt

Charlotte felt a growing lump in her throat. It was stupid, really. If these two really were her friends, wouldn’t they be excited for her? Happy for her? Would make her feel better about this whole ordeal with their congratulations?

Or, as her real friends, would they see through her facade? Call her out? Try and get her to call the engagement off? 

She didn’t know which reaction she dreaded more.

Charlotte played with the new ring on her finger. It was so much larger than she had asked for - Karan had definitely spent more than he should have on it. As someone who had never worn rings before it felt clunky and kept on getting caught on things and scratched her skin while she washed her hands, but it was only a matter of time before she’d get used to it - or at least she figured. 

It gleamed under the spotlights of the cafe that the three doctors liked to inhabit during their off-hospital time. She had the past two days off - last night was when Karan had proposed - and with the way word spread unnaturally quickly in that giant hospital, she knew she would have to tell Matt and Torr herself lest they unceremoniously find out through Nurse So-and-So or god forbid her father tomorrow.

She gripped at her purse. If these dunce-heads didn’t show up in the next ten minutes she might lose her nerve and leave, being courteous be damned.

Lunch hour was admittedly the brightest part of both Matt and Torrance’s days. The one time they could shoot the shit without too much worry and more importantly, do it in good minded company. It had been two days since they’d seen the third member of their trio and though both men were the best of friends. Charlotte brought a balance to their dynamic that they were happy to have back. 

They were bickering like a married old couple as they entered the cafe. It was always something or other with them, medical theory, sports, who belonged together on Grey’s Anatomy- it didn’t matter much when Torrance’s eyes fell to Charlotte though. His expression visibly turned to a warm smile mid-sentence and Matt followed Torrance’s gaze to their friend. Where Matt only spared Charlotte a glance and returned to arguing his point in the short distance they had between the entrance to the cafe to the table they were headed to, Torrance’s gaze held hers. It always held hers.

“Hey, hey,” Matt greeted casually when they finally came close enough to sit with Charlotte. Normally he would wrap her up into the conversation he was having with Torrance but today he was willing to surrender his combative nature to catch up. “Have fun actually getting some semblance of sleep these last two days?” He teased.

Torrance was quiet as he pulled up his chair, a hair closer to her than Matt’s. His knee could have touched hers but it just barely didn’t, the way it just barely didn’t for some time now. There was a faint smile on his lips as he leaned his chin into a hand, waiting for her answer. He was simply contented to be in the presence of his two closest friends; all was as it should be again. 

[a-kent-deactivated20170212]