Music is blasting through my speakers, my car makes the comforting noise of a very loud purring kitten and the road lies empty before me. It's Wednesday and I'm on my way to meet my new colleagues. I'm going to pay them a surprise visit, I want to make a good first impression. I also have an appointment to view two apartments. It's just me and my car, on a two-hour trip to my future.

My mind keeps wandering to last Sunday. When we finally put on our clothes, we spent the rest of the day at Dan's place. He kept his promise and made me pancakes, and they were seriously good, but we never finished what we started in my bed. Kate was at his place and she was obviously upset about something. So Dan talked with her for a while and then his friends dropped by. We spend the night playing games and goofing around.

We slept that night at his place; he didn't want me to sleep in my house without a proper lock. So we fell asleep in each other's arms again. The sad thing was, he had to get up early. The promotion for the movie was in full swing. His schedule was loaded and he wouldn't be around for at least a week. The premiere was Thursday next week. He called me a few times, but the pr-team interrupted him several times. He did send me some pictures of him with some talk show hosts and him having fun with the other actors.

My life wasn't as exciting as his. I asked Jerry for some extra hours, so I had more money for my move to South Valley. Jerry was trying out new recipes and he stuffed me with chocolate killer cookies, toffee sticks, and minty cupcakes. I had to give him a review of at least five sentences of every cookie he made me taste. So that's what I send to Dan, pictures of Jerry's creations and one of me suggestively sucking on a toffee stick while winking.

Jerry knew there was something going on. He thought there was something different about me, but he couldn't put his finger on it. At first, he thought it was a haircut, or new makeup because he thought I was radiant. But when I told him I did change a thing to my appearance, he kept poking until I confessed I was seeing Dan. Jerry was happy for me and he wanted to know everything.

So I gave him a chaste version of what happened. A version without Meg freaking out. A version where it was obvious this was the proper beginning of some dazzling relationship. But in reality, I had no idea if we were actually a thing or that this was it. It was confusing me. Was it just physical attraction or was it maybe something more?

I would be moving from this town within three weeks from now and although some people made long-distance relationships work, I wasn't sure if I was the person for something like that. Especially not if I had to work eighty hours a week, minimum. And why would he fall for me as some of the prettiest women of the world tried to gain his attention? I kept telling myself I should just enjoy the attention for as long as it was fun and not be surprised if he would dump me in an unexpected way.

And then there was Megan. She actually stayed at our place until someone fixed our door. She even brought me the new key, while I was at work at the coffee shop. But we never talked about what happened that Saturday night. I tried to talk with her, but as soon as I mentioned her disappearance, she just walked off. I didn't like it for one bit, but at least she wasn't kicking in doors or getting drunk.

All these thoughts keep my mind occupied and before I know it I arrived at the hospital. The building has still the façade of a nineteenth-century building, but they completely rebuild the rest of the premises. Four modern-looking towers rise above the old frontage. I try to remember how to get to the right tower from the first time I was here. I was so nervous I completely walked the wrong way. Luckily there are a lot of hosts who help the patients to get to the right ward and eventually I asked one of them where I had to go.

Somehow I manage to find my way to the place I want to be. They don't expect me at the hospital, I'm just making a surprise visit. Laila, the lady at the reception, is surprised when I hand her several bags of cookies. Jerry gave some of his overstocks to me, to make a good first impression on my future colleagues. Laila immediately tries one of the peanut butter cookies.

"I think I'll keep this to myself." She says as she chews on the cookie. "These are good! Did you make them yourself?"

I grin. "Nah, but I work at a place where the owner makes them himself."

"Is someone expecting you? Can I call someone?" She says.

"They're not really expecting me. I just was in the neighborhood and I dropped by to say hello."

"I'll call Dr. Kowalski. He's in charge of the interns."

She picks up the phone. I take the opportunity to look around. The place is colorful. A lot of children's drawings hang on the wall.

Five minutes later a tall man with grey hair, grey eyes, and glasses with a thick black frame appear. I think he's somewhere in his fifties, but it's hard to tell. Everything about him is long, his fingers, his limbs and he makes me feel even smaller. We shake hands.

"Already trying to bribe the nurses?" He says, with a sparkle in his eye.

"You really have to try these thingies," Laila says while chewing on one of the chocolate chip cookies. "They're good."

"You're a bit early." He says to me. "We didn't expect you for at least two weeks."

"I was in the neighborhood, I'm going to see some apartments today, so I thought-"

"Very well, miss Morgan. Always good to see an eager person. I'll show you around." He shows me the lockers and hands me a white coat.

The thought hits me that If everything goes well, I will wear this for the rest of my life, and I can't stop grinning. This is what I always wanted and although I have a long way to go, I'm so happy that I'm going to do work in a field I love. The hospital is one of the best in the field of pediatric oncology and one of the floors in the Pediatrics tower is reserved for this field. They have their own research team, working together in an international program with other scientists. They have special units so the parents can stay with their kids.

When Dr. Kowalski leaves me alone for a second, to talk with one of the staff members, I quickly make a selfie of me in my white coat and I send it to Dan.

As I came completely unannounced, Dr. Kowalski doesn't have much time for me, he just shows me quickly some wards and introduces me to some colleagues. Most of them are nice, some are a bit stressed, some are a bit arrogant. Some faces stand out. One of the more memorable encounters that day is with Dr. Morgenstern. His height is average, which means he's still a lot taller than I am and he's a bit chubby. His eyes are icy blue and I don't know if he's extremely blonde or if his hair is white. He barely looks at me and I get the impression that he would pay more attention to a bug than to me. Dr. Kowalski tries to reassure me that he's probably busy, but I have a feeling Dr. Morgenstern can be a big pain in the ass.

Then there was Dr. Miller, or Lydia as she made me call her. She looked exactly like Megan, with her red curly hair and green eyes, but about twenty years older. She made me feel welcome right away. 

That's about what I saw today as Dr. Kowalski had to go back to work again. I don't really mind, I just wanted to show my face, to make a good impression. I think Laila can fill me in about the quirks of my new colleagues.

And I'm right. Laila knows everything about everybody.

"You're lucky with Kowalski, you know." She says, wiping away some cookie crumbs. "He expects you to work hard, but he works hard himself too. And he's honest."

She hands some cookies to a nurse, who nods in appreciation. "Dr. Miller can be a bit of a hag, but she's fine otherwise, and beware of dr. Morgenstern, he's a nasty piece of shit. Just be kind, nod when asked to nod and you should be fine, but if he doesn't like you for some reason, you're pretty much screwed."

We're chatting and laughing until a tall dark man walks over to us. His white coat doesn't hide that his physique resembles some Greek god. His dark eyes are fixed on me. He looks pretty rough with his bold head and square jaw, but there's something soft in his gaze.

"Hey, Ty, coming to see your old mum?" Laila smiles. She turns to me. "You have to look out for this one. He refuses to give me some grandchildren and I can't keep up with all the names of the girls he's dating."

I see him roll his eyes and I grin. I bet he does get a lot of female attention.

"Come on Ty, don't be rude," Laila says. "This is Elise. She's one of the new interns and she brought us cookies!"

She holds out the bag.

"Thanks, mum." His gaze intensifies as he shakes my hand. He's undoubtedly hot, but there's something uncomfortable about the whole situation. I manage to keep a smile plastered on my face.

"Mothers, they're always saying things to embarrass you," I say, rolling my eyes. "Elise, nice to meet you."

"I'm Tyler, don't listen to my mum, she's such a gossip." He holds my hand longer than needed. His eyes try to keep my gaze.

"Well, good luck, Elise. I probably see you around." And with long powerful strides, he walks away.

"Yep, definitely takes after his father. A womanizer through and through." Laila sighs and picks another cookie out of the bag.

And then she fills me in on who has the best butt and who is the biggest lady killer and who dates who. When it's time to leave, I promise her I'll bring some more of Jerry's stuff and maybe his phone number, because "you have to cherish a guy that knows how to cook" as she stated. My mind goes immediately to Dan and the pancakes he made for me.

"Look who's all gooey-eyed now!" Laila laughs. "So I guess you have a cute boyfriend?"

I stay awkwardly silent. Is he my boyfriend? "It's complicated," I say.

"Isn't it always?" Laila throws me a smile. "Next time you're here you have to tell me everything about him. And I want to see pictures!"

I can't answer her, she's picking up the phone. I wave at her and walk away, hoping to find a place where I can stay for the next five to ten years.

AN: song: Munich - the Editors

Thank you so much for reading this. I had to split this chapter. It consisted of this part and the next (will probably post it when I think it's ready (as I suck when I schedule updates, obviously, sorry if you expected an update already)), but it felt like it was too long. At first I wanted to make a chapter about Sunday as well, but I thought it might be a bit too repetitive, so I tried to solve it with her thinking of what happened.