2019-03-17 - Like butter.

He really needed his badge. That's what this was all about. He couldn't go to work - after working at the hospital for all of a week - and report that he'd lost his badge. That would just look terrible. Alex was a responsible human being, and he knew exactly where his badge was, and he just needed to get it back, so he could go to work on Monday. It was in his coat, the little alligator-clip biting the wool edge of the pocket, the plastic with the receiver that opened all the doors inside the hospital tucked safely into the pocket itself.

That's all. He just needed his badge. Alex also liked that particular coat, but he could do without it. I mean, if Violet was really happy having the coat, she could keep it. He was okay with that. He definitely didn't spend a solid five minutes, staring at the Violet Whitehouse contact card in his phone, thinking about how she looked wearing his coat. That thought definitely didn't make him shift uncomfortably.

It was just… he really needed his badge. So he touched the message button, and he blinked when it opened up a whole new text conversation for him, like Alex had no idea that's what it was going to do. Like this was some stunning new revelation in technology as far as he was concerned. You mean he could just send a message to her? This was a thing that was possible? Madness.

This was agonizing. He chewed on the corner of his mouth, adjusting where he sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the keys dumbly. Alex reminded himself that he was thirty-six years old, and a doctor. He was gainfully employed. He was, he had been told and was pretty sure it was true, an attractive man. Okay, he was short, but come on. He glanced up at himself in the mirror, wearing his church-clothes, and he fixed his hair with a pass of his hands across his temples, straightened his tie afterward. He looked nice. He could write a text to someone to ask for his work badge back. It wasn't that difficult.

Tap tap tap. Backspace backspace backspace. But he really needed his badge. Alex weighed the options, here. He could go to work, tell security he lost his badge, get looked at dully, have his new boss remind him that these badges cost money, that there were security issues in play, et cetera. Or he could just send her a message.

Maybe he should call her instead. Hmm. No. No, just send the message. That was the way people did things nowadays, by text message. Alex was a grown man. He could send a goddamn text message.

Alex: Hello, Violet. This is Alex.
Alex: Reyes.
Alex: This is Alex Reyes.
Alex: How are you?

Fucking.
Smooth.
Alex.