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I opened my mouth and found that I didn’t have an argument.

“I suppose not.”

“So, what is it?” he pushed again.

“Why do you even want to know?”

“Because I would like to know something about the woman who came apart on my tongue about twenty minutes ago,” he said, “and I have very little else to do down here.” I made a sound like I had been slapped.

“You cannot say things like that,” I hissed, looking down the corridor, making sure it was still empty.

“Are you going red out there, little nurse?” he teased, and I shot a frown at the door that he couldn’t see.

“No.”

“Liar,” he chuckled and because I couldn’t think of anything else to do with my face, I blurted out my favorite movie.

“Fine, it’s When Harry Met Sally.” There was a pause after that before he commented with what I could hear was a smirk.

“Not a great deal of violence in that one.”

“No, there isn’t.” I found I was almost smiling. “Is that all you watch? Not everything has to be about killing somebody,” I told him, making him scoff.

“In my line of work, they are the only one's worth watching,” he said, and the corridor went a little colder, because I don’t think he meant to say it quite like that, but it was too late now as both of us heard it.

“Your line of work,” I repeated.

“Mm.”

“So you are, what? A paid killer or something… oh Jesus, that’s it, isn’t it? You’re a hitman.” I actually felt like slapping my own forehead, because it seemed obvious now that I had said it out loud. But then he told me,

“I would be a very poor one if I was, don’t you think?” He sounded amused again. “Considering where I am currently sitting.” Okay, well, maybe I had to give him that one, unless he was deflecting and trying to throw me off the scent.

“But by your own admission, you are sitting in there because you want to be.” There was a pause about two seconds long before he muttered,

“Clever girl… Because you’re not wrong about that.” I opened my mouth to ask more but he got there first and again, it was a deflection.

“When did you first see it?” he asked. “The movie.” I released a sigh and gave up my mission to know more.

“They were playing old rom-coms for Valentine’s at my local movie theater. It was supposed to be a date.” I heard myself say with a shrug he couldn’t see. Then I questioned why I answered at all.

“Supposed to be?” he asked like I knew he would.

“I got stood up.”

He made a low sound through the door, and it sounded foreign.

“Idiot,” he said as if translating it for me.

“Oh, so you would have turned up, would you?” I tested and I would have loved to have seen his expression at that.

“I would have turned up,” he said, surprising me, as it sounded sincere. And suddenly I was catapulted back years and on a date with a man who was nothing at all like the man who stood me up. But I couldn’t help but question where my life would be now if I had found him waiting by the entrance.

“Although I could not have told you one single thing about the movie afterward.” His comment pulled me out of my thoughts.

“Should I be adding attention difficulties to your observation chart?” I teased, making him chuckle.

“Only when you are in the room,” he replied and I sat in that corridor with my face burning and a smile I couldn’t get rid of after hearing that. Then I thought, this has to be the strangest thing that has ever happened to me.