Once Upon a Veterinarian

Ben sat in his office, staring at the number hand-written on the back of Constable Timothy “call me Tim” Geary's card, debating the pros and cons of giving the guy a call. He wasn't sure if he was trying to talk himself into or out of making the call. On the one hand, it seemed a little ghoulish, making a connection over dead animals. On the other, Harrinton was a small enough town that there weren't a lot of places to go to meet someone gay. Hell, there weren't a lot of places to go to pick anyone up, period.

The rest of his day had gone well and he'd had no more dead pets. He was feeling peckish and didn't really want to go upstairs to his quiet bachelor pad above the practice just yet. A glance at the clock confirmed it was nearly seven p.m. Ben grabbed the phone and dialed the number quickly, before he could change his mind.

It rang twice before Tim picked up, sounding a little out of breath. "Hello?"

"Oh, hi. Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt anything. I mean. Hi. This is Ben Sauvigon. The vet from this afternoon?" God, he was a dork.

He heard Tim laugh softly, though it didn't sound rude. "You're still there, too. I have Caller ID. And you're not interrupting anything, I was just working out."

Okay, he so didn't need the image of a half-naked, sweaty man doing crunches. Well, he loved the image, but it wasn't doing anything for his composure. "Yeah, I... I haven't eaten yet, I was wondering if you had?"

"Not yet, no." There was a pause and Ben could swear he heard Tim drinking, gulping water or something. "But I'm starving. Do you have anything in mind?"

"I was going to just pick up some Chinese from around the corner. I live above the practice."

"Yeah? Chinese sounds good. I need to shower real fast."

"I could go pick it up and bring it back to my place. You could meet me here?" God, he hoped that didn't sound like he expected anything but dinner to happen. It was just the easiest and he was more comfortable eating at home than in a restaurant.

"That'd be good." Tim sounded pleased, anyway. "I'll be maybe half an hour? Shower and drive. Is the entrance around the side or anything?"

"Yeah, you have to follow the path off the parking lot into the back yard. There anything you don't like?"

"Nosy neighbors. God, did I just say that out loud?"

Ben laughed. "You did. I meant more in the Chinese food line, but I'll remember the other."

"I think I did too many reps on the Bowflex. Um, I like chicken and veggies, sweet and sour more than hot and spicy." Tim was laughing too, sounding a little embarrassed, but not like he was going to bail.

"All right. I'll see you in an hour, then." Ben was chuckling himself as he hung up. He took off his lab coat and hung it over the back of the door, and checked in with Anna, the night nurse. "I'm off for the night. I've got my cell."

"Hopefully it'll be a quiet night." She waved her textbook at him.

"Test tomorrow?"

"Yeah, a big one."

"Good luck." Ben gave her a wave and headed out to pick up food for his date.

His date.

Wow. It had been ages since he'd had one of those.

Maybe his dry spell was over.