I sat in a chair opposite Larissa, staring at her, while she inspected my injury. She looked up for a second, as she must have felt my eyes on her, and I blushed. I actually blushed. What kind of magical powers did this beautiful stranger possess? I never blush.

She turned her attention back to my arm, and started to wipe it with an antiseptic wipe. I tensed my arm and gritted my teeth as the wipe started to sting. I saw a hint of a smile on her lips, and started pretending I was immune to pain again. It worked fine, until she started to put stitches in my arm.

"Isn't this something that should be done at the hospital?" I asked.

"Dont you trust me?" She said, raising an eyebrow.

"I just thought this is something a qualified nurse, or doctor should do."

She stopped sewing up my arm for a moment and looked at me. It felt like her green eyes looked straight into my soul.

"What makes you think I'm not a qualified nurse, or a doctor?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I just- Are you?" I asked, feeling stupid for assuming she wasn't.

"I am a doctor, actually," she responded smugly.

"How old are you?" I blurted out. "I'm sorry, I di-"

"It's okay," she laughed. "I'm twenty eight."

My jaw dropped. I was twenty four, and I was sure that Larissa was younger than me. She had aged ridiculously well.

She turned back to my arm, and put a third, and final stitch in my arm, before she pulled some bandages from a drawer next to her.

"So what are you doing here?" I asked. My awkward stuttering, and blushing had vanished now, and my heart rate was finally getting almost back to normal.

"You ask a lot of questions, don't you?" She joked.

"Just trying to pass the time," I laughed.

"Oh, I'm sorry, am I taking too long?"

I held back a laugh, and decided to leave her alone for a minute while she bandaged my arm up.

"There you go, that should be fine. You'll need to change the bandages every two days, and they can come off in two weeks."

"Thank you, doc."

She smiled at me, and I took in her beauty once more, before we both stood up to leave.

She opened the door for me, and we walked slowly back to the desk. I saw that Rob was talking to the girl again. I decided to give him a few more minutes with her, and gave myself more time with Larissa too.

"When can I climb again?" I asked the beautiful girl beside me, standing still.

"When the bandages come off," she responded, and that subtle little smile played on her lips again. "But maybe you should stick to making coffee."

My heart skipped a beat when I realised she remembered me. I laughed at her joke, then she started to walk off again.

"And I'm assuming you've never fallen from a climbing wall?" I teased.

"Not even once," she grinned.

"I dont believe you," I laughed. Of course I was lying, I would literally believe anything that came out of those perfectly plump, pink lips.

"I really need to go now," Larissa said, "make sure you change those bandages!"

I stared after her, as she jogged out of the room into the main part of the gym.

"Ivy? Hello?"

Rob's voice finally got my attention, about I turned to face him. He was frowning, possibly because I zoned out, while staring at Larissa.

"Sorry, man," I said, smiling.

"You ready to go?" He asked, and I nodded.

We walked out of the gym, and to Rob's car. I hoped to see Larissa again before we left, but I wasn't that lucky.

"So, what's her name?" I asked, and Rob grinned immediately.

"Alice," he replied. "I'm taking her out tomorrow."

"You're working tomorrow," I pointed out.

"I would be working tomorrow, if my best friend in the whole world, wasn't going to cover my shift because she's amazing."

"You're a dick."

"Says the girl who just jumped off a climbing wall to get a girls attention," Rob laughed.

"I didn't jump off!" I said, trying to defend myself.

"You've never fallen off before, and you always beat me to the top."

"Okay, I understand how it looks. But really, I didn't jump to get her attention, I fell because I was distracted by her," I argued.

"So when are you taking her out, then?" He quizzed.

"I didn't even ask her."

Rob frowned at me, and seemed to forget he was driving. I pointed out the red light that he almost ignored, and he slammed on his brakes.

"What is going on with you?"

I didn't know how to respond to his question, so I just shrugged my shoulders. I was happy that we had arrived at the bar where I abandoned my car last night, so I didn't need to answer any more questions. At least until I got home, anyway. It was always just assumed that Rob was coming back to my apartment. He pretty much lived with me.

There was a second bedroom in my apartment, but it was just used as storage. I had considered asking Rob to move in properly a few times, but I didn't want to upset Tom. It was only Tom and Rob at their house, and Tom might get lonely if Rob was living with me officially.

I drove my car back to the coffee shop, and parked it next to Rob's. He had already gone inside the apartment. I went inside and joined him on the sofa.

"So how come you didn't ask that girl out?"

"Rob, do you not think we should be discussing more important matters, like your date tomorrow?" I asked. It was cruel of me, because I knew it would make him panic, but it saved me from answering questions I didn't know how to answer.

"Fuck..." he groaned, and ran one hand through his hair. "Where do I take her?"

"What time are you picking her up?"

"Eleven."

"In the morning?!"

Rob nodded in response, looking terrified.

"Why would you ask a girl out so early?"

"Why not?" He asked.

"Firstly, she's gonna be waking up at stupid o'clock to get ready," I replied, and Rob frowned at me. "Secondly, you can't drink that early in the day without her thinking you've got a problem. And finally, there's less chance of sex."

"So I'll take her for lunch, and then we can go for a walk or something... I never mentioned alcohol or sex."

"Rob, I know you've been out of the game for a while, but you're not quite getting this dating thing," I joked.

"At least I asked the girl out," he teased.

I stuck my middle finger up at him, before walking to the fridge to get us both drinks.

"Was your mind still preoccupied with the mystery girl?"

"She is the mystery girl," I said quietly, earning a shocked look from my best friend.

"You already knew her?!"

"Not really, she came into the shop the other day, it's the girl your dad was sitting with," I replied.

"Oh shit, i didn't even recognise her," Rob said, and i could tell by his face that he remembered her now. "So why didn't you ask her out?"

"I don't know, i don't even know if she's into girls."

"Since when has that stopped you?" He asked.

I just laughed and changed the subject back to Alice. He seemed really nervous about his date. I can't remember the last time he went on a date, and it made me nervous for him.

"So, you're gonna cover my shift then?"

"I don't see that I have a choice," I replied, rolling my eyes.

Tomorrow was Sunday, which was Tom's day off. Rob and I worked alternating sundays, but usually we both ended up at the coffee shop, so the other wasn't alone all day. It was never busy on sundays, so I would just watch TV for most of the day until customers came.

Rob asked me to help decide what to wear on his date, and I suggested something casual. We decided on Jean's and a polo shirt so it wasn't too casual. I gave him some ideas of what to talk about, and where they could go for lunch. I was pretty much an expert at dating now, and Rob trusted my judgement.

He went home before ten o'clock, so he could get plenty of sleep. He wasn't a morning person most of the time, and he didn't want to be tired for his date. I wished him luck before he left, then went to bed myself, as I needed to be up early to open the shop.