The Laws of Attraction

2

“What are your plans for today?” I asked nonchalantly while stacking the used dishes and utensils into the sink—rinsing them before lathering them with dish soap while Jacob cleaned the counter top with a wet cloth—this man truly was an expert in the kitchen.  “I was thinking maybe we could do some grocery shopping?” Jacob answered, sipping the last bit of his coffee from a mug he had probably gotten from one of the cabinets above the counter top. “That is, if you want to come with.” He quickly added.

“Sure, why not? I thought of getting some household goods too, I just ran out of detergent and some dry food, I think I’ll get some bread on the way home too.” With that being said, I immediately remembered Jacob’s shirt I left soaking in the bucket, mentally reminding myself to have it washed later.

“I can bake bread if you’d like, but we’d need to get flour and more eggs.” He said sheepishly, he didn’t even need to count the meagre eggs that were in the tray.

“You…bake too?” I asked, trying my best not to giggle. With the little time we’ve known each other, I knew he could cook, cleans up pretty well, loves his job enough to spend 18 hours at it, reads—a lot and does his own grocery shopping. What else? That, I’m about to find out. 

“Yes, strangely I quite like it. I can bake almost anything.” He stated proudly. “Alright there, there’s no need to brag.”

“Bragging about baking, who would’ve thought I would someday?” he grinned and I shrugged. “Alright, give me 20 minutes tops, I need to take a shower and get out of these clothes.”

“20 minutes seems like an awful short amount of time, if only most women get ready as fast like you do.”

“You’ll learn that technique if you ever get up late for work.” I said as I walked past him breezily, thinking of that time in the early days as a junior associate. Twice, I woke up late and got an earful from my supervisor and then my friend Cain. And as to who he was to me? I’ll explain later.

“Okay, 20 minutes. That’s what you told your roommate, don’t let him down.” I said to myself, looking around my bathroom figuring out what to do first now that I was all jumpy. I peeled off my semi-dry workout clothes and flung them in the laundry basket beside the basin and jumped straight into the shower. Turning on the tap, I undid my messy loose ponytail and ran my fingers through my hair, hoping to see if there were any hair fall and there was. “Great, at this rate my hair’s falling, I’m about to be bald in no time.” I muttered as I lathered myself quickly with a scented body wash and shampoo.

Throwing a bathrobe and tightening the belt around my body, I squeezed some toothpaste on the bristles and ran them through my teeth for the second time this morning—my feet tapping restlessly against the tile flooring. I looked at myself in the mirror, dang I looked every bit of a wet dog. My face was red from all the steam in the shower but thank God for a good, healthy complexion at the very least to make up for the lack of colour of my skin now that the weather was much colder everywhere.  Sunscreen and moisturisers, sunscreen and moisturisers. Where was I? Okay, yes, brushing my teeth. 

I hadn’t realized it was there initially but I took a quick glimpse at his toothbrush—it was a dark grey in colour. Next to it was a shaving cream and a shaver—it did look pretty expensive to me. I rinsed out the growing mint foam in my mouth and rinsed with a shot of Listerine, yes I basically call it a shot since its cap looked like one.

I breathed out, feeling slightly overwhelmed with the overhead steam from the showers and conversing with myself. I blew dried my hair and raced back into my room—barefoot, bathrobe, towel and all. Great, 9 minutes left on the clock, I do work well under pressure. Throwing out a pair of skinny jeans and a white blouse, I quickly picked out a seamless underwear and a nude coloured bra while combing my hair all in one go. 7 minutes. 

I put on some moisturiser and sunscreen, followed by curling my lashes and adding some mascara, dabbing on some cream blush and ran a tinted chapstick over my lips, brushed out my brows and filled them in just a bit. 2 minutes.

Grabbing my purse and keys from the dresser, I was out of my room in a jiffy. 

“Wow, you’re a woman of your word. Literally 20 minutes.” He said as he pulled a sweater over his shirt that he was wearing earlier. Men, trust them to pull on anything at the very last minute and they’ll say they ‘got ready’. 

“I’m really good at keeping up with deadlines.” I smiled as I got out my Vans from the built-in shoe cabinet in the wall. “I’m impressed Rosie.” He remarked and I noticed he used my name more frequently than ever now, the way it rolled off his tongue though…

“I’ll drive us both, I’m assuming you don’t have your car with you yet since you just moved to DC?”

“I do actually, had it shipped over a week ago, just collected it yesterday at lunch. And since I finished your eggs, let me drive you this time.”

“If you insist.” I answered as I locked the door behind us.

We walked to the parking lot in silence and I was dying to see what car my roommate owned, I mean, after all, he did come all the way to DC with just two luggage and that was pretty much it. One of his hands disappeared into his pocket of his khakis, and suddenly I heard a loud beep not too far away.

My eyes caught the sight of a Triton emblem on the hood of the sleek black car that had its headlights go off twice. I tried to mask my surprise under a placid look at the sight of the vehicle as my curiosity grew, wondering what office job he could possibly be a part of to earn him such an expensive drive. On a side note, I was positive that he could afford such a vehicle, he could surely afford a place of his own as well, right?

“Rosie, where is this grocery store you were talking about?” He asked, oblivious to my long silence. I hadn’t realised he started his engine and was waiting for my instructions when I was all strapped in. “It’s a 7 minute drive away from here.” I told him the name of the grocery store and he had it keyed into his display screen.

My eyes glanced to the glass of his dashboard and I squinted my eyes to see a sceptre on a car sticker. Wait, I know that sceptre! But the real question is, why is he having this particular car sticker? Questions and assumptions swirled around my head the longer I stared, I wasn’t sure if it was even polite to ask him repeatedly. But then…

“I’m a Doctor by profession.” He said, as if reading my mind. “Professor Doctor. Jacob.” He snorted at the title. “A shade too fancy, don’t you think?”

“I’m sorry?” I said as I diverted my eyes from the sticker I was squinting so bloody hard at. Wondering why he was letting me on this information so quickly.

“You asked me what I did for a living when you noticed the blood on my sleeve last night, and by now you must be thinking if I’m able to afford a vehicle like this, surely I could afford my own place?”

“Well, yes and no? I mean, wait, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to assume anything about you.” I said apprehensively. It was at this moment I felt the sudden need to shut up right away, suddenly afraid he was actually able to read my mind. He chuckled while I bit my lip, willing myself to take a deep breath and calm my thoughts. He stepped on the accelerator and swerved his car out of the parking spot, following the arrows painted on the wall to the exit.

“I’m a brain surgeon—Neurosurgery Department, although I do think Professor’s just a title at the moment, what’s more important to me is my line of work.” He continued as light rain showers pelted against the dashboard of his car. The wipers came on instantly, so did his headlights to illuminate the tempestuous rainy weather. “I was transferred here to Olympus hospital, here in DC—you know of that hospital?” He asked as he pulled onto the main road of the busy car-filled street.

That’s it! Olympus Hospital! That’s why the sceptre looked so familiar. The Hospital was so big and advertised almost everywhere that had a screen—it was pretty hard to miss actually.

“That’s the largest, private hospital here in the city.” I said keenly. “Olympus has an exclusive Board of Attorneys they’ve hired—the best of the best. Back when I was still a practicing attorney, our firm has had a few meetings together with Olympus’s Attorneys previously on a case we worked together. It’s no secret that Olympus only hires the best competent doctors and surgeons, all year round their Directors visits hospitals after hospitals, scouting for potential ones.” I said thoughtfully. “And if I’m not wrong, if you say who you are, my guess is that you were scouted as well.” 

Jacob looked pretty pleased with the amount of information I knew and how I was able to weave all this sort of information together. I pride myself in processing information quickly—it was one of the valuable traits I’ve learnt in my time as an Attorney.

“An associate Professor of mine suggested I join the hospital here in DC—he mentioned that a change in the environment would do me some good and yes, I was basically scouted at the Hospital I’ve worked in, but I wasn’t the only one.” He said, although his mind seemed to be someplace else.

“And the ones that were scouted along with you, are they here with you as well?” I asked. He nodded. “Yeah, we flew into DC together, my friends are still settling in—their partners followed them here as well.”

Oh, so his friends are here too. “You said you were a Professor, I’m sorry if this sounds rude but you do look a little too young to be having such fancy titles to your name.”

Just how old are you Jacob?

“You ask me way too many personal questions at once but I’ll gladly answer them.” He chuckled lightly, turning his steering wheel smoothly with one hand towards the direction I pointed him to while we stopped at the traffic light.

“I didn’t mean to sound impertinent. But with my knowledge, don’t most doctors of your qualifications require what? 10-13 years to complete your courses, that is if you’re also specializing in an area specifically, and then there’s in-house medical training, residency and everything else that occupies the better half of your life and time—not that it’s a bad thing.” I reassured him.

“I take it you’re basing us on Grey’s Anatomy?” He asked and I smiled sheepishly. Some kind of knowledge huh Rosie? What? Don’t judge me, I only ever watched the series initially because of Patrick Dempsey aka McDreamy—he was to die for. “I’m 33 this year, fully completed my residency about 6 years ago,” he said, as if thinking hard exactly when it was.  “So now I’m an Attending Doctor—I open up people’s brains, detach the plates in the skulls layer by layer, sometimes even the spine, generally anything and everything the brain nerves connect to, I fix.”

“Now that you say it that way, I can’t deny your line of work is pretty intriguing. Ergo, with all your pay checks you’ve earned over the many years of working, why don’t you get a place yourself?” I tried to sound as neutral as possible but I couldn’t help but wonder as to why he chose to rent out someone else’s place. “I mean, you could easily buy two of my lofts with a single paycheck.”

“I don’t like staying alone.” He said earnestly, turning to look at me briefly.

“What?” I asked, hoping I didn’t hear him wrong. Most people would do anything for that sort of freedom—the quiet, free space and privacy they’d have to themselves, living by your own rule…one can find them quite liberating in retrospect.

“I know. It’s a little weird for me to even say it out loud but yeah.” He pursed his lips briefly before he spoke again. “I just prefer some sort of noise in the house, preferably human, of course.”

“Well I guess you could have a girlfriend perhaps, move in with you?” I tried. “Or a pet perhaps?”

“I don’t have a girlfriend.” He said firmly. “And in all my experience of dating, wise women usually think three times before they actually agree to go out with a doctor, especially when he’s a surgeon who’s always on call previously.”

I can’t hide my curiousness anymore at this rate so I asked, “Why three times?”

“I don’t think thinking twice is really thinking at all.” He simply said and I chewed my lips, trying to make sense of his words. I’ve never heard anyone say that, ever. “You might be surprised not all women are like that, if they really are interested in you and vice versa, I’m fairly certain you both are able to work your way around it, no?” I reasoned and he nodded thoughtfully before turning away to look at the road. “I just don’t look hard enough.” 

“Is this that store?” He asked, pointing towards the large single storey building that sat on a large plot of land.

“Yeap, the parking lot’s right over there.” I pointed casually to which he swerved right languidly and found a spot not too far away from the entrance. He told me to wait in the car and as he popped open an umbrella from his side of the door, walked around the hood and opened the door of the passenger side. I blinked, not knowing what to say at first because I’ve never had a man that I knew who did such a gesture for me. I’d like to think I was an independent adult woman who is more than able to open my own doors but it was times like these that I’m completely caught off guard…

“Stay close.” He said and I nodded without looking up.

Jacob took an empty trolley from the entrance and we shuffled into the store and was greeted by another gust of cold air the second the automatic doors slid open. I

“There’s the dairy aisle.” He pointed. “We seemed to have finished the last bit of it with the coffee this morning.” 

I let out a low hum while I watched him pick up two cartons of milk imported from Australia—the brand that I usually went for and had finished this morning. He is observant. 

I picked up a packet of cream cheese, some Gouda for sandwich making and a snack, and a big tub of yogurt to share. On the way towards the frozen food aisle, there were cartons of eggs that lined neatly one atop of the other.

“Are you still feeling bad for finishing up my eggs?” I suppressed a smile, taking a quick glance at him. His jaw moved as his mouth opened and closed. “I should be right? I mean, stealing your roommates’ food, isn’t that a felony charge or something?” he grinned and I fought the urge to roll my eyes. “It might as well be since you’re insisting on it.” I played along, his grin faltered. “But don’t worry, I’m not that crazy uptight roommate you need to worry about.”

He let out a low chuckle. “So, what do you usually prefer? Eating in or out?” He asked casually, his elbows resting against the handle of the cart as we browsed through the aisles filled with all sorts of food, condiments, raw items, spices, snacks whilst taking our own sweet time. “I prefer to eat in the comfort of my own home, sometimes I do order in but I rarely have a meal outside but for coffee, yes.”

“Why?”

“Dunno. While I was working, I usually met with clients over meals, sometimes with colleagues, then there’s the occasional social events and dinner parties I’m invited to—all these never gave me a chance to be alone but I think I do appreciate it a little more than ever now.”

“Would it bother you then, if I were to have meals with you?” he asked, although I felt like he wasn’t going to be bothered if I said no, he’d just join me.

“So long as you don’t steal my food, I’ll be lenient with that request.”

“I can’t promise you that.” 

I snorted, rolled my eyes as I bagged a couple of oranges and apples while he picked up some vegetables and cherry tomatoes. I would be lying if I said I never imagined doing such an errand with my husband, but with a stranger? Doing groceries together? This was new to me.

“You mentioned that your friends were also transferred here to DC?” I asked. He nodded to tell me I was right, “There’s Daniel and his fiancé, Sophie, Mark who's engaged to Nadia.” Interesting, so I’m guessing he’s the only one who’s not attached or engaged to anyone. “Must be nice being the lightbulb.” I remarked. 

“You mean the center of attention no? They spend most of their attention on me trying to hook me up with anyone who says hi to me.” 

“That’s what friends do right? Besides you’re the only one whose unattached, course they would be worried for a thirty-three year old man.” I teased and he narrowed his eyes at me.

“Well, definitely not someone recommended by them. I’d like to think they are horrible at doing so. Any friends of yours I need to know about? You know, so I won’t get caught off-guard when one of them comes over for a visit, unannounced.” He’s saying it as if he’s gotten a lot of unexpected visits in the past.

“Well, my best friend is currently in New York for work and I’m not sure when she will be back because whenever she tries to, something comes up at the very last minute and she has to stay, and the other one—Cain probably neck deep in his work pile, preparing to fight a fraud case he’s been on and on about.”

“A fellow lawyer friend?” He asked, bringing the cart around once more so I can put the bagged fruits into it.

“Yeap, he’s doing pretty well right now, just got a promotion and stuff. And then there’s me, the part-time babysitter and ballet teacher.”

“What’s wrong with being either? Baby sitters are real life savers for busy parents.” he said as if I ought to be proud of what I do. “Although, I can’t help but ask, have you ever thought of going back into the field?”

“I have.” I said honestly. “But a little something happened over two years ago still affects me professionally, and then subsequently the range of my clients whom I have denied time and again began flooding my office but I denied to fight their cases—some even tried to bribe me but one day, it all stopped the second I tendered my letter of resignation.” I said placidly.

“When you say clients whom you’ve denied time and again…” Jacob trailed.

“Most clients who committed fraud in business, involved in money laundering that sits in their offshore accounts and wants to get away scot-free when their actions get found out and they can’t sit well with the law. But of course, there are many types of Attorneys, I just happen to not fall in that category. Although, there will be times where we don’t always get to be picky with our clients. Somehow, individuals who commit business fraud know all too well who they should go to when they get into trouble.”

One mistake was all it took for me to question my morals, values, my clouded judgement and motives. But at that point, I was young and still naïve— the aftermath of my case was all too much for me to handle. My past experience traumatised me far too much that I still remember every single last bit of it.

“See it this way Rosie. In a way, you were capable and you knew just how to do your job. People came to you with that knowledge but of course, whether to take it or not, it was a decision alone you had to make. Although, I can’t help but apologise if I’m sorry if me bringing this up allowed any bad memories to resurface...” he trailed, looking at me with concern. 

“Thank you for saying that Jacob, but you need not to worry. I’m able to deal with it and I quite like my new life and job right now, maybe I’m not earning as much but I think I’m content.”

He looked impressed as he said his next words. “I admire your strength and courage Rosie—to take a break and not entirely walking away from it but dealing with it.”

“Thank you kind stranger. Also, would you like some bacon and ham slices?” We passed the same aisle twice now but you were too busy to notice” I grinned.

“I was too engrossed in our conversation I didn’t notice. Anyways, I saw a nice cafe on the drive here, would you like to have lunch with me after this?”

“Oh, you mean Tod’s? And yes I would love to—their iced coffee is really good, you have to try it for yourself.”

“You’re a coffee junkie aren’t you?”

“I guess you could say I’m a slut for iced coffee.”