Chapter Three

Jill turned so she was in front of Divya, taking care to look her directly in the eye. "Whoa, Divya. Being attracted to someone does not mean you're in love. I mean, you know that, right?"

Divya looked at her in despair. "I don't know what I know anymore, Jill." She slumped against her SUV. "All I know is that what I just did was either a huge mistake and will cost me my marriage and possibly jeopardize my job with HankMed and my relationship with Hank and Evan, or . . ." She trailed off and looked back up at Jill.

"Or it could have been the best decision you've ever made," she finished, leaning against the car next to Divya.

Divya rolled her eyes. "I highly doubt it was the best decision I have ever made . . ."

Jill turned her head to look at her, smiling. "But you agree it wasn't a bad decision?"

Divya groaned, tossing her head back against the car. "You tricked me into saying that, Ms. Casey."

Jill's smile grew. "I did nothing of the sort, Ms. Katdare." She stepped away from the car, moving in front of Divya and placing a hand on her arm. "Listen, only you know how you feel. And I know you want to do right by your family, but Divya, you have to think about yourself. This is your life. Your parents already know you're a PA. I am sure if you just sat down and talked to them, told them what you want, they would support you. They want you to be happy, don't they?" Divya didn't answer, just looked away like she was about to cry. Jill kept at her, though. "Divya. They want you to be happy. Don't you want that?"

"Of course I do!" Divya spat, turning to look at Jill again. Her eyes were filled with worry. "But I don't know what will make me happy."

Jill gave her a sympathetic look, but shrugged. "I think you do know, but you just don't want it to be what makes you happy."

Divya's expression turned into a glare. "I hate him," she muttered, and Jill laughed, moving next to Divya and sliding her arm around Divya's waist, directing her back to the guest house.

"No you don't," Jill said, smiling as Divya walked with her without even realizing where they were going.

Divya sighed. "I don't," she agreed, "but I really really want to right now." Jill laughed again, and Divya even cracked a smile, before she looked up and froze in her tracks. "What are you doing? I'm leaving." She turned to walk back to her car, but Jill blocked her path, stepping in front of her and looking her in the eye. Divya crossed her arms over her chest and glared at her. "I am not going back in there."

Jill gave her a look of disbelief. "You can't avoid him forever," she said.

"I would like to just avoid him right now," Divya responded, attempting once again to push past Jill, but the other woman moved with her. Divya rolled her eyes. "Jill, I know you are trying to keep everything from becoming complicated, but I can assure you that it is already far more complicated than you realize."

"I know, Divya," Jill said softly, and Divya turned her glare into a look more curious than anything else.

"What is that supposed to mean?" she asked.

Jill let out a sigh and turned Divya around to face the guest house again. "Just trust me here. Besides, what's more awkward - seeing him now, five minutes after you kissed him, or seeing him tomorrow, after you've both had hours to think about it."

"I highly doubt Evan will spend hours thinking about me kissing him," Divya scoffed.

Jill rolled her eyes behind Divya's back. "It's Evan. He'll think about it."

Divya walked a few more steps, then suddenly stopped. "I can't do it," she said, and this time when she turned to face Jill, her eyes were filled with panic.

Jill tried her best to be patient and understanding. "Hon, I know you're confused and wondering what the hell you're doing, but you'll figure things out."

Divya nodded, but her thoughts were elsewhere. After a moment, she shook her head and met Jill's eyes. "That's not what I'm concerned about." Jill frowned in confusion and Divya gave her a helpless look. "What if he doesn't want this?"

Jill rubbed a soothing hand on Divya's back, while in the guest house, Evan watched the two women. He knew they were out there and while usually he'd be totally ogling them and thinking perverted thoughts, he was hardly registering their presence outside because of the thoughts running through his head.

Divya had kissed him. Divya. The uptight, but incredibly smoking hot, woman who belittled and argued with him day in and day out. She kissed him. And it was full on, tongues included, make-out session kissing, too, not just a friendly smooch. And it wasn't to save him from being flattened by a big, scary black guy, either.

"Wow," he said to himself. It was all he could really manage. The whole situation was just . . . bizarre. It was literally like living inside a dream world. He suddenly stood up straighter, took a deep breath and . . . slapped himself across the face.

"Aw, mother -" he started, but sensed a presence behind himself and cut himself off, spinning to face the new arrival, hand rubbing his sore cheek.

"Reliving your favorite moment of the day?" Hank asked, a smirk on his face.

Evan narrowed his eyes at his brother. "As a matter of fact, no," he said, allowing a tint of smugness to creep into his voice.

Hank raised an eyebrow. "So you're just a big masochist who enjoys slapping himself across the face then? Because that's a little weird, Ev, even for you."

"Ha, Hank, really hilarious," Evan said, his tone dripping with sarcasm. "You really should have gone into comedy instead of medicine, you know? You'd make so much more money."

Hank laughed. "Chill out, Evan." He clapped his hands together and pointed them at Evan. "Alright, tell me what it is that has you slapping yourself silly."

"Well," Evan started, and glanced back at where Divya and Jill had been standing to ensure Divya wasn't about to burst back in and hear him giving Hank all the details of their steamy make-out session. When he turned back to Hank, he remembered his brother's earlier words. "Didn't you say you were leaving?"

Hank gave him an incredulous look. "Jill showed up here." Evan gave him a knowing look and Hank rolled his eyes. "To talk about clinic stuff. She left. Don't change the subject."

"Actually, if you take a gander outside, you'll see that she's still here," Evan said, his usual pompous air returning.

"She is?" Hank asked, peering over Evan's shoulder to look outside. He spotted her talking to Divya and turned back to Evan, flabbergasted. "What did you do now? I told you to behave!"

Evan held up a finger and shook it at Hank. "Do not use that tone with me, mister. I did absolutely nothing that would count as misbehavior. As a matter of fact, Miss Katdare was the one who instigated this whole thing." He paused and thought about his words for a second. "Well, not the whole thing. But this most recent part, yeah."

Hank rolled his eyes. "Okay, so you're not at fault for once. What did Divya do that has you in such a tizzy?"

"Tizzy? Really, Henry? Who uses that word besides 80-year-old ladies?" Hank gave him a pointed look and Evan continued. "Fine. Right. You ready for this?" He grinned, letting Hank know that he was in for something big. Hank just nodded and signaled for him to hurry up and say it already. Evan nodded slowly and told him. "Divya . . . kissed me."

Rather than being shocked about the news, Hank rolled his eyes again. "Okay, sure, Evan. You can continue to live in your little dream world, but I'm telling you, it is not healthy -"

"No, Hank, I am being completely serious," Evan interrupted him, grabbing Hank by the shoulders and forcing him to look at him.

Hank took the opportunity to really study his brother's face. "You are being serious, aren't you?"

Evan didn't answer the question, rather let go of Hank and turned away from him, running a hand through his hair. "For once in my life, I have absolutely no idea what to do next, Hank." He began to pace, and Hank kept a steady eye on him. "I mean, I want to . . . But I can't . . . And I don't know if she . . ." He sighed. "This whole being an adult thing sucks."

Hank couldn't keep the smile from his face, as much as he tried. He walked to Evan, slinging an arm over his shoulders. "It's about time you grew up, little bro," he said, and Evan rolled his eyes. "Listen, I'm not exactly the best person to take relationship advice from, but . . ." He paused and Evan turned his head to look at him, interested in what Hank would say. "Sometimes you just gotta let your heart make the decisions."

Evan sighed and lowered his head. "Not helpful, Hank."

Hank let out a soft laugh. "Hey, I can't live your life for you, Ev. Especially not your love life." He then lowered his voice, mumbling, "Not that I would want to."

"I heard that," Evan said, and turned his attention back toward the driveway, where Divya and Jill stood, talking. "How did I . . . Damn. I mean," he turned back to Hank, "I always fantasized about . . ."

"Oh, God, not sure I want to hear what's coming next," Hank muttered.

Evan stopped and glared at his brother. "Do you mind? This is a very serious situation and I could use your support, rather than you mocking me."

Hank rolled his eyes. "I am not mocking you, Evan. I want you to be happy. And if Divya is what makes you happy . . ."

Evan smiled at that, but it faltered just as quickly as he looked down at the floor. "Yeah, well, doesn't matter how I feel. She's getting married, and besides, she pretty much hates me."

Hank rolled his eyes. "Divya doesn't hate you, Ev."

Evan looked up at him, his expression serious. "Well, it's a very severe dislike, then. I do nothing but piss her off most of the time, and . . ."

"And that's why she kissed you?" Hank said, smirking a bit. "Come on, Evan. She cares about you, and you've proven that you care about her."

"But that still doesn't change the fact that she's getting married," Evan said, then turned and kicked a stool next to the island, regretting that decision as soon as he made it. He shook his foot out and made a face. "Son of a . . ."

Hank rolled his eyes again. "Okay, you may have a point."

"Thank you," Evan muttered, sitting down and rubbing his sore foot.

"But," Hank continued, "I don't want to see either one of you regret not knowing what could have been, either." He moved closer to Evan. "I know you, little bro. You're not the kind of guy to back down from a challenge. And trust me, Divya is just the kind of challenge you can't resist." Evan grinned at the thought, and Hank slapped him on the back. "So, what are you waiting for? Go for it, before it's too late."

"Before it's too late for what?"

A/N: Dun dun dun! Yeah, I know. :P This is all I have ready to post at the moment, but I will post more once I finish more. If anyone is interested. Ha. :)