Caffeinated Care (Riley)

[Dr. Terrence Jordan]

At night, Kali's was a party hub, helping the hardworking men and women of Pilot Ridge get rather drunk after slaving away. During the day, it was a place to stop in for coffee and pastries while on lunch break.

Or, if you were Dr. Terrence Jordan, it was the place you were fetching coffee and an apple turnover at 1pm as breakfast, because you were working at the hospital until 5am in the morning and had slept up until about noon.

Turnover in one hand and coffee in the other he set about finding an empty table, quite a difficult feat at Kali's at any time, tanking economy or not. He moved away from the register and toward the counter stocked with creamer and straws and stirrers, pausing there to survey the land.

There, an empty table.

He made his way across the room, eye on what was going to be his table, arriving at it just about the same time as a giant of a man.

Terrence was about to sigh and find another table when he realized that he recognized the giant in question as one of the older men who had been by Leila Gold's side during her hospitalization, and so instead of searching elsewhere he paused, hand on the edge of the chair he'd been in the process of pulling out.

"You are a friend of Ms. Gold's, correct?"

[Riley Adams]

Riley wasn't the "head up in the clouds" type when it came to work. But recently, very recently in fact, even Rina could see the distraction in her boss' face. She wasn't used to this side of her boss since...well, he'd simply never been the type to be this way. So she sent him off to lunch outside, hoping the fresh, albeit a little cold, air would do him some good.

He ended up at Kali's and after ordering a club sandwich, he went to grab a seat and was about to sit down on an empty chair, a voice from behind alerted him to another presence. He turned and a smile lit up his face when he found that it was Dr. Jordan, the nice hepatologist that helped Leila through her recovery. "Dr. Jordan! Hi!" He reached a hand out to grab Terrence's and shook it.

"It's good to see you! Come and sit with me. I just ordered, come and sit." He waved the good doctor down as he himself sat down. He was completely unaware that Terrence had been eyeing the seat before.

[Dr. Terrence Jordan]

Terrence returned the handshake as best he could while holding coffee and sandwich. He smiled at the enthusiasm with which he was greeted; all of Leila's friends had seemed like such kind people. She was truly fortunate to have them.

"Yes! It is a pleasure to see you again."

He accepted the offer to sit, moving around to the other side of the table. "However," He hesitated as he placed his food down before him, looking up at the giant in concerned apology. "I must admit I do not recall your name?"

[Riley Adams]

"Pleasure is all mine, Dr. Jordan." Riley offered graciously, shaking the other man's hand warmly. The man was so polite, Leila was definitely lucky he had tended to her the whole time. Not every doctor had decent bedside manners.

Riley's smile softened at the doctor's sheepish admittance. "It's Riley. I'm sure it's hard for you to remember your patients' names, let alone their surrogate uncles." He chuckled amiably. "How is Leila?" Riley asked as he sat down opposite the doctor. "I've been to see her of course but Leila didn't really talk much about herself." Riley gave a short laugh.

"That girl can talk a mile a minute but almost never about herself."

[Dr. Terrence Jordan]

"Riley. It is nice to see you again." Terrence smiled, peeling back the top of one of the creamers and pouring it into his coffee.

"Leila is doing well, she's making a strong recovery. I am quite pleased. She's a very determined young woman and I think that will help her." She certainly had the will to do whatever it took to survive, even though she hadn't thought much of some of her new lifestyle changes.

"I think it would be good for her if she could have her horse up here, exercise is very important and she sounds quite fond of the animal."

This, of course, had nothing to do with the fact that he was fond of Leila. "Does she not talk about herself? We had a fascinating conversation over lunch a few weeks ago, she didn't seem to mind sharing."

[Riley Adams]

Riley nodded at the doctor's cordial response and offered his own. "Likewise, Dr. Jordan."

Taking a sip of his iced tea, Riley smiled at Terrence, who had nothing but nice things to say about Leila. Which wasn't really that hard to begin with. But there was something else about the way the doctor spoke about Leila that suggested to Riley there was something going on.

"Oh Red? Yes." Riley smiled, remembering his first conversation with the blond at the yoghurt shop. She had mentioned her horse then. "I should think we have a stable here. In Burlington maybe. I could ask around for you if you want." He offered helpfully.

Riley's eyebrows shot up in surprise when Terrence said they had a fascinating conversation over lunch. "Oh, really? Isn't that interesting?" He grinned at Terrence. "I suppose it would be easy for her to be forthcoming since you're her doctor." But really, Riley didn't believe it was because of that that the young blonde was so open about herself.

[Dr. Terrence Jordan]

At Riley's offer to help him find a stable Terrence found himself suddenly feeling a bit self-conscious. He stirred his coffee intently as he admitted, "I actually found one. I talked to the owner, scoped the place out. I only need to talk to Ms. Gold about shipping Red up here."

After a moment he realized that he'd been stirring his coffee for so long it was likely to not be more than room temperature, and he brought it to his lips, hoping to hide his embarrassment.

"She's a highly intelligent, active woman. It's always a pleasure to make the acquaintance of someone like her. And I'm very grateful she is willing to talk to me, doctor or no."

Was it time to change the subject? Perhaps.

"How has life been treating you? I trust that things are well? Do you work with Ms. Gold? I am afraid I never quite got who did what." But there were a number of other attorneys in her social circle, and he could otherwise work at the courthouse.

[Riley Adams]

"Oh! Well, that's great. I'm sure Leila would be glad to know that." Riley grinned, sort of piecing things together bit by bit. Although he could be wrong, Riley was pretty sure the doctor had a soft spot for his patient.

Riley's smile remained as Terrence continued to speak highly of Leila. He was glad his sandwich came in time. He would have teased the doctor some. Not that he was a hundred percent certain Terrence did like Leila that way. Although finding a stable for her was sort of indicative of amorous feelings, wasn't it?

"Me? It's been great." It wasn't a lie, despite his confusion about the whole Griff and Danny situation. He was good friends with two of the people he was very attracted to and he'd kissed both of them. He regretted neither. "Things are quite well, albeit a bit confusing but otherwise, everything is peaches and cream." He nodded, biting into his sandwich before shaking his head when asked if he worked with Leila. "Cobalt is the one who works with Leila. I'm a landscape designer." He corrected Terrence with a smile.

"And how about you? People treating their livers badly lately?"

[Dr. Terrence Jordan]

"Cobalt is Mr. Weaver, correct?" Terrence confirmed. "I knew they worked together, but I was not certain how many others were coworkers." He thought at least one or two of the other visitors had been attorneys, but he couldn't recall for certain.

"A landscaper, you say?" That put him in mind of sculptured bushes and gazebos with climbing rose vines. "Do you get much work around here? That sounds quite interesting."

At the question about people's treatment of their livers Terrence smiled ruefully. "People are always treating their livers poorly, that is why I will never be out of a job. I would like them to treat them more carefully, but that will never happen."

And he couldn't even say he wouldn't have met Leila otherwise, because they'd met at the book club, and then he wouldn't have to worry about doctor/patient protocol. Not that he was going to tell any of that to her friend.

"I do what I can to help, even if I wish they would use preventive treatment."

[Riley Adams]

"That's right. Cobalt Weaver. Well, Cobalt and Leila work together. Josh...Mr. Bernstein is also a lawyer, he's the tall one with the spectacles. But he's not a coworker. He works at another law firm with my sister Janice, though I don't think you've met her." Riley explained. He was just realising how big his circle of friends had become. A little smile flickered on his face.

"Oh it's nothing interesting really. But I do enjoy it so that's what counts." Riley humbly nodded. If Terrence allowed, he would have prattled on and on about his job. "I do get quite a few jobs before the weather gets too cold."

"Well, I'd be your personal advocate if my word would make any difference, really. I'm no fan of smokers or drinkers." He gave a little smile, sorry that Terrence had to deal with people who just couldn't say no to smoking and drinking.

"Here's to preventive methods." Riley chuckled, raising his glass of iced tea as a salute.

[OOC: Permission to wrap ^^]