My bones hurt. Every single one of them. Twenty two straight hours of being hunched over a patient during surgery will do that to you. I turned my neck, stretching it as I tried to get the eye of the bartender as I waited patiently for the martini I always enjoyed to celebrate the end of a successful procedure.

"Dr. Roberts!" I relaxed as Harry spotted me. "Will be right there with your usual. Long day?"

He was an exceptional bartender, and he poured the drink perfectly, and I took a long sip as the briny sharp liquid filled my mouth like pure ambrosia. As I tilted the glass back, a brilliant splash of color caught my eye at the end of the bar. A woman in her twenties, unusual at this hour. She was beautiful, even to my tired eyes.

As she leaned forward to catch the bartender's attention, I couldn't help but notice the smooth skin on her bare arms, the way her muscles and body moved with a grace that only a surgeon can appreciate.

My moment of satisfying enjoyment was interrupted as I felt a heavy clap on my back and a booming voice. "Dr. Roberts - the way you handled the microvascular decompression today was exceptional. Bravo, really"

I turned around to face the portly medical director from my hospital. I knew he was happy - the press had probably contacted him after the procedure had been announced as successful, and he was eager to see his name in the headlines, along with the hospital. I nodded, and turned back to the bar, eager to have a few moments of quiet as he droned on.

As I looked across the bar, the girl had disappeared. I craned my neck to look, to see where she had gone, and noticed the women's bathroom door swinging closed. A text on my phone interrupted me. It was Jay, my son. He'd followed in his father's footsteps, though he'd taken a shine to orthopedics - he'd always been a bit of a jock like that.

"Dad! Great job on the procedure today, heard everything worked out fine. I'm finishing up my last rotation this week - can I meet you for a pint on Friday? Don't tell mom - there's a new girl I'm dating. You'll like her."

I downed the martini, the gin burning through my throat, waking up my body and relaxing me as I idly thought about the younger woman who had so captured my attention moments before. Then I saw her again, as she emerged from the bathroom. When our eyes locked, I felt my body turn to stone as the seconds ticked by. As though time didn't matter again.

---

The story here is that the father, an older successful surgeon enters into a relationship with his son's new girlfriend, without either of them realizing who the other is at first. We can go any number of directions with this, but I'm interested in exploring what the cheating might feel like on many levels here. I like to build and write together, so bring your ideas for what you'd like to do to shape this adventure.
Kinks : romantic, cheating, slow burn, boundaries being crossed, drama
Limits : violence