FTEC, Tuesday, February 21

[sexydoctor.livejournal.com]

Christian opened up the clinic Tuesday morning, prepared for another day of his surgical skills not being put to use. At least it was relaxing, nothing to do except wait for the occasional talking cat, student, or monochromatic hooker to drop by. And watch pr0n. Today, however, a student was dropping by to interview him for the school paper. He hoped she was cute and available.

Veronica walked into the clinic after ACJ, glad to have what should be a much easier interview this week than her experience with Professor Skeeter last week. Dr. Troy had sounded friendly on the phone when she'd called to arrange the interview.

"Dr. Troy," she called, not seeing him immediately upon walking in to the clinic.

"In here," he called from the clinic office, using the remote to quickly turn off the TV. "Take a seat," he said, waving her to the chairs in front of his desk as she entered.

Veronica followed the voice and stopped dead in the doorway, her face going completely white.

"What the hell are you doing here?" she demanded, her voice shaking with rage and fear.

Oh, great, another one. "Settle down, sweetheart," he said. "I'm not who you think I am."

"Don't call me sweetheart, you bastard. I'm not falling for your games. What did you do to Dr. Troy? How did you even find out I was coming here today?" She starting fumbling through her bag with one hand, groping aimlessly for her taser.

Christian rolled his eyes and shook his head. "I don't know what this Bel guy has done, but if he has a hoard of angry women after him, I may have to shake his hand."

Veronica pulled out the taser and held it up. "You think the third time’s going to be a charm?" she asked. "Everyone knows what you did to me, if you kill me, you won't get away with it."

Holding up his hands, Christian said, "Kill you? I don't even know you. Why don't you just put that down and let's talk about this before you do something stupid."

Okay, that was not the reaction Veronica was expecting. She’d never known Bel to back down from a threat. Suddenly, something Phoebe'd said in the column last week surfaced in her mind. Something about a doctor looking very familiar. She'd been too distracted by other things to find out what her friend had been talking about. She sat limply in the nearest chair. "Oh, God," she said. "You're Dr. Troy. I..." she looked at the taser in her hand and her face flushed. "I am so sorry." She quickly shoved the taser back in her bag and wondered how much her roommate would hate her for not getting the interview.

"What the hell is wrong with you, sweetheart?" Christian snapped, feeling safer now. "What did this guy do to you? Sleep with your best friend?"

Her head snapped up and she looked him dead in the eye. "He tried to kill me. Twice. Still want to shake his hand?" she asked, remembering his earlier comment. "Oh, and you still don't get to call me sweetheart," she added, her hand moving back toward the pocket in her messenger bag where her taser was stashed.

Students trying to kill other students? Maybe his surgical skills would get some use after all. "Well, I'm not the one you're looking for, so you can just get the hell out of here," he said. "Before I call the cops."

"So you're not Dr. Troy? Because that's who I'm looking for. I'm supposed to be interviewing him for the newspaper," she said, standing up and shouldering her bag.

"I am Dr. Troy," he said, "but I'm not sure how inclined I feel to giving an interview to someone who just threatened me with a taser."

Veronica knew she deserved that. "I guess I can't blame you for that," she said guiltily. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry. I know it's not really excusable, but put yourself in my shoes for a minute, and tell me you wouldn't have reacted the same way. The guy you look like is not a nice guy. He's hurt a lot of people." She sighed. "I'll talk to my editor and see if she can send someone else to interview you."

Christian could actually feel sympathy toward someone being attacked like that. "All right, take a seat," he said. "You can do your interview. Just keep the taser in your bag, okay?"

"Deal," Veronica said with a weak smile. "Um, I'm just going to open my bag and get out a tablet and my tape recorder, okay?" She waited for a nod and then got out her supplies. "Are you okay with me taping this?" she asked.

"Sure," he said, settling back in his chair. "Ask your questions, Veronica...it is Veronica, isn't it?" Cute girl, he could make her a 10, no problem.

"Yes, it's Veronica. Sorry." She turned on the recorder, sat it down and picked up her pen. "Okay, so full name and title for the record?"

"Doctor Christian Troy, plastic surgeon," he said, "but I'm fully trained as a general practitioner as well."

"Education and previous employment?"

"University of Miami," he answered. "And I have my own practice in Miami as well. McNamara/Troy. I'm on sabbatical from there."

"So how did you end up in Fandom?" she asked, looking up from her note taking. It still freaked her out a little how much he looked like Bel.

"My partner, Sean, frequently has crisises of morality where he thinks that plastic surgery is all about vanity and that we should be doing something more beneficial to the world with our skills," Christian explained. "So he wouldn't stop harassing me until I agreed to find some place that could use a doctor to do pro bono work for a few months. Plus...I really needed some time away from Miami. And so I ended up here."

"Isn't plastic surgery all about vanity?" she asked.

"Plastic surgery is all about making people feel good about themselves," Christian said. "We help people with their self-esteem. And then there are burn victims, people who have been disfigured in some way." He touched his neck a little self-consciously.

Veronica flinched almost imperceptibly at the mention of burn victims. "So what do you think of Fandom so far?" she asked a little awkwardly.

"Black and white and green people and talking cats," Christian said with a little laugh. "I've seen some pretty strange shit, but this place is unbelievable."

She smiled. "Were you in town when the snow monsters attacked?"

"No, but I've heard about them," Christian said. "I thought this place would be quaint and quiet. At first I thought people were kidding me about the things that go on here, but then a cat dropped by to chat and a black and white girl showed up with the flu. I think I'm adjusting well, all things considered."

"I think the most important thing to remember is to expect the unexpected," Veronica advised. Then her cheeks colored slightly again. "Which I obviously forgot earlier. Oh, and there are quite a few sets of look-a-likes in town, just so you know."

"So I'm not the only lucky one," Christian said. "Good to know. What is it, something in the water here?"

She shrugged. "Lots of unexplainable things around here. I am going to make it a point to mention it in the article though, hopefully save you some headaches. And I'll also personally tell my boyfriend and a few others who would be more likely to act first and ask questions later."

"This kid tried to kill you and he's still a student here?" Christian asked incredulously.

"It's a long story," she said with a sigh. This guy didn't even know her and he was giving her a hard time. She got enough of that from her overprotective friends and Logan. "So what do you hope to accomplish during your time in Fandom?"

"I want to put my general medicine skills to use and keep the student body healthy," he said dramatically with a grin. "Oh, and get some rest and relaxation after dealing with a crazed psycho killer terrorizing me and my partner and almost making me cut off my hand. Somehow, though, I suspect I won't get much of that if any more snow monsters pop up."

She smiled again. "It should be getting too warm for snow monsters soon," she said. "And I think all the zombies were killed last semester. What other interests do you have besides medicine?"

"Zombies? I don't want to know," Christian said. "As for other interests, sailing, pr0n, fast cars, fast women, fine dining, exercise...."

"Anything else you'd like the students of Fandom High to know about you?"

"I guess that I want them to trust me and bring any medical concern to me that they wish," Christian said. "I'm very discrete. You wouldn't believe some of the stuff I've seen and had to keep quiet about." He looked around the room. "Then again, in this place, you might."

"Probably," she said with a grin. "And I think that's a wrap," she added, turning off her recorder and putting it and her tablet back in her bag. "Thank you for agreeing to let me interview you after the way I behaved," she said.

"You're not the first one to mistake me for this Bel person," Christian said, smiling. "Just the first with a weapon."