Sexier with glasses

It had been a busy day for doctor Clarkson at work; actually, it had been almost busier than ever, considering that now he had the urge to prove the value of the hospital and also of himself. A hot bath, a light dinner and a glass of whiskey before going to bed: those were the only things he could think of in that moment and nothing could have changed his mind about going home immediately.

Nothing except for a familiar elegant figure and two big brown eyes staring back at him.

In fact, as soon as he opened the door of his office in order to leave the white coat and collect his things, he found out that it wasn't empty as he thought. On the contrary, Isobel Crawley was standing right in front of his desk with her usual proud face.

"Mrs Crawley? What are you doing here?" he asked, sounding surprised but surely not unpleased.

"I wanted to talk with you about the hospital. Nurse Joan told me that I could wait here" she briefly explained. Then, she fell silent for some moments, which she used to focus her attention on the object she had in her hands. "Honestly, doctor, why did you put on these glasses? They are quite useless…"

Richard fought the urge to roll his eyes and just remained silent, watching the woman actually play with his own glasses. Totally not caring for his presence, she raised them up in the air, looked through them first with one eye and then with the other, and finally even tried them on. It was at that image that annoyance suddenly disappeared from him, not helping but thinking that she looked quite gorgeous even with that accessory. To cancel that thought and regain control of the situation, he shook his head and finally cleared his throat.

"It's a slight myopia actually, so it's obvious that there is no big difference…"

She shrugged and then removed the glasses, placing them back at their place on the desk. "So you are basically admitting yourself that they are useless! And besides, I have rarely seen you with them on…" she retorted, throwing an almost reproachful glance at him. "My point is that you actually wore them last time at the Dowager house as attempt to look more professional…"

He looked confused at the slight accusation and this time clearly rolled his eyes. Actually, he didn't see where the problem was: even if he had used the glasses just for appearance, it wasn't a big deal, in his opinion. His hospital - and possibly his career - was at stake after all, so it was only natural that he tried to look as competent as possible.

However, before he could express his doubts, Isobel slowly started to approach him and stopped only when she was at a few steps from him. Evidently, she had some other things to say and the eloquent look in her eyes confirmed that.

"Honestly, I can't see who were you trying to impress with your charm, though" she soon continued in fact, looking thoughtful for a moment. "Cousin Violet was already on your side and Robert, well, Robert is a man…"

"Who knows, maybe I was trying to impress you" he interrupted her, probably not fully thinking of what he was saying.

Or maybe he was, since a mischievous smile accompanied his words and now he was staring at her waiting for an answer. He didn't have to wait for long though, but was bound to be surprised anyway. Not a blush, not a wavering: she just blinked a few times and then expectedly let out an amused chuckle.

"Don't be silly, doctor Clarkson! Surely, you can't expect me to change my mind about the hospital just because you look sexier with glasses!"

In spite of his previously playful remark, the man was taken aback by the exclamation and especially by the subtext of it. "So you think I'm… sexier uh?" he teased, as his smile turned into an actual grin.

Once again his expectations about her reaction proved to be wrong. Of course, she widened her eyes at first, but was quick to cover her embarassment and flash a smile of her own. "Well, doctor Clarkson... I am a woman after all" she whispered, casting a quick glance all over his body.

Under that penetrant look, he was the one to feel uncomfortable in the end, but just because he didn't know if he was able to resist himself. The promixity, the twinkle in her eyes and the clear attraction she was showing to him, was really tempting him to approach her more. Before he could though, she suddenly took a step back, looking away just long enough to ruin the dangerous moment.

"I have to go!" she said, surpassing him and starting to head toward the door.

"But we haven't talked about the hospital yet" he let her notice, following her with his gaze, in a clear attempt to make her stay.

Isobel stopped for a moment and gave him one last look, a complicit and yet somewhat shy one. "We'll talk the next time, doctor… Good evening"

As she finally walked out the room, Richard was left with nothing but watching her figure disappear. After that meeting, many thoughts and doubts crossed his mind, but one thing was certain: for that next time, he would have made damn sure to put his glasses on!

Here I am with another Richobel oneshot, this time completely inspired by the last episode. Those glasses needed a story, because Clarkson actually looked sexy with them on!;) Anyway, hope you liked it and a feedback is always very appreciated:)