[IC] Northern Exposure (Ophelia and I)

[Optimist]

Dr. Jonathan Martin was sick and tired of whiny patients and flirtatious nurses. He was tired of the long days and nights, with little sleep. He was tired of the concrete jungle. He had finally decided to pack it all in and move to Alaska. His friends all called him crazy and questioned how a New York doctor could survive in the great frozen North.

His crisis of faith had started months before he actually resigned his position at the hospital, put his house up for sale, and packed all that really mattered into a single van. He had taken his time traveling North-West. He had enjoyed the Great Lakes and Canada, before arriving at the tiny town of Howell Alaska.

As he drove into town, he could see that it was little more than a single street with five or six buildings on either side of the road. A neon sign was lit up, showing the local drinking establishment. There was a church, a filling station and half a dozen other stores and establishments. He pulled up in front of the sheriff's office and got out.

Dr. Martin was a tall, wide shouldered man with a narrow waist and a muscular frame. His dark hair was cut short and he was clean shaven. A pair of rectangular shaped spectacles framed a handsome face with a firm chin and full lips. He was dressed in a green parka and blue jeans.

Someone was supposed to meet him at the sheriff's office to him the clinic. The old doctor had retired to Florida a few months ago and the town had been trying to attract another doctor since. His contact was a Alex Murphy, the mayor of the town. He had never even spoken to the man. Their conversations had been conducted by e-mail, so he did not know what to expect.

[Ophelia]

Alex had never been a fan of the cold, which more than was a little bit weird for a born and bred Alaskan girl. Still, Alexis had a lot of quirks. Startling intelligence, and a combined degree in law and politics from Yale had landed the somewhat scatterbrained blonde with the position of Mayor. Well, mayoress if you wanted to be technical. It often made Alex chuckle to see people's reactions to her. They always expected some middle aged bore, with a round belly, and a receding hairline. This mayor was none of those things.

It wasn't a large town, and it was the sorta' place that knew everybody's business; and if the people didn't know, they would make it up. At only twenty seven, you could be mistaken for thinking that Alex was unqualified for the position she held. Sometimes, even she doubted her suitability. The blonde was never on time, and you could almost guarantee that she'd forget at least something for every meeting she attended. However, the residents liked her, and in all honesty, she was rather fond of them.

As the young woman pulled up in front of the sheriffs office, she stifled a small yawn. It had been a rather late night, at an incredibly pompous dinner party. The dinners were most definitely the worst part of her job. Mingling with the narrow minded snobs that she was pushed to spend time with. With a jump out of her rather well used Patriot Jeep, she stretched casually as the cold air touched her skin.

Alex was quite a pleasing sight. Bright green eyes looked out from a porcelain complexion, and a cluster of freckles dotted her nose and cheek bones. A mass of blonde curls hung about her shoulders, kept only mildly under control by a dark purple woollen beanie hat. The blonde was wearing a casual outfit of dark blue skinny jeans, along with her old pink college hoody. Her appearance most definitely didn't scream mayor, but then again, it never did.

With a cheerful smile, she made her way into the office, chatting with a few of the natives on her way though to meet the new doctor. As she approached, she bit her lip in amusement as a vision of their old, rather staunch doctor crossed her mind. Anyone had to be an improvement on that.

[Optimist]

Jonathan was standing outside his vehicle, when a woman, a pretty woman at that, pulled up in a jeep and got out. She did not seem to see him, but he saw her and he liked what he saw. She was a pink sweatshirt and a purple knit hat, which clashed horribly, but it was cute somehow. He wondered if she was one of the locals, or was just passing through. It looked like he was about to find out.

The office of the sheriff, was an old brick building. He stepped into the office, to find a long, low wall cutting the room in two. There were chairs lined up, like in a barber shop, and a few older men sat in them. The old men stared at him as he passed and one waved. He waved back. On of the men looked like a Native American. He felt vaguely foolish for noting this, but they again he had never met one before.

In the middle of the wall was a desk, with the name placard of one Deputy Michael Fishburn. A big bellied, mustached man sat behind the desk, wearing a blue uniform. He was chatting amiably with the girl he had seen outside. He a balding head, with a gray comb-over and a good laugh lines.

"I figure this new doctor can do something about my sciatica. It's been Hell recently. I told Debbie that if he can't, I'm likely to drink myself to death." The deputies voice was a deep bass, which went with his corpulent figure. The doctor though that he would make the perfect Santa Claus, come Christmas, if he let his beard grow out a bit, to go with his mustache.

The doctor crossed over to the desk and said, "Excuse me, but I'm supposed to meet the mayor here. I'm the new doctor."

[Ophelia]

"Well, I'm not entirly sure that sciatica will be solved by excessive drinking Michael, but make mine a scotch on the rocks with a twist." With an amused Wink, Alex turned her attention towards the voice that she didn't recognise. Michael shot up with hand outstretched and his usual toothy grin. The town was nothing if not welcoming.

"Hello there, great to finally meet you." The deputy shook the new doctors arm with such vigour, Alex was mildly worried about a whiplash injury. Holding back a small laugh, the blonde waved. "The mayor is me...well mayoress I guess." With a casual shrug of her shoulders, she pulled out a folded piece of paper from her hoody pocket. "I'm Alex, by the way." Turning towards the nearby desk, she scribbled down a signature.

"Can I get you to sign your life away? I need your squiggle to confirm you've formally accepted the position. The Alaskan governors like a lot of needless pomp and red tap. I'm almost certain it's intention is to make my life difficult." With an explosive chortle, Michael sat back on his oversized swivel chair before agreeing wholeheartedly.

"Amen to that sister."

[Optimist]

He was taken aback when the young woman in the pink sweatshirt pronounced herself mayor of the town. To say the least, she was not what he expected. Firstly she was a woman, and not a man as he had assumed, and secondly she looked more like a kindergarten teacher than a mayor. He tried not to let it show on his face, and avoided looking at the deputy for confirmation. It would not do to get off on the wrong foot on his first day.

He took an expensive been from out of his pocket, and scrawled an illegible signature on the line. Just like that, he was committed, to one year of service in this little town, for only about about half of his normal salary, plus a furnished apartment. If he was making a mistake, there was no going back now.

"Hello, its nice to meet you Alex. I'm Jonathan." He held out his hand to the cute blonde. The deputy had a look on his face as if he knew what was going on in the doctor's head. He next offered his hand to the deputy. He was apparently smarter than he seemed. Chances were they would all be seeing a lot of each other, in this little town, so he needed to be friendly.

"If it would not be to much trouble, could one of you show me to the clinic." So he could evaluate it was left unsaid. "I understand that there is a small apartment above the clinic, which is mine to use?" He did not hold out much hope that the clinic, or the apartment, would be up to modern standards. After all, how much could a town this tiny afford anyway modern?

[Ophelia]

"I'm heading over that way now. I need to ensure that the construction workers haven't been drinking too much coffee...if you catch my drift." As Alex perked her eyebrow in amusement, she shook her head. "It's been a total nightmare modernising that place. Still, you should love it. Everything is shiny new. I'm half tempted to move you out, and move myself in." The mayor removed her hat, shoving it into the pocket of her hoody before turning to the new doctor. "Have you got a lot to carry? It's only over the street." The deputy handed Alex the piece of paper that now held all three signatures, which she immediately shoved rather unceremoniously back into said pocket. Down to earth was as understatement for this woman.

As the blonde turned, she stifled a small yawn. It had been an early morning, spent in the freezing cold opening the towns new sporting ground. Big investments had been made over the last year, and the benefit were starting to show, especially tourism. The town had some beautifully old buildings, and areas of outstanding natural beauty that were steeped in Native American history. Even though it was small, Alex wouldn't want to live anywhere else.

"So, shall we head over there now? You can help me kick some construction worker ass." Michael the deputy took this moment to wave his farewell and disapeared into the kitchenette directly behind his desk. Alex had no doubt in her mind that there would be a doughnut involved. The deputy did like his pastries. With a flick of her dark green eyes, she focused once again on Jonathan as she started to walk. "Did you have a nightmare drive?"

[Optimist]

Jonathan had traveled light, leaving most of his possessions in storage, besides what he could carry in his van. He did not have much to carry. As it was, he followed the mayor out of the sheriff's office and started across the street. It was not a busy street, but he did see a few recreational vehicles. He could not imagine how they had gotten here, seeing as a lot of the roads had potholes. "It was O.K." The fact was that it had been a bit of a nightmare drive, but he did not feel like saying so. He did ask though, "Are there always so many potholes?"

As they neared the clinic, he could see that it was a two story structure, about the size of a house. It looked to have been build in Victorian times, and had a broad porch around it, with benches. He could already see how it would be hard to modernize such an old structure. He wondered why they did not simply start over with a new clinic, but hesitated to ask. There was an electrician's truck on the corner, and a man was on the slopped roof, replacing tiles. Along side two outside walls were scaffolding built up, and a fresh coat of paint was half-way applied in white with red accents. The whole thing looked very much like a work in progress to him, which was not welcomed news. He supposed he had this twenty something mayor to thank, and wished he had asked more questions before signing the contract, or even making the trip. Still, what was done was done, at least for this year.

There were three burly men, dressed in blue jeans and flannel shirts, eating sandwiches and drinking from thermoses, on the steps up to the porch. One hand an enormous beard of brown. He supposed that these were the contractors. Well, it was near enough to lunch by now that he did not blame them for taking their break, but he hoped that the interior looked more promising than the exterior, or he would be in trouble. He had to work around construction before, and it was never pleasant.