Frank smiled, and thought of Natalie and Brandon. “Well, she and her husband both care about their friends a lot, and…” They always managed to get him to clean their mess.
He kept the last part to himself though.
“Sorry, what did you say?” Elizabeth hadn’t heard him clearly.
“Nothing,” replied Frank, shaking his head. “Are we going to have dinner?” He looked at her expectantly.
“I’d love that,” said Elizabeth, smiling. She did feel very hungry.
Frank nodded, adding, “Just wait for me here for a moment. I’ve been on duty for two days and haven’t changed my clothes. I don’t think the restaurant would let me in.” He walked over to his office.
Elizabeth remained on the bench. She wasn’t waiting for long; Frank emerged with his coat after about ten minutes.
He had changed into a white sweater and white shoes, and contrasting trousers.
He looked clean and tidy, and his hair was no longer unkempt. Despite his proclivity for coldness, he was an undeniably handsome man.
Elizabeth suddenly understood what Natalie said about Frank being very good-looking.
Seeing that Elizabeth was staring at him intently, Frank couldn’t help touching his face and asked curiously, “Is there something on my face?”
Elizabeth regained her senses and looked away from him. She then replied casually, “I saw the photo on your desk. I was just thinking that it is tough being a doctor. It makes people look tired and ugly. Please ignore me, it must be presumptuous of me to have such a thought. You look just the same as you did before now that you change your clothes and brush your hair.” 5
Hearing that, Frank nodded silently. He then turned to Elizabeth and asked, “Do you usually praise others so emotionlessly? Did Natalie tell you that you look scary when you were angry?”
Elizabeth replied in surprise, “When was I angry with you?”
“When you walked out of my office. I thought I said something that made you angry,” answered Frank as he recollected what happened moments ago. Elizabeth’s face was just too straight and cold.
Elizabeth went silent and thought for a moment. She waved her hand as she explained, “I was born with a stony face and because of this, no one dared to provoke me in the past. I wasn’t really angry with you just now. Please don’t mind me.”
Looking at her wry smile, Frank couldn’t help smiling.
“You look good when you smile. You should smile more often,” said Frank gently. “There’s a good French restaurant nearby. We can eat there.”
Elizabeth wasn’t picky with her food. However, the restaurant that Frank recommended happened to be the same one she used to go to with Jorge when they were passionately in love. She hadn’t been there for a long time since their breakup.
Elizabeth looked absent-mindedly at the flashing signboard outside the restaurant.
“You don’t like it? We can go to another one,” proposed Frank. He deduced from her hesitation that she must have been here before and didn’t like the food.
“No, here is fine. I used to come here a lot. I just couldn’t recognize it just now. Maybe it’s because they’ve renovated,” said Elizabeth hurriedly. She then took the lead and walked into the restaurant while lowering her head and trying to hide her panic.
As soon as she sat down, a waitress came over with the menu in her hands. The waitress then greeted Elizabeth in surprise the moment she saw her, “Miss Perry, good to see you again. You haven’t been here for a long time. Do you want me to arrange your favorite spot for you and your boyfriend? The table is available tonight.”
The waitress thought that Elizabeth came with Jorge as usual. However, she was surprised and embarrassed when she turned her head to find that Elizabeth’s partner was a stranger.
It seemed that Elizabeth had broken up with Jorge and met a new guy. And honestly, this man was way more handsome and elegant than Jorge.
“It’s okay. We’re fine here,” Elizabeth thanked the waitress for her consideration. She started flipping through the menu when her hand began to ache again.
It seemed that her hand would ache whenever there was mention of Jorge.
Elizabeth felt awkward with the waitress waiting by the table to take their order. She tried to remain natural and said casually, “We would like two portions of today’s special, please.”
The waitress nodded and wrote their order down before leaving. After she left, Elizabeth immediately dug around her bag for her pills.
The pain in her hand was unbearable. She took out a white medicine bottle from her bag and tried to open it. However, she accidentally dropped the bottle as her hands were shaking uncontrollably.
Frank reached out to pick up the bottle right when she was doing the same. She had not expected his help and their hands accidentally touched.
“I’m sorry,” Elizabeth said instinctively. She averted her eyes away and withdrew her hand in a flash.
Frank picked up the bottle and was about to read the label when Elizabeth snatched it away.
“What’re the pills for?” asked Frank curiously.
Elizabeth kept her head down and muttered, “Nothing. It’s just vitamins.”
“What kind of vitamins do you take to stop your hands from shaking?” prodded Frank. While the label did indicate that the pills were just regular vitamins, there must be something more to it given that she was acting so strangely.
As soon as Elizabeth opened the bottle, Frank snatched the bottle and took out a pill. He sniffed it and exclaimed in surprise, “This is pethidine!”
Pethidine was a kind of painkiller.
He returned the bottle to Elizabeth and reminded her coldly, “You better tell me why you need the pill. It won’t do you any good to lie to your attending doctor.”
Elizabeth was so embarrassed that she wanted to hide from Frank’s hawk-like eyes. Unfortunately, she had no choice but to admit the truth. “Yes, it’s pethidine.” It all started a week ago.
Elizabeth went back to the hospital for a follow-up consultation.
The doctor pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose as he carefully examined the X-ray image of Elizabeth’s hand.
“It’s not a bone injury so there is nothing to worry about. Once the wound heals, you can use your hand like you normally do.” The doctor assured Elizabeth.
“But I kind of always feel a dull pain in my hand.” Holding her wrist tightly, Elizabeth told the doctor what had been happening these days. “I had this ex-boyfriend, whenever he crosses my mind, the pain in my wound increases.”
New Book: Beginning with a Daring Encounter
Celsie was tired of being labeled as an introvert, workaholic, and dull virgin by her friends. Determined to prove them wrong, she made a bet that she would do something daring on her 25th birthday. Now that the day had arrived, it was time to fulfill her promise. On her daring to-do list, there was one task: a one-night stand with someone.
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