Her colleagues appeared out of nowhere, nosing up to see what had happened. They leaned against her desk and asked, “Elizabeth, was that Derek making declarations of love to you downstairs just then?”
“That’s weird. I thought Derek was into Natalie! How come he’s suddenly all over you?”
“Is he trying to get both of you at once?”
“Why don’t you give Derek a chance? He’s young and good looking. It’d be alright, even just for a little while!”
Everyone in the room was speculating about Elizabeth’s relationship with Derek when they saw the bouquet of flowers on her table. As Elizabeth didn’t like people gossiping about her, she threw the bouquet into the trash can beside her emotionlessly. She then looked at her colleagues and said coldly, “I have nothing to do with Derek. He was just joking when we were downstairs just now.”
“Of course. Derek isn’t even your type. There’s no way you’d be interested in someone like him.”
“That’s right. It’s impossible for Elizabeth and Derek to be together. Stop making fun of them,” said another. “But the man in black talking to Elizabeth downstairs was so tall and handsome. Elizabeth, could you give me his phone number? I think that he would have a better character than Derek,” said one of her extroverted colleagues.
After that comment, many other female colleagues started bugging Elizabeth with questions about Frank. “Does he have a girlfriend? What does he do?”
Elizabeth was speechless by their boldness. She was stunned for a moment and under the repeated questioning by her colleagues, she blurted out subconsciously, “Frank has a girlfriend.”
The office suddenly became quiet.
The extroverted colleague looked disappointed and continued asking, “Are you Frank’s girlfriend? I saw him pick you up after work recently.”
Elizabeth regretted her words immediately. Why did she say that Frank had a girlfriend? Why was she annoyed when there were so many girls interested in him?
“I’ll give you the details next time. I have something urgent to deal with now and I have to go. Bye,” Elizabeth said hurriedly and escaped from the office. She ran downstairs nervously with her bag and began cursing under her breath. Her mood worsened.
When she got out of the building, she saw that Frank was nowhere to be found.
“What are you looking for?”
All of a sudden, she heard a familiar voice call out to her. She spun around and found Frank standing in front of her, holding a bunch of purple lilacs in his hand.
It turned out, Frank had gone to buy some flowers! But why? Were they for her? Elizabeth felt her heart race.
Although the bouquet was tied up simply with a blue ribbon, the flowers looked wonderful as they were full of vitality. The purple and blue flowers were also clustered beautifully together. Elizabeth was not expecting lilacs from Frank as the lilac season was about to end soon. She didn’t expect him to find any, let alone buy her a bouquet.
“For you,” Frank said gently as he handed her the lilacs. He looked at Elizabeth for a moment and realized that she might be confused by his actions. He didn’t want her to shy away, so he averted his eyes and hurriedly came up with an excuse, “There was an old lady selling flowers nearby. The weather’s so cold now and I didn’t want to see her freeze. So I just bought the last one to help her knock off early.”
Elizabeth came to her senses upon realizing that the lilacs were just a kind gesture from Frank. She took the bouquet of flowers and thanked him. She then turned to look at the old woman’s staggering back and smiled. “Didn’t you say that it’s almost time for my appointment with my therapist?”
The atmosphere between the two gradually eased. Elizabeth had even begun to get used to Frank’s thoughtfulness. He was always calm and thoughtful, and she found it difficult to be angry at him. Even if they did quarrel, they could always make up quickly after the argument.
The clinic was not far from W Marks Studio, and they arrived just in time for the appointment.
“You two are so punctual,” welcomed Salome Wilson as Frank and Elizabeth entered the clinic. She was very impressed by their punctuality
Salome was Elizabeth’s therapist and a classmate of Frank’s when they were in med school. Both Salome and Frank had graduated with flying colors.
“Well, you do charge by the minute. We wouldn’t dare to be late,” Frank joked. “I’ll wait for you outside,” he said as he turned to Elizabeth and left her in Salome’s care.
Salome nodded and showed Elizabeth into the consultation room.
After forty minutes of consultation, Salome smiled and congratulated Elizabeth, “Your recovery is going very smoothly. In fact, you don’t need to come here in person anymore if you’re busy in the future. You can make an appointment for an online consultation instead.”
Elizabeth looked out of the door subconsciously and felt much more relaxed. She faced Salome again and thanked her, “Thank you, Dr. Wilson. I felt confident about your treatment because you’ve always been so encouraging. That must also be why I can recover so soon.”
“It’s not a big deal. I’m just doing my job,” laughed Salome as she showed Elizabeth out of the consultation room.
Frank was still waiting outside the room when they came out. Salome turned to him and said with a smile, “Your patient is recovering well. There’s no need for her to make a trip down to my clinic anymore as we can just move the consultation online. Also, please stop asking me about her condition in the middle of the night. You’re wasting my precious sleeping time.”
“Stop talking nonsense,” grumbled Frank. He frowned and continued, “You are an adult now. You should know that it’s wrong to spout nonsense.”
It was obvious that Frank treated Salome differently from the others. Elizabeth could feel there was a form of tacit understanding between them.
Elizabeth felt her heart sink all of a sudden. She looked at Salome and tried to keep her voice as natural as possible, “May I know where to settle the bill?”
Salome grinned and patted Frank on the shoulder. “You’re Frank’s patient. With our relationship, you don’t have to pay,” she said playfully.
Elizabeth was stunned by her reply. She turned and looked stiffly at Frank. What exactly was the relationship between the two of them?
Elizabeth was feeling a bit downcast.
She went to the bathroom and opened the tap. Only- after splashing water on her face several times did she gradually come to her senses. She pulled out a few tissues to wipe her face before slowly walking out.
Elizabeth found Frank and Salome still talking in the hall.
Frank was tall, with a mature aura. He was standing next to the elegant Salome. Together, the two of them made a perfect picture.
Frank handed a cup of coffee to Salome, and she took it with ease. Bringing the cup to her lips, she took a small sip and glanced at Frank’s tie. She made the simple gesture so elegant.
Salome then stretched out her slender fingers and adjusted the crooked tie for Frank. “This is from this season’s Burberry. Your taste has really changed, it seems.”
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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