The first thing Brian saw when he opened the door was Molly on the sofa, her head down, while she
held the medicated oil in one hand.
He noticed her face twisting in pain as she rubbed oil on her swollen ankle.
Mumbling to herself, Molly didn't notice when Brian came in. All she could focus on was the pain.
"Owww…" she groaned in agony.
Another anguished sound escaped her lips. Molly had to take deep breaths to ride out the pain each
time she rubbed her ankle. Her face took on a tortured expression as she slowly exhaled. Molly stared
at her ankle, so horribly swollen, not knowing what to do except bite her lips and twitch her nose.
As she berated herself for not having any other option to reduce the swelling of her ankle, someone
suddenly snatched the medicated oil from her hand. She looked up and found herself staring into an
impassive but attractive face. Before she had time to process what was happening, Brian went down
on one knee and gently took her ankle to put on his other knee. His careful handling was in contrast to
the imperiousness and unwillingness on his face. Without a word and never looking at Molly's face, he
poured the oil into his palm and started rubbing it on the swollen joint.
The woman was at a loss for words. She didn't know how to react as she watched Brian gingerly
working on her ankle. With dull eyes, Molly looked strangely at what he was doing to her sprained foot.
His movements seemed to mesmerize her. All of a sudden, Molly screamed as she felt severe pain
shooting through her whole body.
"Keep quiet!" Brian barked at her. His tone was cold and angry, and he gave her a look of disapproval
even as he kept rubbing her ankle with the medicated oil.
"Ouch!" Molly whimpered.
"Please be gentle," she cried in pain.
But the pain didn't stop, and her ankle already felt so hot. She went on screaming as he kept
massaging the swollen joint. "It hurts, Brian! Easy, easy…" she pleaded with him.
He ignored her pleas and went on rubbing and blocked out each "ouch" he heard.
"Brian, can you do it a little gentler, please?" she was almost teary-eyed.
"You do know you're very noisy, right?" he mocked Molly.
His face had darkened as he continued rubbing the ankle with as much pressure as he could muster.
Molly winced and raved in pain as Brian applied the oil and massaged her foot. Suddenly, she stopped
after realizing the pain was gone. All that remained was a burning sensation that was unexpectedly
becoming comfortable at the same time.
It was a serious face that helped control the pressure Brian applied on Molly's ankle. Even when he
noticed she had stopped complaining about the pain, he kept quiet. When their eyes met, still no words
were spoken. Molly then turned to look at the hands which continued rubbing her foot.
For a moment, she was lost in thought.
The empty room went very still for a brief moment. The only sounds that broke the silence were the
breathing of two people and the rubbing of the skin. The suffocating and irritating smell of medicated oil
filled the air. It was unpleasant yet comforting.
When she could no longer stand the quiet, Molly suddenly whispered.
"Bri, I think you can work as a masseur in case you lose your job."
Molly winced inwardly at the words that came out of her mouth. She wasn't sure if her mind was
wandering as Brian massaged her foot and resulted in the unintentional broadcast of thoughts. Most
likely, Molly blurted out those words because she just wanted to break the silence which was getting
eerie.
Brian looked at her then frowned at what she said. But he continued to massage the injured foot.
"Treating sprains requires pressure. I'm afraid the healing of your ankle will take more than a month if
you don't apply force when massaging. And if you become disabled, who will take care of you? I can't,"
he said coldly.
Molly suddenly burst out laughing after Brian finished speaking. He was annoyed, and his tightly knitted
brows were proof of this. She saw him looking at her with a long face
"What did you just say? That you won't have time to take care of me?" she mocked him.
"Let's see, why don't you hire a nurse or get a temporary maid," she suggested.
Her grin widened. She raised both eyebrows before continuing to make fun of Brian. "Why am I only
learning now that you're such an awkward person? You, worried about me? Why don't you just tell it to
me straight?"
His handsome face darkened at her words. Before he could retort, she asked,"Bri, how many people
with sprains have you treated before?"
He scowled but remained silent.
Clear, unblinking eyes continued to stare at Brian. "You do have a skillful way of rubbing my ankle," she
mumbled to herself. Molly thought her voice sounded hollow.
Annoyed now at her continued chatter, he raised his eyes to glance at Molly and answered
coldly,"Whenever I sprained my foot, I needed to deal with it myself."
It was said matter-of-factly yet Molly's heart ached for the man. So, she couldn't explain why knowing
Brian had been injured many times in the past made her sad, even if it didn't appear to be a big deal.
Without thinking, she blurted out,"I can help you in case you have a sprain the next time!"
He looked at her with disdain. "You, help me?"
Brian would have laughed if he wasn't already irritated. Instead, he said,"How do you expect me to
recover from a sprain if you treat me the way you were massaging your ankle? I have to hope it doesn't
make the injury worse!"
"Hey, don't belittle what I was doing!" Molly now stared angrily at Brian.
He snorted at her remark and thought, 'This woman is annoying!' Carefully, he removed Molly's foot
resting on his knee. Brian quickly stood up and then went straight to the bathroom to wash off the oil on
his hands, without even a glance.
"It's just treating a sprain! Why is it such a big deal?" Molly muttered under her breath.
She looked out for Brian. He was taking a long time in the bathroom.
Gingerly touching her ankle, she twisted it slightly and was amazed it no longer hurt.
'Did he have magic hands?' she wondered.
Molly twisted the ankle a few more times. It was still swollen but was no longer painful. She turned to
look at the direction of the bathroom and saw Brian walking back. He looked composed now. It
suddenly struck her that this man confused her.
'What kind of man is he?' she wondered.
From the bathroom, he walked past Molly without looking at her. Brian got his notebook, fixed the
connections and sat down for a video conference. He did everything as if Molly wasn't there with him.
Lying on the sofa, Molly picked up a fashion magazine from the table and flipped through the pages out
of boredom. She knew Brian was working and didn't want to bother him.
She stayed on one page for a long time, her eyes focused on Brian, who was engrossed in his work.
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