Before she could finish her words, Celia grabbed the telephone receiver from Rachel's hand and put it
back. She placed both of her hands together and begged in a pitiful manner. "Rachel, I won't laugh at
you. Please don't tell Mindy. I'm going back to work now. I don't really know what's wrong with her
recently. She has a very bad temper and would resort to scolding when she gets a little unhappy about
something," she explained.
Rachel lowered her head down at the medical record on her desk after she watched Celia run out of
her office in a hurry. She just pretended to call Mindy to prevent Celia from gossiping once more.
Otherwise, Celia might began gossiping about her and Jack.
However, she couldn't see any of the indicators on the medical record. She leaned back on her chair
and closed her eyes to rest and relax. Without warning, Celia's head popped through the door to
Rachel's office again with a slight grin. "Rachel, how about we go shopping after work?" Celia asked.
"Sure," Rachel agreed immediately. She had nothing to do after her shift anyway.
Rachel packed her stuff after she ended her shift on time. She then went to the nurse station to look for
Celia, but she couldn't find her anywhere.
"Rachel, are you looking for Celia? I saw her at the lounge just now," a nurse said.
When Rachel arrived at the lounge, she saw Celia in front of the mirror, carefully applying lipstick. She
proceeded to work on her hair after she was satisfied with how her lipstick looked.
Rachel leaned against the door and chuckled as she watched Celia. "You're already very beautiful, you
don't need to spend so much time and effort on make up," she pointed out.
Celia smiled her statement and was immediately in deep thought. "What if I meet my Mr. Right later? I
have to make sure to be beautiful for him in case he sees me, right?"
Lastly, she checked her makeup in the mirror and made sure that it was flawless from every corner and
from every angle. She walked giddily towards Rachel and grabbed her arm with a broad smile. "Let's
go, Rachel. Can you treat me to dinner tonight?" she suggested with a childish smile.
"So, you asked me to go shopping so you could extort me? Forget it. We'd better just go home," Rachel
argued.
"No, it's not like that. I bought myself a set of skin care products last week. So, I am so broke right now.
But I will treat you back when I get my salary, promise!" Celia offered.
The two talked as they walked casually towards the gate of the hospital.
Celia talked excitedly about the shopping mall activities that she saw on her phone. She suddenly
noticed that Rachel stopped walking and stared blankly at the gate. "Rachel, what's wrong?" she
asked.
Rachel's eyes were wide open with surprise. 'Such a coincidence that these two are at the gate of the
hospital at the same time!' she thought to herself.
"I'm here to pick you up," the two said at once and almost in one voice.
They then stared at each other after they heard each other speak. Their eyes were filled with anger for
the other.
Celia gripped Rachel's arm tighter as she felt uneasy about the situation. Her eyes wandered from Jack
and to Bill and then back to Jack again. "What's going on, Rachel?" she asked restlessly.
Considering the complications that the current situation would bring, Rachel decided to simply refuse
both of them. "No, thanks," she said with a smile. "I have agreed to spend time with Celia and we're
going shopping together."
"Yes, that's right. We have an appointment with each other," Celia added. She smiled wryly. She
thought that it was a bad time to go out with Rachel considering the current situation.
"Then allow me to drive you both there. I'll treat you to dinner afterwards," Jack immediately offered.
"Okay, Rachel, I..." Celia stopped speaking right away when she noticed that Rachel stared at her. She
lowered her head right away and did not say another word.
But Bill wouldn't allow himself to easily be outdone by Jack. "Well, I was planning to buy some clothes
too. I'll go shopping with you. I could use your help to pick some clothes for me," he offered.
The situation easily became too annoying for Rachel. "No, thank you. We can take a cab to the mall.
And I don't know how to choose men's clothes. I cannot help you," she said firmly.
"It's okay. I can pick the clothes myself," Bill replied. He pretended not to understand her refusal of his
offer.
Jack walked towards Rachel and stood opposite her. He then gently wrapped his arms around her
waist. "You have me as a loyal driver and a free wallet. Don't you think it's a waste to pass that up?" he
said in a husky voice.
Celia wanted to nod her head in agreement, but she didn't dare to say or do anything related to the two
men. All she could do was give Jack a look of support.
Rachel suddenly noticed the curious stares of the onlookers around them. She started to feel like she
was an animal in a gilded cage that was placed on display. She quickly decided what to do next while
under the scrutiny of the people around them. Despite being embarrassing, she thought that it was the
only logical move for her.
She gently and carefully wriggled herself free from Jack's arms. "No. You can go about your business. I
will go shopping with Celia. Neither of you need to accompany us," she said in a firm tone that was
hard to ignore or refuse.
Rachel immediately grabbed Celia's hand as soon as she finished speaking. The two then walked
hurriedly around the two men and immediately hailed the first cab that passed in front of the hospital
and got in right away. She had the driver take them to the shopping mall.
The onlookers quickly dispersed when there was nothing more to watch. They were only interested
while the two men fought over a single woman. It was not long when only Bill and Jack remained with
each other at the hospital gate. The two stared each other, snorted, turned around and left with their
faces filled with disgust for the other.
The sound of a ringing phone was the first sound that broke the silence between the two men.
Bill answered his phone and Andy's voice came clearly from the other line. "Bill, Howard came to see
you. Please come back immediately."
Although Howard was Bill's father, he had very little contact with him because he and his mother lived
abroad and Howard already had another family of her own.
Bill immediately left the hospital with a frown.
The recent scenario at the hospital rattled Rachel so much that she was absent-minded while she
shopped with Celia.
Celia had an orange overcoat in her hand that she tried on. She then turned around so that Rachel
could check it out. "What do you think, Rachel?"
"Not bad," Rachel replied almost mechanically.
"Well, how about this one?" Celia asked as she showed another to Rachel.
"Not bad," Rachel replied mechanically once more.
"So, which one is better?" Celia asked in an annoyed tone.
She placed the two coats on the shop attendant's arms and sat next to Rachel. "What's wrong with
you, Rachel? You haven't been yourself since we arrived," she asked in a soft voice.
"I'm fine. Maybe I just feel a little tired after a day's work," Rachel replied dismissively.
"Let's go to the coffee shop on the first floor and relax a little bit," Celia suggested.
Considering her friend's state of mind, Celia ordered a cup for her without asking for her permission as
she returned the menu to the waiter. "Rachel, who was that man that was at the hospital with Jack
earlier? He looks familiar," she asked as she gently touched Rachel's arm to make sure that she was
paying attention to what she said.
"He's just a friend," Rachel replied dismissing the question. She reflexively looked downwards. She
didn't want to say anything else about it.
The truth in her mind was that she had not figured everything out yet.
When Bill suddenly confessed his love to her, Rachel replied to him through an early morning message
that she was refusing his confession. "It's okay. Let's continue to be friends. I'm willing to wait," Bill later
replied back.
The simplicity of his words made it hard for Rachel to refuse him even further.
Celia rested her hands on the table and slightly leaned towards Rachel. "Is he also interested in you?"
she asked curiously.
"No. We are just friends," Rachel replied with words that seemed to have little meaning to her. And she
was suddenly startled by her own words.
The waiter came back to them to serve their orders. Rachel suddenly brightened up and turned to the
waiter. "Hi, can I take a look at your menu again, please?" she requested casually.
"What else do you want?" Celia asked, puzzled by her friend's sudden action.
"Some snacks would be nice," Rachel replied casually. She thought to gag Celia with food.
But after she went through the menu twice, Rachel was convinced that she wouldn't be able to do it to
Celia.
Celia waved her hand to call the attention of the waiter. She then took the menu from Rachel's hand
and returned it to the waiter. "Thank you. We don't want to order anything else right now," she said to
the waiter as she handed back the menu.
"We can just have dinner later. The snacks here are expensive and not really that delicious. It's better
not to waste money on them," she explained. She quickly turned her attention back to Rachel and
changed the subject back to Bill. "Does that man like you too, Rachel?"
"No, he doesn't," Rachel replied flatly and took a sip at her coffee.
She almost gasped in surprise as she placed her cup back to the table. She was surprised to see Jack
standing at the side of their table. "How did you know where we were?" she asked almost
subconsciously.
Jack pointed at the inner chair and motioned for Rachel to move a little. He then sat down on the couch
at her side.
Celia raised her right hand and grinned awkwardly at Rachel. "Jack texted me and asked where we
were. I replied back reflexively," she admitted with a childish grin.
It turned out that a spy sat right opposite her! Rachel playfully tapped Celia's forehead with a teaspoon.
Celia's face suddenly turned pitiful as she begged for Rachel's mercy.
Jack was in a very good mood as he watched the two. He leaned back comfortably on the sofa and
rested his hands. "I told Marcus to reduce your rent. He doesn't really need the extra money, anyway,"
Jack said to Celia with a smile.
"Thank you very much, Jack!" Celia exclaimed joyfully. She wanted to show her gratitude and moved
her coffee in front of Jack. "Jack, this is my coffee. I haven't touched it at all. I'll just order another one
for myself," she said with a smile as she started to stand up from her seat.
She cleverly chose to leave the two for a while. However, a soon as she was about to walk away, she
heard Jack speak to her. "By the way, Marcus just messaged me that he just arrived at the gate of the
shopping mall and wanted to talk about the rent with you face to face."
Celia's shoulders drooped at once when she heard Jack's words.
'What a sly old fox!' she thought to herself.
"Well, it suddenly occurred to me that Rachel and I had something that we had to deal with at a shop
on the third floor. I think it's the perfect time. Shall we go there now, Rachel?"
Celia winked at Rachel. A signal to Rachel for help.
But Rachel pretended not to understand Celia's signal at all. "What? Why can't remember it?" she
asked in reply.
"Rachel..." Celia instantly felt remorseful, but Marcus suddenly appeared behind her. He grabbed her
collar gently as her eyes widened in surprise. "Shouldn't we have a talk elsewhere, Celia?"
Rachel felt a little worried as she watched Marcus take Celia out of the cafe. "Are they going to be
alright?" she asked in a worried tone.
"Don't worry. Marcus will treat her well," Jack promised to Rachel. Rachel was confused behind the true
meaning behind Jack's pun. And her eyes reflected her confusion very well.
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