Crashing into an Old Flame
Chapter 108: Seducing Dr. Warner

Chapter 108: Seducing Dr. Warner

There goes the non-existent boyfriend down the drain.

’’Is it my tattoo?" she whispered, ’’Is that why you are acting like this?"

’’It is indeed thought-provoking. Your tattoo,’’ he said calmly, ’’But so are you.’’

Diana’s breathing hitched when she met his sincere gaze. Then... it was just not her who was growing thoughts about him?

His gaze dropped to her lips.

Diana swallowed.

As if she was possessed by the same impulse from yesterday, she found herself leaning closer to him.

’’Dr. Warner... ahhh. I am sorry,’’ Head Nurse Mary screamed. She had knocked twice but no one responded. Ah, what happened? She had just stepped inside Dr. Warner’s office... Who changed the channel? Why was it erotica instead?

Diana stiffened.

Maxim did not seem bothered. His hand slid off her waist and out of her coat. He adjusted her coat, and the collar of her blouse and combed her hair with his fingers before he stepped to the side, making way for her.

Diana looked at him, still in a daze.

He raised an eyebrow slightly.

She hurriedly averted her gaze and glanced at Mary, ’’I... was just about to find you,’’ her professional voice sounded like possessed–pornstar again. Diana rubbed her cheek and calmly stepped out of Maxim’s office, ’’It’s Friday already. Since Dr. Warner takes the weekend off, I wanted to ask if I need to come...’’

Her voice drifted off as she walked away like a gust of wind without looking at Mary.

As awkward as Mary’s face looked, she would rather share her awkwardness with Diana than sit here in Dr. Warner’s stony presence that seemed to amplify her awkwardness.

Maxim’s gaze followed Diana’s back till he could not see her anymore. She hopped away like a bunny again.

He saw her tattoo... the one she had inked right at the spot where he used to kiss her, there were no doubts in his mind.

Those kisses used to be pretty much platonic things between them, at least from her side. But the moment he saw it, he knew that it was not for some ex-boyfriend, or boyfriend, or anyone else for that matter.

As for the kiss from yesterday.... Was it because she took him for someone else? If there were doubts before, there were none left now.

His gaze flashed when he thought about her flustered expressions earlier. It had not been his intention to push her that far. He wanted to give her a nudge to find the answer and god, did he get his answer?

Maxim’s eyes shifted to the photo frame on his desk. He picked it up and glanced at the stretch of white that greeted his vision.

...

Diana’s fingers tapped on the desk as Mary explained to her the regarding what she had asked.

Her face was calm but her insides were tingling, her flesh was in a pool of puddles and her heart was doing a ’jiggle jiggle’ dance after the shock therapy from earlier.

’’Dr. Warner takes his weekend off so you can do the same. Unless you have some pending work or you haven’t been able to arrange his schedule for Monday, then there is no need for you to be here the day during weekends. In fact, whenever Dr. Warner has emergencies or night shift surgeries, you don’t need to be here as well. The fixed working hours for the assistants are 10 to 5 and you are allowed to stay overtime if you haven’t finished your work. But once you have mailed him his schedule and detailed him about the patients, there is no compulsion for you to come to the hospital when he comes,’’ Mary explained to her kindly in a professional tone but the sweet woman could not mask her probing gaze.

’’Uh... Do you use eyelash extensions or are they real? They look pretty,’’ They really looked pretty but part of Diana’s praise was to avert the woman’s intentions. It worked everytime she praised her nail art.

’’Thank you,’’ Mary smiled, her round cheeks resembling cute dumplings with her genuine smile as she touched her lashes but her wide eyes fixed on her a moment later, still as probing as ever.

Diana slumped on the swivel chair at the utter failure of her praise to distract the woman.

’’So... You are Dr. Warner’s girlfriend? You kept the secret well,’’ the woman who had instructed her to not gossip at work pushed her chair forward and leaned towards her from across the desk.

Diana smoothened her hair with her fingers, ’’I am not,’’ she looked around as she answered softly, ’’We are friends.’’

’’Really?" Mary looked like she did not believe her, ’’They said you both were too...ahem..close earlier. It is totally fine if you don’t want to give me the deets. I have been young once so I can more or less guess what you are up to,’’ the woman said with a teasing smile.

’’You are still young,’’ Diana laughed, ’’But we really are friends. Childhood friends. We went to the same school, the same university...’’ she trailed off, realizing that her mind was taking her on a trip down memory lane yet again.

Looking at the honesty on her face, Mary was not unconvinced anymore, ’’No wonder Dr. Warner is so protective about you. Everyone is talking about that incident. No one had ever seen him act that way before. Don’t worry, I won’t tell a single soul about this," Since Diana said ’friends’, Mary’s mind deleted all rumors automatically and registered them as ’friends’.

Diana laughed again. This lady was damn adorable. At this point, people must be wondering if she was Maxim’s woman or girlfriend or mistress so even if Mary opened her mouth, it would only help clarify the rumors but this innocent lady treated the information that they were friends like some top secret.

Diana had no complaints though. What people thought of her was none of her business anymore. Regardless of whether she was inside this hospital or outside the hospital, anyone here except Maxim was a stranger to her. Some were kind strangers like Mary, some were bitchy strangers like that woman Veronica and then there were twisted and confusing strangers like Maxim’s ex Nora who always had something to say about her fashion sense. But at the end of the day, they were all strangers.

’’That’s sweet of you,’’ Diana told the woman as she stood up to leave but her footsteps halted when she saw Mary’s curious eyes still fixated on her.

Diana frowned, ’’What is it?"

’’Um... Nothing,’’ The woman seemed to be wanting to ask something else but at the same time, she was also holding back.

Diana blinked as understanding dawned on her, ’’If this is about the job, I interviewed for it. He had no idea before I passed my interview so it has nothing to do with him,’’ she made a cross signal with her hands, ’’I absolutely did not do anything immoral like seducing Dr. Warner to get this job,’’ she said in a conspiratorial tone.

Mary’s face broke into a smile. The more she saw this energetic and optimistic young lady, the more she liked her, ’’So, do you think it would have worked if you seduced him?" She joined the joke.

’’I am young and charming, so why not?" Diana winked.

The sound of someone clearing his throat made her stiffen.

Diana’s face froze in that wink pose. One eye closed, one opened, and her face cracked like a stone.

Mary was speechless as she saw Maxim standing at the door with one of his hands tucked inside his pockets. What great timing, Dr. Warner!

Mary glanced at Diana’s frozen figure and felt secondhand embarrassment inside her.

’’One of the patient’s symptoms, body condition, and blood pressure are not recorded,’’ Maxim said as he looked at Mary, ’’If I may borrow my assistant?"

’’All yours,’’ Mary nodded like a hen as she survived the potential heart attack. Years of working in this hospital yet this should be the first time the man was talking to her about something which was not related to a patient, ’’All yours all yours...’’ she repeated twice more like a broken tape recorder.

Diana straightened her back and opened her other eye, recovering from the wink pose. She clutched her coat in her fists and with a calm face, she responded to Maxim, ’’That patient came after my working hours, and from the symptoms he mentioned, persistent wrist weakness, tingling, and pain at night especially, I doubt it’s carpal tunnel syndrome. I didn’t want to rush the tests so I asked him to be here today so that I can do the tests properly,’’ she said in one breath, not noticing how Maxim’s brow arched slightly and Mary’s stunned expression. Diana checked her watch, ’’He should be here already. I’ll go and conduct the tests,’’ she nodded at both Maxim and Mary before literally hopping away like an active bunny.