Crashing into an Old Flame
Chapter 173: Did you ask her why?

Chapter 173: Did you ask her why?

Maxim entered the car and leaned back on the seat, massaging the spot between his brows.

Diana’s mood was more and more unpredictable than the weather of Cape town lately. And he knew he was at fault for provoking her yesterday before they parted.

But he could not stand it when she behaved like it did not matter to her if there was someone else in his place.

The thought of someone else touching her, caring for her, caressing her, claiming that feisty little mouth and getting to his knees like he did to taste how fucking delectable she was... just the thought of it was suffocating him in ways he could not describe.

Maxim unbuttoned the top two buttons of his shirt and rolled his sleeves up. Turning the air conditioner on, he raked his fingers through his hair.

When he closed his eyes, all he could see was her face as she came on his mouth, as she shyly ran away from him after their encounter in the changing room, as she mustered her confidence back and came to state her proposal once again, her frustrated face, her angry face, her happy face, her confused face... Her whole fucking face was all he could see when he closed his eyes.

And when he opened them, her words reverberated in his mind like eternal torment.

’As a friend, you are irreplaceable. As a man, you are not.’

When they were young, she did not see him as a man at all. If he let her, she would not have minded getting changed in front of him back then.

Now, she saw him as a man. But a replaceable one that.

Hah~

Maxim did not know whether he should celebrate or mourn about it.

The constant ringing of his phone snatched his attention away from a certain blonde-haired woman who would not budge from haunting him.

He glanced at the caller ID with disinterest before he answered the call.

As Maxim pressed the phone to his ear, Ryle’s complaining voice sounded from the other side, ’’This is the 10th time I am calling you. Are you dead?"

’’Not yet.’’

’’You... What not yet? Are you going to die soon?"

’’Maybe.’’

Ryle was exasperated, ’’What’s wrong with you? Shall I ask your mom to look for some good doctors or priests?"

Maxim glanced at his phone speechlessly, ’’What did you call for?" he asked in a tired voice.

’’Hehe~ My parrot, did you feed him well?"

Maxim frowned. That parrot... Since Ivy had been taking care of him since Ryle left, that parrot picked up Ivy’s talkative nature. And combined with its previous personality... It kept moaning and talking throughout every morning.

It almost caused him a headache today until he came downstairs to Diana’s place.

Hmm, her face certainly calmed him down. If he could, he would frame her up and...

Maxim forcefully cut off the direction of his thoughts, knowing that he was once again thinking about a certain someone.

’’I told you to take it away yesterday,’’ Maxim’s voice hardened at the mention of ’yesterday’.

Ryle coughed, ’’Are you still angry about what happened yesterday? Didn’t I tell you that I left my phone in your car? I was just using your phone to make a phone call. How would I know that that girl would choose that specific time to drop a text?"

Maxim pinched the spot between his brows, ’’Did you have to see it?" Although she explicitly denied being upset about it, how could he not read her face?

’’It was purely an accident. Since you were showering, I even wanted to reply to her out of goodwill but your phone died. What happened later was not my fault.’’

After he charged his phone, he kept staring at his phone for an hour, wondering how he should respond to her. But then, it was too late to reply, and knowing that she must have gone to bed, he did not reply at all.

’’So... Now you see, I am not the one to blame. How about you take care of my parrot for a few days?"

’’Take it away before tomorrow. Or, I will roast it and feed it to street dogs.’’

"You...’’

Maxim hung up without giving the man a chance to respond.

By the time he reached the hospital, he was greeted by a huge crowd when he passed by the notice boards in the hallways.

His footsteps slowed down.

Mary came to greet him, her face looking awkward.

’’Dr. Warner, I...’’

’’What is it?"

Mary let out a relieved sigh when she saw that Maxim was acting as usual. Lucky her. She thought she would die early after seeing him hiding under a table in the restaurant, ’’Good Morning,’’ she quickly greeted him.

Maxim nodded, ’’What’s going on?" his gaze roamed around the crowd as the hospital staff whispered and muttered things to each other in a barely audible voice.

’’Uh...’’ Mary followed his gaze, ’’I have been busy in your office since I came so I have not gotten the chance to see what’s going on here. Do you want me to check?"

Maxim shook his head, ’’Let it be. Get me the list of patients.’’

As he started walking, Mary followed him, ’’Sure thing.’’

Maxim stopped walking, ’’For how many days did Diana ask you to assist me?"

Mary thought about it before she answered, ’’Two days.’’

’’Did she tell you why?"

Mary shook her head.

’’Did you ask her why?"

Mary shook her head again.

’’Why not?" Maxim looked at her from above his shoulder.

"_" ’’I...’’ The man walked away before she could say anything.

Mary patted her chest. She was frightened to death. Why did it seem like Dr. Warner was displeased about something?

Was he upset that Diana took two days off? Or did he want to know the reason she did it?

Knowing Dr. Warner, it must be the former. He was a disciplined person so he must be angry because Diana did not come to work.

Mary nodded. But then... Weren’t they friends? If something was up, shouldn’t he know it better than her?

Mary was bewildered. Why did she have a bad premonition that her upcoming two days would be spent looking at Dr. Warner’s frigid face?

Just as Maxim was about to push open his office door, a hand covered the doorknob, blocking the entrance.

Maxim tilted his head from his phone to find Alex blocking the door.

’’Oh, isn’t this our great Dr. Warner?" Alex was sporting a cheeky smile on his face, his fingers twisting the cigarette uniformly.

’’Step aside.’’

"I genuinely want to applaud for how high and mighty you can act. As if you know nothing and you are above everyone else,’’ Alex leaned back on the door, ’’But too bad that I can see through your dirty little tricks.’’

Maxim did not respond to him.

Alex’s fingers curled into a fist, ’’You are acting as if nothing happened. You owe me an explanation,’’ Looking at Maxim’s aloof face made him feel the urge to punch it hard. The more time he spent in his presence, the further he hated this man.

Some of the staff members were beginning to gather around to witness a confrontation between the both of them. Alex joined the hospital soon after Maxim did and every once in a while, Alex would come at Maxim and act rudely, only to be treated like air by the man. Everyone in the hospital was aware that the director’s grandson hated Maxim and he would never let go of an opportunity to pick on him.

Maxim looked at the man who was behaving like a bratty child, ’’I have no idea what you are talking about, Dr. Qin.’’

’’You...’’

Just as Alex straightened up with a frustrated expression on his face, Maxim took the opportunity to push open the door and step inside his office.

’’How dare you!" Alex followed him and closed the door behind them.

Maxim glanced at the man indifferently before he strode towards the swivel chair. Taking a seat, he picked up the documents placed in front of him.

Mary did the job meticulously but Maxim could not help but miss the little notes that Diana inserted in every patient’s information.

When he saw those notes for the first time, he was reminded of the time when he used to do part-time jobs and she insisted on preparing notes for him. She would insert cute and colorful sticky notes on every other page, claiming that it will make it easy for him to remember things.