Me After Meeting You

Knowing that the message had already been sent out, Amber bashed her head against the table.

The attendant carefully asked, “Are you alright, Miss?”

“Yes.” She replied haltingly. Hoping against all hope, she asked, “Is there any way Mr. Axton would be unable to receive the message?”

“That’s impossible.” The attendant stuck out his chest, his posture proud. “Our fund transfer system is fully modernized and secure. We’ve never had a problem before.”

Indeed, the fund transfer was surprisingly rapid and Ian received a notification almost immediately after it was sent through. At that point, the three men were discussing whether or not Amber had swindled them and the other two had only mildly criticized Ian for leaving her stranded in the club.

The fund transfer message was voice recorded, so all three men heard the notification as he tapped on it. “Mr. Axton, at 1:48 AM, you were paid prostitution fees. Please check your account balance.”

The interior of the car fell silent. Ansell was driving at the front seat, but as soon as he heard the notification, he quickly dialled down the volume. Billy, meanwhile, was dumbstruck. “What, what, did I hear wrong just now? What kind of fee did you receive, Boss?”

Ian also didn’t hear the message clearly. More precisely, he didn’t dare believe what he had heard, so he tapped the notification again. This time, the interior of the car was silent enough to be alarming, they all heard the phrase “prostitution fee” loud and clear.

Ian didn’t react, but the other two started laughing their lungs out. Billy in particular, grabbed his phone and started asking, “Who’s this, how much money?”

When he saw the amount, he gasped. “Damn, this is a large sum. You’re doing pretty well for yourself, aren’t you, Boss! Is this just for one night?”

Ansell started laughing even harder, so much so that he had to pull over and stop by the side of the road. He turned to the backseat and asked, “Who’s the brave soul that treated our Master Axton as a prostitute? Let’s see who it is and pay our respects to them!”

Billy risked batting Ian’s hands away so that he could see his screen and finally succeeding after a few failed attempts. “Miss Camille, which Miss Camille?”

Even after playing a whole night of mah jjong with Amber, he still didn’t know her surname.

Ansell, on the other hand, praised her. “Damn, she’s quite the character!”

“Do you like her?” Ian raised his head, his expression and tone seemingly indifferent, but his tone notably sinister. “Shall I introduce her to you then?”

All night long, Ansell had seen him protect Amber and help resolve her issues. Ansell’s smile froze on his face. If Ian was going for someone, then how could he possibly win against him?

“Thanks for the offer.” He said seriously. “But I’m going to quit cold turkey this moment!”

***

Amber let one of the club chauffeurs send her home. Because it was the weekend, she was supposed to be visiting her parents. However, it was so late and they lived so far away that, by the time she got there, it would probably be early morning and her parents would be preparing to open their diner. They would surely nag at her if they saw her arrive so late. So instead, she went back to her house.

The apartment that Amber was staying in was very close to the hospital. Her parents had bought it for her while she was in graduate school. And by the time she graduated with her PhD, her twin brother Ruby had earned enough money to help her renovate it. So even though the decor of the apartment was a bit strange as it was a potpourri of Eastern and Western styles, the workmanship was meticulous and it was a very comfortable place to live in.

***

She was so tired from the day’s events that she immediately fell asleep right after showering haphazardly. The next day, when she woke up, she saw Ian’s text. “l’ve received the prostitution payment.”

For some reason, Amber felt like she had been marked by a wolf. She decided to bluntly call him back. With a sincere tone, she said, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have pulled such a base joke. If it made you uncomfortable, then I apologize.”

Honestly, she herself didn’t know why those words had sprouted from her mouth last night, it was simply too uncouth for her.

Ian was silent for a moment and then he asked, “How did you win so much last night?”

Amber was very open about the truth. “My uncle used to cheat in mah jjong. When i had nothing to do as a child, i learned some of his tricks.”

Ian laughed without much emotion. After a while, he suddenly said, “Why don’t you become my girlfriend?”

“What?” Amber stared blankly at the wall in front of her.

“That is, if you feel sorry for me.”

Amber understood the logic in his words right away. “If you feel sorry for me, then you can be my girlfriend.”

Was he asking her to give herself up for a joke? Amber didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry. She responded. “On the other hand, think we can be friends. That is, if you’re willing.”

Regarding her response, Ian didn’t reply. Instead, he hung up.

Amber fell into a daze, clutching at her phone. She had a premonition that Ian wouldn’t be an easy patient to treat. She’d very likely end up with nothing to show for her labor and even possibly a heap of trouble for herself.

Of course, Amber wasn’t afraid of trouble. There were many patients even more troublesome than Ian. For example, Elly, the patient that she had been discussing with Nancy during that first dinner with Ian, was first and foremost. Walking corpse syndrome was so rare that, even throughout the entire world, only a few paltry cases had been reported. Many of the doctors around her were interested in that patient, but those who were confident or even willing to treat her were few and far between.

But Amber was willing to take her on as a patient. She was prepared to use all her patience and skill to treat Elly because she knew how much her patient needed it, regardless of how little time she would have left for herself.

And as for Ian, he clearly didn’t want a doctor. His actions of trying to trip her up and intentionally stating that he wanted to woo her were simply attempts to change the potential doctor-patient relationship into a more familiar romantic relationship.

This was, clearly and unambiguously, a refusal on his part-if you want to get close to me, then you can’t do it as a doctor. You have to be my girlfriend.

She was very curious about what would have happened if her professor had instead found him a male doctor.

After sighing about her conundrum, Amber tidied herself up, ate what she could find at home and went to the hospital to care for Elly.Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.