“Another success of the surgery, Dr. Huang,” a blond tall doctor patted her shoulder whilst showing his infamous jaw-droopingly smile, she smiled back.

“Thanks for your quick treatment, Dr. Wu,” she smiled passing other doctors and nurses in the hallway.

“Not a big deal, Dr. Huang. You’re still my favorite senior after all. Do you have lunch? My treat.”

“I’d loved to but I have an appointment this afternoon. I’m sorry, Dr. Wu. Maybe next time.” She knew how to play well with her flirting colleagues, just pretending to be cute and melting all the tension and nerve-wrecking situation.

She walked in to the elevator and pushed number one button, while Dr. Wu followed behind her. The destination was doctor’s office.

“Which floor?” she asked politely.

“Same with you.”

“Oh.. Okay.”

“Seem like, you don’t like my gut, I guess.” He smiled bitterly leaning against the wall. She saw it through the reflection of the wall in front of her.

“You’ve never disappointed me, Dr. Wu. Nice judgment.”

She smiled bitterly, smoothing a stray of her honey brown hair behind her ear. The elevator dinged and opened, they walked out, heading to the office.

“Are you rejecting my request because of my cousin?” he asked.

She turned to face him reading his expression. Jealousy. She urged herself to tell him to back the ing off, but still, she couldn’t do that, not harassing one of her important colleagues. She bit her bottom lip, thinking how to answer this question; she couldn’t risk either her job or her private life being exposed to others. She was about to open , when the latter answered his own question.

“Someone else then? What a lucky guy.”

“Fair point well made, Dr. Wu. The lucky guy remains in secret. I’ll take my leave then. See you tomorrow.” She gave him another apologetic smile.

She made her way to her table, taking off her coat and placing it in the wardrobe. She grabbed her bag and went straight to the basement where she parked her Porsche.

She stopped in the middle of her walk when her phone started to buzz.

"Hi, Mr. Do. Thanks for telling me the new reservation. I’ll pick him up. Don’t worry, Mr. Do. We’ll be okay. Bye.”

She was hesitated at first, but she brazed herself to finally call a certain number. She took a deep breath, dialing the number. The call didn’t last longer than a minute as it went straight to his voice mail; pressed into a thin line, feeling bitter again. She took out a long sigh before climbing in her car, driving away from her bitterness, her dullness, and her annoyance.