Seeing that I didn’t speak, Dennis put the first aid kit up. He took off his jacket, looked at me, and said, “Take a good rest. Don’t think too much. I am going to take a shower now.”
I didn’t mind what he just said. Instead, I huddled under the quilt. I still couldn’t fall asleep after a while. After looking for a long time, I couldn’t find my own phone. But I saw Dennis’s on the bedside table.
I yelled towards the bathroom, “Dennis, can I use your phone?”
“Are you snooping?” Dennis leaned out of the bathroom and smiled, “Just check whatever you want - you know the password.”
I couldn’t help but glare at him, and I said, “I wasn’t planning on peeping at your privacy anyways. I just needed to use it. I left mine somewhere else.”
He raised his eyebrows, without saying anything else, and went back into the shower.
I took his phone. I had downloaded a video for him before, but he didn’t delete it. I thought he would at least open it and check it out.
I brought up the video on his phone and found that he hadn’t even registered an account - let alone checking it out.
I had nothing to do either way. So I went ahead and registered an account for him, using his cell number.
When I was done, I lay in bed and watched a few videos. Suddenly the phone rang.
It was Marcus Thomson calling.
The sound of water in the bathroom continued - Dennis was still taking a shower. I called him towards the bathroom, and he asked me to pick it up in a low voice.
I answered the phone. But not until I could speak, did Marcus murmur, “Dennis, what are you doing? What took you so long to answer the phone?”
I wanted to tell Marcus that Dennis was in the shower. But before I could speak, the other side spoke up.
Marcus spoke really fast, “We might want to handle the hospital affairs immediately, especially the southern area of City P. The hospital is still charging a dead patient’s family 2 months after his death. We are talking about 5 million - The charges are very unbelievably high! The patient’s family has kept all the receipts. The whole affair has already been reported to the Department of Health and Human Services. This matter needs to be dealt with as soon as possible, and it’s hard to hold back from the media.”
“Sure, I will pass the message to Dennis!” I finally spoke. I couldn’t keep my mind from thinking about the hospital affairs - What a trap! Was this an honest mistake or an intentional attempt by Mario Bennett?
“Oh, Clara?” Marcus was surprised. “I didn’t know it was you. Where was Dennis?”
I felt a bit sleepy. I yawned and replied, “Dennis was in the shower. I will pass your message to him. I am going to hang up if you don’t have anything else I need to take a message for.”
He probably thought I was eavesdropping on Dennis, so he said with anger, “Clara, why are you acting like it doesn’t matter if you are eavesdropping on other people’s calls? Do you know that you’ve crossed a line? One might still say that you stole someone’s boyfriend out of love. But now you are shameless enough to listen to others’ phone calls! I thought that you and Dennis’s marriage would work out was because of Mr. George. Now I am sure you tricked Mr. George, too.”
I felt a bit upset, “Mr. Thomson, it’s all in your head! Dennis doesn’t complain about marrying me but you do - Are you in love with Dennis or what? It seems that you are holding grudges against me marrying him. If you are really into him, I don’t mind you hanging out with him in private. And you know what, listen very carefully - It was Dennis who asked me to pick up the call for him. Don’t blame the wrong guy!”
He stuttered a little and said, “Clara, what nonsense are you talking about? I am talking about Olivia. Don’t you know that Dennis never stops being in love with Olivia? You broke them up, and shame on you acting like you didn’t do anything wrong.”
This was funny!
I just found it funny, “Mr. Thomson, what do you mean by I broke them up? What made you think that Dennis had never stopped loving Olivia? Just because he cares for her and answers her calls? If that’s true, then you must be madly in love with Olivia too! You care about Olivia even more so.”
“Clara, you are...” He stuttered.
I emphasized, “I am what? Mr. Thomson, get it out of your head. Your speculations are not facts. Stop living in your imagination - if people don’t say they love you, probably they just don’t. I am not sure if Dennis had feelings for Olivia. But one thing I do know is that you should stop messing with others before you figure out how you feel and what you are doing.”
He burst into a laugh, “Hey, take it easy. I will wipe the water off with a towel. Why are you getting upset now? What can I do to make you feel better, my lady?”
I ignored him - I was in a bad mood. I wrapped the quilt around my body and said coldly, “Dennis, you should sleep in the guest room tonight.”
Dennis was looking quite helpful knowing that he failed to make me feel better this time. He took his mobile phone and called Marcus instead.
The phone was connected right away.
Dennis lowered his voice and spoke, “What did you say to Clara?”
He put on the speaker - On the other side of the call, Marcus hesitated for a few seconds before answering emotionally, “Dude, you better ask her about what she had said to me. She scolded and humiliated me in the call. Are you going to do so to me?”
Dennis cleared his throat and coughed lightly, “You deserve it! I took a physical hit because of you. You owe Clara an apology.”
Marcus got mad immediately, “Why in the world should I apologize to her? I didn’t mess with her - If anything, she should apologize to me!”
“If you don’t apologize to Clara tonight, I would end up sleeping alone in the guest bedroom tonight. Your apology would make a difference here, will you?” What Dennis had said made me feel awkward as if I had wronged him.
Marcus was shocked. He took a rather long pause before speaking again, “Dennis, are you sure about her?”
Dennis was straightforward. He nodded, “Of course - Clara is my wife.”
A moment later, Marcus finally replied, “Alright. Let’s go to dinner soon. I will make a reservation and invite Mario too. I am going to apologize to Clara properly.”
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