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Chapter 45 - In what ways am I cute and beautfiul?

Arya compromised because she also wanted to have a look at Jack. 
This guy was sick for three days and his nasal sound was still very heavy.  Obviously, he had been terribly sick for the past few days.  She did not feel at ease and felt that she should have a look. 
On the second day which was a Thursday, Jay arranged for a dinner at a restaurant serving French style café cuisine.  Arya arrived ten minutes earlier and stood at the door to wait for Jack.
After a while, Jack arrived.
He wore a blue jacket, and his slender figure was very eye-catching in the crowd of pedestrians, so he was spotted by Arya instantly.
Unable to restrain herself, she stared at him.  On his face were evident signs of illness, only that his forehead was not engraved with the words ‘Recovering from a serious illness’.  His spirit was considered good and the moment he got down from the taxi, he saw Arya and his bright eyes stared at her.
For no reason, she blushed but she did not shift away her eyes and held her breath.  She also did not move towards him. 
Jack stood there and after finally having seen enough of her, he slowly walked over to her.
The two of them did not speak and only looked at each other.
After a long time, Jack coughed and cleared his throat before he called out.  “Arya.”
His heavy nasal sound made her frowned and finally she could not help but scold him.  “How did you get yourself sick?  You were supposed to be awesome, right?  You were not afraid of a cold or gastric perforation!”
Jack rubbed his nose and did not talk back.
“You should drink more, and if you haven’t drunk enough outside, you can still go home and drink to death.”  She did not know why.  She had wanted to see him very much but now when she sees him she became irritated.
Jack defended himself in a soft voice.  “There is only red wine in the house.  I only drank two sips that night and then I fell asleep.”
“What do you mean by ‘and then I fell asleep’?  Don’t assume I don’t know that you called Mark and spent half an hour scolding me.”
“Oh……after that I fell asleep.”
He really has the nerves to say that!
Arya scolded him.  “Why are you acting so crazy recently?”
Jack was about to speak when he heard someone calling from a distance.  “Miss Du Vin!”
Arya and Jack turned their heads together and saw Jay Dunphy with a happy face and his mother was standing beside him.
When she saw Tang Mother, immediately she became nervous and subconsciously, she moved nearer to Jack.  Jack glanced at her and laughed at her.  “Coward.”
She glared back at him.  She will not dispute with him in front of others.
The next instant, Jay and his mother had walked up to them and following behind them was another woman.  Then Jay introduced the woman as his aunt.
Even his aunt had come?  Arya became even more nervous.  While greeting the three people, she was pulling at Jack’s clothes.
The five people went into the restaurant together and ordered their respective meals.  In this type of situation, Arya felt the most uncomfortable and the most awkward and she regretted coming.  She took a look at Jack and in her heart, she blamed him. 
Jack exhibited an air of calm and ordered a bowl of soup.  He also ordered two kinds of snacks.  Turning around, when he found that Arya had not ordered her food, he simply ordered for her. 
In front of other people, Arya did not argue with him when he made the decisions for her without even asking her.  However, when he helped her to order a chocolate pastry, she was secretly delighted.
At the table, Jay’s aunt continuously thanked Jack and said she was grateful for his help.  Even Arya was able to see through her that she had the intention to curry favor from Jack.  The aunt must have thought she could look for Jack’s continuous help in the future.  After all, it was difficult to set up an appointment for a consultation and so having a doctor as a friend would bring a lot of conveniences.
Jack did not have an Elder phobia and so he casually responded.  He answered a lot of their questions and also took the initiative to ask how Jay’s uncle was doing.  When he heard that the uncle’s condition had improved, he nodded with sincerity and said.  “You have to persevere in treating his illness.  I am a surgeon and not connected to the other departments in the hospital.   So, I will not be able to help you any further.  However, if you have any problems with terminal illnesses and needs surgery, you can come to me again and I’ll try my best.”
When Arya heard this, she almost sprayed out the food from her mouth.  Is this his way of cursing others?  Auntie did not seem to understand the meaning of his words and when she saw Jack’s good attitude, she quickly thanked him. 
Arya pretended to busy herself with eating her food and she really did not want to admit she was associated with this man who has an uncouth mouth with a poisonous tongue.
On Jay’s side, he was focusing his attention on Arya.  He added tea to her teacup and also asked how she was doing recently.  Arya smiled politely and answered him.  She also noticed that although Jack was busy talking to Auntie Tang, he still had his eyes on her.
What is there to look at?
If there were no one around, she would have glared back at him.
Then Jay’s Mother asked.  “Arya, what is your relationship with Dr. Jack?”
Without thinking, she straight away answered.  “Dr. Jack is my good friend, a friend of my friend’s boyfriend.”
After saying that, Jack glared at her.  She lowered her head and continued to drink her tea pretending she did not see his look.
Looking at them for a while, Jay’s Mother finally understood and she smiled.  Then she said with humor.  “That’s a connected relationship.”
This relationship was difficult to explain to them, so Arya did not know what response to give and continued eating.
But Jack was unwilling to keep quiet and insisted on intervening.  He asked about Jay Mother’s health and also her usual diet.  Then he talked about a lot of problems that the elderly often have and the health problems that they usually encounter, appearing to be concerned for them but in reality, he had frightened the two elderly people.  They have many symptoms that Jack talked about, such as sleeping poorly, such as fatigue, such as easily angered, such as being thirsty, such as forgetfulness, and so on.
In the end, after Jack’s advice, the two elderly people decided to go to Jack’s hospital for a comprehensive health check and also to do the most expensive package or else it was not detailed enough.  As a person grows older, more attention should be paid to health.  In the past, they had neglected to do health checks and they were unwilling to spend money on these checks in the hospital.  This concept of health is totally wrong.
Only now did Arya realize the good work done by Jack but Jay’s Mother and Auntie both felt very happy.  They asked a lot of questions about health care for the elderly and also asked him about the health care for Jay at his age.  This made Jay who was sitting at the side, felt very ill at ease.
Jack exercised extreme patience in answering their questions and Arya was unable to interrupt from beginning to end. 
During this dinner, Dr. Jack with his stuffy nose and nasal voice dominated the whole situation and both Jay and Arya did not have the opportunity to say anything.  Then Jack suddenly said.  “Aunties, both of you must pay more attention to your health and there is nothing more important than your health.  My brother is an example.  A few days ago, he fell down and injured his leg.  I and Arya are supposed to go and visit him.  Now, it’s almost time to leave, so we have to make a move first.”
The two elderly felt very happy and agreed readily.  Jay could not say anything and could only tell Arya that he will call her again.
Arya’s face was full of black lines. Jack was really good at extracting himself and used her as an excuse to get away, at the same time, cursing Mark.
Jack did not say anymore and pulled Arya along as he left.  Once they were out of the door, the first sentence he spoke to her was.  “If that Jay calls you again, don’t bother about him.”
Can he control me?
She ignored him, flung away his hand and walked away.  
Jack came after her and pulled her.  “Let’s have a talk.”
She thought for a while……yes…..she almost forgot.  Leaving him and walking off alone was cool and for a moment, she almost forgot what she wanted to do.
Jack saw that she did not object, pulled her into a taxi and took her to the bar she found him a few days ago. 
Immediately Arya glared at him.  “Drink again?”  If he dared to answer in the affirmative, she will punch him. 
“I’m wronged!  My car is still there.”  Jack with an innocent look and spread out his hands pitifully.
Arya then resumed her normal expression.  Jack smiled and touched her head.  “You’re getting fiercer.”
She hit his hand and asked him.  “Why didn’t you pick up your car after so many days?  Will your car be alright?  Will you have to pay a fine?”
“I don’t dare to pick it up.  If my girlfriend knows that I went to pick up my car with a cold while feeling dizzy and also drive, which is similar to the condition of drunk driving, then she will beat me.”
She glared at him and turned her head away, ignoring him.
Who is his girlfriend!  Rogue!
She stared out of the window and carefully planned her move. 
She must be calm, she must sort this out clearly and there is nothing that cannot be settled.  Both of them are adults……civilized and rational.
After they had picked up the car, the two people sat in the car and she was still thinking about this matter. 
Jack asked.  “Let’s go to my house.”
Enter the tiger’s den?  Arya shook her head.
“Then where do you want to go?”  Jack pulled out his medicine and swallowed it with a mouthful of mineral water.
She frowned and restrained herself from scolding him again.  She said.  “Let’s talk here.”
“There is no ambiance here.  If you don’t want to go to my house, then we can find a place to sit down and have a drink.”  He said with dislike.
“Dr. Jack, there will be an absence of ambiance everywhere when you walk around with snot running down from your nose.”
“I don’t have snot.”  Mr. poisonous choked and almost jumped up.  “I made sure that my illness is much better and I don’t have any more snot before I come out.”
Arya did not speak and twitched her mouth at him.  Jack cleared his throat  and with a better attitude, he said.  “I’m really very much better.”
It this condition is considered ‘very much better’, then, he must have been extremely sick earlier.
“Ask yourself, what do you intend to do?  Don’t you think you are childish?  You’re a doctor, are you not ashamed of yourself?”  Her tone sounded like she was teaching a child.
“Hey, we are discussing feelings, not personal attacks.”
“What personal attacks?”
“Scolding a man for being childish is like resenting his kiss which is a personal attack.  The degree of severity is like telling a man he is unable to perform in bed which damages his self-esteem.”
She gaped at him, dumbfounded.
“Dr. Jack, please don’t talk to me in such an indecent way.
“In the beginning, you had also implied this metaphor.  
Women compared to men…….”
Arya quickly interrupted him.  “Stop, stop……Dr. Jack, you really don’t have to lower your standard to my low level.”
Her anxious blush made him smile.  As soon as he smiled, she became angry again.  “What is there to laugh at?  Hurry up, tell me.  What do you want?”
“I want to be your boyfriend.”
He said this again and this was too direct.  Arya’s face became hot.  She worked hard to maintain her expression and displayed a calm look. “Why?”
“What other reasons are there for wanting to be your boyfriend?   Of course, it is the same reason as for other men when they want to confess.”
“There is no other man who had confessed to me, so I could not care less.”  There is only one person in front of her now and so she will only care about this one person.
She stared at him and looked very serious.  Jack felt a bit uncomfortable under her stare and coughed.  Arya was unsure when she saw Jack’s face turned red.  His sickly complexion was really not easy to observe.
“That……”  His voice had turned smaller and he was not arrogant anymore.  “I like you so I want to be your boyfriend.”
“What do you like about me?”  She instantly asked.
The speed of her reply was so fast that Jack blinked.
“Why do you have to ask why I like you?”
“Before this, you have asked me why I had pursued you……of course, if you can ask, I will also ask.”
“At that time, when you pursued me, what did you like about me?”
“You are handsome and I’ve given you the answer numerous times.”  Arya was very arrogant and very calm.  She did not believe that he will be able to say she is beautiful.
He really could not say that because she was not really beautiful.  At best, she could be considered as pretty, neat and pleasing to the eye.  He pondered for a long time before he finally said.  “You are very cute and beautiful.” Jack looked at her face. She hadn’t wore her glasses and looked indeed very pretty and beautiful.
“In what way am I cute and beautiful?”  She asked again, following the end of his words with the momentum of extracting a confession.
Jack opened his mouth and could not control himself but complained.  “Arya, am I standing on trial?”
“Dr. Jack, I know you have a cold but you should not be having amnesia.  I can give you five minutes to recall the scenes we met from the beginning until now.  I’ve done this myself and I’m very clear.  You must recall well when you have rejected me in action and verbally, and also told me a lot of love stories with reasoning.  Then our relationship transited smoothly to a peaceful stage.  Suddenly now, you behaved in a roguish manner and then stated that you wanted to be my boyfriend.  Do you think this process is normal?”
He gaped again and said nothing.  Arya continued.  “Dr. Jack, didn’t you say before that pursuing someone, one must be sincere?  The person being pursued must be able to feel it?  I haven’t even asked you about the process of your pursuit, and I’m just talking to you about your sincerity.  You’re so impatient, so what do you want to do?”
Jack was speechless.
“Dr. Jack, you have been in love three times.  Try to recall…….in those three love affairs, did you also behave so perfunctorily?”
“I didn’t act perfunctorily towards you.  Our situations are different.”
“Of course, our situations are not the same.  You were successful with your other pursuits or they were successful with their pursuits of you.  Which one of them is like me?......after being rejected for pursuing you, I also reflected on myself, reviewed my actions and admitted for not having sincerity in my pursuit of you.  Then I tried hard to analyze why we were not suitable for each other.  On behalf of you, I even thought of whether it was your personal deficiencies the main reason why you had remained single.  After that, I was very sincere in becoming friends with you and even felt touched that I could feel happy by being with you.  And what is the result??  When you suddenly acted in such a way, without any explanation, without saying anything pleasant and you don’t even want to answer my questions properly.  You said this is not perfunctory, then, what do you consider as perfunctory?”
Jack was thoroughly dumbstruck.  “Arya, are you drunk?”
“After drinking, I will still talk with reason and will not act like the naïve man who after getting drunk, will go crazy and call up others to scold them and also catch a cold.”
“Hey…….hey…….”
“Dr. Jack, under such circumstances, do you think it will be best to register for a consultation with the psychiatric?  Since I‘m not as rich as you, so I’ll not pay for your registration fees.”
Jack stared at her and she folded her arms, leaned back against the seat and stared back at him. 
“Okay, okay, I will do it your way.”  Jack showed his willingness to compromise.  “What did you ask me just now?”
“In what way am I cute and beautiful?” 

Book Comment (70)

  • avatar
    Christina May Gonzales

    thanks for writing this

    06/09/2023

      0
  • avatar
    RasayAlthea Joy

    very nice

    22/05

      0
  • avatar
    MañacapClarence

    very nice

    02/05

      0
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