Chapter 007: A confession?

In a split second, the view of the hospital corridor replaced the posh interior of the hall, and I could see the gossipy onlookers whisper among themselves while Chen Lan still held me firmly. Or it could look more like I was still grabbing onto him.

I pushed myself away from him carefully, reminding myself not to lose my balance again. I simply stared at the ground. I knew I must be looking so dumb, but there was no other way I could avoid the eyes of the passers-by and especially Chen Lan.

Soon the onlookers moved away. I slowly glanced up at Chen Lan, not sure about what reaction I should give. However, I noticed that he was oddly too calm and appeared so relaxed as if such weird incidents were a daily occurrence to him.

And I also noticed that he was openly staring at me. I averted my gaze uneasily and after a few moments, I again sneaked a glance at him to find that he was still staring at me. I decided to break the silence before I get crazy.

“Thank you Mr Chen…” he kept staring.

“If it wasn't you, I might have fallen and hurt my head again.”

“…….”

Ughh! Say something! You can't just stand there and stare at me like that!

I chuckled nervously and continued,

“it's a surprise to meet you again Mr Chen.”

He didn't take his eyes off me and replied,

“You must have been going to take a stroll. Let me join you,” and continued to walk towards the exit.

What's wrong with this guy?

I didn't follow him but stood still in uncertainty, watching him walk away. As soon as he realized that I wasn't following him, he returned and stared squarely into my eyes. While I was guessing what he was thinking, he took me by surprise by grabbing my hand. Before I could protest, I found that we were already heading towards the exit.

We stepped out of the hospital and started walking along the path with a few other patients who were also taking an evening stroll. Paying more attention, I felt that his grip wasn't harsh and though he held my hand tightly, it was loose enough to make me feel comfortable.

I decided that I should question him than just go along with whatever he does. I stopped, so did he and turned to face me.

I eyed at our hands and again back at him.

He didn't let go but turned around completely and put his free hand in the pocket of his long beige trench coat while his eyes sparkled to life and gave off a mischievous look.

Huh?

I pulled back my hand. He even started to grin. This guy is getting on my nerves! I frowned at him,

“Mr Chen, what do you mean by grabbing my hand just like that and dragging me out here?”

“Grab? Drag? I think there's something wrong with your words.” His sarcastic grin was getting wider.

“Mr Chen, you can't just take the hands of a girl just like that.”

“Girl? Seriously? I guess you lost more than 10 years of your memory.”

Oh! Come on! How can he say that to any woman? Before I could say something out of anger, he cut in,

“Okay, let me apologize for all those that happened earlier. I came here just because I'd like to help you get your memories back.”

He knows that he can help me? He continued,

"Dr Wei called me to say that I should meet you again so that you can remember things. I remember you saying in the morning that you knew someone looking like me, so I decided to help.”

“But Dr Wei said that he didn't have your number.”

“Ah. About that… I dropped by here in the morning to collect some data from the hospital for a project I'm working on. So I left my number at the director's office.”

Dr Wei took the trouble to look up Chen Lan's number? That was too quick.

“But why would you want to help me?” I began to analyse his reaction to calculate his intention.

“Guess why?” Replying with another question!  Such a shrewd guy.

“Do you think I'd know?” I also know to do that.

“Because I wanted to.”

“Huh? What?”

“To spend more time with you,” he stood there with the same playful grin like a prankster.

Was he joking? I blankly stared at him. The setting sun was giving off golden-red beams of light which reflected off Chen Lan giving a dramatic visual effect.

“I guess you'd want me to make it clear. I knew you had lost your memories and were even talking about some guy like me. But I too find it weird of me wanting to accompany you and taking a fancy for you.”

Taking a fancy? For a pale woman in hospital clothes?

He walked closer, leaving only a half feet distance between us which was short enough to make me feel flustered. I didn't look at his face to prevent him from seeing me blushing, but stared at the button of his shirt and waited for him to say something.

“Laia Parker....."

"......."

"Because of you, finally I get to experience what love-at-first-sight, feels like.”

I raised my head once I heard it to check his expression. That was too much for a lie. However, his eyes were no longer giving that impish look. Most importantly… I saw his pupils dilate.

His pitch sank deeper as he said, “This is no joke…Laia”

Prolonged eye contact, dilation of pupils, invasion of personal space, deep tones of speech- the physical signs of being attracted to someone…