Chapter 262

Maverick stayed in the restroom a little longer than usual, puzzling Giselle. Holding her phone, she was about to call him when he pushed the door and entered just as the phone was ringing. Giselle quickly ended the call, “All the dishes are served already.” By saying that, she implied not that she called because she couldn't wait, but the dishes couldn't. Maverick didn't reply, just walked over and sat down. Giselle smelled the scent of smoke on Maverick, “Did you smoke?” Maverick hummed in affirmation. In fact, Giselle had noticed for a while that Maverick didn't smoke very often. Occasionally, when he said he was going for a smoke, there wouldn't be any smell of smoke on him when he returned. But today, she thought, there seemed to be nothing to upset him. Still, she asked casually, “Is something wrong?” Maverick glanced at Giselle. His gaze was a bit deep, but he chose not to tell her, fearing she might overreact. Harper and Steward have already broken up. In his understanding of Harper, even if she knew, she wouldn’t react much. So, there was no need to let her know. This matter now only had to do with Steward. "There's nothing to worry about," Maverick said. After saying this, he served Giselle some food. "Let’s eat." Giselle was somewhat dubious, but didn't think too much about it. Maybe it was about his work. Anyway, she didn't understand these things, so it didn't matter whether Maverick talked about it or not. After dinner, she stayed in the Hyland Group or a while, then Maverick took Giselle to the hospital. She needed to continue her afternoon rehabilitation exercises. However, this time, Giselle didn't let Maverick wait for her. She let him go first. Harper was scheduled to change shifts at 4 o’clock this afternoon. Giselle planned to have dinner with Harper and go back to the hotel with her to retrieve her belongings. Harper had planned to move to live in Northill Residence, but her luggage was still at the hotel. When Giselle got to the hospital, it was almost 3 o’clock. After finishing her rehabilitation, she waited for more than half an hour and Harper came. Because it was still quite early, it was too early to have dinner. The two of them went to the hotel first. No sooner had they opened the door than a knock came from outside. Thinking it was room service, Giselle ran to open the door. As she opened the door, she was taken aback. She did not expect Will to be standing outside. "Are you here for Harper?" Giselle was slightly surprised, the surprising point being that Will actually knew Harper was staying here. She thought to herself, it seemed that Harper was hiding something from her. It seemed that Will had understood Giselle's misunderstanding. "I live across the street," he softly explained, "I heard some noise, so I came to check it out." So that's it! Giselle was somewhat disappointed, but she quickly smiled, "Mr. Frankie, you are exactly what we need. Harper is moving out and I can't do much to help right now. If you're not busy then..." She didn't finish the phrase 'help out,' curious to see how this man would respond. "I can help," Will took over. With that, he walked in. All Harper had left in the hotel was a suitcase. The majority of her belongings were at her dormitory in the hospital and at Steward's house. She decided not to collect the items at Steward's house. Those were merely clothes along with some gifts Steward had given her in the past. Some of those gifts were quite expensive. But now that they broke up, she didn't want them anymore. As for the items in the dormitory, she had already collected them before coming to the hotel. They were all in the trunk of her car. When Will came in, Harper had packed her suitcase. She began pushing it out and Will smoothly took over. Without asking Harper's feelings about the matter, he knew if he asked, she would definitely refuse. "Mr. Frankie, it’s not heavy, I can handle it myself," Harper insisted. But Will said, "When a man is present, even if the load is as light as an egg, you should not do it yourself." Giselle chimed in from the side. "Exactly, let Mr. Frankie help. Speaking of which..." Getting there, she continued with her invitation, "Mr. Frankie, after dropping us off, if you have the time, come join us at our new place. Harper has a lot of stuff that needs to be carried upstairs." "Giselle!" Harper gestured frantically at Giselle. Will lightly smiled. "Of course, no problem." Just like that, Will went along with them to Northill Residence, helping Harper carry her stuff upstairs. Meanwhile, Giselle leisurely sat in the car, feeling quite like the most dedicated matchmaker. Once they came down, she suggested again, urging Will to join them for dinner. She reasoned, since he had helped, they must certainly treat him to a meal. Will naturally agreed. Harper felt exasperated by Giselle's repeated deliberate actions and gently kicked her. Naturally, they would treat someone who has long lived in Frystonia to a hotpot meal. Giselle specifically chose the hotpot restaurant with the best flavor in the imperial city. The three of them headed in, found a small private room to sit down, and after they had ordered, Giselle went to the restroom. The men's and women's restrooms in the hotpot restaurant were adjacent, sharing a common washroom. Just as Giselle came out and was about to wash her hands, she unexpectedly bumped into a familiar face. Gemini probably did not expect to encounter Giselle here either. He was taken aback for a moment but quickly put on a smile and greeted Giselle, and Giselle greeted back politely and softly, "Gemini." After exchanging greetings, Giselle came out to see Gemini pushing open the door of a private room. She wasn't sure who was in there. Giselle returned to the private room, the hotpot and its accompaniments were all served. The ambiance seemed less lively without Giselle—the meal was rather calm, with conversations interspersed infrequently. Harper noticed Giselle was preoccupied, so she asked, "Did you bump into someone when you went to the restroom?" Giselle shook her head, "No." However, she was indeed pondering in her mind, 'Is Patrick here? If he is here, I really want to ask him, why did he go to the hospital, is he feeling unwell, is it serious?' She just wants a single sentence of 'I’m fine', to reassure herself. In that way, she wouldn't be troubled thinking about him. Midway through the meal, Giselle found another excuse to step out. Each private room here had a tiny, round glass window on the door, through which one could see the people inside the room. Giselle thought of taking a sneak peek through it. However, she was apprehensive about being caught, thus, she loitered around nearby, wavering for quite a while. Finally, when she mustered her courage and was about to peek, the door suddenly opened. Giselle jumped in surprise, so did the person who opened the door. Subsequently, the two of them froze for a moment. Patrick apparently didn't expect to see Giselle here, let alone her sudden move. "You..." he wanted to ask, 'are you here for me?' But he found it unlikely. Then — Giselle said, "I'm here for you." A fleeting surprise passed through Patrick's eyes, almost immediately obscured by a furrowed brow. Worried about being seen, he moved forward and took hold of Giselle's arm, guiding her to the small corridor next door before saying, "I'm sorry Giselle, I have urgent matters to attend to shortly. I can't chat with you for long. If you have something to say, can I arrange to meet you next time?" Giselle noticed beads of perspiration on his forehead. Admittedly, the hotpot restaurant was warm, but not to the extent of causing sweat, especially given that Patrick wasn't particularly warmly dressed. "Do you have any health issues?" Giselle eyed Patrick, "Answer me now, and don't lie to me."