Chapter 7 Piss Claud Off

Claud's assistant opened the door again. He reminded Isabella in a serious tone, "Miss McCoy, this is the hospital. Please keep your volume down!"

When his voice drifted off, her phone in her bag vibrated.

It was a call from Norris. As she stared at the caller ID on the screen, an idea sparked her.

She walked aside before picking up her phone with a snicker. "Norris."

"Isabella, have you got off work? How was your day?"

"It's terrible. I'm in the hospital now."

Panic aroused in him. "Why are you in the hospital? Are you hurt?"

"It's not me. I scalded someone else," Isabella said casually while thinking about the naughty idea in her mind.

She had never heard of anybody saying that Claud got a girlfriend. Even in the banquet the other day, he seemed to be alone.

"Norris, can you accompany me to apologize to him?"

"Sure. Wait for me. I'm pretty free now."

"Hang on." Isabella added, "Remember to bring a bunch of chrysanthemums."

Norris was confused. "Is... Is that person dead?"

"No, it's just that he likes chrysanthemums."

Did Claud really like chrysanthemums? Of course not. In fact, he didn't even like any flowers.

Isabella lied to Norris.

He breathed a sigh of relief when he heard her explanation. "Okay, I'll be right there."

In less than half an hour, Norris came with the fresh flowers in his arms and appeared in front of her.

Seeing the flowers weren't what she requested, Isabella asked puzzledly, "Didn't I ask you to bring chrysanthemums? Why is it a bunch of daisies?"

"I thought about it on the way and felt that it isn't nice to bring chrysanthemums at times like this. No matter how much he likes them, it's quite inappropriate to send him such flowers when he is in hospital. So, I changed them to daisies. Pretty similar to chrysanthemum, right?"

Generally speaking, chrysanthemums were used when visiting the deceased.

Isabella was rendered speechless.

Were they similar? Isabella didn't think so.

Looking at the green daisies in his hold, she felt something was wrong. However, Norris didn't give her any chance to think further and pulled her along as he knocked on Claud's ward.

It was still Claud's assistant who opened the door. He exchanged his glances between Isabella and Norris.

Norris took the lead and said, "Hello, I'm Isabella's boyfriend. We're here to apologize to the patient."

Silence crept into the ward for a while. A voice then came through. "Let them in."

"Yes, Mr. Lambert." The assistant stepped aside and made way for the two.

Norris brought Isabella into the ward.

Claud was sitting on the sofa, exuding his dominance. He was in his shirt, and his suit pants had been changed into hospital wear. Even if they weren't a good match, they didn't look strange on him.

When Norris saw him, the look on his face changed dramatically. How could it be Claud?!

Isabella didn't notice the switch in his expression. She held Norris' arm and put on an earnest act. "Mr. Lambert, I'm here to apologize to you."

She grabbed the bouquet from Norris and handed it to him. "I wish you'll recover soon."

Claud drifted his gaze away from Norris, who was looking uneasy, to the green daisies. There was a strange and unfathomable smile on his lips.

"Well..." He paused for a moment and continued, "I can't accept the flowers."

Isabella thought that Claud was going to continue making things difficult for her. She should've given him the chrysanthemums!

She suppressed the boiling anger in her and said, "Mr. Lambert, you know I didn't mean to scald you. I'm here to apologize to you sincerely. So, please accept."

To her, Claud shouldn't be that ungrateful since she had bowed to him and made her apology.

Claud obviously sensed her irony. "Green daisies mean unexpressed love and affection. Are you sure you want to give them to me? I don't think it's quite appropriate."

A bunch of green daisies. What did Norris want to imply?

A secret crush?

Isabella looked at the flowers in a daze and pondered Claud's words. She'd be more than happy to avoid him at all costs and not have anything to do with him for the rest of her life. How could she possibly have a crush on him again?

Moreover, it was impossible for a man like Claud to know about the language of flowers. His words had to be a lie.

Indeed, Claud used to know nothing much about these things. However, his company had just launched a series of flower-themed apparel. He had learned from there recently.

She took out her phone and searched about it on the Internet. And then, she realized it was true.

In order to ease her embarrassment and clear up the misunderstanding, Isabella took the green daisies and tilted her head to Norris' shoulder. "Mr. Lambert, don't take me wrong. It's my boyfriend who bought the flowers. He doesn't know much about floriography. In fact, I love my boyfriend very much."

The reason she asked Norris to come over was to show off their love and piss off Claud!

Did she love her boyfriend very much? Claud took a cigarette from the case and put it in his mouth. Without lifting his head, he asked, "What about you, Mr. Carter?"

Norris was so nervous as if the one he was speaking to was his supervisor at work. Cold sweat began to run down from his forehead to his neck. "I..."

All of a sudden, he glanced at Isabella and said, "Isabella, go and buy another bunch of flowers. Since we want to apologize, we should show some sincerity, right? Shall we buy the chrysanthemums that Mr. Lambert likes?"

"Chrysanthemums?" Claud looked at the woman.

A twinge of guilt streaked her through, but she bit the bullet and uttered, "You misheard me, Norris. I didn't say chrysanthemum. When I came here just now, I saw there is a florist shop near the hospital. Since Mr. Lambert doesn't like daisies, then I'll buy another kind."

"Okay."

Norris wasn't in the mood to correct Isabella's lie. All he could think about was how he bumped into Claud with Isabella.

When Isabella left the ward, the pressure she felt from Claud's presence gradually disappeared.

Taking a deep breath, she gave the flowers in her hands to a kid. Then, she walked out of the hospital inattentively.

When she came back, Norris had already come out of the ward. He was waiting for Isabella by the door.

Seeing her return, he quickly walked over and said, "Isabella, I have talked to Mr. Lambert. He has forgiven you."

Isabella was confused. Why did Claud become so easy-going all of a sudden?

She stroked the gladioli that she had carefully selected. "Do I still need to send these to him?"

"Okay, but..." Norris hesitated.

"What?"

"Isabella, Mr. Lambert said his leg still needs to be taken care of and... he wants it to be you, to make up for what you did to him."

As a man and as her boyfriend, Norris knew it was inappropriate for his woman to be applying ointment to another man's thigh. He didn't want to agree to such an outrageous request, but he had no choice!

She needed to apply ointment to Claud's leg?

Isabella had no idea why Norris would agree to it. She held back her vexation. "Did you know where I scalded him?"

"His leg."

To be more specific, it was his thigh.

A pang of grievance twisted her heart. She couldn't help but raise her voice at him. "Since you know it, how can you still let me do it?! Norris, are you out of your mind?"

At this moment, she was starting to wonder if Norris was really on her side.

Cupping her mouth, he draped his arm over her shoulders and pulled her to the side. "Keep your voice down, Isabella. Mr. Lambert isn't that kind of person. I heard that he was deeply hurt by his first love, and now he's into men! Otherwise, how would I agree to him?"

"Deeply hurt my ass! Wait! What did you just say? Claud is gay now?!" Upon hearing that, Isabella was shocked to the core.