Chapter 3
1167 Words
"Babe. What are you doing here? Didn't I ask you not to come?" Lance said in the calmest tone Viella had ever heard.
Wasn't he even concerned that she just saw another woman's head resting on his chest? Is this also supposed to be normal? Viella pondered with a racing heart.
"Ma'am Viella," Nora's small voice pulled her out of her reverie, "I am glad you are here."
The pale-looking girl hurried over to Viella and wrapped her arms around her in a desperate embrace.
Viella instantly felt terrible. Nora looked so innocent. Why would she even think there was anything going on between her and Lance?
Viella's cheek flushed with embarrassment.
"Noralie? What is wrong? How are you feeling?" Viella asked, taking in a deep breath.
"I feel so sick. My stomach hurts. My head feels light. I feel nauseous. My whole body aches. My joints..." Noralie kept going on and on, and Viella felt even more terrible.
The young girl is going through so much and truly needs someone around her all the time. Maybe they could make arrangements for a live-in maid for her.
"You will be fine, okay? I promise you." Viella said, cupping Nora's face in her palms.
"Thank you, Viella," Nora said in the most innocent tone ever.
"Why did you come, Viella? I asked you not to bother about it," Lance asked softly.
"I... Uh. I told you last night that I wasn't feeling..." Viella was trying to explain, but the door opened, interrupting her.
It was the doctor. Hansel.
"Hello, Mrs. Rollins," Doctor Hansel greeted with a formal smile.
"Doctor," Viella replied, "How is she?"
"She is fine. Just her body trying to adjust to the changes it is undergoing. She needs more rest. It seems she engages in rigorous activities a lot..." Hansel said, more like a question than a statement.
Viella and Lance exchanged curious glances.
"Not at all, Doctor. We make sure she doesn't do anything at all. We have a maid who helps her out in the house every morning and afternoon." Lance explained.
"Maybe you should get a live-in maid for her," Hansel suggested.
Shortly after the session with the doctor, Lance was ready to take Noralie back home.
"I'll come with you," Viella said.
"Just go home. I'll meet you up shortly, okay?" Lance protested, panting a kiss on her forehead.
"But..."
"Viella. How do you intend to take the second car home if we all drive in mine?" Lance asked tiredly.
"Oh. I didn't think about it. Alright. I'll see you at home." She replied with a weak smile before turning to Noralie. "Nora... I'll see you during the week, okay? Take care."
She watched them leave.
"Mrs. Rollins," Doctor Hansel called, his rich baritone voice flowing over her like a velvet caress, "I'd like to have a word with you."
Her stomach fluttered, a reaction she couldn't quite control despite her best efforts. The way he spoke, with that smooth, controlled cadence, made her heart race faster than she ever cared to acknowledge.
"Is everything alright?" she asked when they finally entered his office. She did everything but hold his gaze for more than two seconds.
He gestured for her to have a seat, "Viella... Should I speak to you as a friend or as your doctor?" Hansel asked, relaxing on his chair.
This wasn't sounding good.
Viella settled into the plush leather chair in Doctor Hansel's office, the scent of his cologne—a rich blend of cedarwood and sandalwood—clinging to the air, enveloping her senses.
Hansel's office was as meticulously arranged as he was, and the warm hues of mahogany and gold created an environment that was both inviting and intimidating.
"What is it this time, Hansel?" She asked, trying to hide her panic.
Her eyes flickered to Hansel himself. She couldn't keep up with being so nervous around him. He shouldn't have such a hold on her.
He was the kind who made heads turn and hearts race. But not hers.
Standing at 6'2" with a muscular build that spoke of strength and something a bit darker, Hansel moved around with an effortless charisma that attracted other women... Not her.
His short, brown hair was always styled with a precision that mirrored his personality—neat and controlled... She always imagined.
Viella felt her pulse quicken as he leaned back in his chair; his deep green eyes that never betrayed any emotions seemed to pierce the depths of her soul as he spoke.
"Why do you let your husband attend to Noralie all alone? Do you even make time to care for her and attend to her needs?" He asked.
That voice. His voice. It could turn any woman on... Not her, though.
She cleared her throat, "My husband doesn't let me do some of these things. He prefers to do them by himself..." She explained, clutching her phone so tight that it almost cracked.
Hansel shook his head with a small scoff. The small, black spot beside his lips—an imperfection that somehow made him even more irresistible—that always twitched each time he smiled was a detail she caught herself staring at more often than she liked to admit.
"Do not let this be the greatest mistake of your life, Viella. Letting your husband all alone with a woman who is carrying his child? The havoc could be irreversible most times."
"Wh...what are you insinuating?" Viella swallowed.
"I won't be the one to insinuate anything, Viella. Make out time for Noralie. Do not let your husband do it all by himself. Do this and thank me later." The small, black spot beside his lips seemed to twitch with every word he spoke. She wished it'd stop. It wasn't making this meeting any easy for her.
There was a pregnant silence.
"Does your husband know?" Hansel asked, his tone softening as he leaned forward, his green eyes locked onto hers with an intensity that made her heart race. His gaze was magnetic, almost hypnotic, pulling her deeper into the whirlwind of emotions she had tried so hard to suppress.
"Hansel. We've talked about this already. He doesn't know, and I'd like it to remain that way." Viella's eye roll was a thin veil over her irritation, a futile attempt to mask the fire burning within her.
"So... He still doesn't know I was the one who took your..." Hansel was about to say when Viella stopped him harshly.
"Hansel! That was all in the past! We were senseless teenagers who knew nothing! If this keeps getting in the way, I might as well get another doctor for my family!" Viella yelled, standing up from her seat.
Hansel's gaze followed her, the coldness in his eyes momentarily replaced by a flicker of something softer, though just as intense. His perfectly proportioned lips curved into a smile that, while small, was devastatingly charming.
"Have a pleasant day, Doctor Hansel!" she called out over her shoulder.
- Writer
