Falling in Love With A One-Night Stand

At noon, Anna went back to her office for a break after finishing her shift. Soon, Patrick appeared at the door, asking, “Mrs. Wright, may | come in?”

Anna glanced at him and replied, “You’ve already entered my office before I can answer you. What happened?”

“I finished the poster you asked me to work on this morning. | printed the first draft, as well as some flyers. I’ll make some changes if you find anything wrong with it,” Patrick raised the stack of papers in his hand and said.

“Take a seat,” Anna said, pointing to the seat beside her. Patrick, you can be rude sometimes, but I got to admit that you’re a hardworking guy as you never failed to finish the tasks lassigned you. Anna thought to herself.

Taking a look at the posters, Anna said, “Great! You can later post them on the bulletin board. Send the flyers to your coworkers and collect the list as soon as possible.”

“This is just a first draft. Don’t you want to make some changes to that?” Confused, Patrick asked.

“That’s not necessary. Besides, you did an excellent job. Those who want to go will sign up, while those who don’t will not, regardless of how good your flyers are. Tomorrow afternoon, the dean will tell everyone about this at the pep rally.”

Standing there silently, Patrick opened his mouth a few times but

eventually shut it. As sharp as Anna was, she knew what Patrick was 527 Are You Afraid? — thinking, Then she dropped the posters in her hand, saying, “You can go there with Nancy if you want. I’ll speak with her about it later.”

“That… That’s not what | meant,” Patrick said after a brief pause, “I came here to apologize to you, Mrs. Wright. I’m so sorry! | shouldn’t have said those words to you in the morning. Dr. Moore told me you hadn’t taken a vacation in a long time and you have been so preoccupied that you

didn’t even have much time to spend with your family. Again, | sincerely apologize for what | said to you. | shouldn’t have judged you like that.”

“It’s okay,” Anna nodded, “I didn’t take it personally.’’

about | take you out to lunch, Mrs. Wright? There’s a new Spanish restaurant nearby,

you. I’ve

didn’t leave, as if he needed

a brief pause, Anna said, “Okay. I’ll

“Sure!”

want to ask where I’m taking you before answering me?

that! Besides, | totally trust

belongings and come with me,” Anna

hour later, Anna stopped in a building in a

his head; nonetheless, he got out

stuff, a

you, but | can take these myself. | need

527 Are You Afraid?

said, pointing to the laboratory building in front of her, “Actually, ‘ve been preparing for the volunteer thing for years. And recently, ‘ve been visiting the lab for six months to conduct experiments to study Fleosil’s infectious disease virus. Although | decided not to go there, | still want to do something to help you guys. And | want to share with you the information | gathered with my other colleagues. In any case, | want to be a part of the

by what he heard, Patrick gasped and said, “Why didn’t you tell me earlier, Mrs. Wright? If you had told me earlier, none of

bygones, okay? There’s no point talking about it now. Go get my stuff and follow me,” A

“Alright! I’m on itt”

waved to a gray-haired man, greeting, “Hi,

placed the paper in his,

Patrick Dawson, my intern. This is Dr. Foster, Patrick.” Anna then

you, Dr. Foster. | took your class last semester,” Patrick said in

were Dr. Burton’s

he was looking at, and she looked at Patrick thoughtfully. She 527 Are You Afraid? s thought to herself, Patrick must be a nuisance at school as well. Someone as lenient as Dr. Foster could not have

to see the experiment’s results, Dr. Foster,” Having collected her own thought, Anna