Doctor's Order

Chapter 12

When Maine arrived at the hospital parking lot, she headed straight to the entrance of the hospital. A few feet from the hospital's façade Richard was already standing near the door. He was beaming from ear to ear and his hands were at his back. He then walks towards Maine upon seeing her.

Finally, they were standing face to face, Richard then flashes his most adoring smile and spoke first.

"Good Evening, Dr. Mendoza. Flowers for you." he said as he pulls his hands from his back and hands a bouquet of red roses to Maine.

Maine did received the flowers and softly said, "Wow, they're beautiful, thank you. Good evening to you too." Maine can feel that Ricard is staring at her that she tried to avoid his gaze.

"So shall we go?" Richard said as he offered his arm to assist Maine towards the direction of his car.

Maine then did extended her hand to hold on to Richard's pre-offered arm. As they were walking to one direction, Maine then asked "So, where are we going? What's the plan for tonight?"

"Well, normal people usually goes on restaurants at this time of the day and have dinner. So, we will pretend to be normal people." Richard said while wiggling his eyebrows.

This statement earned a soft laugh from Maine. She can't help but giggle with Richard's reaction. "You're silly. Do you know that?"

Richard pretended to be hurt so he pouted, "I was trying to be serious here."

"Okay, so we will be serious." Maine put on her most serious face she can muster as she looks at him and again asked, "Where are we going? I will now give you a warning, I'm quite hungry."

"Well, you do you crave for tonight? Chinese, Japanese, or Italian?" Richard asked with a smile.

"I think I will go for Japanese." Maine respond.

"Then, your wish is my command." Richard said and he bowed like a genie. He then opened the passenger's car door and assisted Maine as she sits.

Richard then went to the other side and sat on the driver's seat. Before Maine can talk, Richard then leaned to her side and she came face to face with Maine. Their faces were just inches apart. Maine held her breath as he was surprised with Richard's move. Richard on the other hand was lost on the eyes of Maine that he forgot for a second what he will do.

"Uhhmmmm... Yo-you're too close." Maine finally said, her face was turning red with embarrassment.

"Oh. S-sorry. Se-seatbelt." That was all he was able to say. His ears are now turning red as well.

Both of them reached for the seatbelt at the same time that Richard ended up holding Maine's hand. Maine then pulled her hand from Richard's hold and gave a sigh. Richard then pulled the seatbelt and strapped it to Maine. Once done, he adjusted to his seat and looked at her again then spoke. "Sorry. So, let's go?"

Maine nodded and smiled, "Yeah. Let's go."

The silence in the car was palpable. Neither one of them wanted to talk first. Both of them were just waiting for each other to break it. Finally Maine couldn't take the silence anymore.

"Uhhhmmm. Do you mind if we play some music?" Maine asked.

"Oh. No, no." he replied. Both of them reached for the radio and again their hands brushed. Now, it was Richard who first pulled his hand. Then, he handed his phone to Maine. "Here, you can choose from my play list."

Maine then took the phone and searched for a song. One song caught her attention. It's a Filipino song so she asked, "You know Filipino songs?"

"Of course. I'm half Filipino." Richard continued, "I do know some words and I can understand. However, I can't speak fluently." He turned his head to look at her but he immediately looked back to his front.