My Darling, My Dearest novel Chapter 342

Before she could finish her words, Celia grabbed the telephone receiver from Rachel's hand and put it back. She placed both of her hands together and begged in a pitiful manner. "Rachel, I won't laugh at you. Please don't tell Mindy. I'm going back to work now. I don't really know what's wrong with her recently. She has a very bad temper and would resort to scolding when she gets a little unhappy about something," she explained.

Rachel lowered her head down at the medical record on her desk after she watched Celia run out of her office in a hurry. She just pretended to call Mindy to prevent Celia from gossiping once more. Otherwise, Celia might began gossiping about her and Jack.

However, she couldn't see any of the indicators on the medical record. She leaned back on her chair and closed her eyes to rest and relax. Without warning, Celia's head popped through the door to Rachel's office again with a slight grin. "Rachel, how about we go shopping after work?" Celia asked.

"Sure," Rachel agreed immediately. She had nothing to do after her shift anyway.

Rachel packed her stuff after she ended her shift on time. She then went to the nurse station to look for Celia, but she couldn't find her anywhere. "Rachel, are you looking for Celia? I saw her at the lounge just now," a nurse said.

When Rachel arrived at the lounge, she saw Celia in front of the mirror, carefully applying lipstick. She proceeded to work on her hair after she was satisfied with how her lipstick looked.

Rachel leaned against the door and chuckled as she watched Celia. "You're already very beautiful, you don't need to spend so much time and effort on make up," she pointed out.

Celia smiled her statement and was immediately in deep thought. "What if I meet my Mr. Right later? I have to make sure to be beautiful for him in case he sees me, right?"

Lastly, she checked her makeup in the mirror and made sure that it was flawless from every corner and from every angle. She walked giddily towards Rachel and grabbed her arm with a broad smile. "Let's go, Rachel. Can you treat me to dinner tonight?" she suggested with a childish smile.

"So, you asked me to go shopping so you could extort me? Forget it. We'd better just go home," Rachel argued.

"No, it's not like that. I bought myself a set of skin care products last week. So, I am so broke right now. But I will treat you back when I get my salary, promise!" Celia offered.

The two talked as they walked casually towards the gate of the hospital. Celia talked excitedly about the shopping mall activities that she saw on her phone. She suddenly noticed that Rachel stopped walking and stared blankly at the gate. "Rachel, what's wrong?" she asked.

Rachel's eyes were wide open with surprise. 'Such a coincidence that these two are at the gate of the hospital at the same time!' she thought to herself.

"I'm here to pick you up," the two said at once and almost in one voice.

They then stared at each other after they heard each other speak. Their eyes were filled with anger for the other.

Celia gripped Rachel's arm tighter as she felt uneasy about the situation. Her eyes wandered from Jack and to Bill and then back to Jack again. "What's going on, Rachel?" she asked restlessly.

Considering the complications that the current situation would bring, Rachel decided to simply refuse both of them. "No, thanks," she said with a smile. "I have agreed to spend time with Celia and we're going shopping together."

"Yes, that's right. We have an appointment with each other," Celia added. She smiled wryly. She thought that it was a bad time to go out with Rachel considering the current situation.

"Then allow me to drive you both there. I'll treat you to dinner afterwards," Jack immediately offered.

"Okay, Rachel, I..." Celia stopped speaking right away when she noticed that Rachel stared at her. She lowered her head right away and did not say another word.

But Bill wouldn't allow himself to easily be outdone by Jack. "Well, I was planning to buy some clothes too. I'll go shopping with you. I could use your help to pick some clothes for me, " he offered.

The situation easily became too annoying for Rachel. "No, thank you. We can take a cab to the mall. And I don't know how to choose men's clothes. I cannot help you," she said firmly.

"It's okay. I can pick the clothes myself," Bill replied. He pretended not to understand her refusal of his offer.

Jack walked towards Rachel and stood opposite her. He then gently wrapped his arms around her waist. "You have me as a loyal driver and a free wallet. Don't you think it's a waste to pass that up?" he said in a husky voice.

Celia wanted to nod her head in agreement, but she didn't dare to say or do anything related to the two men. All she could do was give Jack a look of support.

Rachel suddenly noticed the curious stares of the onlookers around them. She started to feel like she was an animal in a gilded cage that was placed on display. She quickly decided what to do next while under the scrutiny of the people around them. Despite being embarrassing, she thought that it was the only logical move for her.

She gently and carefully wriggled herself free from Jack's arms. "No. You can go about your business. I will go shopping with Celia. Neither of you need to accompany us," she said in a firm tone that was hard to ignore or refuse.

Rachel immediately grabbed Celia's hand as soon as she finished speaking. The two then walked hurriedly around the two men and immediately hailed the first cab that passed in front of the hospital and got in right away. She had the driver take them to the shopping mall.

The onlookers quickly dispersed when there was nothing more to watch. They were only interested while the two men fought over a single woman. It was not long when only Bill and Jack remained with each other at the hospital gate. The two stared each other, snorted, turned around and left with their faces filled with disgust for the other.

The sound of a ringing phone was the first sound that broke the silence between the two men.

Bill answered his phone and Andy's voice came clearly from the other line. "Bill, Howard came to see you. Please come back immediately."

Although Howard was Bill's father, he had very little contact with him because he and his mother lived abroad and Howard already had another family of her own.

Bill immediately left the hospital with a frown.

The recent scenario at the hospital rattled Rachel so much that she was absent-minded while she shopped with Celia.

Celia had an orange overcoat in her hand that she tried on. She then turned around so that Rachel could check it out. "What do you think, Rachel?"

"Not bad," Rachel replied almost mechanically.