Reborn, Reawakened, Rekindled novel Chapter 202

I held onto Russel's hand tight, nuzzling into his arm, as we walked out of the restaurant.

I didn't give a hoot about the burning stares coming from behind us.

As we were about to hop into Russel's car, he got a call from the hospital. There was an emergency that needed his attention.

"Go! Work comes first!" I urged him immediately. "I'll have Bailey come pick me up."

Since I came with Barbara, I had to either call a taxi or have someone pick me up.

Russel looked back at the restaurant entrance with worry. I reassured him, "Don't worry, I won't exchange more than a word with him."

"Good, because I'll get jealous." Russel was pretty straightforward about this, never beating around the bush.

I found it refreshing.

"Alright, go to the hospital." I replied.

But Russel suddenly leaned in and kissed me on the cheek. I was taken aback and completely unprepared.

"I'm off to work now. Text me when you get home.” Russel said with a wide grin, seeing that I didn’t reject him or show any signs of disgust.

I touched my face, feeling a little embarrassed. All I did was nod; no words were spoken.

As I watched Russel speed off to the hospital, I finally pulled out my phone to call Bailey to come get me.

Bailey had just dropped my dad off at a meeting, and it would take him more than half an hour to come get me.

"If I weren't already at work, I'd hire another driver for my dad, and you could keep being my personal chauffeur." I sighed.

Since I was just an ordinary worker, having a personal driver wouldn't be appropriate.

"Miss Finch, please wait a bit; I'll try to be there as soon as I can." Bailey replied.

"No need; I'll just take a taxi." I quickly stopped Bailey. "Wait for my dad there."

Bailey always respected my decisions. The only time he kept something from me was when Neil was hospitalized, and he didn't tell me about the calls from Stella and the others.

But I could understand. He probably didn't want me to get involved with Neil again.

After hanging up, I stood by the side of the road, trying to hail a taxi. But it was a weekend, so there weren't many taxis available. I had to wait.

"Irene!"

Bonnie's voice came from behind me, and I turned around.

She was still holding onto Neil's hand as if she were afraid that he'd run away. The smile on her face was obviously forced. She walked up to me and asked, "Where's Dr. Russel? Why did he leave you here alone?"

"He went to work." I answered, cold and indifferent.

"I heard you're working now too." Bonnie seemed to remember something. She turned to Neil and said in a coquettish voice, "Neil, my mom, sister, and I have decided to start our own company. I heard Irene's family is in the makeup business, so we're planning to do the same. I'm a newbie, so you'll have to help me, okay?"

My family indeed ran a makeup business. We started as a distributor, but then we grew and started our own brand. We've been doing pretty well.

So Bonnie was planning to compete with us?

"Sure, let me know if you need any help." Neil responded gently after catching Bonnie's gaze.

His mood was a bit erratic. I noticed that he was sometimes cold and sometimes warm towards Bonnie.

But Bonnie was easily pleased. As long as Neil responded to her, she would beam with happiness.