Love's Redemption (Chris and Maddie)

Brandon quickly caught the juice before it could spill. Before I could even turn my head, I heard a familiar voice right next to me. "Maddie, you really know how to handle men. I might need to come to you for lessons."

Lisa had finally seen my message.

I gave her a light tap. "Don't you know that scaring someone can be dangerous?"

"Scaring someone to death would be pretty expensive, wouldn't it? Isn't that right, Mr. Howell?" Lisa joked with Brandon.

Lisa acted like a sweet little lamb around Keith but would become really bold and outspoken with everyone else. I couldn't imagine how she managed to keep up the act with Keith. "Where's Mr. Marrow?" I asked, noticing that Keith was gone.

"He left," Lisa said, sitting down next to me and looking at Brandon. "Mr. Howell, you got two servings while Maddie didn't get any. Isn't that a bit unfair to your girlfriend?" Lisa's comment was clearly meant to point out that Brandon had eaten my portion. I gave her a gentle nudge to suggest that she should stop, as it might embarrass Brandon. Sharing my leftovers with Brandon was fine between us, but it might look bad if others saw it.

But I was wrong. Brandon handled it smoothly. He continued eating calmly and said, "Her serving is right here."

"Oh, so, you're sharing a serving, Mr. Howell. How romantic," Lisa teased.

"Yeah, Dr. Carline, maybe you should try this with Mr. Marrow next time," Brandon replied with a playful tone.

I laughed, but Lisa pinched the arm where I had gotten my blood drawn, and I winced. "Ouch, that hurts."

Brandon quickly said, "She just had blood drawn from that arm."

worried and asked,

fever," I said, leaning on Lisa's shoulder. "You're picking on

asked, "How did you get a

It feels like I'm swallowing razor blades," I

long has it been since you had your blood

waiting for the results," I said, looking at Brandon, who was still eating calmly as if we weren't there. Brandon stayed calm no matter the situation. He was just

checked her watch and said, "The results for a basic blood test should be ready by

you still have energy to flirt with Mr. Howell, then

was always

jokes. "Yeah, with Mr. Howell taking such good care

is the

a smile as she stood up. "I'm

you get your

playful gesture. Lisa

did

to? I can check

can are which

as a man walked over