Wolf's Bane

Chapter Five

Good thing I didn't drop my camera.

That was the first thought that went through Zayne's mind when she saved the young lady who almost fell to the pavement earlier.

Earlier, he was busy taking photos of the hospital's facade when he noticed in the corner of his eyes someone who was about to fall down. So, he immediately closed the gap of six feet between him and that person, saving them from getting their face planted into the ground.

The moment he did that though, he could feel his right eye twitch and immediately told her to be more careful next time out of annoyance. So, once she was standing upright, he left immediately to not show his irritated face at her.

As to why he was feeling this way towards her, he wasn't quite sure. If there was a reason as to why, it would probably be her smell, or so he thought.

"She reminds me of that incident from twenty years ago. But, I don't recall meeting someone like her before or anywhere else," Zayne muttered, clearly thrown off with the unexpected reminder that he made a beeline to where Jack was in order to calm down.

When he arrived at his uncle's office, Jack was there to welcome him in his doctor's garbs, looking quite professional in them.

"Are you already done, Zayne?" Jack asked the young man who shook his head, telling him that he was gonna lay down in the back.

"I just met someone unpleasant. So, I'll be laying down in the back for now," Zayne said as he placed his camera atop his uncle's desk and proceeded to the back of the office where there was a bed with a curtain.

Immediately, he laid down and closed his eyes to rest, making Jack wonder what could have annoyed Zayne.

Maybe one of the nurses came up to him and asked for his number again.

Jack thought to himself before shrugging it off and continuing with his work, returning his attention back towards the laptop atop his table.

"Did Alice leave for a meeting again?" Zayne asked from the bed at the back, causing Jack to tell him not to speak about it so loudly.

"She did. Apparently, it's something important that she can't skip out on and she needs to show herself at least once every three months as well," Jack said.

"Apparently, the meeting is related to you although she didn't add any more details about it before she left this morning," he continued.

Upon hearing that, Zayne went silent and didn't speak anymore. With that, the room was filled with nothing but silence again, besides the occasional sound of typing coming from the laptop.

Just then, someone knocked on the door so Jack told them to come in. When the door swung open, it revealed the young lady who Zayne had helped out earlier, asking Jack if it was okay for her to barge in without an appointment.

"It's perfectly fine. I welcome everyone who walks through that door. So, what may I help you with?" Jack asked with a smile as he told the young lady to take a seat.

"Well, I was advised by some of my coworkers to go visit a nutritionist to help me with my exhaustion. I am working as a teacher and ever since starting the job, my health has been on a constant nosedive," Rias said to Jack although her eyes were glancing at the camera atop his table.

"Ahhh, you must be talking about Ian then. Yes, he's been here a couple of times before. Well, I'll advise you to go get a general check up first, just to make sure that nothing is fundamentally wrong with you. But for starters, I can recommend to you a basic outline of a meal plan that you can try out for a week and see how it feels for you. Of course, you need to get enough sleep and exercise as well or else, all of this would be pointless. I know that teachers are often working hard so you must take good care of your health, especially someone as young as yourself," Jack said with a smile.

"May I have you fill up this form? This is so I have a record for when you come visit me again," Jack said as he handed Rias a piece of printed paper and a pen.

Once she was done, Rias gave the form back to Jack who checked it to make sure that everything was answered correctly before smiling at her.

"So your name is Rias, a pleasure. My name is Jack," he said with a smile as he began asking her different questions in regards to her daily routine, allergies and any diseases that she had in the past.

Half an hour later, Jack had given her a meal outline to follow for a week, as well as advice in order to make sure that she's being efficient with her day.

"Well, that's all I wanted to say but, I actually have more I want to add," Jack said with a smile as he asked Rias if he met the person who the camera on his table belonged to.

Stunned, Rias merely nodded, looking embarrassed when Jack explained to her that he noticed how she kept on staring at it.

"Don't worry. I was just curious," Jack said. "Actually, he's my nephew. If you want, I can introduce you to him."

And with that, Jack began calling for the young man to get up from the bed and meet his new client.

"This person is Zayne, a freelance photographer and single too," Jack said, causing the young man to glare at his uncle for adding the last part into the introduction. In fact, it looked like he didn't even want to be there to merely say hello to Rias, as he wanted nothing more but to lay back down again.

"About what happened earlier, I'm sorry for the trouble I caused you. If things have gone terribly wrong, your camera might have ended up broken because of me," Rias said as Zayne just waved it off and told her that it was fine.

"Well, can I at least treat you to a cup of coffee as an apology?" Rias asked, looking hopeful as she went ahead and straight up asked for a date.

As for Zayne, it looked like a vein was about to pop in his forehead due to the situation he was in while Jack was just enjoying the whole thing.