Meanwhile, Aria did not know a thing about Noah and Ivy's intentions. Neither Ivy nor Noah had disclosed anything before her and she was interested in right now was to make up with Ian. She knew that her not talking to him had made him miserable and had seen it on his face when she had given him a cold shoulder whenever he had tried to speak to her.

Though he was her senior at college and her superior at the hospital, he was still her good friend and she did not want to continue the cold war any longer. The man was truly yearning for her forgiveness and it was high time she forgave him. She had received the information that Ian was working the night shift that day. Although he was a surgeon and had the experience, he still worked as a resident doctor as it was his passion to treat his patients, unlike other surgeons who worked only for a certain number of hours per week.

It was his passion for his work that had motivated Aria to do the same and she too was working like the other junior doctors who had to work longer hours than surgeons. Aria had still had an hour so before Ian's shift ended, yet she rushed to meet him, lest she should miss him somehow. It was not that she could not speak some other time, but she wanted to get done with it as soon as possible. She did not want to prolong their misunderstanding.

But to her annoyance, the first person she met on her way was Mason, the guy who had spiked her drink in London. Since the time they had known each other, she had tried to maintain a safe distance from him as she had sensed bad vibes from him. But after that day, she simply loathed. The man was worse than termites and she did not like seeing his face.

Aria wanted to avoid him as always but the man blocked her way, not allowing her to leave him. How long had it been since he last saw her? He wondered as he stared at her with desire. He had not seen her for a long time now since the time she had gone to the borders and when she had returned, he had been on leave. So, this was their first meeting after her return and he did not want to let her go without taking a good look at her.

The way Mason ran his eyes over her body disgusted Aria. She knew that the man was nothing but a hooligan but had assumed that he would at least maintain work ethics. Who knew that the man was this sickening. She just wanted to get out of his sight. His mere presence was making her puke.

However, as soon as she took a step away from him, he closed in on her making Aria glare at him. But the man only returned a smile at her loving the way she looked right now. He had got her where he wanted.

Aria and Mason were in the corridor that led to the cardiology department near the VIP wards and since it was still early, not many people were present around them. Once in a while, they would see a ward boy or a nurse at the other end. But nobody came to the place where Aria and Mason were standing.

"What's the rush sweetheart? Let me take a good look at you." Mason cooed as though he was talking to his girlfriend and this made Aria all the more nauseating. She just wanted to leave this place as early as possible now.

"Mason, leave my way," Aria demanded, glaring at him with all the anger she had for him. But the man shook his head and grinned evilly. Aria could notice the man's horrible intentions and she huffed in anger. "Let me go, Mason." She ordered and took another step back only to see the man taking another step towards her. "I said let me go." This time her voice and Mason panicked a little.

The corridor was almost deserted and if she rose her voice, there was a high chance that people nearby could hear her. In order to stop her, he shut her mouth with his hand. Oops. Bad step. Now he had invaded her personal space and this something she could not tolerate. The next second, she smacked his hand and gave Mason a tight slap on his face. The loud smack reverberated in the narrow corridor and Mason looked at her in shock. He had never her expected to slap him not that she did not know how to.

"You disgusting creature. Didn't I tell you to stay away from me? How dare you cross your lines. I am going to chop off your balls if you come near me again next time." Aria seethed, her eyes raging in fury. She did not even care that she was spouting vulgarities to him. The man deserved it anyway. "You are only allowed to talk to me if there are matters related to work and maintain five feet distance from me. Otherwise, I will make sure you cannot make babies anymore."

With that, she walked away, leaving a stunning Mason staring blankly at her. On the way, he also heard her grumble, "Now the need to sanitize mouth. How annoying!!!"

While she still hurling curses at Mason, she noticed Ian who was observing her silently just a few steps away from where the duo had been standing. "Are you alright? Did he do something?" He asked, looking at her in concern. He had come out of the department and right the next moment, he had seen Mason covering Aria's mouth with his hand. Just from the scene alone, he was sure that the man was harassing Aria and he was up to no good. He wanted to go and put some sense in him when Aria slapped him hard right on his face making Ian halt in his steps.

Ian was surprised, unlike Mason who was spooked by the sudden change in Aria's behavior. But his surprised face vanished when he heard Aria hurling profanities at Mason and the next second, he started chuckling. Who knew Aria could speak such words with a straight face at this time? But that not his mistake either. It was the first time he was seeing Aria in this situation and like any other person, Aria had done the correct thing by slapping the man.

Aria stopped in her place when she noticed Ian standing closeby. "Did you notice whatever happened over there?"

Ian nodded, his eyes shining in mirth. He could see that Aria was embarrassed now. Gone was the person who had threatened to chop off a man's priced possession. She was replaced by a woman who was embarrassed about being caught by someone when she was cursing.

"Don't worry Aria. You did the correct thing."

"I know. That man is a leech and it just gets on my nerves whenever I see him. I swear I am not joking when I threatened to chop off his treasure. If he wants to test me, let him come at me. I'll show him what I can do and I'll make sure he will end up as a eunuch." Aria's fury which had curbed on seeing Ian, came back and this time it was a lot more fierce than before.

"I am sure you will and I don't doubt you on that. By the way, did he hurt you?"

"No, he didn't. He was just blocking my way and not allowing me to leave and then," Aria's mouth twitched when she remembered the next thing he had done. "His hand touched my lips. Now I'll have to wash my mouth at least ten times to make his repulsive touch go away, but I don't even that will satisfy me."

"What are you going to do about him? Are you going to leave him with just a warning?"

"No way. I am not a fool to allow him to go without getting his retribution. I'll report it to the management, though I doubt they will take strict actions against him."

"Why do you say so?" Ian asked perplexed by her words.

"Don't you remember that the nurse who got harassed by him last time, complained against him and the management just gave him a warning? They did even say anything about it later. It's like somebody out there is helping him secretly. Not sure, just a guess." Aria said as she pulled out a handkerchief from her purse and started to wipe her lips with it.

She was so busy making sure that her lips were wiped clean that she did not notice Ian's weird gaze. His hands were clenched in a tight fist and the man looked to be angry. He wondered why he did not know about this matter and why this issue was neglected to this extent. He could never tolerate such misbehavior, especially at his workplace. Now that he got to know about it, he would make sure that Mason would learn his lesson well, and also, it would serve as a warning to the others.

He made a note in his and to look into this matter thoroughly and punish the disgusting man. After that, his gaze returned to normal and his eyes fell on the woman who was busy grumbling as she rubbed her lips until it had swollen a little.

"Aria, I think you have rubbed it enough," Ian said with a chuckle.

"What do you know how I felt when those filthy hands touched my precious lips? I felt like puking. Nobody, I repeat nobody is allowed to touch these. They are solely meant for Noah." She said with strong determination without realizing what she had blurted out. Her brain slowly comprehended her words after she had spoken and she realized that she had got carried away. She gave out a helpless laugh, tried to sway from the topic.

"Umm, Ian, I need to speak to you." She said, this time her face becoming serious.

"Aria, if I am not wrong, we have been talking for the last fifteen minutes."

"Ohh, I need to talk about something else."