Chapter 2
1112 Words
Chapter 2
The next morning, it happened again.
Same time.
Same silence.
Different flowers, this time, deep red roses.
Same card with her name written across neatly.
Then she laughed it off, soft but confused.
She went about her day as usual.
It repeated itself again the third, and by the fourth day she wasn’t laughing again.
By the fifth day, she started checking the hallways before opening the door.
By the sixth, she stopped pretending it was random.
At first she thought of him, it made sense in the ugly, familiar way pain tries to rewrite itself.
Regret, Apology and guilt disguised as effort.
So she unblocked him, just to be sure.
“ Stop sending me flowers.”
The reply came almost instantly.
“What flowers?”
She stared at her phone screen longer than she should have, and at the growing arrangement of flowers in her apartment, invading her space like something alive.
Her breathe slowed because tha answer was too certain and quick to be a lie.
And somewhere deep inside her, something stirred, not fear or excitement but the realization that someone who wasn’t him, had been watching and waiting for her.
That night, she didn’t sleep properly because she knew that someone, somewhere, far from her apartment was watching her.
Someone who didn’t believe in coincidences.
Only timing and patience.
...
The flowers arrived the next morning at 7:20am, but this time it wasn’t one bouquet but a hundred of them.
Flowers covered the entire hallway like someone had emptied an entire greenhouse onto her doorstep overnight.
Red roses, Orchids, White Lilies, Black roses, Peonies, Tulip. Red carnations spilling over expensive wrapping paper she couldn’t even begin to name.
Her neighbour across the hall stood, mouth opened wildly, staring.
“Girl...”, she whispered, “what did you do to somebody?”
She couldn’t answer because she honestly didn’t know.
Her breathe started skyrocketing as she stepped closer.
The scent hit her nostrils, sweet, overwhelming and almost dizzying.
Then she noticed every bouquet has her name written on them neatly.
That exact same writing; clean, precise and intentional.
Like whoever sent it had taken their precious time to carve out her name on them.
Her stomach tightened.
A delivery man was still standing nearby, checking something on his phone.
“Excuse me, who sent these?” she asked quickly.
He glanced up and gave her an awkward smile,
“No sender information, ma’am.”
“Did you see who ordered them.”
“No, ma’am.”
“Nothing at all?”
He hesitated, then shook his head.
“Just instructions to make sure every single one reached you.”
Every single one, this wasn’t only romantic, it was effort; a deliberate, expensive and obsessive effort.
Her phone buzzed suddenly in her hands, making her jump.
A message from her best friend.
“Are you coming to the studio today or not.”
She looked at it blankly and stared at the mountain of flowers in her doorway.
Something about it felt wrong.
She crouched down at the one nearest to her, fingers brushing the soft petals carefully.
That was when she saw a small white card peeking from the dark red roses.
Her breath caught and for some reason she felt her fingers turn cold.
She puled it out slowly and opened it.
The handwriting matched the others, sharp black ink.
“I’m glad my brother screwed up.”
Her entire body went still.
She felt her brain stopped functioning, as she wasn’t understanding anything.
Ethan’s brother.
And suddenly a face of fazed in her memory ,a tall quiet man with dark eyes and cold smile with an aura that make s shivers run down ones spine subconsciously
Nathan Walker....
The one she met at a family dinner almost a year ago. She remembered how little he spoke, how uncomfortable he made her felt and how his stares sent daggers at her. At that time, she brushed it off but now her heart beats too fast, her hands feels sweaty as her fingers tightened around the card.
‘No’, she muttered under her breathe, because it seemed to be joke . ‘ Who waits for his brother to break up with his girlfriend just to go after her?’
‘Who sends hundreds of flowers?’
Her phone buzzed again, this time it is an unknown known number , her chest tightened immediately .
She opened the message , ‘ Did you like them?’
That was it, no name, no explanation. A chill crawled down her spine. She replied immediately,’ who is this?’
The typing bubble appeared ,disappeared and appeared again. Then finally ,’You already know’
Her stomach dropped , she looked around instinctively, half expecting to see someone standing there to see her reaction , but nothing, just hundreds of flowers sitting there.
She clenched her jaw , anger finally pushing through the confusion because absolutely not , she refused to let some weird obsession drag her back into chaos after everything, she just survived .
She grabbed her keys from her apartment. Her best friend called when she reached the elevator.
“You sound mad,” her friend said.
“What happened?”
“He sent flowers.”
“Your Ex?”
“No.”
Silence.......
“What do you mean no.”
She stepped into the elevator pressing the button repeatedly, even though it was already glowing.
“His brother.”
The silence on the phone this time was heavier.
“What!!!”
“He sent hundreds of flowers to my apartment , and a card.”
“What did the card say?”
She swallowed hard and repeated what was in the card carefully .
“I’m glad my brother screwed up.”
“Hell no!!, What in the world was that.” Chloe shouted frantically. “No, that’s a serial killer behaviour”
“You think so?”
“I know so baby girl.”
“Well, also he texted me.”
“Really?,b***h, you’re kidding right?”
“Well I’m on my way to confront him.”
The elevator doors opened and she stepped out into the streets and hailed a taxi.
“Nooo, you’re not right? Tell me you’re kidding about that.”
“I’m sorry, it’s too late, I’m in a taxi right now.”
“What if he’s crazy?”
Something inside her already knew the answer to that question because sane men do not send hundreds of flowers nor go after their brother’s ex.
The drive to his house felt unreal , she barely focused on anything, only the throwing pressure in her chest, the closer she gets.
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD