CHAPTER FOURTEEN: RUMOURS AND ROSES
1885 Words
LIORAÉ
I stared at the cardless bouquet of roses in front of me. Why would Soren send such to my house after I had resolutely told him that I would refuse to be in an improper relationship with him?
“Did Evan send this?” My mother gushed at the red roses seated in the bucket.
The colours were too vivid, almost artificial, but when I took a big sniff of it, they were fresh flowers that had been plucked. Where the hell did he get this kind of flower from?
“These are exotic, rare roses,” Camille gushed as she ran her fingers across the petals. “So soft,” she added in a giggle.
“You should call Evan now and make up; see, these flowers must have cost a fortune to…”
“They aren’t from Evan,” I cut her off. Not just because I wanted to, but I knew that Evan couldn't afford flowers like this ever, and even if he could, he would never give them to me. He had never given me anything of value because I was valueless to him.
“If they aren’t from Evan, then who could they be from?” My mom snapped in my face.
She didn't need to speak for me to see how embarrassed she was by me. I was being the ridiculous child who was being difficult for no reason.
“Wait!” Camille said, her eyes brimming with bright hope, as she gripped my hand gently. “Are you saying there is someone else?”
“There is no…”
“Someone else? ” My mom and Camille seem to have entered another realm. At this point, it didn't matter what I said; they were just going to talk to themselves while I was to stand there like a placeholder and listen.
“Yes, someone, maybe an admirer bold and rich enough to send her the flowers,” Camille explained as if she knew the truth.
Bold and rich enough? That was Soren, and this screamed too wildly for him.
“Are you telling me that Lioraé has found someone else? Someone better than Evan?” My mom was too happy for there to be someone else for someone who was playing Evan's advocate just a second ago.
“Possibly,” Camille replied.
My mom clapped and held her chest dramatically. “Then you should have said so,” she gasped and then laughed. “I knew my daughter wasn't a fool to give up Evan, except she had a plan.”
I puckered my lips and shook my head, unable to fathom what they both meant.
“What the hell are you saying?” I finally mumbled loudly enough for them both to hear me. I couldn't let them dream of me getting married to someone rich when it was never going to happen.
“When can we meet that new boyfriend of yours?” My mom was already getting ahead of herself. In her mind, this new boyfriend of mine was already married to me.
“What boyfriend?”
“The one who would send such beautiful exotic roses” – she smacked her lips and clapped gleefully at the same time.
“I have no boyfriend.” I made sure my voice conveyed how confused I was. She looked at me, incoherent words sputtering out of her mouth.
“Camille?”
“Maybe she is not ready to introduce us yet.” Camille was so sure that I was in a new relationship. Was it because she was delusional, and I was the one who would save her from poverty?
“Let’s not pressure her,” she added, and even though she was wrong, this was a way for her to get off my back, and I was grateful for that. “I am sure when she is ready to share, she will tell us.”
“Make sure not to screw this up; heaven has given us another chance at life, and you'd be foolish to waste it.”
I pushed down all the hurtful things I could say because it was too early in the morning to get into a squabble with them. I took a picture of the bouquet, hoping that it was going to be my way of getting Soren to stop, but I wanted to stare at the image longer.
“Invite him over for dinner soon,” my mom screamed at me on my way out of the house that morning.
When I got into the office that morning, Soren was in an audio conference call. His eyes lit up as I stood in the doorway, and his finger beckoned to me when I tried to back up during his call.
“Sit,” he mouthed, gesturing to the couch. I lowered myself onto it, not getting comfortable; I was at the edge of the sofa. My eyes wandered around the room gently. Everything in here was grey and black, and my red skirt against the black couch was a great contrast.
‘I am a patient man, so I am going to wait for you, but you are going to come to me and be mine.’ His words replayed over and over in my head.
It didn't help that he kept staring at me while on the call. My eyes didn't go in his direction, but I could feel his gaze burn a hole into the back of my head. How did he manage to stay focused when he was distracting himself that much?
“Lioraé, you came.” I got up and walked over to the desk.
“I have to, sir; this is my job.”
‘It does not change the fact that I am happy to see you.’
“Well, sir…”
“Don’t say anything to ruin it,” he stopped me, shaking his head. “I understand that I wasn't much of a gentleman that night, and I am sorry about it, but the fact still stands…” He stops and gets out of the chair, pulling off his jacket and hanging it on the rack behind him before turning to me.
His eyes were holding mine, doing wonderful backflips in my stomach. The pleasure from his gaze alone was too much, and I wanted to look away, but I didn't want to look weak to him. He couldn't bully me into…
His grip on my chin made my thoughts disappear. How come I hadn't seen him walk towards me? “Lioraé, you are mine,” he finished.
“Mr Vale, I am not yours,” I said, swallowing the lump in my throat.
He needed a little more effort to make me his and… I stopped myself and shook my head. ‘Lioraé Alcott, what the hell are you thinking?'
“Well then, I am going to make you mine,” he said as if he heard my thoughts.
I wiggled out of his grip and took a step back; he pulled a sly smile and tilted his head. “You should have at least allowed me to take you home last night.
And allow him to get closer to my family? Never, not a chance. I absolutely can never allow that to happen.
“I can get home just fine.”
“I know.” He was standing in front of me again. This time, my eyes connected with his chest and how toned it was. I wondered what kinds of exercises he did to get a body like that. I knew what it felt like to run my hands across those abs, and I wanted to do it again.
“But I want to score some good in your book, and doing things like that would make it happen.”
“Was that why you sent those roses?” I snapped, glad I hadn't forgotten why I came here.
“Roses?”
“Yes, Mr Vale, roses.”
“Lioraé?” He called gently, his fingers gently taking off the loose strands against my face. “Is this your way of asking me to buy you flowers?”
“Mr Vale?” My voice came out in a small scream whisper. “What do you take me for?”
“I have no idea what you are going on about; if you want roses, then I would make sure you get the best.”
“Wait, are you saying you didn’t send me roses this morning?” I gulped, and he shook his head.
Could Evan have sent it? Did he finally lose his mind?
“Lioraé?”
I pulled my phone from my pocket and tapped on it, grateful I had taken a picture of it. I pushed it to his face and explained.
“It came to my house this morning, and it was cardless, so I assumed that it came from you.”
“OH,” he said in a happy tone. “You assumed it was from me? Does this mean you were expecting something from me?” he asked.
“No, I just thought that…” I stopped myself from going down that rabbit hole. That wasn't what this conversation was about. “If you didn’t, then who would have?”
“Did you throw it out?”
“No.” I shook my head, and his eyes flashed with jealousy mixed with anger. “I had gotten it and…”
“I will get you bigger flowers, so throw that out.”
“What?”
“I can’t even think that another man dares to send you flowers.” His voice was tight, and the words fell like a bomb. “I hate that other men are looking at you or even think they can have you.”
“Is that what you are worried about here?”
His jaw tightened as he pulled me closer and held my upper arm gently. “Lioraé,” he called my name, and I felt my entire core shake.
“I want you and all of you,” he said, as if I was just going to give in because he asked. “And I hope you would stop saying no.”
“How can I date you?” I murmured, and he smiled as if I had thought of the right answer. “You have Elara and…”
“Stop bringing her up. I have told you there is nothing between me and her.”
“That is not what she thinks,” I snapped. “I don’t want a target on my back with her. She believes you two are more, and maybe there would be some truth in that if you look closely.”
“There is no truth and never will be. “The only woman I want something to do with is you,” he said softly and pressed my arm gently. “And I know just the way we can solve that.”
“How?” The word fell out of my mouth against my will. What really is the harm in knowing?
“If only you'd let me show you how much I love you.”
“What is this supposed to mean?”
“Date me, Lioraé.”
- Writer
