Two days have passed since I returned, and I stayed at my parents' house for the meantime. I haven't heard anything from Rozzean. I tried asking Maki, but he didn't answer my questions, saying it's his punishment for me.
He's annoying. But I think he is punishing me this way for the mistake I did.
"Dad, about the man that you wanted me to marry..."
I saw Dad look at me. We were outside in Mommy's garden.
"What about that?" he asked.
"I am ready to meet him, anytime. Do I need to wait for 2 weeks, as I said, because of the two months?"
Dad smiled at me.
"Look, Tangi, before, I was the one initiating this conversation just to persuade you to meet him. But now, it's you. What made you change your mind?"
Because the man I am going to marry is a great man, Dad. A responsible and loving man.
"N-Nothing, I just thought that I'm already back. There's no need to wait until the months are done."
Dad nodded.
"Okay, I'll talk to Mr. Valleje about this. We will meet them after I talked to him."
I suddenly felt nervous. The truth is, I don't know where to start if I face Rozzean. I'm scared, and I don't know what to explain first. Should I start with an apology and introduction, or should I tell him the reason why I entered his house as a maid?
"But, are you okay now, Dad? Do you feel any discomfort in your body?" I double-checked.
"I am fine, Tangi. I was just stressed because of what's happening to your brother. Grand and his family had to be guarded because he was receiving threats from an unknown person related to his company. And then, I found out you weren't in Palawan."
I lowered my head when I heard Dad's words. I had no idea this was happening to my family while I was at Rozzean's house.
"We thought you were kidnapped, and the threats to Grand's life were related. We all felt intense fear, so we immediately sought help from the police to find you."
"I'm sorry, Dad..."
He responded with a smile.
"When do you want to meet the Vallejes, Tangi?" he asked me.
"I-I'll leave it to you, Dad. I just want to say that any day is fine because I'm already here. It won't be too much of a hassle for Tinatangi since my employees have been handling the work well."
He nodded at me again.
"Okay, then if they are free tomorrow, is it okay with you? You know, businessmen don't always have free schedules."
T-Tomorrow?
"S-Sure, Dad, no problem."
That noon, I bid goodbye to Dad, saying I'll be heading to the main branch of Tinatangi. I also informed them that I'll be going straight home in the evening and will just call them.
I commuted to my flower shop because my car was at home.
"Ma'am Tangi!" Alma greeted me.
"Welcome back po! Perfect timing, someone ordered flowers! The message says they want you to arrange it. I was about to reply that the owner isn't here, but you arrived just in time."
I smiled at Alma and looked at the message from the flower order. No name was provided, just "for pick up." I immediately set down my bag and tied up my long hair to start creating the bouquet as requested by the client.
"Okay, sure, I'll do it, Alma. Are you the only one here right now?" I asked while selecting the necessary flowers. Red roses were specified in the message.
"Yes, ma'am. Lana and Ria will come in later. They told me beforehand," she replied.
"Ma'am, we're out of floral foam and floral wire. There's an order that needs to be delivered by 4:00 pm. Can you handle it alone for now?"
I glanced at Alma while trimming the ends of the red roses.
"Yes, I can manage. Go ahead, buy what we need nearby, and also order our stocks, okay?"
"Okay, ma'am!"
When Alma left the flower shop, I found myself staring at the bouquet I was arranging. I suddenly missed the art of arranging flowers. The last time was when Rozzean himself picked flowers from his garden.
I paused in my work as I remembered that. He even put the tussie mussie I made in his room.
"How is he doing?"
"Is he looking for me?"
"I miss him..."
I really wanted to know what he was up to, but Maki refused to tell me. I sighed and continued arranging the flowers.
When I heard the door of my flower shop open, I turned to face it. I smiled, ready to greet the new customer, but my smile faded when I saw who it was.
"You really came back."
"L-Luther..."
He approached me, his gaze dropping to the flowers I was working on.
"Is it not finished yet? That's for someone special."
I also looked at the flowers I was working on. It means...
"You ordered this?"
He smiled at me and nodded, "I ordered red roses. Was there anyone else who ordered and requested you to arrange it?"
Luther touched the petals of the roses. So it was him.
"Why didn't you message me that you were coming back? Why so sudden? We talked about it, and I said I'd bring you home next week, didn't I?" he asked.
He was so close to me. I gulped and stepped back to grab three red roses. I focused on arranging the bouquet I was working on because it seemed like it was needed.
"I-it was sudden. My cousin Maki picked me up. Should I have told you?" I asked him.
I can see that he was watching my every move. I felt awkward.
"You are really great at this, Thaliana."
I was surprised when he took a small-stemmed flower and tucked it behind my ear.
"It's a good idea that I stopped by your shop. You're not responding to messages or even calls. The number was unreachable."
I deleted the messages on my cellphone and left it in my room at Rozzean's house. I took out the SIM card and discarded it when Maki and I left.
"I thought something happened. I couldn't go to Cyron's house because of taking care of Taki. But as I have said, any day, I can visit you at my brother's house. When our parents arrived, I went to see you as promised."
"I was surprised when Manang told me you weren't there and couldn't be found."
I looked at him when I heard his last words.
"H-How is Rozzean?"
"H-How is he?"
Luther's face changed its expression. He averted his gaze from me.
"I don't know. I talked to Manang when I went to Cyron's house. Also, he's not answering my messages, even my calls."
I suddenly got worried hearing that from Luther.
I focused on arranging the flowers. Once I tied the ribbon and had the roses positioned well, I showed the bouquet to Luther.
"Here..." I said and handed it to him.
I felt nervous because of his expressionless face while looking at the flowers.
He took it from me, looked at it, and when he smiled, I breathed a sigh of relief. It meant he liked it.
"Beautiful." I gulped when he said that while looking at me.
"T-Thank you for trusting my shop, Luther. I hope the person you will give that flowers will like it--"
I was surprised when Luther took my hands and made me hold the bouquet.
"That's for you actually."
W-What?
"F-For me?"
He stepped back and then glanced at his wristwatch.
"I need to go. I have a meeting to attend in my company," he said.
"W-Wait!"
But Luther turned away from me and walked out of my shop. When I looked at the bouquet I made, I remembered what he said earlier.
"He said that this is for someone special."