Black Roses

SERENA

Wow! Interesting wall. No, no, interesting vase. The color, the shape… 

Don’t speak. 

“Fuck!” I let out a sigh as I couldn’t get deviated from his thoughts despite how much I tried. That moment was still playing in front of my eyes, the way he held me and looked into my eyes. 

“What are you thinking about?” Mira asked, standing beside me. “About the arrival of your childhood love?” 

“Mira!” 

She wiggled her eyebrows. 

“Not him…” I pressed my lips together. “There was this guy… a mysterious one…” 

I saw her getting excited. “And…?” 

“And nothing.” I laughed. “He was different. Whenever we met, we always quarreled. That arrogant jerk…” 

“Are you changing the hero of your story? Or what?” she started to tease me. 

“No!” I made a proud face. “Because the hero of my story is myself.” 

I sold the last bouquet before I started to walk out. When I opened the door, I saw Mr. Otis in front of me. In his casual hoodie, spectacles, and a different hairstyle, I nearly couldn’t recognize him.  

We both looked at each other, surprised. He asked, smiling at me “You also came to buy flowers?” 

“I work here actually,” I replied. “You want to buy flowers?” 

“No! I saw you through the glass door and I wondered if it is you so I’m here.” 

“Oh! It’s nice to see you again.” 

“Yeah, we met again.” He smiled. “How about I treat you to dinner today for saving my life?” 

“No… no, that’s fine…” 

“We agreed to have dinner if we meet again. Forgot?” 

“Um… it’s lunch.” I laughed.

I got in his car and I agreed to have dinner with him after his request. We stopped at a nearby restaurant and started to have our dinner. 

“How’s your hand? It seems perfectly alright.” I said as he drove the car without any difficulty. 

“I didn’t take off the bandages but I don’t feel pain anymore.” 

“But, you shouldn’t just go out driving like this. It is dangerous.” I warned him. When he was about to ignore it, I said in a much serious tone “I am serious. As a helper in a hospital, even if it is veterinary, you should know better than me.” 

He smiled and nodded his head. Then he gave me a gentle look, saying “You… remind me of my daughter. She’s also the same. She talks like you.” 

No one said those words to me ever. It felt strange but it made me happy. 

“I’ve never heard these words until now. Thank you.” I smiled. 

“You will keep hearing these things because I entered into your life now.” He said that made me smile more. 

Then we continued to eat and he asked “Do you mind if I ask about your family?” 

“There’s nothing much to tell. The truth is, I don’t even know who my parents are. As far as I know, someone left me near the orphanage and left. That’s it.” I scoffed. “I must be an abomination.” 

He held my hand and gave me a small smile, saying “You are not. You have me. Whenever you feel like you want to talk to me or share something, call me. I’ll be there for you and you can call me uncle if you want.” 

I stood from my chair, walked to him, and gave him a side hug. “Thank you so much.” 

He laughed at my actions and gestured for me to eat. We then had our dinner, spent some time together, and then he left after he dropped me at my home. 

____ 

Not knowing if I should take the bouquet to Hayden's house, I kept arranging the black roses. I didn’t buy him a new bouquet after that day. I knew the occasion for having the bouquet might have ended but I kept feeling guilty for not delivering his black roses on time. 

After arranging them neatly, I took the bouquet in my hands, walked out of the shop, and started to book a cab while the rays of the setting sun kept falling on my skin. I got out of the car and as usual, after getting checked by security and confirming with Hayden, they let me in. 

As I entered inside, I saw Hayden sitting on the sofa. Though I smiled at him, he didn’t respond but looked at me, surprised. 

When I took a step towards him, he stood from his sofa and came towards me, giving me a questioning stare. 

“What are you…”

I didn’t let him finish his sentence. I extended my hands to give him the bouquet. 

“What the” he gritted which left me shocked. “W-why are you giving me the black roses?” 

“What do you mean by that? Last time, I couldn’t deliver your bouquet but you didn’t say anything so I thought I should give you one…” 

He looked at me from top to toe as if he was doubting me for something. 

“If you don’t mind, let me tell you something,” I spoke. “Black roses are not a good option…” 

“I know.” He cut me off. “Anything else?” 

I scoffed. Dude got some mental issues. It wouldn’t take minutes to give a pleasant smile at least. 

I put the bouquet on the table and turned around to leave but a strand of my hair got stuck to his button which resulted in an awkward situation between us. 

Unlike the romance movies that I saw, he wasn’t making it a romantic moment but gave me horror vibes as he started to pull his shirt that burned my scalp. 

“Ah! Hey!” I shouted. “You’ll either destroy your button or my hair.” 

“I don’t care.” I heard him mumbling. 

I held his hand, stopping him from his crazy actions. I said, looking at him, at the same time trying to untangle my hair "Destroying things is easy. Protecting something is difficult. And, it takes time and faith to achieve something without destroying anything.” I removed it. “But in the end, you will get the result that you want.” 

He kept looking at me without breaking his gaze. Slightly, I waved my hand, indicating to him I was leaving but I stopped moving when he shouted “Serena!” 

Finally, he called my name correctly. I kept my gaze on him while he came towards me. By his look, I could say he was going to apologize to me for his arrogance. 

He stood a few inches away from me and said, smirking “I suggest you stop being nosy.” 

I gritted my teeth as he continued smirking at me. If my cell phone wouldn’t have rang, I would have gotten into a quarrel with him. Mira saved him. 

“Yes, Mira.” 

“Serena! I-I’m scared… can you please come?” 

“Mira? What happened?” 

“Someone’s following me. Can you… can you please…” 

“Shhh! Don’t worry. Send me your live location. Until I come, stay in the crowd.” 

I cut the call and started to leave but Hayden held my hand which confused me. 

“Do you want me to come with you?” he asked.

I freed myself from his grip. “No, thanks.” 

“Let me come with you.” He started to follow me. “I can understand you are going to do some stupid thing again.” 

Ignoring him, I continued to walk away but he pulled me by my arm. He said, giving me a serious glare “Either you listen to me or I can make you listen to me. I don’t think you’d like the second option.” 

I gulped. His behavior was confusing me. Sometimes he wouldn’t give a shit about me but sometimes he thought about me as if we had an everlasting bond. 

I agreed with him as I felt taking his help would be better than booking a cab and waiting for it. 

“Seatbelt.” He said before starting the car. 

I buckled my seatbelt and opened the location that was shared by her. Until I reached the location, I didn’t believe I would reach the location safely. His rash driving made me feel it was my last day. I glared at him while unbuckling my seatbelt.

“I nearly met the god of death, do you know that?” 

“You should be thankful we reached earlier.” 

I got out of the car and ran towards Mira, who was sitting on the bench beside an old woman. I held her hands that were shivering and tried to calm her down. 

She showed me a group of people, who were standing a little far from her. Before I could see them properly, Hayden went there and punched one of them. 

I put my palm on my mouth and we both looked at each other, scared. 

“Who is he?” Mira asked.

Another guy came forward but he was also knocked down with one punch. 

“The mysterious guy about whom I told.” 

I could see Hayden giving a warning to them, and the remaining guys ran away dragging their injured friends. His punches might have frightened them. 

Hayden stood in front of us and we both looked at him with wide eyes. He told Mira “If you are in trouble, you should call the cops, not a person, who can get into trouble along with you.”

Mira held my hands and said “I… I’m so sorry. They started to follow me from a café and it scared me so much. I couldn’t think of anything properly. I tried calling David but he wouldn’t pick up my calls and I remembered you…”

“Hey! It’s okay.” I hugged her. 

“You and your friends must have a thing for walking alone on streets, that too, in evenings or darkness,” Hayden shouted. 

“Don’t lecture us…” I tried to say something but Mira interrupted me. She said “I don’t know who you are but you helped me. Thank you so much.” 

He didn’t reply anything to what she said but he spoke “Get in. I’ll drop you at your house.” 

The entire drive was silent. As we reached her house, we both got out of the car. 

“Where are you going?” he asked. 

“She must have felt so scared. I’ll stay with her for some time and then I’ll go. Don’t worry, my house is just a few streets away from here.” I replied. “And… thank you so much for your help, Hayden.” 

I waved my hand at him and entered her house. Her hands were still shivering and I tried to calm her down. 

“I did a stupid thing, didn’t I? I should have taken a bus or cab or I should have called the police…” 

“Now everything is fine. Don’t worry.” I held her hand, assuring her. When she felt relaxed and her sister arrived from her office, I chose to leave. 

As I kept walking, I remembered the guys who previously followed Mira. Suddenly, I felt scared and without my knowledge, the pace of my walk increased. When I felt safe as I was so near to my house, a pair of hands held my hand and I screamed. Before I could see who it was, another hand grabbed me by my waist. Hayden was beside me and he was choking the one, who held my hand, and when I saw the person whose throat was held by Hayden, I was stunned. 

“Eric?”