Chapter 2: No way Out

“Hello, I am Adele,” she introduced herself.

Mr. Vincent’s eyes widened, looking at her.

“Sorry, come again.”

“I am Adele, from Flower Fetish,” Adele smiled as she extended her confirmation mail.

“Oh, yes,” Mr. Vincent replied.

“Will you be comfortable helping us to decorate?”

“We are in a bit of a hurry...”

“Excuse me, Mr. Vincent, please give us two minutes,” Blaise mustered an urgent smile and took Adele a few steps away from him.

“What are you saying?”

“But we are here to deliver the flowers, not to decorate,” Blaise clutched Adele’s hand as she whispered.

“It’s ok. They need our help.” “Look around. Do you think we will get another chance to come here?” Blaise shrugged.

“But..”

“Come on, let’s enjoy the view,” Blaise winked.

“We are happy to help you. Mr. Vincent,” “Tell us from where we have to start?”

Adele followed the lead.

They started decorating the hall with white flowers.

“This is mesmerizing,” Adele thought, looking at the light coming from a massive chandelier on these white Tulips in the decorative vase.

The white flower bridge case next to the flickering candles filled her heart. Hula-hoop rings adorned with peonies reminded her how beautiful life could be for her.

Dad was right- Blossom wherever you are planted.

A smile knitted on her face, capturing this exquisite sight in front of her eyes. “Perfect,” She murmured.

Blaise patted her back as she looked around. “We really did a great job. It looks perfect. I am sure Mr. Vincent will be happy.” Blaise added.

“I hope so.” “I am sure this will be a special night for the special ones.” Adele smiled.

“Miss Adele, Miss Blaise,” Mr. Vincent called.

“Yes,”

“Here is your cheque,”

Adele looked at the figure, unable to understand the figures written on it.

“Sir, I think there are some mistakes. You paid us $10,000 extra,”

She extended the cheque to Mr. Vincent.

“No, my boss is happy with your work. You delivered fresh flowers and helped us to decorate this house,” Mr. Vincent nodded with a thin smile.

“But...” Blaise clutched Adele’s hand, stopping her.

“Thank you, sir; we appreciate your gesture,” she took the cheque in her hand.

Adele, confusingly looking at her as she was not ready to accept this charity.

“Can I see your boss? I wanted to thank him for...” Adele requested.

“No, he is busy. Besides, he doesn’t meet anybody without an appointment.”

Mr. Vincent answered in a firm voice.

“Sir, what’s the celebration, if I may ask.” Blaise tried to divert Mr. Vincent’s focus on her.

“What celebration?”

Both the girls looked at each other.

“All this decoration... “Adele inclined her head.

Mr. Vincent kept the same expression.

“There is no celebration. My boss lost someone important in his life, and today we dedicate these flowers to that poor soul.”

Adele’s smile faded. After all this hard work, she got to know it was a sort of memorial.

“Ok, we are sorry,” she bit her tongue and warned Blaise not to ask questions.

“I am feeling sorry for Mr. Vincent’s boss,” Adele speculated as they came out of the mansion.

“Yes, she must be so special for him, could be his wife,”

“Could be,” Adele blew her cheeks out.

“Well, it’s dinnertime, and I am damn hungry,” Blaise tried to cheer Adele, who looked upset about delivering the flowers in someone’s low moments.

“Me too, but I have to cook,” Adele exclaimed.

“Give me five minutes,” she excused herself.

Blaise went to take the truck from the parking lot while Adele unintentionally walked towards the fountain, which looked more beautiful with the dusk.

“No wonder you are trying to hide your face. I wanted to hide too..., I wanted to hide myself from this world,” Adele talked to herself as she lost in her thoughts.

“I wanted to be like those flowers.”

“I wanted to spread love, but all I have is sorrow in my heart,” a lone tear fell from her eye.

She turned and bumped into someone.

“I.. I... I am sorry. I didn’t see....,” she hesitated.

They settled down as she helped him to pick the roses.

“Sorry, I didn’t see you,” she looked up and found the same Gardner.

“You again,” she mustered a smile.

“I can tell you the same.” He gifted the same smile.

“Were you talking to yourself?”

“No, no...” She averted her gaze and revolved a hair strand behind her ear.

“Did you finish your job?” He questioned.

She nodded without raising her teary eyes. While picking the roses, a thorn pricked on the first layer of Adele’s finger. “Ouch..” she gasped.

He tried to help, but she pulled her finger between her lips.

“I am sorry. I should have cut these thorns,” he affirmed.

“It’s ok. It’s not your mistake. Sometimes the purpose of these thorns was to draw our attention towards the rose,” Adele smiled painfully, hiding the pain behind a silly reason.

They picked the last rose together from the ground. “What do you mean, their purpose?”

She smiled and sniffed this fresh bud. “It means if you want to hold something precious, you have to face the consequences.” Her words puzzled him more, and with a smile, he extended a rose towards her.

“What’s that for?”

“Nothing, just like that. You are a florist, and I am a gardener; isn’t that enough for me to give you a rose?” he chuckled. She carefully accepted the rose and passed her goodbyes.

She came to her truck, where Blaise was busy talking to someone on her phone.

“What were you talking to him? He looks handsome,” Blaise clicked her tongue.

“Nothing, he is a Gardner here,”

“Shit, the Gardner? And I thought Mr. Vincent was the owner of this mansion, but he was not.” Blaise rolled her eyes. Adele chuckled.

“Not now. I have to cook for my family,” Adele affirmed.

“Not today; we already worked hard today. And you need some rest too. You are coming to my house,” Blaise declared.

“But, you know... your brother... I can’t,”

Adele tried to resist the situation where she could face Blaise’s brother.

He is her elder brother, who likes Adele.

“He likes you, and I don’t see any problem with that. I would be happy if you accepted him as your boyfriend.” Blaise winked. “Shut up,”

“Well, you are coming home, as mom and dad are at grandma’s house, and Elijah is not home,” Blaise assured Adele.

“Fine, we will order pizza.”

“With extra toppings,” Blaise excitedly jumped.

They reached home, where Adele opened the door and found a beautiful candlelight dinner waiting for her.

She glared at Blaise for lying to her.

“I am sorry, he insisted.” Blaise creased her nose.

Adele walked inside as Elijah gave him a beautiful smile.

He is six feet tall, with dark brown curly hair and a perfectly lean, sculpted body. He is a financier from the profession and likes Adele for her hard work and honesty.

“Hello, Adele,” she shyly smiled, looking at her. Adele liked him, but not as boyfriend material.

“Hello, Elijah,” “How was your work?”

“Ummm, it was good,” Adele answered.

“Well, go fresh-n-up, and we will enjoy our dinner,” he stood in his apron, clutching the spatula in his hand.

“Sure, brother,” Blaise giggled.

They enjoyed their dinner quietly. Adele is not talkative, not when she knows what’s waiting for her at home.

“Babe, here is your cheque. I hope it works..” Blaise asserted.

The burden of paying the debt of her father’s farm squirmed her head

“Yeah, I hope it could give us time to think about how to get more money,” Adele sighed.

“Everything will be ok.” Blaise hugged her and wished her goodnight.

She took the cheque with the thought of depositing it the next day in the bank.

******

“What the hell? Where is the cheque?” Adele’s voice stuttered when she didn’t find the only hope to spare her a few days from the bankers.

She ran downstairs and tried to talk to Mike.

“Mike,” she screamed.

“Why the hell are you screaming at my son?” mother snarled.

“Mom, yesterday I got a cheque, and I needed to submit it to the bank. Mom, it’s important to save the farm. Please ask him,” Adele’s eyes filled with tears, body shivering in stress.

Mom turned towards him. Mike tossed the bowl of cereal on the table.

“You bitch, are you blaming yourself for stealing your money?”

Adele strides behind him as she begged him.

“Brother, I want to save our father’s last thing: our farm. Please, understand, I am not blaming you, but if you know, please tell me,” she lowered her head.

Mike growled at her as he pushed her aside.

******

With a heavy heart, she came to her shop, sitting in her truck,

“I am sorry, daddy.” busted into tears. She lost the cheque; she knew it was Mike who had stolen the cheque. And there was no way she could prove it to their mother. Slapped her last drop of tears from her cheeks, she flung the truck door.

“Hey,”

“Is everything alright, Adele?” Blaise knew something was not right. She looked pale as her cheeks were red with a blue mark under her eye.

Mike slapped her again without mercy. Adele shook her head as she closed her eyes.

“I lost the cheque.”

“What?”

“It’s Mike... I..., I don’t know what to do,”

“He showed me the cheque, and...”

Adele hugged Blaise as the pain inside her grumbled out in tears. “How am I going to save my farm and this shop?”

Before Blaise said something, somebody entered the shop. “Miss Adele Romero?”

“Yes,”

“We are from Golden bank; we are here to discuss your farm and this shop,” the man declared with confidence. Adele understood there was no way she could save the farm and this shop.

“How much time do I have?” They extended the paper.

“One week,”

A fresh batch of tears filled her eyes; she had no hope. She signed and extended the papers to the bank person.