The Wrong Woman

Nathan froze in place when he heard the question. After a short

pause, he answered calmly, “It just seems like a good way to keep your tears at bay.”

Out of the blue, a soft voice interrupted their moment. “Did you finish setting up my flowers?”

Suzanne rushed back to her spot, grabbed her tools, and began

trimming. “Almost done, Florence.”

Florence walked in and saw that none of the flowers were arranged. Some empty vases still sat on the floor, waiting to be taken care of.

Confused, she glanced at Nathan. “Nate, didn’t you mention coming

over to-”

“Mom, go home and rest. We’ll handle it here,” Nathan spoke in a louder voice, trying to drown out whatever she was going to say.

He swiftly put his arm around Florence’s shoulders and guided her away. After seeing Florence off, he returned to find Suzanne focused on trimming the flowers.

Nathan grabbed a pair of scissors and took a seat across from

Suzanne. He observed how she did it and silently started helping. The peaceful, sweet-smelling atmosphere made time slip by in a soothing

way.

Suzanne looked up and spotted a vase of flowers that Nathan had arranged himself. She couldn’t help but grin.

In the vase, a bunch of deep red roses stood in a neat and precise formation, almost like his soldiers’ disciplined arrangement. Suzanne found amusement in Nathan’s sense of style.

Seeing her holding back laughter, Nathan’s mood lifted. “Is it strange?”

Suzanne carried on with her task. “Your mom would surely appreciate it knowing you did it.”

“Do you think it’s good?”

Suzanne nodded. “Yeah, it looks nice.”

Nathan looked at her rosy face and realized she was even lovelier than the flowers. It struck him, for the first time, that flower arranging wasn’t a boring or pointless activity.

As night fell, Nathan headed back to his room after dinner and had a shower. Dressed in a relaxed grey outfit, he stood on the balcony with his hands resting on the railing.

Looking up at the sky, he noticed the stars were clearly visible from where he stood.

The door creaked there. Nathan, hanging out on the balcony

open, and Suzanne stepped into the room. She shut-

the door quietly and

turned to look at her..

The room was big, but even from a distance, they could read each other’s faces. Nathan picked up on Suzanne’s nervousness.

He came in from the balcony and closed the gap. Suzanne’s heart sped up the closer he got.

She jumped into a conversation. “I heard everyone’s nervous about your aunt’s return tomorrow. Do you want to head back to Sudvilla like Taylor and the rest to avoid her?”

“Aren’t you afraid of her?” Nathan asked.

“I haven’t met her, so I don’t get why everyone’s so afraid.”

“She’s not that scary, just super annoying,” Nathan explained.

“More annoying than Sally?” Suzanne blurted out.

Nathan froze, and Suzanne quickly apologized, “Sorry, didn’t mean to offend your childhood sweetheart.”

Nathan stuffed his hands in his pockets and spoke with a touch of disbelief, “She pulled tricks to frame you. You should be calling her awful or mean. How is she just annoying in your words?”

Suzanne was caught off guard. She didn’t see that coming.

“Oh,” Suzanne mumbled awkwardly and wanted to take a step back.

Suddenly, Nathan moved in closer and placed his hand on the door. Startled, Suzanne pressed her back against the door. She was too frightened to move and simply stared up at him.