Chapter 2: F L E U R

“Miss Won, there is a bouquet of sunflowers sent to you.” My secretary gave me a wink.

I had received flowers from suitors before, roses and carnations, but never sunflowers.

“Sunflowers?” I thought. Sunflowers were not flowers which suggested romance.

I wondered what the sender was thinking of. It was my habit to ponder about others’ minds. According to Key, it was a bad habit as people would not like to have their minds read by others.

“People enjoy being secretive and mysterious.” Those were Key’s exact words.

“Yellow and bright sunflowers, they remind me of your smiles. I miss you so much, but I bet you have no idea of my identity. Sunflowers also meant waiting, if I remembered correctly. Forgive me, my lady. Hope you will like this bouquet of fleur.”

The message was typed on a piece of hard yellow paper this time. However, the sender did not give his identity.

I placed the bouquet of sunflowers near my nose. Its scent was light but pleasant. I smiled as I tried to think of someone who would fit the identity of the sender.

“Romantic, mysterious, has style and taste and someone who misses me… I wonder who?”

There was no one who could fit the bill.

I decided to not think about it and to remain in my state of blissfulness. Afterall, people had always said, “ignorance is bliss”.

My happiness was instantly robbed when I saw the reply from Key.

“Hey, You-Know-Who. I am having a great life. In fact, I am thinking of proposing to the woman I loved. You will give me all your support, don’t you? :] I just hope she will accept me readily. Afterall, I had not been giving her the attention and love she needed. I guessed my proposal would be too sudden. Let’s just hope she won’t have a heart attack! I really love her so much… How I wish I could be with her all these times… How are you then? Hope you are fine.

From: The Almighty Key!”

“Proposing to the woman I loved?” I mumbled the words Key had typed in his email reply.

“He is going to marry someone! How can he?” I moaned, as my heart throbbed in pain.

This news was unacceptable to me. “How can he do this? How can he?”

Uncontrollably, I began sobbing and then wailing in my office.

My heart seemed to be dug out, leaving a wide empty hole in my body. My mind was a blank and numbness surged through my veins.

Everything I did that day was a blur.

I did not reply Key’s email. His news was devastating to me. I could only clearly see the bright yellow colour of the fresh sunflowers. The yellow colour was so bright, enticing and beautiful; so contradictory to my moods.

I chose to return home to recuperate early.

I recalled all the moments I had shared with Key.

“I am the Almighty Key! Nothing can bring me down!” Key raised his hands high, as if he were going to touch the deep blue skies.

“Right! Almighty Key, what exactly can you do?” I sneered.

“I can draw, I can paint, and I can sing, I can dance, I can rap, I can make you laugh and I can…” Key leaned nearer to me.

His self-confidence was making me chuckle.

“What?” I asked between chortles.

“Kiss you and make your heart tremble!” He gave a light peck on my right cheek and began laughing loudly upon the sight of my flushing face.

“Idiotic Key! You are taking advantage of me!” I rushed to slap him in his chest.

“Am I? I thought we are brothers!” Key retorted as he ran away from me.

“Brothers don’t do that! That is so mushy!” I chased after him.

In the end, both of us sat in a cafe and were savouring our favourite ice-creams.

“Key, I love you.” I murmured, as my fingers traced the outline of Key's face in the photo that I was holding.

We had taken a photograph after we had managed to escape from the clutches of the policemen. We had been doing graffiti until we spotted the plain-clothes policemen. We ran really hard for our lives then.

“Can you help us take a photograph?” Key had approached a young lady randomly, passing her his handphone.

“What are you doing?” I nudged him as he returned to my side, in preparation to pose for the photograph.

“Your face is so red, like a tomato. I want to keep a picture as a memento!” Key stuck his tongue out and placed his hand over my shoulder.

“One, two, three!”

That was how we came to take our one and only photograph together.

“When do you want to get married?” Key had thrown me an unexpected question that day too.

“Twenty-five years old.” I replied directly. I wanted to start a family early since there were too many risks of giving birth at an older age.

That was how I answered Key when he asked me for the reasons to why I wanted to get married at such a young age.

His reaction was his non-stop chuckles which caused him to suffer from a lack of breath later and my vicious beatings.

“Tomorrow will be my twenty-fifth birthday.” I realised as I snapped back from my memories to the reality, “and Key will be proposing to someone else.”

Grief overwhelmed me.

I had always thought that Key would be my future husband, or rather; I had always only wanted Key as my future husband.

I guessed it was the end of my dream and my imagination.

I had to face reality.

On impulse, I slid the only photograph of Key and me, into the beautiful photo album I had received the previous day.

“My beautiful memories…” I hugged the album as tears flowed down my cheeks.

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enjoy. :)

 

th1rd3ye/crunch