Chapter 12: Flower Donation
Lance Storm
I just got home after a long day. It was six in the morning now.
While I was returning home from the office today, I had to go back to the base of my Mafia Thunder due to an emergency. I was supposed to check all the boxes properly before exporting them. Then, I had to make a strategic plan to make sure our boxes weren't stolen by our enemy.
I freshened up and decided to lay on the bed for a while to take a nap before I had to go to the office again in a few hours. Maybe I would just skip it today. It wasn't like my attendance was mandatory.
I felt more relaxed at the thought of not going to the office today. It had been so long that I had been able to relax.
But as soon as I closed my eyes to sleep, Ember's beautiful smile appeared in my mind.
My eyes jolted open at that instant, and I remembered the hangout with Ember. I was supposed to go to her favorite restaurant last night, and I didn't even text her once that I wouldn't be able to make it. Shit, she must be so mad at me.
Who was I kidding? She was Ember Corbin, so she definitely got another reason to rant at me now. She would chew my head alive this time with her complaints. Why was I giving her that much importance in the first place? Why should I care if she had complaints against me?
Yet, I unlocked my phone and saw the texts of Ember. I didn't see those before because my regular phone was turned off earlier. Her contact was saved as 'Crazy Lady.'
'Where are you?'
'Did you get home from work yet?'
'I am waiting in the waiting lounge.'
'I am starving and the smell of the food is killing me already.'
'It's not good to keep your new friend waiting on the first hangout. It hampers the bonding.'
I chuckled when I saw this text. Hampers the bonding? I don't think anything could make Ember change her mind once she made someone her friend.
'Will you even come? If not, at least let me know.'
'A text of simple YES or NO will be fine too.'
Her last text was, 'Thank you for everything, and sorry for everything.'
I could sense her sadness when she wrote that text to me. It was a simple 'thank you' text, but it meant so much displeasure. When my eyes fell on the time she had sent the text, I felt guiltier. She waited for me that long. She had a hope that I would magically appear. She shouldn't have had that much hope pinned on me. I was a horrible person.
She was really waiting for me for hours. I didn't usually make friends, so I didn't know the value of it. I always grew up being a quiet kid, and I loved peace. But today, I wanted to hit myself for such a mistake. Yesterday I lied when I said I had some workâI must have jinxed myself when I said thatâyet Ember had faith that I would go. She had so much faith in me, and I happened to screw it up. Great!
Immediately, I dialed Ember's number, but it was switched off. I didn't have any other ways to contact her. I should've asked for her email ID in return when I gave her my phone number.
I called one of my trusted men, Denver.
"Hello, Boss. How can I help?" he asked after picking up the call on the first ring.
"I am sending you a location. Go there and find out how long Ember Corbin was there," I informed him and cut the call. I forwarded him the location text that Ember had sent me before.
I got up from the bed and put my hands in the pocket of my trousers. I walked to the window of my penthouse and looked out at the skyscraper. I was having this strong feeling that I messed up real bad this time.
I should've at least texted her that I wouldn't be able to make it. Then, she wouldn't have to wait till that late at night and we could have easily rescheduled. Even when I dropped her in the middle of the street due to her continuous chatter, I made one of my men follow her to make sure she reached home safe and sound. And last night, she had to go home alone without any of my men keeping an eye on her.
Ember was the type of girl who would call trouble for herself without even knowing. Even if she knew, she would be like, 'Trouble, why are you standing outside my house? Come inside, and we can talk like there's no tomorrow.'
A smile formed on my lips. Ember really never realizes what she does. She just follows her heart. She has no family, yet she talks like she has everyone with her. I would've never believed her mom was dead if I wasn't in the graveyard with her. It must be difficult for her to cover her sadness with a smile.
Fate was really weird. Why did I end up meeting with her every time? Was I being too harsh on her and fate was giving me a chance to be good? But I couldn't be good because I had an entire gang to rule. Not to mention, the pressure was increasing due to Elian slowly pulling back from the one he ruled, which basically meant I had to control the share he did.
Since our mafia bases were all over the country, the two of us had it divided since our younger brother Eltan had shown no interest so far. But due to Elian pulling back because of his girlfriend Alena, his load was coming on my shoulder.
Unfortunately, Alena wasn't as cool as Ember with coming to terms with someone close to her being in a killing profession. But she accepted over time, and I quite liked her. However, it was Elian who didn't want to keep risks involved in his life for Alena's sake. He had already lost her once and came close to losing another time, so he didn't want a repeat.
While I didn't blame Elian for itâhe had never truly liked being in the mafia anywayâand wanted him to be happy, I just wish someone would take over the business side of Berserkers. I just liked handling the casinos without worrying about the financial sideâeven with the bare minimum, I did since I had a co-CEO to work in my place. Maybe I should talk to Elian about it; if he would like my president position. Although I highly doubted he would accept, considering he would hate to be apart from Alena.
God, why couldn't I just be a full-time mafia leader?
My chain of thoughts broke when I heard my phone ring. I saw it was Denver, so I picked it up as soon as possible. I waited for him to speak.
"Boss, I am sending you a clip, please check it."
I kept Denver on hold and checked the video he sent me. Ember was getting insulted by the waitress there. Ember was already sad, and that waitress was making her feel worse.
"How long did she wait, Denver?" I asked.
"More than four hours," he answered.
"Are you still at that five-star restaurant?" I inquired, and he hummed in response. "Then, do one thing. Buy that damn restaurant at any cost and fire all the staff. Appoint new staff who will respect everyone."
"Okay, Boss. Anything else?"
"And..." I stopped midway. I didn't know what I was supposed to do. Should I find Ember and apologize to her for not showing up? I have never been an apology-type person. How would I apologizeâthat too to a woman like Ember?
"And...?" Denver waited for me to continue.
"Trace her and send me the location." With that, I cut the call.
Looks like now I had to find different ways to apologize. Google could teach me how to apologize to a sane person. How would I apologize to an insane person whose mind never functions in a proper way?
Maybe I would ask my dear brother's girlfriend, who was the only person with whom I had shared about Ember. I always offer her advice; it was about time she returned the favor.
I couldn't even back off from apologizing to Ember personally now. I already asked for the location, so it was too late to back off.
___
Ember Corbin
"Kids, you were supposed to play with the toys, not eat them just because they are soft," I told the kids, who were playing right now because it was their free period.
"But if it's not for eating, why is it soft?" asked Peter.
I sucked in a deep breath and sighed. "It's soft so that you don't get hurt."
"Oh," Peter uttered and stopped chewing the toy.
I ruffled his hair. "Good boy. Now, tell your friends to stop doing that too," I commanded him, and he went to his friends.
"Ms. Corbin," someone called out my name.
I looked at the door and found the janitor with a bouquet of yellow roses.
"Oh, my! Mr. Charles, who is this huge bouquet for?" I asked with delight.
He handed me the bouquet and said, "Someone dropped it off for you."
"For me?" I raised my eyebrows. "Who can send me these flowers? Candy wouldn't waste so much money on some fresh yellow roses which would wither away one day." I searched for a name or a note, but I found only one small card that said 'SORRY.'
Immediately, I knew from the apology, that it was from none other than Lance Storm. He couldn't even apologize properly. He must have just sent Sebastian to drop it off while he remained busy at work. I chuckled seeing his apology attempt. But he messed up with Ember Corbin, so he had to suffer. Besides, why was he wasting his precious time to apologize to me now? I had no worth in his life.
I shove my thoughts away and thanked the janitor. After he went away, I called out to the kids.
"We have a new project today. Each one of you will get two roses to give to the two people you love the most," I announced and distributed the roses among them. The kids were happy when they received the beautiful fresh yellow roses. Their happiness meant the world to me. It never failed to brighten my day.
I smiled while looking over at them.
Suddenly, someone tugged at my hand. I glanced down at the person, only to find Peter looking at me with watery eyes. I picked him up in my arms and asked, "Is something wrong?"
Peter shook his head in denial.
"Then, why are your eyes watery? You were running happily a few minutes ago." I saw the two yellow roses in his hand. "Aren't you happy with the color of the roses?"
"No, I just want to give these two roses to you," he informed me.
"But honey, I told you to give these to the people you love the most, like your parents."
"My parents are always out of the country for business tours. So you are the only person I love the most. This is why I want you to have these roses." As soon as he said that, my heart clenched in pain. Even kids long for love.
I took one rose from him and let him have the other one. "Okay, so each of us has a yellow rose now. I am your most loved person, and you are mine. So both of us deserve to keep one, right?" When he nodded his head, I kissed his cheek. "I love you, sweetheart."
He kissed my cheek back. "I love you too, Ms. Corbin."
I put him down and smiled when I watched him go and play. Kids were so delicate.
###
After kindergarten ended, I got out to walk home. But outside the entrance of the kindergarten, I saw those familiar green eyes.
Lance was standing wearing a gray suit. He was leaning against his car, crossing his arms against his chest. As soon as he saw me, he straightened up and jogged toward me.
"Hi," he said once he stopped in front of me.
"Hi," I replied with a formal smile.
"Are you heading home? I can drop you," Lance offered.
"No thanks. I would like to walk home," I declined his offer politely and started walking.
"Ember, wait." I slowed down, and he caught up with my pace. "About last night, I am sorry, I â"
I interrupted him, "It's okay, Lance. You don't have to apologize for anything." I flashed him a bright smile. "In fact, I am sorry for imposing my decisions on you. I mean, why couldn't I see our friendship from your perspective? I forced you into the friendship and the hangout. So it's all understandable."
"But I feel bad for not coming yesterday."
"As I said, Lance, it's okay. You don't have to be guilty. You are forgiven."
"Ember, I can drop you anywhere you want. I am not busy or anything."
I shook my head in denial. "You don't have to take any trouble. I love walking."
"Okay, then give me a minute." With that, I watched him run toward the car. Then, he ran back to me. He had two ice creamsâ both cookies n crème flavored.
I arched an eyebrow. "How did you get two of these? There's no ice cream parlor nearby."
"Umm, one's mine, and I took the other one from my driver?" he let out.
I cringed hearing him. "You snatched it from poor Sebastian's hand?"
He shook his head immediately. "No, I told him to get one, but he got two, so I justâfuck it." He threw the ice creams into the trashcan two steps away from him. He returned to my side and stated, "I'll walk with you."
I shrugged, and we continued walking.
"So did you like the flowers?" Lance asked me. "Or did you keep the bouquet in the school?"
"Those flowers? The kids loved it," I responded, trying to keep a straight face.
"Oh, gr â wait, what? Kids?" he asked in disbelief.
I said with a smile, "I gave two flowers to each child and told them to give them to the two most important people they love the most."
He was still shocked. I was trying hard to not laugh at his expression.
"So you practically gave away a hundred fresh yellow roses without even keeping one for yourself?" He wanted to make sure he heard me right.
It wasn't necessary to tell him that I had one rose in my bag. Let him suffer for a while.
"You didn't answer me, Ember," Lance complained after a few minutes of patient waiting.
I suppressed my smile and stayed quiet, entering the cemetery.
Some things were better left unknown.