⚘ Flowers are restful to look at. They have neither emotions nor conflicts. -⚘

a n e m o n e

[ s y m b o l i s e s   f e e l i n g   o f   b e i n g   f o r s a k e n   a n d   f a d i n g   h o p e . ]

My feet stopped right outside her shop when I heard some woman yelling.

"What , so you were dumped again?" The woman in the shop gave a nasty laugh.

I was about to get in when Aster's words stopped me.

"Mother, I don't know how it is any of your business?" Her voice sounded strained and troubled.

"Since you left college, we don't get any money for your support. I thought once you marry a rich man , you can help us. But look at you, you are barely surviving yourself." She spat out her words with disdain.

Aster sighed and I saw pain reflected in her eyes.

She was her foster mom. Aster had bad family, torturing siblings and a douche fiancé. No doubt she hated and mistrusted life. No doubt she was so broken that i can feel the pain in the air around her.

"How is dad?" She asked a tear slip down on her cheek.

The woman in front scoffed.

"He is fine and doesn't want to see your face. And don't shed these crocodile tears in front of me. I heard from my friends that you were at some big party with some guy? Tell me who is he? Or are you just sleeping around now that you are heartbroken? I bet that is why you were left a day before the wedding, you might be cheating on Brian."

I heard Aster's sharp intake of breath, her jaw clenched in anger but she kept her temper in check and her eyes filled with tears.

"What happened with the job that you are working in a shop like this?" She shouted as Aster stood silent not answering back.

I wondered why she did that because all her accusations were false and hurtful. I saw her fingers gently caressing the flowers and her eyes unfocused. I suddenly understood what she was doing, she was trying to tune out the hysterics of the woman. She was trying to be the woman that she is, sweet and calm. She was not making any explanations because she knew it was all in vain on that woman who never saw the best in her.

"I got fired," Aster replied , revealing a new bit of information about herself.

"Why?" The woman glared at her.

"Because the boss only wanted me for my body and not my talent." Her voice filled with distaste and ache.

I felt my blood boil, I am going to kill that guy.

"You don't have any talent anyway." This woman was getting on my nerves but I wanted Aster to speak up to her.

"Do you want some flowers?" Aster asked in a thick voice, due to all the crying.

And my heart ached for her. This girl had too many scars to heal.

"I don't want to buy anything from this cheap shop. I am here to let you know that if you are planning to trap another rich guy for marriage let me know so that we could be at your wedding or else you can get married without any family. And get married before you grow even more repelling." The woman gave her a scornful look.

Aster just nodded.

"Don't send letters home, you sisters hate it. If you want to talk to your father then get him a cell phone." And with that, the woman walked out clanking her heels and a frown on her face.

She noticed me and gave me a smile but I gave her a cold look. The woman was as ugly as her nature caked in make-up.

I saw Aster break down and stumble on the ground on her knees and sobbed her face buried in her hands. I walked in and kept a hand on her head in a kind gesture. Her head shot up and her eyes were bloodshot red and puffy. I thought she would shy away and try to hide her tears from me but she cried harder as I gently rubbed her back holding back tears of my own.

I never cried, I was a strong individual but seeing her break was breaking me too.

I opened my eyes wider, trying to restrain the tears in my eyes and not flow down. I wanted to pull her into a warm embrace but I held back. She was already hurt, I didn't want her to be uncomfortable.

But she surprised me as she wrapped her hands around my shoulders and sobbed in my chest. My body went stiff but I gradually relaxed and hugged her back tightly, pulling her as close to myself as possible. She smelt like some divine flower and I let myself filled with her warmth and her fragrance.

"Why didn't you answer back?" I asked softly.

And she didn't show any surprise that I eavesdropped on her conversation with her foster mom.

She broke the hug and looked at me , her hands still clutching on to me for support because she was trembling.

"Anemone." She whispered and pointed at the fallen bunch on the ground.

And then looked at me with questions, gratitude and a request, a request I could not decipher.

"This flower means feeling of being abandoned or fading hope."

I nodded and encouraged her to continue.

"In my foster family, my father was the only one that cared for me. He pampered me as much as he could , he helped me with education, he helped me with happiness. I couldn't talk back and make her hate me because that would mean losing the only person who cared for me." She explained sounding a bit ashamed of herself.

She had the fear of being forsaken, of being left alone, of being rejected so she wanted to hold on to the last person she thought cared for her no matter the hardships with it.

My care for her intensified billion times and I had the urge to shield her then.

"Well, among all the flowers you taught me about there was one for hope right?" I furrowed my brows and tried to remember and make her feel better.

She wiped her tears with the back of her hand and gave me an amused look.

"After twelve days you still haven't learnt a damn thing about flowers, haven't you? Why do you bother coming here?" She shook her head now a small smile on her face.

"Haven't you caught on yet Aster? I come here because I care for you."

My lips widened in a smile as I saw her eyes flicker and widened with surprise and her cheek blush the deepest shade of pink I have seen on her yet.

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This was kind of sad to write. I hate her foster mom, even if I created her. What do you have to say? Isn't Kyler a sweetheart? I hope you guys feel the emotional factor in this one. And please let me know your thoughts. I love reading comments so please comment :)

And don't forget to vote :)