20. Burn them

The next day, Lara woke up early. She showered and got dressed. After a tasty breakfast, she left for her office. She was early so Liam and Miles hadn't arrived yet.

When she went in what she saw was a huge heap of bouquets of different colours on her table. Her eyes widened. Even the other employees were confused.

" Did someone tell that I died or something? Why are there so many flowers?", she mumbled. Seeing her also in confusion, the others decided to leave her alone for a while.

She didn't know what to do, so she went and sat down on her chair trying to find a solution.

After a while when Liam and Miles entered, they saw that the employees were acting a bit weird. When they walked in, they saw the heaps of flowers. They were also confused.

" Where is Lara?" Liam asked. Before anyone could answer a sneeze could be heard from behind the flowers.

She raised her hand and said," I am here boss". And then she sneezed again.

They came around to see her sitting with an even more confused look. The tip of her nose was a bit red because of sneezing." Good morning boss", she said and sneezed.

" Are you allergic to flowers?", he asked." This is the first time I am sneezing because of flowers. Probably because there are so many.", she replied.

He remembered the way those men were looking at her yesterday, he started feeling annoyed and said," You can throw them or give it to someone else".

" I think I'll throw them. Though I am still confused as to who dumped these here", she said with a conflicted tone. At that time one of the cards on the bouquets fell.

She picked it up and read. Her eyebrows arched.' Have a great morning Miss Lara, with love Fernandez.' Her face crumpled into a look of disgust.

Seeing the conflicted expression followed by that of disgust on her face, Miles took the card from her hand and kept it in an eye range for both of them to read.

When Miles read it, he was confused by her reaction and looked at her and asked," Do you know this guy Lara?"

" Nope. No idea.", she replied while trying to think hard as to how this person found out that she worked here.

While this was going on, a person was boiling in rage. When Liam read the note he started feeling anger and jealousy boil from within.

He still felt happy because she decided to throw them. He then looked at Levy and said," Burn all of these flowers and dispose of the ashes". Then he left leaving the others in confusion. She was in no mood to question him so she sighed and sat.

By lunch time, her sneezing increased. Her cheeks were a bit red from sneezing. The others asked if she needs to visit a doctor. She just replied that she would go later.

After work she directly went to a clinic and got allergy medicine. By night she was feeling very drowsy and tired of sneezing. She had a quick meal and slept.

The next morning she was fine. She went to work as usual. When she entered the office all the others surrounded her and asked her many questions.

" How are you Lara?"" I know a great doctor should I take you there."" Didn't boss let you take rest?"

" I am completely fine and I am came to work because I was alright", she said with a sigh and waved her left hand as though she was dismissing those thoughts.

All of their attention went to the shiny ring on her ring finger. Their jaws dropped." Are you engaged Lara?"" Who is your fiancé?"

She was confused with these questions. Only when she saw their gaze at her hand did she realize.

She immediately pulled the ring out and while putting it on her index finger she said," No. No. I am not engaged. I am single. This is just a gift from my mom. I accidentally wore it in the wrong finger".

Liam and Levy had just entered when they heard them talking. He froze when he heard the word engaged.

' She said that she didn't have a boyfriend right?? How is she engaged?..... Did her parents force her or something...', these thoughts were running through his head. When he heard her reply, he continued walking and sighed inside. He felt a sense of relief wash over himself.

" You have given me the best idea. The next time I go out I'll wear this ring as though I am engaged. Then no one will trouble me.", she mumbled.

The others continued their work. She also went and sat to work.