Camellias

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At the shift of the red light to green, I stepped on the gas and drove straight ahead. Right after of what I just said, Reyes suddenly became quiet. I even checked the phone if it was still ongoing, and it did.

'𝘞𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘶𝘵 𝘶𝘱?'

"Wait! Did I hear that right?"

'𝘕𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥.'

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion at his question. "Hear what, right?"

"You just said my name! No, not my name, but my nickname! Wait, how did you know my nickname? I never told you, I think? But none of that! Say it again!"

I pinched the bridge of my nose, sighed, and removed the other earbud from my ear and placed it down.

'𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥'𝘴 𝘯𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯?'

"Shut up, I don't what the hell's your talking about."

"Oh, come on. Just say it again!"

I gritted my teeth and fisted my hold on the stirring wheel.

"Reyes, shut the hell up and stop distracting me. If I die in a car accident right now because of you, I swear I'm gonna haunt you for the rest of your life."

"Oh, right you're driving."

A brief silence loomed from the other line before he continued, "But if you were to haunt me. Haunt away, I don't mind being haunted if it's you."

Even if I don't know what he looks like, I could still imagine a stupid smirk plastered on his face, and that smugness that was very much clear in his voice.

It was irritating every nook and cranny of my body and taking all my willpower to just sit and stay in my seat, holding myself back on grabbing the phone and throw it out the window where I could never have to deal with this again.

'𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥'𝘴 𝘯𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯?'

"Reyes! Shut your trap!"

I was ignored and a hysterical fit of laughter was only the only reply I got.

Losing it, I fumed and stepped on the gas, honking everything in sight and overtaking every single car that would block my way.

"Move! If you're going to drive like a damn turtle! Do it in a parking lot!"

"Leigh! Calm down! You're going to get yourself killed!"

"Shut up! This is your fault!"

We continued bickering and we're practically shouting our heads off, driving along the road, conveying my rage into the abused horn of my steering wheel and every vehicle that would come across my sight.

"I said move! Stupid looking flat ass car!"

"Don't point out its flaws! That's bullying!"

"Reyes! It's a freaking car!"

"Even so! Respect the car!"

"Oh my god! Why do I have to deal with you?!"

"What?! Why is it me again?!"

"Shut up!"

Pointless arguments went on along the way and I wasn't so sure if after these events, my horn would still work anymore.

When my throat began to feel raspy with all the pent up shouting, we were doing for the past several minutes.

I finally uttered out a what meant to be a 'goodbye' to him and broke off the call abruptly with no further notice, halting all the noise in the car at the click of the ended conversation.

"I can't with this! I'm going! I'll call you again when I get there!"

"Hey wai—"

After taking a deep and long breath, I put back in the other earbud I removed earlier and played some relaxing music.

I drove in silence, finally calming my nerves down with the ambience I finally got a hold of, and made my way on the road to the place I was supposed to go to before making my way to the cemetery.

When I was almost at the city square, I drove into a space lot that was near my designated destination and parked my car in a secured place.

After stationing the car, I killed the engine, grabbed my wallet from my bag, pocketed the phone in my pants, and stepped out of the vehicle, landing on my feet on the concrete of the parking lot that was located just a few walks from the main city square where my destination was ought to be.

I strode off the sidewalk and passed some few food stalls, boutiques, and stores before the sight of a familiar flower shop caught my eye.

Upon seeing the place, I sped up and carefully crossed the street where the flower shop was located.

I made my way up the steps of the shop and pushed open the doors. Simultaneously, when the hinges moved, a clanging of chimes also detonated the place alongside it.

As I stepped inside and let the door closed behind me with a click, a wave of fresh scent of different florals greeted my sinuses, bringing up long old memories I used to have in this place, the sensation of the scents instantly calming my nerves.

I scanned my eyes on the familiar space of the place, my eyes landing on the figure of a middle-aged woman I grew to know over the years every time I go here. Our gazes met, and her eyes immediately morphed into surprise, her brown orbs widening ever so slightly.

After a brief moment of exchange of sight, I smiled at her while she returned the gesture by welcoming me with a warm and soft beam, stopping from her work for a moment and turning her full attention to me.

"Reyna dear, haven't seen you for weeks now."

Despite her age, her voice still sounded youthful and fresh. Just like her flowers she provided to people every day.

I walked up to her on the side of the flower shop, where she was currently in the arranging area. She was sitting on a stool, a table in front of her, where her precise yet delicate hands were working its magic through those mops of leaves, ferns, and some familiar blush pink roses and tulips.

"Hello there Isabelle. Sorry, I haven't been in here for a while, I've been… busy."

I smiled shyly and rubbed my nape, slightly embarrassed for my prolonged absence and just diverted my gaze elsewhere, where it landed to a certain flower I haven't seen in so long.

I grinned in excitement.

"Are those camellias?"

She turned her head towards my gaze, and then mirrored my expression, her lips curving upward to a smile.

"Yes, they are. They just arrived this morning still fresh, you know. Want to take them this time? I think it's his favorite, he used to buy them all the time."

"Mine," I said absentmindedly as my eyes were still set on those familiar flowers.

"Hmm?" She hummed in question.

"They're my favorites. He used to buy them all the time because of me."

"Oh, right I remember now, he used to mention you all the time when he buys those."

I brought my attention back to her figure, where a soft yet longing emotion was evident on her face.

"Yeah." I looked down and blinked away the sting that was building up in my eyes.

'𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯, 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳.'

I breathed long and hard before I brought my gaze back up to her, forcing out a soft smile.

"By the way, how is it going, Isabelle? That arrangement seems complicated than usual." I said, attempting to change the flow of the conversation, and examined her work on the table.

Now that I have a closer look at her work, it was really indeed complicated. String of vines, and swirls of small stems of flowers and leaves were arranged and sprouting everywhere.

It looked messy, yet elegant at the same time. Each color complimenting the other at a right shade, coming together into a beautiful picture. Even if it was still half done, the thing was already wonderful.

I ended up getting genuinely interested in her work and asked a few questions here and there about the different unique flowers I wasn't familiar with that she was adding.

Our conversation eventually escalated into asking the latest whereabouts of each other. I even informed her I've recently graduated, where in return she congratulated me and said that she was proud of me hugging me and saying all sorts of encouragements and wise words.

That went on for a few minutes, distracting me at some point when a ping of notification resonated the area.

I pulled out my phone and saw a familiar airhead's persistent message displayed on my lock screen.

𝘈𝘪𝘳𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘙𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴: 𝘜 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦?

I rolled my eyes after I read the text and just ignored it completely, pocketing it in my pants as I brought my attention back to Isabelle.

"So what are you getting today?" I stared at her for a second, and then scanned my eyes on my surroundings, gaze instinctively landing at the certain flower that until now never fails to captivate me whenever I lay my eyes on it.

I looked back at her and smiled, "I'm getting the usual, his favorites, gold chrysanthemums, and also," I look at the general direction of the captivating flower pointing it to indicate her of what I'm referring to, "Those."

She gave me a pleasant smile. "Wonderful choice, coming right up dear." I look back at her and just chuckled.

As she was getting up from her stool and making her way to the specific florals I've picked, another ping of notification resonated through the area.

I rolled my eyes out so hard that I could probably see my brain and huffed out a breath before I harshly grabbed the phone from my back pocket and opened the screen, swiping the tab message to the side to unlock it, revealing his message instantly right after.

𝘈𝘪𝘳𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘙𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴: 𝘏𝘦𝘺? 𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥? 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶?

I clicked my tongue in annoyance before I quickly came up with a reply, typing harder than normal that the screen was blurring at each tap I was making.

𝘙𝘦𝘺𝘯𝘢: 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘶𝘵 𝘶𝘱.

𝘈𝘪𝘳𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘙𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴: 𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦!

𝘙𝘦𝘺𝘯𝘢: 𝘖𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦, 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰. 𝘕𝘰𝘸 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘴!

𝘈𝘪𝘳𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘙𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴: 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳.

𝘙𝘦𝘺𝘯𝘢: 𝘐'𝘮 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘺 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦.

𝘈𝘪𝘳𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘙𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴: 𝘔𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘺 -_-

𝘚𝘦𝘦𝘯

𝘈𝘪𝘳𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘙𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴: 𝘏𝘦𝘺!

I turned the phone off before I shook my head in disbelief at what I have gotten myself into.

"Someone's smiling."

I almost fell off my seat when Isabelle appeared out of nowhere beside me, startling me at her sudden voice, where she was currently wrapping up the florals.

I shook my head frantically at what she said, waving my arms in denial, and quickly uttered out an explanation, "N-no! It's not that, h-he's umm..."

'𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘮 𝘐 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘺? 𝘈 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥? 𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘢𝘮 𝘐 𝘬𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨? 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥'𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳.'

"He's someone I know," I managed to come up and say.

"Oh, he's a 'he'."

"Isabelle, come on, it's not like that."

She chuckled and just smiled knowingly at me.

"I know dear, I'm just teasing."

Wrapping that last piece of net into the flowers, she secured them up with a ribbon, tying the bundle into a bouquet before handing it out to me.

I held the bundle on to my face and sniffed the familiar scent of the flowers, closing my eyes as I did so; the smell bringing back old and cherished memories.

I opened my eyes and looked up at her smiling face. "Thank you, Isabelle."

She nodded at me while a soft smile was still displayed on her lips. I the paid for the flowers and we exchanged our last gestures and said goodbye to each other before I waved out to her and turned my back, making my way to the door.

But just before I could let go of the door and step outside of the shop, she called out to me, halting me in place as I turned my head at the sound of my name.

"Reyna!"

I looked at her confuse but waited on what she was going to say, "That smile looks good on you."

I knitted my eyebrows at her, and before I could utter out my confusion, she cut me off and continued, "Every time I see you smile before, it never did compliment your eyes."

I stared at her, still lost in what she was getting at, but I stayed at the door and just looked at her, silently urging her to continue.

"But a while ago, it was different. Your lips weren't the only ones that's smiling anymore. Your eyes were also happy."

I smiled at what she said, still confused on what point she was getting and just gesture a last goodbye to her before I let go of the door before finally stepping outside.

When I smile I just smile, there's no difference in each one.

Back then I never knew what she really meant, and was also absolutely weren't aware that I was just about to uncover the meaning of her words with the events that would yet to occur.

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