Peace Lily

Ace eyes widened, and the car abruptly stopped producing a large sound as Nina's lips touched his cheek.

"What? I thought you were pranking!" he blurted out instantly.

"Hmm...Do you still think that I am?" Nina asked mischievously, grinning.

"No...No...Ofcourse not!" Ace vexed and moved away from her, sitting as small as possible near the car door facing Nina.

"Now, What did you decide?" she laughed as she asked the question looking at Ace.

"About what?" he panicked.

'Ahhh!! This kid! Though he is matured and clever about everything else, on Girls, he was zero knowledge.'

"Us, Dating!" she groaned and replied, pointing to him and her.

"Not possible." Ace replied straightforwardly without any hesitation and turned on the engine.

Nina blinked at him in confusion, and her poor little heart too wasn't able to digest that sentence. 'He likes me, but he says he can't.....because of villagers. What is going on? What does James want to tell us? Shouldn't one follow their heart when it comes to love? Uff...I better sleep with listening songs than to talk with this creature.'

Pulling out the phone from her bag, her lips stretched to see signals and a missed call from her mother. Glancing the word, 'Maa' made her so happy that she forgot about Ace and his reasons for not loving her. Her mother lifted her call in the ringtone, making Nina very happy, forming smile lines on her face.

"Maa!!! I miss you." Nina uttered in the cutest and sweetest voice that even made Ace blush on hearing that.

"You miss me, right? Why didn't you call me then? Didn't you tell us that you will update your status every day? When was the last time you updated? Did you even think of us?" her mother yelled over the phone, loud enough to pierce a hole in Nina's ear.

"My darling Anna. Listen to me, please!" Nina requested in an appealing and adorable voice that could melt anyone's heart in an instant.

"Don't coax me. I am angry!!"

Listening to that statement, Nina could imagine her mom's expression. She would be curling her lips inwards, and the bottom line would make a downward parabola.

"Should I tell you a secret, Maa?"

Hearing the word 'secret', Anna's heart raced as if it should catch a running train. "What did you do now? Are you going anywhere else? Are you planning to do something too dangerous or adventurous, as you call it? Country tour? Na!! You don't have that much money. OR.....Did you marry a foreign traveller? Please, Nina, tell! Don't give your mother a heart attack!"

"Maa!!! You have a great imagination, why don't you try becoming a writer? I will help you." Nina changed the topic wantedly, to hear her mother nagging. She was biting her bottom lip and smiling brightly that her pinkish blushing cheeks lifted, squinting her dove-shaped eyes.

"Niiiinaaaaa!!!" her mom screamed.

Bursting out, Nina replied, "I am not doing anything dangerous! I am not going anywhere, and of course, I didn't marry a foreigner."

Ace's eyes turned to her, listening to the word, 'marry'. He looked at Nina, blinking and scratched his beard without a clue on why that topic suddenly raised. Continuing to keep an ear on her call, he drove and finally entered the town.

"Mhmm!! You made me tensed, girl! So, what's the secret?"

"I am coming home!" Nina loudly exclaimed.

"What? Is it? Steven, our daughter is coming home." Anna excitedly told her husband too delighted. Nina could hear her father voice asking when and how.

Before her mother could ask her the same, "Today! I have started already, and I am coming by car."

"Car? However, just come. That's it!!" Anna replied and cut the call though she didn't understand, which driver agreed to drop in a place nine hours away.

Nina looked at Ace but immediately stopped smiling and turned away as their eyes met. "What is this cold treatment?" he asked with a frown.

"Don't you know the answer?" she questioned him back.

"Nina, I can't make the promise until we both speak to James. If it's ok for you, let's travel as friends for now, and you get to decide on the return journey."

Nina replied okay, as she was fine with travelling at least as friends instead of as strangers. Moreover, she felt that a chance like this wouldn't come again. Both glanced at each other and smiled with relief.

As they travelled some distance, Nina shouted, "Ace! Ace! Let's visit the nursery." as they passed through to one. Ace turned off the car and parked it to the side and walked to the nursery which was just a few steps away.

"Why do you want to buy a plant?"

"Mmmm....Simply!"

"Fine! Where will you put it?"

"In my room!"

"Which room- my house or your house?"

"Of course! Your house."

"Can't we buy it in the return?"

"No" Nina immediately replied.

Ace stopped and held Nina's hand, "Tell me, what happened?"

Pressing her lips and moving her fingers on the forehead, Nina seemed to hesitate the tell the reason why she wanted to purchase a plant out of now. Gazing at Ace, who was also staring at her for the answer and trying to read her, "Hmm...I want you to select a plant. I am worried that we might not be friends too in the return journey."

Ace calmly heard her, he too was frightened and anxious about what James might tell and how it would take a troll on them. Everything was vague, his future, her future and their future.

"Let's enjoy this moment! I will buy you a beautiful small flowering plant." Ace smiled and said, walking together hand in hand towards the nursery.

Standing in the middle of the nursery, Ace glanced around in the indoor plants' section, and his eyes fell on a white leaf-like flower. He loved it at the first sight, which might be either because he liked the white colour or because of the name- 'peace lily'. Ace wanted Nina to be at peace and hope throughout her life, and the plant is an air purifier, wished for health too.

"I will take that peace lily plant, it looks healthy." Ace told the gardener, pointing at a plant with two flowers.

"Hope you both have all the peace, hope and prosperity!" the gardener blessed them, putting the plant in Ace's hand.