Viburnum's charm

The enchanting appearance of the pretty little things hit her with a wave of nostalgia, infiltrating her mind. She remembered them lovingly, with a sense of acknowledgement. Yes, these were the ones. These were the flowers that shaped her into who she was today. Her wealth, husband, children, and reputation, she owed everything to them. The Viburnum flowers. The light and refreshing flowers that gave her a sense of security. The ones that helped establish her position in the upper-class.

Iris was sitting in her lavish backyard, recalling her past hardships and sufferings. She quietly sipped her black coffee, recalling her little history with these small yet mesmerising flowers that blossomed in her life 13 years ago.

Silently relaxing in her black bathrobe created with the skin of a fox, she looked gorgeous. Swirling the scarlet red wine in her crystal glass, she smiled warmly. Her light brown hair, with a tinge of blonde, and her figure that developed in her late teens, further enhanced her beauty. Now, at the ripe age of 25, she had two adorable twins at the age of 3, and her loving husband who was also her partner in her evolving business.

She couldn’t have managed it all alone when she was clearly suffering from depression all those years ago. She needed help, desperately. But she refused to admit her weaknesses in front of others-she felt it was pathetic, telling your life story to outsiders for no good reason. Although she knew she was at her last point, she still managed to keep it in, telling no one. But it all ended on that one faithful day.

The tropical forest had a soothing and refreshing aura around it that day. She had originally come with her ‘friends’ who had supposedly left her behind. But, it pretty obvious that it wasn’t intentional. It was just that they were too engrossed in their lovely conversations, failing to notice the fact that a certain someone had been completely abandoned.

When Iris thought of that helpless situation again, she immediately shivered and decided to have a sudden resolve never to get involved in such disastrous circumstances again. When she reminded herself of that day, the first thing that stuck to her from start to end was the climate.

The weather was one she would want to forget even if it meant death. It was horrible - the grey clouds, darkening atmosphere, and on top of that, no shelter! She was devastated at that time. She cursed internally, reminding herself how stupid she was. When she was about to give up any hope to find help, that strange scent stopped her. The wind whistled and danced along with it, and the trees supported this unusual meeting. Then, as if she was under a gentle spell from a witch, she was led to a huge tree, situated among all the younger and older ones in this tropical paradise.

Although it was very different from its surrounding trees and was quite plain, it still managed to distinctively catch her eye. The fact that it was just standing out like that, unafraid of any incoming criticisms, melted her icy heart, and she slowly neared it, careful of her actions. Her footsteps made a loud splotching sound, and she slightly winced yet frowned deeply, showing her displeasure of ruining the peaceful atmosphere. However, soon her eyes sparkled with a hint of childishness and curiosity, making her seem like a baby kitten lying in wait to play a prank.

After all, she was still 12. She couldn’t help the untimed expressions she made, nor could she easily control them, especially since she was alone. Her behaviour was quite odd right now, since she tried to act mature for her age. When she started running out of patience by being slow, she decided to run in large strides. Her loud movements were taken to the next level, since it attracted the attention of the tiny creatures, who were also waiting for the gloomy rain and booming thunder to let up. They looked at her in astonishment and were taken aback with her impatience.

Therefore, they firmly came to a decision. That was……………... to run. And that’s exactly what they did in that next second. When she hastily arrived at her ‘destination’, she obviously noticed the slight change with the animals and all, but she didn’t mind it. It was to be expected, after all.

But what frightened her in the next second was the small, almost silent wailing. The cute sniffles which were being interrupted with a few muttered words, and the light yelling which sounded hoarse at first, but was actually a small, undeveloped voice scared her and gave her goose bumps for a second.

After that, she immediately thought of a little bunny, being forced to do something it wasn’t willing to. But at this ridiculous thought, she chuckled, the unexpected sound dancing around breaking the awful feelings in the air. And that sound clearly landed into the mysterious person’s sharp ears that was leaning on the other side of the tree trunk.

Because at that moment, the feeble and weak action just……… came to a halt. The quick sniffles from a nose for being discovered so quickly, probably caught the guy by sudden surprise and then it happened.

“Who the hell is hiding there?! Get out now!!” His terrifying roar shook her to the core. It was one that demanded respect and it held power, despite being weak a few seconds ago. Stumbling out of the corners of the massive trunk, he noticed that her cheeks were tinted pink. She had never been so embarrassed in her entire life!! But, his lips curved up mysteriously, knowing that at least the person acknowledged her stupid error.

“Um, sorry for, um, doing that,” she stammered clearly embarrassed that she had been caught in such an awful act. Her cheeks were even redder as she blushed profusely making the young man amused at her reaction. But it was short-lived. The peaceful and relaxed look on his face was long gone and it was instead replaced with an angry and a well-guarded expression. It looked he wasn’t going to change his attitude anytime soon.

“Don’t you know its rude to do that? What are you even doing here? Besides, who on earth are you?!” He exclaimed, the series of questions being thrown at her in an organized manner. Iris fumed. His tone was clearly mocking her, even if he had disguised it well enough. If he had the ability to do so, who was stopping her?

“Shut up, okay!! You’re being annoying. So what if you cried? Who hasn’t cried a few thousand times in their life? Don’t deem yourself oh-so-pathetic just ‘cause someone found out your little secret, okay?!!” The words just spilled out. Iris didn’t even realize what her own hypocritical words were that she had thrown at him unknowingly.

This seemed to shock him immensely, as he didn’t expect that she could justify her shameless actions from before so clearly. But, she was right. Just because he was a boy reaching his teenage years, was his right to express his feelings was gone? Nope, he had every right to let it out. There was no law against it. At least, it prevented him from going insane.

Meanwhile, Iris shut her mouth quickly and regretted every single word she spoke. Who was she to say such deceptive words? Who was she to lecture him like that, when she herself had been in his position countless times? She realised she had done the wrong thing and immediately apologized to him.

“I’m sorry. That wasn’t right. I shouldn’t have done that at all. But seriously, tell me, who hasn’t been pressured loads of times because of little stuff? I hate crying in front of others too and feel humiliated when someone catches me doing that. Even though its me that’s saying this, I hope you don’t bottle up your feelings and just let it out once in a while.”

She spoke her thoughts out all in one go, making her lose her breath and amplify the deep scarlet blush that was just sitting there. She herself was quite surprised at her own words. Looks like she had a lot to think about her life as well.

“Its amazing, isn’t it?” He changed the topic in one fluent motion, and gazed cheerfully at the gigantic tree.

“Huh? What are you talking about?” She spoke fast, trying not to sound too formal for her age. She didn’t want to further embarrass herself in front of him. He had already discovered such a intimate and close side of her, which she had never disclosed to her parents, let alone random strangers.

“Viburnums. I’m talking about the Viburnums. Trust me, they are the plainest flowers I have ever seen in my life. But, they give off this weird vibe of comfort when you really need it. You understand what I’m ‘sayin?”

He looked at her, as if she would just understand that serene and tranquil instinct. His gaze was one of longing and understanding. He wanted him to desperately see that he needed someone at the lowest point of his life, to help him survive through the hardships and messed up sufferings.

But, that wasn’t what he got. Her especially confused look gave her away. It was like she was telling him ‘Are you crazy?’

“How did you know?” She questioned, still deep in her own thoughts, utterly shocked that he felt the exact same way.

“What?” The question wasn’t really meant for her, but for himself. She was trying to ask him if the emotions she felt were the same as him, that odd aura of solace whenever they neared such an exquisite living thing.

“You know exactly what I mean. Now tell me, how did you know what I was feeling?” She bore her gaze onto him swiftly making sure he was intimidated enough to give her an answer. After all, she was giving him her complete focus with her undivided attention.

“Don’t know. Probably an instinct. Never knew it’d be right. But still, I’m surprised you feel the same way.” This time, he didn’t gaze at the tree intently, but instead he directly made eye-contact with her, telling Iris that he was dead serious and wasn’t joking around.

She was quite suspicious when he spoke such heartfelt words, but she regretted her thoughts at that exact instant because she knew he wasn’t lying. Because that look, the body language and other factors were telling otherwise.

“Anyways, what’s your name?” He disregarded the touchy topic once gain, and this time did a whole 180 degree turn. She knew why he was doing so. It was obvious. In fact, he was straight-out showing that he really felt uncomfortable talking about something so intimate with a total stranger.

“Iris, and you?” However, she neither rejected the gesture nor accepted. But, she was literally on cloud nine since he decided to break the ice.

“Rex.” He casually replied. She looked up at him and examined him carefully, this time studying him with proper dedication. He was tall, taller than his age group. He seemed to be about a little taller than 5’6 and was quite dashing-since he wasn’t bawling his eyes out at the moment.

He wore long skinny pants which were jet black accompanied by a navy blue polo shirt which was then topped off by the finishing touch of a rich black jacket. She blushed, not at the fact that she was checking him out, but rather the similarities in their tastes and fashion style.

He was also pretty well-built for his age, and it clearly looked that he worked out almost daily. Apart from the cry-baby attitude he showed earlier, he was perfect. The way he displayed his oppressive demeanour was quite befitting him, since that was all he showed now. She could now seriously proclaim that this young boy was a heart-throb, for women both young and old.

‘What'ca starin’ for? Got a crush on me?” He snorted, and it actually looked like he was slightly mocking her in a crude manner, but she saw right through it. She was an expert through and through when it came to seeing through people. He was being friendly in a teasing way. So this time, rather than retorting, she smiled, a warm and gentle one, a type that reached her hazel brown eyes.

“Yeah, maybe I do. Why, somethin’ wrong with that?” She commented with an evil glint in her eyes, using the same slang he used before, and she clearly understood that he did not expect this answer. Because, right then and there he froze and stood like a statue that was waiting for its doom, by being crushed into smithereens by a gigantic hammer.

Iris really couldn’t hold in the muffled laughter that was making its way through her slender throat, because that little sight was worth a million bucks. She would’ve sold out her entire family and property just to make sure she saw him in that state again.

But, it was pretty obvious that his look didn’t stay too long on him……...again. After all, nothing could escape his sharp gaze. He took large strides towards her, a little upset that she played such a prank on him. “Very funny, Iris. Now, tell me, who is going to save you from this?” And just like that, Rex had Iris cornered perfectly into the thick, brown trunk of the tree. He didn’t leave even a tiny bit of space for her to slip through from.

While she was showing slight signs of a frown, he was smirking and displaying the fact that he was in power. “Shut up, you cry baby. Don’t you dare think that a cry baby can make my heart beat,” she deadpanned in front of him. And this in turn caused him to frown deeply. He was still not used to the fact that she saw him in such a vulnerable state.

“Hey!!! Do you mind not hitting where it hurts?! It would’ve been better if my mother saw me, if it meant that I would’ve avoided a snake like you,” he hissed angrily, discreetly amusing her even further. Although she was truly trapped, it didn’t necessarily mean she didn’t have some tricks up her sleeve.

“Really?” She began her sentence really peculiarly, and Rex caught hold of her sight. She had that same Satan’s evil glint that reflected her true and innermost personality. At that instant, the awful thunder rumbled, and the grey sky shook with deep rooted animosity. Rex briefly shuddered, not because of the continuous waves of fear, but the rain that was directed straight at him. The direction of the wind was changing quickly.

His thick leather jacket blew, and you could see slight traces of translucent water being splattered alongside his navy blue shirt in a distinctive pattern. Looks like the cold is getting to him, Iris thought. Well then, let’s make full use of that, shall we? She snickered loudly attracting Rex’s attention who was quite taken aback at what happened next.

The instant his attention was back on her, he was being flipped over like a lifeless doll that was meant for something so utterly idiotic. It happened in a quick flash so Rex didn’t have enough time to register what was taking place.

By the time he recovered, he heard the most provocative sentence and his sea-green eyes twitched in humiliation. “Next time you do something like that, remember to ask first. Who knows, the person might allow you. But if you don’t,” she threateningly warned, making sure her message was getting across,” Get a registration at the hospital for your up and coming broken bones.”

Her tone didn’t show the slightest of authority, but it was the type that made someone flinch because of its sharpness. “Fine, fine!!! Sorry man!! Won’t do it again!” She smiled, but this time that feeling was gone, and was replaced by a friendly grin.

“Well then, let’s be friends. I don’t want to miss out on such a good chance. You are someone like me, and I do like you as well,” She said, having a genuine smile that showed Rex she really wasn’t joking this time. He happily took her hand which was extended out for him to take a hold of. He snorted, and was unwilling to say such cheesy words, but it was the perfect time to say it. So he swallowed up his pride and said the last thing he wanted to say right now. “Sure, I wanna’ see what we can really be in the future.”