4

 Avery's POV

It's the day when Arturo and I are about to go pick up some plants for the garden. He said he'll pick me up so now I'm waiting anxiously on my front porch. I took my phone out of my pocket and checked to see if Arturo sent me a message. A while later, his truck pulled up the driveway. He rolled his window down and waved for me to come over. I walk to his truck and got inside the passenger's seat.

"Any particular plant you want for your garden?" He asked as he drives off.

"Tulips. They're my favorite, and so was my mother." I replied and he gave a soft smile.

"We could work on that. Anything else?" He asked and I just shrug.

In all honesty, I didn't know much about plants. All I know was that I wanted tulips. They're the only flowers I can take care of. We soon reached the plat nursery and flower shop and we both got off the truck. Arturo led me inside and pointed out all the different kinds of plants. I was fixated on how Arturo was knowledgeable about all the different kinds of plants and their specific needs. 

My eyes couldn't leave his face as we walk around the nursery with him picking out plants that would fit in the garden. I didn't even realize that I was blatantly staring at his face until he snapped his fingers in front of me, making me snap out of my stupor.

"You okay?" He asked with a smile on his face.

"Y-yeah." I stuttered, my face turning red.

"Anything that caught your eye?" He asked.

I looked around and saw some brain cacti that Arturo pointed out earlier. I walked over to them and picked up three different varieties before handing them out to Arturo. Arturo then put them in the cart.

"We'll just need to pick up some tulip bulbs and then we can go." He said and I nod.

I just followed behind Arturo as he picked up the tulip bulbs before paying at the cashier. I got inside the passenger seat as he and another worker loads up the truck with all the plants. Arturo got in the driver's seat a while after and offered me a water bottle. I thanked him as I took the water bottle.

"Do you want to go for lunch? My treat." He said as we drive off.

"Uhm, sure. I don't really have anything planned today anyway." I replied.

Arturo nodded and we sat in comfortable silence until he pulled over to a small diner. He parked the car and we both got out. The diner could only fit around thirty people. He led me inside and we took a seat at a booth. A waitress came over and took our orders. I ordered some chocolate chip pancakes and Arturo raised his brow at me.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing." He said before saying his order to the waitress.

The waitress gave us our drinks and Arturo took some straws, unwrapping it before placing it in our drink. I watched as he folded the wrapper into a small little rose. He took my hand and placed the rose on my palm. A smile appeared on my face as I twirl the little rose in my hand.

"That's cute. Wouldn't expect it from a guy like you." I said.

"There's a lot of things you don't know about me." He replied.

Suddenly a man wearing a black suit approached our booth. He stood in front of the table and placed his hand on the back of my seat. I immediately felt uncomfortable in his presence so I moved closer to the window, away from the man.

"Oh, Arturo. Who's your cute little date?" The man drawls out.

I look over to Arturo and he was glaring daggers at the man. "He's not my date. He's my client." Arturo replied.

"So you still do that gardening stuff, eh? If he's just your client then maybe he's available for me." The man said before reaching out to touch my shoulder.

I watched in shock as Arturo suddenly grabbed his wrist, pulling him away from me. The man's face twisted in pain and Arturo let him go.

"Calm the fuck down, man. I was just joking. Enjoy your fucking date." The man said, shaking his head before walking away.

"Who was that?" I asked Arturo.

"Just some nuisance." He replied. 

"He was creepy," I whispered to Arturo, making him chuckle.

"I know. Sorry about that." He apologized.

"Do you have another job? That man seemed confused as to why you're doing gardening services." I asked before taking a sip from my drink.

"I do, I just don't like talking about it." He replied and I decided to let it go.

The waitress came back and brought us our food. We conversed about life as we ate. I learned that Arturo's an only child, just like me. His mother passed away when he was very young, and he and his father weren't very close. I didn't get to know who my father was and I didn't bother asking my mom. She was enough for me.

We finished our meal and Arturo paid for our meal. I thanked him as we walk back to the truck. I felt someone staring our way so I looked around, but found no one. I decided to just ignore it and walked straight to the truck. Arturo drove me back home and I helped him bring the plants back inside. As he was working in the backyard, I decided to clean up inside the house. I haven't vacuumed in a few days so I took the vacuum out and cleaned the floor. I also changed my sheets and put on a load of laundry.

It took the rest of the day for me to finish my work so I decided to check on Arturo. Arturo was standing shirtless as he chugs down the water bottle. His sweat was glistening in the sun and I couldn't help but stare at his adam's apple as it moves while he drinks the water. Arturo put the water down and met my gaze. I let out a shocked gasp and turned my back to Arturo, embarrassed that I was caught staring again. 

"If you want to stare, you could just tell me and I'll give you a better view," Arturo said behind me, almost making me jump.

I slowly turned around and kept my gaze on the floor. "Sorry. That was rude of me. I shouldn't be staring." 

Arturo chuckled. "No worries. I just need to finish a few more things here and then I'm done with the garden, but I can't do them today. I'll message you the instructions on how to take care of them so just call me when you have questions." He said.

"Okay. I'm not sure when you'll be able to come back and we haven't talked about the payment yet." I replied.

"We can talk about it once everything is done. I trust that you can keep the garden alive, yeah?" He asked and I just nod.

"Thanks," I mumble in reply.

"I'll get going now," Arturo said as he puts on a shirt.

"I'll message you when you can come back," I replied.

"Sure." He said before finally grabbing his things and leaving.

I let out a sigh and went back inside as I hear Arturo's truck outside leave the driveway. I decided to read a book so I took one from the shelf and took a seat on the sofa. As I was reading, I spotted an unfamiliar car outside with a man standing beside it. I decided to go to the window to get a closer look and saw the same man from earlier standing there.

Our eyes met and he gave me a wide smile while waving his hand in the air. I immediately closed my curtains and called Arturo. I sat on the floor as I wait for him to pick me up, too scared to be seen by the man. Arturo finally answered the call.

"Hello, miss me already?" He teased.

"Arturo, the guy from earlier is in front of my house," I whispered through the phone.

"I'm coming back." He replied, his voice suddenly turning serious. "Don't drop the call."

"Okay," I replied and crawled over to my door to lock it. 

I just hope he gets here before anything happens.