Chapter 5: You Are Here

Aria, with a bright and happy smile, came down the stairs of her apartment. The building where she lives is on the third floor. And Aria can go down from the balcony which has an access ladder, down to the side of the building, next to the road.

Alexander. The tall, handsome, bulky man, leaned against his car with a long black coat wrapped around his body.

Aria looked up at him, "Do you often hear people say that you are really tall?"

She giggled and Alex chuckled.

He looked at her at some moment and frowned a little.

"Sorry, I look like a mess." She combed her still-wet hair, smiling with her slightly tinted cheek. Aria wore her favorite pajamas tonight. She felt cold but still not too cold.

“You smell good.”

The sentence that came out of Alex's mouth made Aria's face immediately turn even redder.

"I just took a shower, hehe..." Aria smiled broadly, embarrassed.

"You brought my little notebook?" Aria quickly changed the topic. Why did she decide to go out like this? Very embarrassing.

Alex nodded once and handed over the small book with the worn navy blue cover. But then he handed over another package.

“Thanks! I was looking for it earlier, apparently, I left it behind... What is this?" Aria saw a paper bag he offered.

“Dinner.” He replied shortly.

"What?" But she still accepted it confusedly.

"For you..." He sighed impatiently.

"Is it obvious that I look hungry?" Aria blinked her eyes with a dumbfounded expression.

"Your stomach makes noises when you're in the car."

“Ahahahaha!”

Aria burst into laughter. Alex tried to hold it in, but finally, he smiled too.

Aria wiped away the tears at the corners of her eyes, “Sorry, I didn't expect the worms in my stomach to be so noisy. Thanks for this Alex.” Aria said it sincerely.

"Wait a moment." She looked into the paper bag and nodded.

"Good, I can still repay your treat." She said proudly. Alex chuckled.

“You are very kind to me. Are we good friends now?” Aria said with an innocent face. Alex looked at her with an unreadable expression.

"I don't know anything about you. In fact, I only know your name." Aria said, pretending to pout.

Alex suddenly reached into his back pocket. He took out his wallet and handed it to Aria.

“What's this? Hey, I'm not a robber, okay?” Aria laughed but she still took the black leather wallet that felt very expensive.

She looked inside it and read the information there.

“Alexander E. Grissham? Wow…”

Suddenly Aria gasped loudly, she covered her mouth with her eyes widen. Alex looked at her with lifted eyebrows. As if he had been waiting for Aria to realize something.

"We are nine years apart!" She said. “You are that old Mr. Alexander E. Grissham.” She said with a shocked face, returning Alex's wallet.

He rolled his eyes and shook his head. Aria laughed at his response, while Alex couldn't hold back his small smirk.

“Go inside. It's cold tonight." Aria pursed her lips when she heard Alex tell her to come inside.

"Finee.. I really like chatting with you tough, Mr. Grissham..." Alex lifted an eyebrow at her and Aria giggled.

"Okay, goodnight, Alex..." She said cheerfully. “Thank you for these breads. Be careful on the way." She waved her hand.

“Goodnight Aria…”

Alex was still standing, leaning against his car, looking at the girl walking cheerfully up the stairs to the balcony of her apartment.

This innocent little girl… What happened when she knew who exactly her new friend is..

…………………………………………….

“Aria, you made another order?”

Conni approached her while Aria was arranging the flowers she had chosen from the list on her small notebook.

They were busy since morning.  There are those who picking up their orders, lots of new orders, some overwhelmed customers by the beauty of their flower collections.

Aria and Conni serve customers enthusiastically. In between serving their customers, Aria was arranging flowers again.

“Hm.” Aria bopped her head once. "I'm making a special bouquet of flowers for my friend."

Conni smiled seeing Aria's cute behavior.

"Friend? Which friend?" Conni rarely saw Aria get close enough to someone. Aria is a cheerful young girl, but so far she has not easily gotten along with other people.

“I have a new friend.” She turned to Conni with a sweet smile. She looked very happy.

"Good for you, darling." Conni said sincerely. She was happy when she finally saw this sweet girl being able to socialize with other people.

“Yeah. I offered if he wanted to order a bouquet of flowers from our shop for Father's Day and he agreed.” Aria giggled.

“Yeah? You are the best sales in the world." They laughed. "By the way, have I seen your new friend?" Conni asked curiously. She said it was him. So, her new friend is a guy? Wow…

“Not yet. But he said he would come here to get these flowers.” Aria wrote something on the thank you paper.

Conni peeked over Aria's shoulder whose name she had written and she read it slowly.

“Alexander… Grissham…”

Instantly the shop fell silent. The sounds of shock and gasps from the some people around her made Aria stop writing and look around.

"What's wrong?" She saw everyone looking at her with wide, horrified eyes. As if she was saying something forbidden and terrible.

“Aria, my darling. Is that…” Conni looked again at what she had written and seemed to be gulping.

“You are friend with Master Grissham?” One of the women there asked Aria in a trembling voice and looked scared.

“Ma-master?” Aria stare at them blankly.

She was confused and didn't have time to answer when Conni immediately tried to lighten the atmosphere which had suddenly become tense.

“Oh, no. No, it's someone else. Not the person you think.” Conni kindly smiled at her scared customers.

Instantly the atmosphere returned to normal. Aria turned to Conni with a look that asked for an explanation. But Conni just smiled at her, as if telling her that they would discuss this later.

….….

It was getting late, and it was even getting darker outside. Conni's Florist is still open and several vehicles can be seen parked in front of the shop alternately. This indicates that the shop is very busy today.

"Thank you! Can’t wait for your next order!" Aria said it excitedly.

Even though she was smiling all the time, it was clear that Aria was very tired. Her waist-length hair was tied high carelessly. Her hands looked red from making the small or huge bouquets all day.

And she felt sore all over her body.

They run out of stock and Conni decides to close early. It's been a tiring day but also a profitable day.

"Dear, here is the early payment." Conni handed her a brown envelope and Aria smiled broadly. The aches she felt earlier disappeared instantly.

"Thank you so much, Mam!" Aria bowed her thanks. Conni patted her shoulder gently. She knew that Aria really needed a lot of money. Apart from her daily needs, she also pays for her grandmother treatment. Good medicines and best hospital treatment means a lot of money.

“I've put your bonus in there. Our sales have increased greatly in the last two months. I hope this can last a long time.” Conni said happily. Aria nodded her head excitedly.

"Thank you again…. I also feel that our sales have been growing fast lately. It's as if everyone in town just ordered these flowers from us!” Aria said innocently.

Conni who heard that laughed awkwardly and nodded her head hesitantly.

"Aria..." She wanted to ask about something she didn't have time to discuss this

afternoon. But then she hesitated and didn't let the question come out of her mouth.

Meanwhile, Aria was still looking at her with that adorable gaze.

But she didn't have time to change the topic. Aria actually asked what she really wanted to avoid.

“Actually, I also want to ask something…” Aria began. "Earlier, why were they so scared when they heard Alexander’s name? Is he a scary person?” Aria asked a lot of questions but Conni didn't even dare to smile.

“A-Aria my dear… I think…” Conni answered hesitantly.” But then she grabbed Aria's shoulders tightly and looked into her eyes closely.  She spoke in a low whisper.

“You have to be careful. You don't seem to know who is the ruler of this city, or even this country. You really have to be careful… Someone with the name Alexander Grissham is not someone who…”

Unfortunately, she couldn’t continue the next words because suddenly the entrance door bell rang. The two of them turned their head and had different facial expressions when they saw who came through the door.

Conni immediately paled with her eyes wide with fear. Meanwhile, Aria….

“Alex! You are here!” She showed him a sweet smile that she didn't realize had put herself in a dangerous trap.