I hate you!” Irene smashed the bedside lamp, and it shattered on the floor, leaving her with a scratch on her left ankle. Huffing, she hurled the pillow with all the strength she could muster and tripped, falling to the ground.
“I hate you so much.” She pounded the ground with a fist full of fury. “URRG!!!!!!!” As she felt her hand welling with pain, she stopped and flung down the photograph placed on the wall.
She paused as she looked at the particular mess she created. “No, no, no, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” She broke down, but no tears fell from her eyes as she picked the photo, tore half of it, and clutched the other half to her chest.
“I’m so sorry.” She said in a whisper as she closed her eyes and pictured an image in her head. “I’ll make the both of them pay, I’ll make them pay.” She said repeatedly, gritting her teeth and clenching her fist sore. “I’ll make them pay, I’ll make them pay.” All of her emotions welling up, but she refused to shed a tear. ‘They will shed tears, I’ll make sure of it.”
Irene carefully placed the half-torn photo on the bedside table and sat on the bed. “I’m so sorry, I’m sorry.” She sat for over five minutes, repeating those same words to the person in the photo.
*****
Ivy arrived home with the daffodils, Xavier the butler saw the beautiful flowers. He was glad to see something new added to the Villa, so he offered to help her place the flowers where they were well-suited, but she refused. It was more than just a simple decoration to her. Ivy hurried to her room and shut the door, staring at the bunch of yellow flowers.
“I’m sorry for what I said to you that day, I shouldn’t have said that.” She said, almost at the brink of tears. She hugged the flowers tightly, suppressing her tears. She shook it off and composed herself, placing the flowers beside the bed.
“I miss you a lot, I wish you were here with me…..”
“I can’t believe you are talking to a bunch of flowers, you always seem to amaze me.” Zack’s voice made her flinch.
“What are you doing here?”
“You mean what I came to do in my own room.” He raised his eyebrow. “I came to change into something more comfortable.”
“No, it’s not what I meant, I locked the….” She sighed. “Never mind.” She felt stupid; he owned the villa, so he would have a key to his room even if she locked it. June 28 always made her lose her mind.
“Nice flowers, but I don’t have a penchant for flowers.” He frowned, as it was obvious the sight of the daffodils disgusted him.
Ivy didn’t like the look he was giving her flowers, so she grabbed her daffodils, before something unpleasant happened to her beloved flower. “Don’t look at my flowers like that.”
“Keep it somewhere else, it disgusts me.” Of course, she knew the look on his face told her so. But she couldn’t, ‘take it somewhere else,’ he must be dreaming, the flower she was ready to cherish till its death.
“It is precious to me; I want it beside me.”
Zack gave her a blank stare and snatched the flowers from her and flung it aside. Ivy immediately followed the trail to grab it before touching the ground, but she was two steps too slow. Seeing her daffodils on the floor, her brain spun as several memories appeared in her head; she hesitated to pick it up as she was seeing a different scene that made her trapped in a stupor.
Zack, seeing her fixed in one position, asked, “Are you alright?”
She recovered suddenly, wanting to yell, but she quickly took a deep breath and calmed her nerves. “Leave my daffodils alone.” She placed her flowers on her side of the bed, ignoring his question.
“I don’t like flowers, especially daffodils,” Zack explained, and Ivy crossed her arms. “I can’t believe we are fighting over daffodils.”
“I don’t want it in my room,” Zack stated, ready to hurl the daffodils from the bed.
Ivy held his hand; she refused to allow him to have his way. “Don’t make me do this the hard way.”
“Are you threatening me?”
“Of course not,” Ivy responded without letting go. Zack saw the intense look on her face and wondered why she was giving so much for a damn daffodil, but he loved the look on her face. Her eyes carried a trace of persistence as she held his hand with a firm grip. He, too, tightened his grip, and she struggled to pull his hands from her precious daffodil. The poor flower was at the brink of collapse as they were holding on too tightly.
“What will you gain from this?” Ivy couldn’t understand why he was so insistent. “Let go.” Who would have thought Zack Anderson would fight with a woman over daffodils.
“Please let go; it’s precious to me,” Ivy could only resort to the last thing she could do. “Please.”
“Why were you talking to the flower a while ago?” He said as he released his grip; from the start, he just wanted to tease her. Though he really hated daffodils as it brought memories he hated to remember.
“It’s nothing of importance to concern you, and for your question of if I’m alright, I’m perfectly fine, and I’m not crazy.”
“Of course, you’re crazy; no normal human being will be talking to flowers, especially daffodils.”
“What do you have against daffodils?” She asked abruptly, and heaved a heavy sigh. “And I’m not crazy.”
“Despite you just said that, I still believe you are crazy,” Zack said, opening his wardrobe.
“You…..” Ivy was short of words to reply to him as he watched his back facing the wardrobe.
“You hate flowers, which normal human being will hate this beautiful creation…” she protested.
“You’re hurting my ear,” He glared at her, and Ivy smiled, she was going to annoy him back.
“Why do you hate daffodils so much that you are willing to fight…..”
“I said you are hurting my ear…” “And I’d love that,” she cut him off before biting her lips; she might have gone too far.
Zack turned around to face her. Ivy gulped; she woke the sleeping lion, and now she was going to pay dearly. “Wh.. what are you doing?” He slowly walked toward her, and Ivy scuffed backwards. “Are you angry because of what I say? I’m sorry….
“It’s too late to be sorry now.