Chapter 5: WHAT HAPPENED HERE?

Hearing his confused remark, makes Ariana woke up in her place. A feeling of shame began to enter her heart at that time.

'What am I trying to say so suddenly? Don't I appear like a fool just now to this flower boy?'

Instantly she bit her lips and lowered her gaze. She felt a little shy as she's being excited like that out of nowhere.

But unbeknownst to Ariana, to the young man, seeing the high school girl who pops up here when people her age are not interested in such things makes him who owns the flower shop feel fascinated.

He didn't even feel disturbed by her question, rather, he felt curious about her. It was just he was quite surprised by her question as he never got such a question from anyone.

Before they feel more awkward towards each other, he knows he needs to say something.

"Not just that, did you know roses also have different categories?"

Hearing him say that made Ariana raise her face back and smile. Feel relieved as this man didn't find her weird or whatever. Her eyes also lit up as the man served her interest with such kindness.

"I know that, but not so deeply. I just have a little knowledge. " Shyly she answered him.

"If you wanted to see more interesting flowers and plants, you can follow me at the back of this shop. There is a place where I grow plants from scratch before they become suitable for sale."

Ariana jumped excitedly at the sudden invitation and didn't care if he found her childish or not this time. She's just too happy at the moment. Looks like skipping school today is not a bad thing at all.

"Bu-But... What about here? Do you have other employees who will be waiting in this area? The customer might walk in while we are at the back. " Ariana stated her concern. It's not like she cares if the store will be robbed or what, she just didn't want her good day to be interrupted. It's not every day she can go all out with her hobby like this!

The young man smiled again,

"First of all, let's introduce ourselves. My name is Zayn. What's yours? " He just decided to introduce himself before anything.

"Oh, my name is Ariana. I was in my last senior year at high school. " She didn't know why she gave such details, but it's not a big deal.

"Okay, Ariana. About what you asked before, actually, this shop is still not operating. Our opening will be next week. So, it will be fine if this area is left unattended. I will lock the door for a little while. But what about you? Aren't you supposed to be at school right now?

"What? Wait!"

Ariana didn't hear his question anymore and now looked towards the door that she entered earlier. There's a sign there saying when they will open for customers. Also, the closed sign now clearly looks so big on the door!

She continued to slap her forehead quite hard at that time, admitting the mistake. How on earth does someone like her overlook such a thing?

'How embarrassing. This is truly an amateur mistake! No, he is the one at fault. Why didn't he lock the door in the first place? Tch, why do I want to find fault with this innocent flower boy when I am the fool here? I need to come to my senses! Yes, even 100 squats for the punishment are not enough for this mistake! ' She started nagging herself in her mind.

"Ariana?" Zayn said her name as he saw she was silent after slapping her forehead.

"Oh my, I'm so sorry for my rude behavior. Then, I leave first and come back next week when you open officially."

Ariana started walk away, wanting to leave the place in a rush. Her face was already red in embarrassment. How can she be there any longer?

She went into the shop that was not yet open, ignoring the closed sign, plus questioning this and that. She can only imagine what the man is actually feeling right now. He was probably taken aback by her rudeness.

Seeing Ariana's flustered face makes Zayn lose his words, but before she goes further, unconsciously he grabs her arm from behind a little hard making her turn and come face to face with him once again.

Ariana, who was always alert by those things usually beats those who grab her like that due to her insane reflex, but for some reason, the man's touch made her not mind it. She just felt shocked.

Probably because he doesn't have a dangerous aura about him? Maybe? Or maybe not?

Zayn's hand is still holding her arm and doesn't look like he wants to let go while Ariana is just frozen. Eyes clashed with each other as if waiting to see who would break the silence at that time.

"I-It will be fine if you want to stay and look around." This time it was Zayn's turn to stutter while he slowly let go of her.

Ariana looked at her arm, which still felt the warmth of the man's hand.

'What is this sudden feeling? ' She started questioning herself.

After feeling a bit calmer. Zayn asked again.

"Do you still want to see my plant laboratory at the back? There's a lot more flowers and plants there even the rarest one."

Ariana started to smile now. Forgetting her previous mistake and their awkwardness.

"Then... I'll be in your care."

So both of them spend time together talking about flowers and plants. Zayn even taught her how to plant a rose and how to turn the flower into a bouquet.

Zayn also attended to all of her questions, and she felt happy talking about this hobby of hers to someone who is knowledgeable about this field. He didn't even hesitate to answer her question even if it sounded weird.

For the first time in her life, she can talk about other things besides mafia life which for now is one of her biggest interests in her life. But what happens here definitely feels fresh.

Only later in the evening did Ariana return home with a large bouquet of roses in her hand.

But as soon as she was at the entrance of the mansion, her four older brothers stood there while narrowing their eyes toward her. Of course, the one who is noisiest about her life, Ariel, stands in the middle between them with his arms crossed. As if he is getting ready to say a bunch of stuff, as always.

"Where have you been?" Ariel asked with a firm tone while eyeing his little sister there who already looked bored.

"Why are all of you here blocking the door?" Ariana answered with a question.

"After what happened before why are you not getting back home immediately when you don't even attend school? We call you so many times dear sister. " Asher said in a worried tone even if he's usually the calmer one.

"Mr. Smith calls here and tells us that you are skipping class... Again. You are lucky that I didn't ask father to send a bunch of guys to search for you out in the town. " Aiden tells a little bit seriously. He is a really protective person, but the way he shows it is different from Ariel and that's why Ariana is quite fond of him.

"I am happy that you sent us a lot of prey today, but then you got missing without informing us. Do you know how worried we are? " Ashton also started to speak at that time.

Ariana knows she is at fault this time as she is so happy to learn something new that she forgets about time. But now, how can she explain this?

"And what's that in your hand? Are you stealing that somewhere? " Once again Ariel asked her in such an annoying tone.

"I'm not!" Ariana was quick to say this time. How come she has been accused of stealing when they know very well she has never done those things? Her record is clean for crying out loud!

"So answer our question." Ariel didn't want to give up.

"I-I just going for a walk. Mr. Smith chased me because I was late for school and while running away, I just happened to feel like going for a walk. What's wrong with that? " Ariana said half honestly.

"There is a little pause there." Ariel didn't believe her.

"Ugh..." Ariana could only whimper.

"So why do you get back with those flowers? Don't tell me I need to count our budget again to pay for those. " Aiden said while wearing his glasses that were always hanging around his neck and pulling out a calculator from his pocket. He just wears glasses when making calculations!

By the look of those flowers, he can assume it's expensive. There is no way Ariana is buying those as she usually left her card at home and brought just enough cash for her lunch.

"No! I got this as a gift. And even if I did buy this, I can use my own money to pay. No need to calculate the new budget brother Aiden. " Ariana sighed a little seeing that brother of hers who already got an occupation disease.

But hearing the word gift makes all of her brothers frozen at their spot.

"What do you mean gift? Are you getting a boyfriend or something? " Asher sounded excited now as he never heard of Ariana being in a relationship before.

"Who the hell is that scumbag?" Ariel on the other hand is enraged.

"Give me his contact information. I won't do anything but just give me that." Aiden sounded so suspicious now.

"You never like flowers anyway. Just give me those. I will use them to sprinkle on the graves of our enemies who probably die today." Ashton let out what he thought in his mind now.

Ariana can't help but sweat on her forehead with the behavior of all her brothers. Even her parents are not this controlling!

"Ugh! He is not my boyfriend, and he is not a scumbag. I didn't even have his contact information and no! Don't ever think to have this flower sprinkled on anyone's grave. Stand aside! I want to get in Ariana started to explode. She was too lazy to play around with her brothers for too long, but her four brothers still didn't budge.

Now, a silent stare competition between her and her brothers began until,

"What happened here?"