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    Kevin jumped in. “Miss Lawrence, Mr. Yates is six years younger than me. Since you call me Kevin, why not call him Yatesy? Or maybe Chuckie?”


    Alicia’s lips twitched. ‘Yatesy? Chuckie?‘ The names sounded like something straight out of a cheesy romance


    novel.


    Before she could figure out how to refuse, Charles spoke up. “That’s fine by me.”


    Alicia and Kevin both shot Charles a surprised look, thetter stealing a nce in the rearview mirror.


    Charles met Alicia’s gaze, and she felt herself getting lost in the deep ocean of his eyes.


    She quickly looked away and cleared her throat. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”


    Charles didn’t say anything, but his eyes seemed to hold a flicker of disappointment.


    He shifted his gaze away from her. “Call me whatever you want,” he said quietly.


    ‘She’ll have only one choice of what to call meter on, anyway,‘ he thought.


    A strange pang of guilt hit Alicia; she found she didn’t want him to be disappointed.


    But she couldn’t bring herself to call him ‘Yatesy‘ or ‘Chuckie‘.


    ‘Am I just imagining things? Why would a man like him get upset over a name? I must be reading too much into it.‘


    Alicia pushed the ufortable feeling down and stayed silent.


    The car pulled up to the entrance of Riverdale’srgest flower and garden market.


    The three of them went inside. Kevin, who knew nothing about nts, was fascinated by everything. “Get a load of this one, Miss Lawrence!” he’d say, pointing at a particrly vibrant bloom. “This one’s beautiful.”


    Alicia smiled. “Since we’re on a first–name basis, you can just call me Alicia.”


    “Alicia,” Kevin repeated with a cheerful grin.


    She nodded, then looked at the flower he was pointing to and shook her head. “It is, but it’s probably high- maintenance. I prefer nts that are hard to kill.”


    “Hard to kill? Like what?” Kevin asked.


    A small smile yed on Charles’s lips. ‘She’s still the same as when she was a kid,‘ he thought. ‘Loves having nts around but hates taking care of them.‘


    He scanned the area and pointed to a sulent. “Get that one.”


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    Alicia nodded. “Okay, that one.”


    :


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    ‘It’s just like the one Charlie and I had,‘ she reminisced. Theirs had grown so big before it tragically fell off the balcony and shattered. Thank goodness no one was below at the time.


    Kevin eyed the somewhat in sulent. “It’s kind of ugly,” hemented.


    Alicia replied, “The pretty ones are always a pain to take care of, but the in ones are easy.


    This strange take left Kevin speechless.


    Charles, however, pointed to arge cactus in the back. “We’ll take that one, too.”


    The shop owner beamed. “Excellent eye, sir. That’s a very fine specimen.”


    “Right,” Charles said, taking out his wallet. “How much for all of these?”


    “The cactus is $100, the sulent is $40, and the five pothos nts are $2 each without the stands, so that’s $10. That’s a total of $150,” the owner calcted quickly.


    Charles paid the sum.


    The owner’s smile widened.


    Kevin, however, was baffled. “$100 for a cactus? And it’s not even pretty.”


    Before the owner could speak, Charles interjected. “Cacti bloom, too. Their flowers are more beautiful than many hothouse flowers. They may bloomte, but they’re resilient.”


    The owner nodded enthusiastically. “This gentleman knows his nts. The cactus symbolizes endurance and a love thatsts forever. It’s a much better gift for a loved one than roses that wilt so easily.”


    The owner then turned to Alicia with a knowing smile. “He’s making a deration of love, you know.”


    Alicia was taken aback. “Oh no, you’ve got it all wrong,” she said, waving her hands. “He’s not my boyfriend.”


    “He will be,” the owner said with a wink.


    Alicia felt a flush of embarrassment. ‘Great. Now he’s going to think I’m trying to hit on him, too. And I heard he’s not even into women.‘


    She wanted to exin further, but Charles had already started walking. “Let’s go.”


    Kevin quickly gave the shop owner the address for delivery.


    They wandered around a bit more. Seeing how much money had already been spent, Alicia decided against buying anything else. She could alwayse back and buy more herselfter.


    But Charles spotted a few spider nts, paid for them, and arranged for their delivery as well.


    After more than an hour at the market, it was past seven when the three of them finally headed back.


    :


    By the time they arrived, the delivery truck was already waiting by the curb.


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    Charles waved off the delivery guys and, with Kevin’s help, carried the nts upstairs himself.


    He gently pushed Alicia’s hands away when she tried to help.


    With the pots arranged one by one, the whole sky garden felt much more vibrant.


    It was almost eight by the time they finished. Alicia’s stomach was starting to growl; her gastritis meant the needed to eat on time.


    She was about to head to the kitchen when she remembered her guests. Mr. Yates and Kevin had just hauled all those nts for her; she couldn’t just kick them out after putting them to work. <fn37a8> Content originallyes from find·novel</fn37a8>


    She came back out from the kitchen and saw Kevin admiring the new nts in the garden while Charles sat alone on the sofa, sipping water.


    She approached him. “Um, Mr. Yates, I’m about to make dinner. Would you like <i>to </i>join?”


    “I’d like that,” Charles replied with a nod.


    Alicia had assumed he wouldn’t want to stay, since she was no master chef. But his eptance was <i>so </i>quick, so matter–of–fact. He wasn’t being polite at all.


    A simple home–cooked meal suddenly felt inadequate. “How about we eat out?” she suggested. “I saw a nice bistro downstairs.”


    Charles looked up at her. ‘She probably has no idea that ‘nice bistro‘ is deceptively expensive. A meal for three there would make her wallet bleed, and if he offered to pay, her pride would be wounded. Staying in was the better option.


    “I’m tired from moving all those nts,” he said. “I don’t feel like going out. Let’s just eat here.”


    Here? The way he said it felt oddly intimate, as if they were a family.


    ‘Then again,‘ she reasoned, ‘it is his house. So I guess it is his home!‘


    She cleared her throat. “Well, would pasta be okay? It’s gettingte, and making a full meal would be a hassle.”


    “That’s fine,” Charles agreed.


    “Okay, you just rx then. I’ll <i>go </i>ask Kevin,” Alicia said, turning toward the sky garden.


    At the mention of “Kevin“, Charles’s expression darkened, but he remained silent.


    Kevin wasn’t a picky eater and was genuinely hungry by now. He was delighted by Alicia’s dinner invitation and readily agreed.


    The two walked back inside from the garden.


    As they headed for the kitchen, Kevin offered, “Hey, let me give you a hand.”


    Just as Alicia was about to refuse, a sharp cough cut through the air.


    She and Kevin both turned to see Charles ring at Kevin, his eyes cold and intense.


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    A shiver went down Kevin’s spine. He forced an awkwardugh. “Actually, you know what? I’m useless in the kitchen. Can’t even chop a vegetable. I’d just be in your way, Alicia”


    Alicia waved a hand dismissively. “You don’t have to help, I can manage<i>… </i>


    “I’ll help you.”


    Before Alicia could finish, Charles was on his feet and standing beside her. “Where are the ingredients? What are we making?”


    Alicia cleared her throat. “That’s really not necessary…


    Charles ignored her protests and marched right into the kitchen, “Let’s go.”


    AD