The Prince and the Plant Whisperer

Public Debut

[~Posted 8/25/21]

It was 7AM.

Kai was crouched down in the greenhouse when Lukas showed up outside the glass. In the bright morning sun, his shoulders and tailored shirt cast a square shadow. She squinted up at him. Barely there, against the dazzling sun, she saw a smile.

He bent down. Squished his tall frame through the rooftop greenhouse door. Without saying anything he took a second watering can. He started watering plants, by her side.

She felt like she'd go blind if she looked at him.

I'm becoming—his biggest fan! Kai thought.

They worked in silence. She could almost hear the air humming around them.

It was dizzying. She couldn't keep up with the ways he was. Yesterday, so intense. So commanding but also warm. Today, so steady and silent. He was focused on cutting a few brown stems off a maidenhair fern.

Then he said: "I'm sorry."

"Sorry?"

"I'm moving this all too fast," he said. "For you: Does it feel like too much?"

Kai plopped her tin watering can down on a wood bench and looked at his handsome face full of concern. Then she said, "I'm just getting used to how different you are in real life. Compared to your public persona."

"Ah," he said. Then: "Let's go get breakfast after this."

Kai said, "You mean—"

"In the dining hall," he said simply.

Kai managed to stay calm. She glanced up, looked past the ledge down at the courtyard. And swallowed. She knew what that meant. Breakfast. In front of everyone. A performance.

She remembered—ballet as a kid. One winter, she made the cut for the year-end Christmas performance. The auditorium was huge and dark when she walked out on stage, and the spotlights were blinding. She managed to get through most of her routine. But then, in the middle of a pirouette—her nerves hit. She tripped. Fell. The audience gasped. That was the first time she remembered, the shock of feeling nervous.

Later in high school she did sports. Track. Archery. She'd learned how to not be nervous: As long as she trained, her body was her friend. She felt like she could push her body and lean on it.

But now? Walking around with Lukas—this was all totally different. It made her think of actresses in Hollywood, standing on the red carpet with wooden smiles at paparazzi.

Lukas must have seen the look on her face, because he asked: "What do you think? About breakfast?"

"OK." Kai shivered in anticipation. Lukas pointed to his coat—"You need it?"

"I'm not actually cold."

They went back to work on the ferns and hibiscus and succulents and seedlings. Finally, when they were fertilized, watered, misted and happy, he said, "Come. Walk with me. Let's do this."

As they climbed down the steps through his entryway, she asked him, "Are you really ready?"

They both knew what she meant. Ready for gossip. Ready to be paired together in public. He zipped the collar of his jacket down and she could see his throat bob as he swallowed.

It was like there was hot coal burning in his eyes. "I've been ready for a while," he said, resolutely. "I'm more worried about you. Are you ready?"

She nodded. As ready as I can be.

. . * * * * . . . . . .
. . . . * * * * . . . .
. . . . . . * * * * . .