Under The Jasmine Tree ✔

🖌 Devotion

"Apollo, his name is Apollo. And yes, it's his favorite flower." I laughed at her antics.

She hummed in content. "I have your jasmines, too." I could practically hear her.

"I would love a bouquet of those two, is Miguel still delivering them?" Miguel was Alex's grandson that helped her deliver her flowers.

"Yes, yes, he is. I will have them ready soon for my favorite customer." She made a kissing sound almost like a 'mauh'.

"Is that me?" I joked.

"Of course, my girl!" she acted as if she was shocked.

"Well, Alex I called to tell you I found you a sweet girl who can help you in the store, she's in a bad financial state," I informed Alexandra.

"Ah, of course. She can come in to start at any time."

"Thank you, see you soon!" I ended the call conveniently when apollo came down with Aleah in her cage.

"This demon- stop! This demon wouldn't stop trying to scratch me." Apollo fought with the caged cat.

"Maybe it's because of the strings on your hoodie, she's just trying to play with you, Apollo." I covered my mouth with my hand to stop my laughter.

"Just take her already. I've had enough of her in the elevator ride. Meow, meow, meow. It doesn't stop!" he mimicked Aleah's playful 'meows.

"Come, let's go home, I have a feeling something good might happen today." Of course, I was referring to Alexi's call once Emilia tells him she quit. I would expect him to call because Emilia told me he had Apollo's number mentioned as an emergency employee.

Apollo looked at me suspiciously and raised a brow. "Lyra are you up to something?" he teased.

"No! - I mean, of course not." I looked anyway but him.

He just looked down at me in silence. "Okay." He just shrugged.

And now I'm stressed. I groaned in my head. Thank God I'm not in a drama major.

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Apollo and I have only met less than a year ago, and I would be very honest when I say, he is the closest to me now. Besides Mariah, who I have a strong and old bond with, Apollo is the only person I would blindly trust. You can call it selfishness or stupidity, but that man has slithered his way to my heart like music notes to the ear.

As much as I believe that our earliest interactions were of the utmost weirdness, I also believe that this was the most unique relationship I've had with anyone. Romantically or platonically.

But the line that separated romantic and platonic relationships is blurring.

I've never really given my emotions towards Apollo a second thought because of how sure I was of them. Was. Not because I don't love him or care for him. No, it's because I love and care for him a little too much for a platonic relationship.

The way he moves and speaks happens to fascinate me, as of recently, and it's a bit unnerving. I would never want to lose him because of my confused feelings. I fear that confronting those hidden emotions would cost me, well...the closest person to my heart.

And I would rather hide those feelings and keep Apollo, than face these emotions and potentially lose my anchor in this chaos of life.

The lashes that wrap around her eyes

Fill me up, fill me up till I cry

I read the words over and over and over again. Written on a blank page in Apollo's lyric book are four lines that spiked all these thoughts in my head. Small annotations around them saying 'intense' or 'sounds delicate yet certain' indicate what emotions he aimed the lyrics to give off.

Grab my heart and emotions

Make me angry, make me wish I could fly

The only thing written on this page were these four lyrics annotated several times around with my name. crossed out, underlined, and circled repeatedly. He promised he would write lyrics about me, but I didn't expect him to right words that portray vivid emotions. Like he felt them...

This made me think of the small gestures he does, like brushing my cheeks with his fingers or twirling my curls around them. I always thought it was Apollo's way of expressing his affection, but I never saw it in a non-friendly light.

Thoughts swirled around my head in circles.

Apollo left after he got a phone call from New Horizon accepting his once rejected job offer, to make sure everything was clear. In the process of filling up my boredom by organizing my dorm, I came across Apollo's belongings from this morning under the jasmine tree.

Which included his Lyric book. And you know how the saying goes: curiosity killed the cat.

Now, my sanity is killed.

Curse you Apollo! I thought. You and that handsome, devilishly talented, and sculpted face of yours!

I mean I wouldn't mind seeing if his abdomen is sculpt- I groaned in my head. There is no way to deny it, is there?

I had followed my own stages of love but in the wrong order.

I trusted apollo, felt attracted, felt infatuated, began to worship him, entered madness and if I don't stop myself, I would fall in love with him. Till death pulls us apart.

Trust, attraction, infatuation, worship, madness, love, death.

God, am I falling for Apollo, mother fucking, Davis?

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Yes ma'am, you sure are.

Hello, my lovely readers!

I truly wanted to add more scenes and events and confrontations in this chapter, but I felt like it was already unpacking lots of Lyra's emotions because it's been a few chapters since we last had her point of view on things.

Ah, yes, we are coming to a close soon. Less than 10 chapters before the epilogue! I hope Lyro's (Apollo and Lyra's ship name created by my sister- Hi there fellow fetus from the same womb!) journey so far has been enthralling to you as readers as much as it was to me.

Love, Mariecurie023, author of Under the jasmine tree, The mafia king, Mortala, and Serendipity.

(My sister mentioned how I should write 'the mafia king' too in my endnotes, so I added all the other stories, just to be cheeky yk?)