Our Hills of Stars

Heart trap

          My life as a florist is a dream come true if you ask me. I get to smell fresh, beautiful flowers every morning and arrange them for people to gift to others. I can imagine the smiles that appear when they receive flowers. Today was a good day, but the evening passed by slowly. At least it's time to close the shop. I see a faint silhouette approaching from the glass doors. "Sorry, but we are closed for the day. Come again tomorrow." I say when turning around to face the person. It was a tall young man with a disappointed look on his face. He was gorgeous, but he looked oddly familiar. Where have I seen him before? 

          As I was walking away, the stranger quietly followed me. Uh-oh, that's not good. I quickened my pace and ran to the nearest place with people. It was a casino with bright lights and loud music playing. I can hear chattering and poker chips tumbling from outside. I walked in and looked around for a way to lose the stranger. People in suits and others in flip-flops all walking around with poker chips in their hands, looking for ways to make more money. The security stopped me and asked where I was going. "Hey miss, where do you think you're going? You can't just walk in! I need to see your ID." I quickly opened my bag and shoved my ID into his hand. 

           The young man following me appears from behind, panting, trying to reach for my arm. "Hey, don't run! It's me, Davis!" The young man says as he grabs my arm. Davis? Could it be the Davis I know? I stare at his face closely while pondering. I never thought I'd find my old best friend from high school here. I smile and embrace him. "Davis, you look so different. You've gotten more handsome. Why didn't you say something when you chased me down the street? I got scared." He smiles and pats my head. "I wasn't sure if it was you, so I tried to catch up to you to see you better." 

          He looks so dreamy, or am I just hallucinating? Something must be wrong with my eyes as I blink rapidly. We notice that we're in the middle of a casino, and everyone is quietly whispering and looking at us. A man comes up to us and asks for his signature. I'm confused; is he famous or something? He does look familiar. "I'm sorry, Maddison. Can we go somewhere else? I'm afraid the paparazzi will be after us." I look confused but hold his hand as he leads me to the elevator to a private booth upstairs. 

           As the door closes, the elevator makes a weird sound. The lights start to flicker; however, my first instinct is to start yelling for help since this has never happened to me before. Davis calms me down and places his hand on my shoulder. "Everything will be ok, don't fret. Someone will come to help us, I'm sure of it." I nod and take deep breaths because I've only seen these situations happen in movies. "That's my girl," he says as he smiles at me. 

             A few minutes pass, I dial 911 on my phone, but there's no service. Davis searches for his phone but says he left it at home. We stare at each other for a bit until he tries to pry open the doors with his hands. Without any hope, there is nothing else we can do but wait for help. We sit across from each other till Davis starts to mumble to himself. "Sorry to have put you in this situation. I don't want the paparazzi to mess with you. I am not sure if you've heard of me, but I became an actor. Those jerks are always following me around." My eyes widen, "You became an actor?"

"Yeah, it's been a long, tough ride, but I finally made it a few years ago. I'm surprised you didn't know." He says, shrugging his shoulders.

"Wow, so that's why you looked familiar at first when I took a glimpse of you back at my shop. Well, as for me, I became a florist because architecture wasn't my vocation. I discovered that after I got a part-time at this local flower shop near my old house. I couldn't see myself being happy in the long run being an architect. You already know I've always been a huge fan of flowers. Whoops, I got carried away again."  He nods and smiles. 

"Yeah, you were always yapping away about flowers. It was pretty cute of you. I liked you back then." Hold up, did he say he liked me in the past? My jaw drops to the floor in surprise. 

"You liked me?"

"Yeah, I liked you, but you got a boyfriend before I could ask you on a date, so I didn't want to ruin anything between you guys. It's been a while, are you guys still together?"

"No, we are not together anymore. I caught him with another girl after we went our separate ways after high school. I am married to my flowers at the moment."  I tried to lighten the mood because it was getting tense. He laughs and throws me a piece of candy he had in his pocket. We sit in stillness for a minute. I scan his body from head to toe, and his features are desirable. He is tall with dusky skin and a fit body, eyes as dark as almond brown, a high nose bridge, luscious lips, and a well-defined jawline. His beautiful thick hair shined under the dim light in the elevator. He catches me staring and smirks. "You like what you see?" The nerve of this guy!

"Who said I was looking?" I look away and blush. "I saw you drooling over there." he says with a wink. The elevator abruptly shifts, and I shriek in fright. The doors were finally opening, and firefighters were outside. I sigh with relief as we leave the elevator in a hurry before something else happens. "Maddison, can I get your number to keep in touch with you?"

         When I'm about to give him my number, a man runs up to us to pull him away and yells at him. He tries to shake him off, but the man is stubborn and won't let him get away. The paparazzi storm in the lobby and shove microphones in my face asking me questions. It feels like a dream, and none of this is real. What if I just made all of this up in my head? Those thoughts soon vanish as I am brought back to reality when the people around me push me like a rag doll. This is real life, my mouth once again opens in shock.

"Miss, who are you? Are you his secret lover? Why are you guys in a casino, and how did you get trapped in an elevator? Is he having an affair with you? Answer us!"

......