Mirror of Roses [Phayu x Rain] (Love in the Air)

Chapter 1

Notes: This is a story for the +18 Phayu/Rain May Day Game.

In Rain's eyes, P'Dao was like a goddess. She was not only his boss at the little flower shop 'Mirror of Roses' in the heart of Bangkok. Oh no! She was also the person that had seen something special in him, while others had only ever seen something mediocre.

"Boy, you have a good eye for colours and shape. Come work for me." P'Dao had sounded so sure of herself. It made Rain's heart skip and filled him with pride. He had excepted her offer gratefully.

What started as a simple wish to support his parents at home soon became something else entirely. Rain had quickly found that he liked working with his hands. Seeing plants flourish and bouquets bring beauty and happiness into the world was satisfying.

Now, almost a year into his apprenticeship, Rain still wondered if P'Dao had gone mad when she hired him. Had ghosts controlled the woman in her decision to choose Rain? But no, his boss was odd, not possessed.

He turned to boxes of freshly cut flowers that a delivery man from the flower market had dropped off a few minutes ago.

With rolled up his sleeves, he started sorting the different types and colours of freshly cut blooms into their allocated buckets in the display. While he worked, the sun filtered through the big show window by the shop entrance. It bathed the whole place in a bright light.

It was the time of the day that Rain loved the most. He was alone, just getting on with his work while the sun tickled his nose.

"Achoo!" He had to sneeze.

"Bless you, dear."

Rain jumped in surprise, almost falling on his butt. P'Dao was roaring with laughter. The bully of a woman must have seen him enraptured in his work and had waited to announce her presence for maximum effect.

"P'Dao! You scared me. When did you arrive?"

She chuckled merrily as she stepped around Rain to drop her bags into the back room. "About ten minutes ago?" Rain heard her shouting. "Didn't you hear the bell over the door?"

No, he didn't hear anything. Which wasn't anything new because when Rain concentrated on something entirely, he forgot the world around him.

'It's a curse and a blessing,' his mother had always said.

Rain sighed heavily as he tried to get his heartbeat back under control. He continued to sort flowers, letting his hands do the work for him, cutting stems and removing leaves almost automatically. There was no way of telling how long he continued like this. But, if he kept up the tempo, he would have enough time to swipe a cup of coffee that P'Dao was most likely preparing.

Rain suddenly felt like he was being watched when arranging a bunch of carnations in their bucket. A shiver ran down his back. How odd. P'Dao had watched just now, but Rain had not felt anything.

Maybe she just couldn't help herself and was trying to play a trick on him again.

But not this time. Rain would only let himself be fooled once.

So, instead of letting his boss know he had seen through her game, Rain pretended as if nothing had changed. For extra theatrical purposes, he even started to whistle. This way, his boss would think she was safe, and then he would...

"Ha!"

Rain whirled around with his fingers in the air in a battle stance. But there was nothing! Wait, a flash of movement came from the side wall where the big ornate mirror with the roses decorating its frame was mounted to the wall. Surely that huge thing couldn't move, though.