When Tia left to run some errands for her, Catalina called Cisco to her office. It’s a new day and she was unable to bid the fish goodbye last night because of some reports she needed to check for the sake of the new business venture.
The bodyguard arrives at her door in a few seconds. He opens the door slightly to pop his head in. "You called for me, miss?"
“Come in, Cisco,” she sternly says, glancing at him before returning to working on her desktop.
The bodyguard quietly enters the room, carefully closing the door behind him. He walks to stand in front of her desk and patiently waits for her to speak.
Finally, she huffs out a sigh in defeat and places her palms on her desk to push herself up. “Listen,” she begins, peering straight into his eyes, “What I am about to ask you is something that you must not tell anyone. I will kill you if you tell the other guards and I will have your friends murdered if you tell Tia. Have I made myself clear?”
Cisco knows it is best to not question her. Though he had to admit that she can come off as intimidating even if he physically towers over her. “Yes, Miss Catalina,” he simply answers.
She suddenly exhales a shaky breath. “Here it goes,” she mutters to herself. Even if Cisco heard her, he did not make a comment. She clears her throat and asks in the most serious way possible, “Cisco, do you know how to unblock a number on your phone?”
Cisco thought he heard her wrong. “I-I’m sorry, miss, is this code for some kind of bribery contract that I am not aware of?”
“No,” she replies curtly. “Take my question at face value. Do you know how to unblock a number?” She repeats impatiently.
“Yes, I do, miss. You go to the number listed in your contacts and press ‘Edit’--”
“I know how to unblock a number,” Catalina interjects. “I just…” she paused, feeling humiliated over what she is about to say, “needed some kind of validation for what I am about to do.”
Cisco kept quiet, but deep inside he wanted to know what she meant. When his boss exited suite three last night, her face displayed no emotions. He assumed that she was in deep thought and was in no mood to engage in a conversation.
"Do you need my assistance with anything else, miss?"
She shakes her head. "Thank you. You may now leave."
He bows his head without a word and in silence, leaves her office. She lets out this breath she was unconsciously holding and her head droops down listlessly.
“What am I doing?” Catalina grumbled. “Why am I thinking so hard over something so trivial?” Through the corner of her eyes, she spots her phone sitting idly beside her desktop keyboard. It’s so near her and she wouldn’t need a lot of effort to reach out and grab it. Her thoughts were all over the place – thoughts that seem so unlike her. This isn’t like me to get so worked up over unblocking a number!
Realization sinks in her when begins to think that she isn’t herself because she’s aware of who is at fault. It’s her.
She refused to give him a chance and now that she’s ruminated over the thought too much, it has come stronger and wiser to consume her.
“Che cavolo!” She finally reaches over to grab her phone and open her contacts. In her ‘Recents’, the last unknown number she called is definitely the one she blocked. She does the whole process to unblock the fish’s number. Even she made the effort to save his number under the name, “The fish.”
“There!” She places her phone back on her desk and raises her hands in mid-air as if surrendering. “I did it! Now, stop thinking about him, Nina.”
A knock on her door makes her look up to the front. “Yes?” She calls out.
Tia pushes open the door with one hand and meekly announces, “Miss, there are, uh, some flowers for you.”
“...From who?”
“The fish,” she answers in a soft voice.
“Again?!”
“B-But, look!” Tia moves to show that she’s carrying, on the other arm, a single bouquet of flowers wrapped in kraft paper. “He only sent this, miss. Nothing else.”
Catalina cocks her head, regarding her assistant with an unusual expression. “Really?”
Tia nods and takes this as the cue to enter the office. She brings the bouquet with her and carefully passes it to Catalina who was ready to receive it. “There is a note inside, miss,” she informs her.
Catalina was unable to hear her because she was fully engrossed in the flowers and what kind they are.
Red chrysanthemums.
She murmured under her breath, “He gave me red chrysanthemums.” She couldn't suppress the smile that crept up her face. Maybe it was a good idea to tell him what her favorite flowers are.
Tia noticed that her boss seemed to be in her own world and with that, she quietly left the office, a knowing grin taking over half of her face.
The chrysanthemums were arranged beautifully and, thankfully, were not over the top like the other flowers she received from Domenico a month ago.
She began to grasp that he was starting to know her more.
…And that's okay for her.
Catalina sees a folded card tucked between the stems of the flowers. She rests the bouquet on her desk before dislodging the card and opening it.
Red chrysanthemums symbolize my love. Thank you for taking care of me, darling.
She recognized the handwriting. But instead of voicing out a snarky or sarcastic remark, she says in a voice above a whisper, “...You’re welcome.”
She turns the card around to find another written sentence, but it was tinier than the others.
Another question though…don’t you find me at the very least intriguing?
Now, she rolls her eyes, but in a way that conveyed her amusement. She expected nothing less from him. “What is with you and all your questions?”
When Catalina brought the bouquet with her home after work, she made sure to place them in this new crystal vase she bought a few months ago.
Because she was given her favorite flowers, she will keep them and, in fact, make sure they are well taken care of.
Her house was designed in the way that she wanted a house to be. Simple and functional. That’s it. She never spent any money on more decorations because she doesn’t receive visitors at all (except for Tia and Cisco). There was no one to show off to.
Yet, in this dreary house where she spends most of her time alone and in her thoughts, a burst of color is finally added to it. Strangely enough, she doesn’t find this new addition to her house to be some kind of encroachment, rather she is welcoming it with open arms.
She likes the flowers.
She likes that the color complements her plain beige walls and the sleek wooden furniture in the living room. The flowers are now inside the crystal vase she brought out from her kitchen cupboard. She filled it with water mixed with a bit of sugar and vinegar to prolong the lifespan.
For a few moments, she sits on her couch – alone with her thoughts, silently staring at the vase of flowers standing at the center of her coffee table.
Don’t you find me at the very least intriguing?
She suddenly remembers the last sentence on the card that she kept in her office. “Yes, I am intrigued,” She says, “It's not every day you get a marriage proposal from…from someone like you. Yet you made it worse by acting so weird.” She chuckles to herself. Then she slides down to sit on the floor. Propping her elbows on the table, she runs a finger down the delicate petals of the chrysanthemums. “…I don't know if I hate you for it though,” she finishes.
She began to love chrysanthemums ever since her parents died. Seeing those flowers all over the graves of her parents brought her a sense of peace from her tumultuous mind at that time.
Other people would find her insane to treat chrysanthemums as a favorite flower. And the fish may have questioned it, but never directly asked her about it. Instead, he sent her a bouquet of them.
And she knows that every time she looks at a chrysanthemum, regardless of the color, she’ll begin to think of someone else other than her parents.
Her phone was lying beside her on the couch and she reaches over to grab it. Some plan came to her mind and it may seem so unlike her if she were to act on it…but it’s also been unlike her to keep the flowers. Might as well continue with her unlikely actions.
She opens the ‘Messages’ app and begins to type down a message.
Thank you for the–
“No, this seems reaching.” She erases the words and begins again.
The chrysanthemums are–
Erase.
You didn’t have to–
Erase. She was growing impatient. “What the heck am I supposed to say?!” She shuts her eyes and breathes out a slow breath to calm herself down.
“Fine, whatever, I’m not going to think hard on this.” She then thought that she could say something about their first day of work together tomorrow. Yes, that might be a good idea.
Be early tomorrow. Don't waste my time.
Once she finished typing down those words, she presses send without giving it another thought.
—---------
“The whistleblower was dealt with in a swift manner.”
Domenico hummed lowly in reply. He sat on his chair, his elbow resting on the wooden arm. His chin rested on a closed fist of his, the veins clearly marked against his skin as he was holding that fist tightly. It was hard to keep his anger at bay. Not only did he have to worry about the business at the cruise line, but he also had to worry about those who are trying to tarnish his family name.
Having to go through this is making his stomach act up. He makes a mental note to take an antacid after this.
He set his gaze on the tinted window overlooking the wide pier. A lot of buildings capitalize on the view of the majestic and picturesque pier. He’d rather be working at Salumeria Spallanzani now than dealing with troublemakers.
Two of his trusted hitmen stand before his wide ebony wood desk. Both their postures are straight and dignified.
“Before eliminating him,” Domenico begins slowly, “were you able to extract any of his leads?”
“Unfortunately, only one,” one of the men answers.
Domenico shook his head. “What a waste of time.” Anger punctuated his voice. He paused before adding, “Those people think they can hide from me and continue their operations?”
The other hitman then speaks, “We know where to look for the other, sir.”
His eyes shifted to throw them a narrow look. “Then do that now.”
“Right away, sir.”
There goes a buzz in his office, meaning that someone is waiting at the other side of the door for Domenico to grant access. Without a word, Domenico pushes a button hidden under his desk and the door then swings open to reveal his bodyguard, Antonio, carrying a bouquet of red chrysanthemums wrapped in kraft paper. “Here are the flowers you ordered, sir,” Antonio says monotonously. He places them on the desk without paying attention to the two men standing by the side.
Domenico noticed that the hitmen were eyeing the bouquet with confusion. He glared at them and asked, his voice filled with menace, “Can’t a man buy himself a bouquet of flowers?”
The hitmen jumped a bit in shock from the way his voice sounded, but Antonio did not even flinch one bit. He’s used to his boss acting in that manner.
“We shall continue our operations, sir,” one of the hitmen says.
“I expect good results only.” Domenico made his voice loud and clear.
The men bow their heads at him and leave the office in a rush.
Once they left, Domenico seemed to revert to a much calmer state. “Is this exactly the same arrangement sent to her?” He asked Antonio.
“Yes, sir.”
“Good. You may leave.”
Antonio turns on his heel and leaves the office without a word.
The bouquet of chrysanthemums lay before him. When he was fully awake at the hotel, he instantly made arrangements with the florist to prepare flowers to send to Catalina. He thought that it would be a good way for him to make up for the first time he sent over hundreds of flowers. And…they will start working at the hotel tomorrow. He wants to fix her image of him as much as possible.
“Chrysanthemums…” A sense of tranquility passed through him. He can stop thinking over work and familial matters for now. “My dear Catalina likes chrysanthemums.”
“Hmm, I wonder how she treated the flowers I gave. Maybe she would keep them?” He carefully carries the bouquet in his hands before standing to fiercely throw them against the wall without any sign of remorse, “Or would she have ferociously thrown them to the walla and cursed my name to the point that God in Heaven would even hear her?!” He then shouts to himself, “Nemo, you stupid fish!” He was on the verge of a breakdown, watching how the poor flowers looked deadly beaten up. “Oh, Nemo, you might have done something very stupid again!” He berated himself.
Domenico plops down on his chair and heavily slams his head against his hands. “Darling, you are such a hard woman to please,” he cried out loud, “It makes me love you more!”
Only one person could make him lose his dignified sense of self. And that person is the hardest for him to please in any way.
Just as he wallowed in his own self-pity, his phone let out an audible ping. Without looking, his hand reached out to blindly feel for his phone until he finally caught hold of it. With a deep frown on his face, he opened his phone to check the new message he received.
That was when he made a loud gasp and shoots up in his seat. He couldn’t believe what he was reading.
Be early tomorrow. Don't waste my time.
“It’s from Catalina,” he breathed out. His voice got choked up, overcome with an unexpected twist of emotions, “It’s my Catalina. S-She unblocked me.”
He almost bursts out crying in relief. “It’s working,” he mumbled, “It’s finally working.”
It did not take long for him to type down his reply.
I won’t let you down, darling.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
'Insanity' because Catalina apparently appreciates the gesture and Nemo thought otherwise, and decided to act like a crazy person hahahaha
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