Page 1 of Petals and Fangs

Chapter 1

Lily

“Lily Snow? Is that you?” A familiar voice from behind the door startles me. It can’t be him.

“Ethan?”

“I can’t believe it is really you, Lily.”

I can’t believe it either. I can’t believe that I am seeing Ethan’s face again after all these years. Ethan. My high school sweetheart. He looks very different.

“It has been what? Like ten years now?” he says, slowly taking steps towards me.

“Yes.” I nod and swallow the lump that’s been stuck in my throat for the last minute. It has been a decade of neither seeing his face nor feeling his presence next to me in my room.

Ethan Ruth, now known as Ethan Rothschild, is the CEO of the company I am about to be interviewed in for a job: Rothschild Pharmaceuticals. It must be fate bringing me back to him. Or maybe it is just a curse.

“I guess life has a funny way of bringing people back together. So, you’re here for the florist position?”

“Yes, Ethan. I suppose I am.”

“Mr. Rothschild,” he clears his throat and walks past me, not showing any signs of interest anymore. The gaze that was so full of surprise, nostalgia, and astonishment quickly turns into a cold one.

“Sorry?”

“Have a seat, Lily. Please,” he says after a long pause of silence and uninterrupted eye contact.

“You are the CEO here?”

“Yes. Yes, I am. CEO and owner.” He gestures to the sofa in front of him.

“You must have it all, then,” I nod and look around me. The office lacks color.

“I am the company’s only heir.”

“Rothschild? Ethan Rothschild? Wait. Something is off. Did you change your surname? Or did you just lie about it, too?”

“Slight changes. But no, I did not lie about it.”

“I figured,” I say and analyze his smile. When he smiles again, I feel like my entire body is being crushed to earth.

“Got something to say about it, Lily?”

“Not really. I just didn't know this company belonged to you. I should have done my research,” I clear my throat and sit on the sofa facing him, my legs feeling shaky.

I begin regretting wearing these fancy high heels that I had to borrow to look presentable enough in front of the company’s CEO.

“There's a lot you don't know, Ms. Snow.” He sits facing me at the edge of the round table, which hardly has anything on it except stacks of papers and his black laptop.

No wonder he needs someone to decorate this place. His face seems younger than the one I remember.

“Why am I here, Ethan?”

“It is Mr. Rothschild.” He clears his throat again and rubs his eyes, seeming out of patience. I guess I should not call him by his first name like I used to.

“Why am I here?” I say again, sterner this time.

“You are here for the job. You won the bid for this contract, Lily. The samples you sent are quite ravishing.”

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