Page 8 of Petals and Fangs

“They're my favorite. Thank you. Are these the new decorations?” I smile at her. Her face looks so soft and innocent. I can’t believe she still remembers my favorite flowers.

“Just a little. I've put up a few things, but nothing too much. I figured that you could use a little bit of color. I still have more work to do, though.”

“Got a decoration plan for the office?” I ask her.

“A basic one. It will take me some time for sure. What was your meeting about?” she asks, walking toward me, her eyes locked on mine, her lips almost calling my name. I can tell she is faking a friendly aura.

“The usual. Making more money.”

“Is that why you became the CEO of your own company?”

“Not exactly. It is true I was the only heir to Rothschild Pharmaceuticals, but I had other goals in mind. I wanted things to go the way I wanted them to,” I reply.

“You were always so driven. I remember how hard you worked in school back then.”

“I was different back then. More human.”

“More human? What are you now, like a zombie or something?” she chuckles, infusing the urge in me to grab her face and kiss her.

“That was a poor joke, Lily. I meant that I am no longer that human boy who used to sit next to you in class and try to talk to you.”

“"Oh, you did more than just sit next to me and talk, for sure.”

I look down at her heels. I wonder how she can walk in those, but at the same time, I enjoy the fact that I can see her legs a little better.

“We were just kids, Lily. I saved you by leaving you,” I say, ever so gently. It felt wrong to say it.

“Why would you say such a stupid thing?” she scoffs and walks past me. I can tell the statement bothered her.

“The thought overwhelmed me the moment I saw you. I never really apologized for leaving you so suddenly. I was a naive kid back then.”

“And what are you now? A full-grown man?”

“I have changed.”

“For the better, I hope.”

“You can be the judge of that.”

“Maybe,” she says.

Lily looks at me, not even bothering to say another word. The way she talks to me is so casual, yet it feels like she knows something that I don't. The way her hips move as she walks toward my windows fills me with passion.

“What do you mean maybe?” I finally snap out of my daydreams.

“I just meant how exciting it is to be owning a massive company such as this one. It must give you immense power. So, yes, perhaps you really have changed. I almost didn’t recognize you.”

“Is it the suit? Or the watch?” I ask, attempting to make her laugh, but she doesn’t. She only smiles at me lightly.

“Neither. Maybe the blazer a little.”

“You think so?”

She doesn’t say a word. She just looks my way and smiles again, tempting me to get closer to her.

“You know what’s funny, Lily?”

“Enlighten me,” she says, unbothered.

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