Page 60 of The Fake Dating Plan

“No.”

“Whose?”

“A friend’s.”

“You aren’t giving me a lot to work with. I hope this friend of yours knows we are coming and we aren’t trespassing.”

He shrugged and smiled.

“Oh my god, we’re trespassing aren’t we?”

He took out keys from his pocket and just as he was about to place them in the keyhole; the door opened and a small middle-aged woman with brunette hair tied in a neat French bun was standing in front of us.

“You’re here.” Her tone was brusque, and she spoke so fast as if she was in her hurry. I glanced at Axel. Did he make her work during the holidays?

“You’re late. I thought you were coming yesterday.”

“Family commitments, I sent you an apology,” he said.

“Yeah. Yeah,” she waved him off and turned to look at me fully for the first time. I wasn’t tall, more to the petite side, but she was shorter than me.

She peered up to my face. “Is this her?”

Ax looked awkward in a way I’ve never seen before. “By her you mean…”

“Her.” She beamed and hugged me. Her mood had suddenly shifted from prickly to soft in a few seconds. I had whiplash. “Welcome, my dear. Come on in.” She said, turning back and going further into the building. “You too Reid don’t just stand there like a statue.”

I followed her inside. The place was what I least expected it to be, especially. I stood shocked as I looked up at the big glass area I had entered with a high ceiling and light streaming in. The entire place was filled with plants and flowers and even trees, small ones, from a cherry blossom to an acorn tree. Jasmines to roses and daffodils crawled up the walls, covering every square inch. It was like a garden had come alive. There were plants hanging from ropes. Some, creeping up to the ceiling.

“It’s beautiful.”

“Thank you!” she called out, “Although he’s the one who pays for most of it, so really, he should be the one saying thank you. By the way,” she turned to face us, “did I introduce myself? Name’s Sofia.”

“I’m—”

“I know who you are, Emilia,” she chuckled to herself as if she had made the most hilarious joke. I turned to Axel, my eyes saying,Where have you taken me to?

“She’s a friend of mine. A friend of the family. Came from Spain at the same time as my mother. They were both models back in the day.” When I frowned he added, “Hand model.”

“Hated it,” Sofia called out, “but it paid the bills. Helped me to eventually do what I loved, which was gardening.” The idea of a hand model who was also into gardening was ironic, but nothing surprised me anymore with this family and its associates. I continued to be amazed, though, by how beautiful this place was as Sofia led through the greenhouse from room to room. Each one was filled with some amazing and rare flowers. I had to stop myself from staring too long. Finally, we reached a wide room. It was the biggest of all and had an enormous area in the middle where a picnic blanket filled with food and drink was set. The plants in this room were placed more deliberately. There were more flowers than plants and they were decorated according to color. Some were dangling from the roof and others were plastered, growing along the walls. The entire scene gave off the feel of being in the gardens of Babylon. It was ethereal. It even smelled ethereal. Instead of an overpowering off-putting smell, the room had a sweet, flowery scent.

“What do you think?” She waved her hand around.

“Thank you, Sofia,” Ax said, “you have been more than helpful.”

She put up her hands in mock surrender. “You’re lucky you found me here. I waited for you all day yesterday.”

“Damn,” he said, “sorry about that. The family ended up coming over.”

“If you say so.” She said as she was turning back and leaving. In a few moments, she was gone.

“What just happened.”

“That’s Sofia for you. One minute she's all over you and won’t leave, the next, she’s disappeared.”

I turned around, taking in the room all over again. It was so magical; I had a hard time believing I was still on earth. “It’s so beautiful. I did not know a place like this was in New York. We’re still in New York, right?”

“Most people don’t,” he said, moving to the picnic blanket. “It’s been featured in a few magazines and movies and somehow it is still relatively unknown. Sofia likes to keep it that way.”

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