The language of the flowers

Prologue: The break-up

"You know... I ended up liking jazz and blues because of you."

Twelve Nights in Hollywood. May Maple held the broken CD case in her hands with care, watching Ella exhale a vivacious energy and an upbeat positive vibe in that famous and iconic old picture. She quickly checked the track listing with one fingertip, thinking about her own nasty situation: the melodic vocal jazz was gone and the real blue devils were now hungrily seeking for a place in her heart.

"I don't think I'll abandon the music, though..."

The young woman's face expressed the exact opposite emotion of the powerful diva on the CD cover - low gaze, dead hanging hands, she was now as much cold as the light gray walls of her ex-fiancée's living room. It was hard to smile like Ella in a moment like that.

"I know."

The answer was short; blunt, yet not aggressive. His voice would hardly ever sound violent or bitter; he was subtle like the scent of the scarlet flowers resting in the vases across the apartment's large windows.

Even in stressful or melancholic situations like that, Andrew Hayden was an elegant and rational man. His reserved nature wouldn't let him show any traces of emotion... No, he didn't want to show traces of hope to the beautiful girl in front of his green distant eyes. Life had taught him how to overcome farewells in the least painful way - no matter what, cut the strings.

May bit her lower lip in distress. She was obviously losing their battle of silent arguments, it seemed impossible to convince her ex-fiancée to open his mind and see the world through her eyes.

"...Drew, this is crazy."

She cringed at her own words. That was clearly a desperate pledge - and May didn't want to sound so dependent and infatuated with him. That would only prove his point about how the end was really doomed to happen anytime soon. "I mean, maybe this is a reckless decision―"

"Look..."

The green-haired man walked to the balcony, watching the organized and pacific traffic jam glow in a red light landscape on that hot Sunday midnight. He wanted really badly to make his life as simple and logical as that scenario, trying to make everything predictable and peaceful.

Caressing the petals of the flowers from his special garden, he completed his words with a condescending shrug.

"...It is for the best, you know it."

Andrew Hayden didn't want to make it a long farewell; he wasn't a big fan of over dramatic and tearful moments. He just wanted it to be an adult and mature relationship closure. Both of them were practical people and clever enough to accept that their love was over: it was a waste of time to attempt reviving a dead corpse.

The warm flames of passion were gone; another burning flames were now destroying their feet, probably going up to their legs very soon if no one decided to move away from them. Drew had his share of ugly problems in his life - so did May. Why should one drag the other down to the bottom of hell?

"Drew, why don't you want to change? You could try..."

He silently walked next to the windows, ignoring May's question.

"I mean, we both need to change... But I'm willing to try changing myself so we can find an agreement between the two of us! You know that, don't you?"

Without paying much attention to her incessant ramblings, the distant man lit a cigar and put his hands back to his pockets.

"Drew, please. Listen to me, I... If you don't help me, I can't understand you! It feels like there's a concrete wall between us and—"

"I never forced you to change, May."

That was true. The few little things about her that annoyed him so much... She was the one who voluntarily tried to control her manias and flaws for him.

Drew's immediate and sharp answers always shred her heart. In the beginning of their relationship, that would sometimes annoy and make her angry. Now it made her chest feel so hollow that tears would flow endlessly every time she locked herself in the bathroom asking herself 'why is it not working?'.

He was right, that was completely wrong: it was definitely not healthy to sacrifice herself for someone who didn't care about her... It was so ironic how that same cold man in front of her used to love gifting her red roses - if flowers are expression of emotions and affection, then why did Drew like them so much?

"If I need to grab something that I may have forgotten, I'll call you."

"You can stay tonight if you want. Nobody is forcing you to leave now."

May grabbed her luggage and announced her farewell with a constrained but confident head shake. Crossing the empty corridors of the building, she noticed the door was still opened - Drew hadn't really left the entrance of his apartment but he was watching her leave, arms crossed over his chest.

"I will miss you."

The brunette woman stopped walking for a moment. She knew those words had a very sentimental meaning - several days after the break up, she would still ask herself why those words were so powerful and comforting... However, she also knew that Drew only spoke those words out loud as a protocol procedure.

May despised the truth about his words yet she couldn't stop herself from opening her heart for him one last time.

"I will miss you too... Goodbye, Drew."

With these closing words, May left Drew's house with an austere expression - she had to focus on her steady and strong steps in order to not fall into the abyss and let her repressed feelings exposed to the world.

Perhaps she would drown in tears as soon as she arrived Max's house... But right now? No, she wouldn't cry, not in front of him.

Drew closed and locked his door. After a couple of seconds in silence, he sighed out loud, unbuttoning his shirt and throwing himself on the sofa.

The quiet man turned off the lights and lit a new cigarette, appreciating the odd freedom of his new bachelor's life.

A/N: I know it's frustrating but expect very slow updates for this story in particular, I'm sorry but my vacations are over /dies