[The language of the flowers]
Chapter One: The letter
Andrew Hayden considered throwing away all the stuff May didn't care getting back to her house in Petalburg - however, instead of revisiting awkward memories, the busy man just threw everything into a box and tossed it next to the piano in the living room; he barely used that corner of his house anyway.
Besides the lack of usual activities most couples share, Drew's daily life after the break-up ended up not changing at all: his routine was as normal as usual. Wake up, have some coffee, go to the office, work, smoke, eat something, work some more, smoke and have more coffee, go back to home, eat something else and sleep, repeat and rinse.
Calendar pages kept falling from the wall until it reached the beginning of September - the end of summer and the beginning of Autumn. He sighed in relief, checking the red crossed line pages in his agenda: his scheduled vacation week would come very soon in a few hours. He hated to admit but he had been thinking very fondly about these future free days.
8:45 pm. Drew turned off his laptop and stared at his half-empty cup of cold coffee for a meaningful moment; it took longer than he thought it would do to realize that he needed to call the travel agency and suspend his tickets to Kanto.
Well, no way he would spend his vacations in a pointless trip all by himself.
The young man opened his briefcase and picked up a colorful orange folder, trying to find a contact number to cancel his order. He was about to open his PokeNav when a cheerful voice interrupted him.
"I hope you have a romantic nice trip in the St. Anne Cruise, Mr Hayden."
A peculiar shadow on his table denounced that someone was standing right behind his back. Judging by the size and the shape of its hairstyle, that could only be one specific person.
"Here, some homework for you." Iris handled him a couple of documents, placing them over the briefcase. "I understand that you want to spend the fabulous trip with your girl in Vermilion City without thinking about deadlines, deals and stuff, but... you know, time waits for no one. We need these done until next Friday, 'kay?"
The Unovian woman was the only human being in that building that could be called as Drew's comrade. In five years, the green-haired employee had never caused a bad impression while doing his job, yet his avoidant personality made his co-works fear, ignore or either avoid him completely.
It was strange how a man so good at acting as a negotiator between partners and presenting reports to superiors was also the first one to refuse invitations to social meetings at the office. Drew didn't really care about being known as a distant guy - as long as people respected each other and tasks were correctly delivered, none of these details mattered at the end of the day. For him, 'unsocial' didn't mean he was socially inept, it just meant he prized some privacy.
Only someone sassy, cheeky and confident enough would be able to tolerate and enjoy a plain relationship full of ironies and sarcasm: that's the perfect way to describe Iris, so it's not a big surprise that she was Drew's torment and only friend at work. Their empathy bound was slowly crafted through acid jabs at each other with words.
"Mr Hayden, how is your almost-wife?"
Iris would giggle every time the busy king-of-sarcasm left the office holding a bouquet of scarlet roses in his arms. Those gorgeous flowers were always for that beautiful brunette girl with blue eyes... She used to wait for him in front of the train station, always fidgeting with her long hair bangs and checking the hours on her PokeNav.
That was Hayden's special girlfriend. Iris considered that a valid proof of how that reserved guy was actually a little thoughtful at his house without his business attire - or how that enchanting woman was a truly crazy person.
Drew scanned the briefing very quickly and planned a schedule on his mind. He wanted to get away from his subordinate nosy's habits - so the best way to finish the discussion was resorting to a short and straightforward answer.
"We broke up," the fast businessman stated the news with a calm and indifferent voice. "I'm staying home this week, I'm not going to travel anymore. I finish these by Wednesday, I'll e-mail you when I'm done. See you in two—"
"...W-What? When did that happen?!" The young woman almost dropped her files on the floor, shocked by her co-worker's answer. She checked his right hand: the golden ring was gone. "No way, are you kidding me?"
That comment offended him more than it should have. He just smirked to himself, speaking with a slightly lower voice.
"She wants something more dramatic and unstable for her life, I can't offer her that... See you in two weeks."
Iris could easily count in her hands how many times Andrew Hayden had a serious relationship argument; at least three since she had joined the company. Heated discussions reflected on him as an odd mood at work - instead of ignoring her question, that little twist in his patience forced him answering some of her incessant and intrusive poking. So... Boy, that was a nasty fight, huh.
Her superior was a very objective person - if he wanted to marry May, it wouldn't be for frivolous or unplanned reasons...
"I'm sorry about that..." The young woman insisted on the issue. "...Would you like to talk about this?"
Talk about what... His breakup with May? As if sulking about something he wanted to not care about would change anything... Drew shrugged his shoulders very lightly, dismissing his co-worker's help. To give meaning to tainted memories only brings unhappiness to the heart - he had just learned this lesson and he wasn't willing to contest it.
"Trust me, I'll listen to you if you—"
"I don't need advice on my personal life, Iris." Trying to conclude the discussion for once, Drew decided to give his subordinate a piece of his bitter advice. "Full transparency and mutual support are perfect plans for fairy tales, not reality."
"We must talk," she declared with a concerned voice. "Mr Hayden, I'm worried about you."
"You shouldn't be." Drew snorted and flicked his hair, walking away. "I am about to finish my shift today and you need to finish your presentation until tomorrow. I'm not the one who should be worried."
Iris frowned in annoyance, following her superior with fast short steps. That was an important matter; she wouldn't give up on him so easily.
"I'm not done with you, wait!"
"Hm?"
The green-haired man raised one eyebrow in mildly curiosity - that woman surely surprised him for being so stubborn. Was he some kind of magnet to obstinate people? Even though he decided to avoid the elevator and leave the building walking down the stairs, she kept following him... That was really irritating.
Drew wasn't paying attention to her at all, yet he could hear that persistent woman babbling words like 'stop running away, listen to me', 'alright! I am not going to talk about that anymore, listen to me!' and 'sheesh, you're such a kid!'. Sighing out loud, he stopped walking and crossed his arms over his chest, staring at her sly eyes with a cold glare.
"What do you want."
"Well..."
Iris gulped, feeling slightly tense - the way he delivered his question sounded like an order. However, she shook her head, refusing to be intimidated by Mr Hayden.
"O-Okay, thank you for paying attention. Two really quick notes for you..."
Drew grabbed a cigarette pack, looking already bored. "Hope it is really quick."
"First memo, feel free to call me if you need someone to talk to." She put her hand in front of Drew, showing him one new message in her portable radio. "Second memo, they've just left you something at the mailing office, don't forget to grab it before you leave."
"I'm on vacations with tons of extra work to do, how lovely." He smirked, raising his hand and removing a cigarette from the pack with his lips. "I guess 'you're very talented and we appreciate your skills' is a smooth way to say 'let me use you as a slave'."
"I can get it for you if you wait like... one minute..." Iris shrugged, fixing the radio back to her belt. "Wait, I've changed my mind. I'll grab it for you if you promise to not lit this now, I don't want to impregnate my hair with that smelly smoke."
"Tch." Drew shook his head, then changed his route to the second floor instead of leaving the building. "You may go back to work now... I can get my stuff by myself, thanks."
"Ohh, I see you really value nicotine more than my help. How lovely, your health must love you, it is a very one-sided relationship..."
The green-haired man ignored the dry remark - although she was pretty smart, he could swear that girl wasn't exactly aware of all innuendos related to break-up contained in her words.
"Why are you still following me?"
"You should stop smoking," Iris added, raising a finger up in the air. "I could swear you didn't use to smoke when I was just a trainee... That's a bad habit."
"Then suggest me a better drug against stress that doesn't affect my job performance."
"Yoga, meditating, herbal tea treatments, charity, interacting with human beings..."
"I'm sticking to my bad smoking habit."
Drew shrugged then opened his wallet, grabbing his ID card. He unlocked the door and began to search for his mail box inside the small room full of correspondences.
"H... Harris... Hay..."
His tired eyes noticed the cases were organized in alphabetical order; his name should appear in the narrow corridor very soon.
"...Hayden!" Iris stood on the tip of her toes, pointing at a small tag in a box above her head. "Right there, look!"
She watched her co-worker sign a prompt on the wall and fetch a couple of documents inside his mailbox. This time, however, something different stood out from the usual white and light brown files.
"Mr Hayden... What is this?"
Then he saw the envelope of the message that changed everything.
"I don't know. It is not identified."
It was a small, perfumed and thin envelope - addressed to "Andrew Hayden", no visible signatures on the surface. Light purple paper, red ink and no stamps.
"What is this?" Iris stood by the tip of her toes, trying to peek at the small and delicate letter in his hands. "Did someone send you a personal mail at work?"
Drew quickly opened the envelope and scanned the memo with his eyes in silence, trying to figure out who did send him that message. It was a bitter and crazy letter about himself, flowers and...
...Congratulations?
He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.
"Drew,
How are you? I hope everything is going well. I think I've learned how to live by myself and I feel fine now... We don't need each other to keep going with our lives. Thank you for making me realize that.
I guess I won't give up on raising flowers, though. Do you remember how you used to woo me by gifting me always the same flowers, same color and same greeting card? Cheap trick, yet I liked the idea.
Baby loves these flowers and now I can't help but think it is fair to tell you the truth. I've been thinking... Now it is time. You're a mature and reasonable man, aren't you? Let me confess you a secret.
You were right. Isn't it quite ironic? Those brilliant green eyes are yours... But I really love them.
Congratulations! You're a father of a healthy and happy child.
(I wonder how does it make you feel?)
Love,"
"What the hell is this?..."
Drew muttered to himself, reading the last paragraphs again and again. What kind of joke was that?
His subordinate timidly offered her hand. "Mind if I see it?"
The green-haired man tossed her the message carelessly, speaking in a nonchalantly way, "whatever, what a waste of time. Throw it away for recycling, please."
Iris devoured the short letter with big and surprised eyes popping out in shock. "Ehhhh?!"
"Is May pregnant?..." She cringed, lowering her head and avoiding looking at her colleague's eyes.
"...Of course not," Drew answered in a monotone. "I guess it's a prank from the office."
"I can't read the signature..." The long-haired woman bit her lower lip in tension. "It was removed from the original message. Well..."
"Wow, what a toxic person, huh?" She pouted, taking fast glances at her partner. "What a troll, that was a creepy message!..."
"It must be a troll," Drew muttered in a tired voice, picking a lighter from his pocket. "Why would the mother contact me without wanting to leech any stupid quantity of money from my pockets?"
"Perhaps she thinks the brat is happier this way. Who would want to meet you, right?"
Drew furrowed his eyebrows. Iris just replied that expected reaction by grinning mischievously back at him.
"Oh, you look hurt."
"Why should I feel hurt?" Drew quickly defended himself, flicking the tip of his hair. "I know I'm no good man."
"You've changed." The snarky woman crossed her arms, sighing in distress. "You were never the talkative guy but now you're dull, melancholic and chatty."
"You're dissapointed because you idealized me too much and my real self didn't meet your expectations."
"I'm too emotionally intelligent to fall for your charms and, oh, I sense bitterness in your words," Iris questioned the dashing man in front of her. "Yes, your personal life and normal profile are connected to each other. It is that obvious, Mr Hayden."
"You're being inconvenient."
"You allow me to act this way." Iris smirked. "I'm following your steps to be the most feared and hated employee in this building."
"Tch..." Drew groaned under his breath.
"Such a kid," the young woman shrugged, smiling smugly. "If you don't open your mouth, it's impossible to tell you how to solve your problems."
"People should learn to solve their problems by themselves," Drew retorted with a slightly defensive voice. "I've got enough problems and it's stupid to generate extra trouble for free."
"If you shared your thoughts with other people, it's fairly possible that you would generate less trouble than doing everything by yourself."
"I wish I could fire you," the green-haired man groaned quietly. "Too bad you're Drayden's responsibility, not mine."
Grinning in a cheeky manner, Iris put her hands on her hips and asked her colleague a hypothetical question. "Hey, Mr Hayden... If I were one of your exes, would you give me flowers too?"
He took the purple envelope back with a blank expression on his face.
"You don't need flowers, you're already Iris. See you in two weeks."
Drew left the building with a whole free week in his hands and a brand new question going on inside his mind - who would try forging a letter like that?
(I wonder how does it make you feel?)
That strange message couldn't be a real letter... Could it be?
A/N: I don't write characters with altered behavior without any explanation plus anyone knows I don't write Drew as an emotionless robot (at least not without any reasoning behind his OOC actions) - more hints will come (very slowly)...
Idk how to tag this story. It's as a Romance, Drama and (Dry) Humor thing and we are only allowed to pick two, how do I do to not mislead people? It's about romantic relationships but I'm not sure if this is romantic or shippy enough... Is Drama/Comedy a more appropriate tag? D:
Gah, my life is a mess atm! hahahaha xD I need to sit down and type some stuff lost in several paper notes and... Argh, so many stuff to do lol. Please tolerate my erratic uploads in the following weeks, I will post whatever I manage to organize and edit. /bows