Way Back To You

City

The sun rose at around 7 in the morning, covering the streets of the city in bright hues from the radiant sun which made it look absolutely picturesque.

However, despite the sun shining brightly that morning, only a few people are on the streets because of the cold winds that blow across the French Riviera, but instead of letting the cold wind and their tiredness ruin their escapade, the upper class has decided to brave the weather and take a stroll around the city.

They came back from their two-day trip to the Alps before the crack of dawn and tried to snatch any form of sleep before they went sightseeing. They are certainly not going to waste their fourth day in Nice and their last few hours with the chairwoman because despite the criminal lawyer's protests last night, she was not able to stop Ye Jin from going back to London. But, Hyo Jin did make Ye Jin promise to spend the rest of the holidays with them.

While most of them were getting ready, the chairwoman set off to the beautiful garden of the estate to marvel at its beauty in daylight. Gripping the handrail of the marble staircase, Ye Jin took one step at a time and reached the foyer. Since she had been to the garden a few days ago, the chairwoman easily found her way to the garden through the glass double doors with white wooden frames lined with streaks of gold.

Flowers of different varieties welcomed Ye Jin as she stepped out in the open. The gentle morning breeze blows across the lawn as a few leaves dance with it. At a table nearby, gardeners were busy arranging flowers. She walked slowly to where they were, not wanting to distract them yet one of them saw her and immediately rushed to her side.

"Is there anything you need, Madame?"

The chairwoman shook her head then spoke softly, “I just wanted to look around and I must say the garden is even more beautiful when the sunlight is upon it."

"It certainly is, Ma'am."

As they walked closer to where the gardeners were, Ye Jin realized that there were actually two flower arrangements that the gardeners were making. One seemed like a wreath of red poppies while the other was an assortment of flowers carefully arranged in the vase.

"May I ask what they are for?" She pointed out the flower arrangements before turning slightly towards the gardener beside her.

"Oh, the red poppies are going to be shipped overseas while the other arrangement is for you, Ma'am."

"For me?"

"You are Chairwoman Son, right?"

"Yes."

Ye Jin's companion ushered her to sit on one of the benches near the table where the flower arrangements are being made but she politely declined. Instead, she asked if she could help in arranging the flowers, to which the staff responded positively. She picked up a small yet beautiful poppy, its petals were delicate and its stem was short so she inserted it in the wreath carefully so as not to break it.

A man in his late 50s then handed her a beautiful pink peony with a warm smile on his face. "Mr. Hyun plants all of these flowers and makes sure that he can tend to them the best way he can. Sometimes even if he is tired from work, he would roll up his sleeves, change into a pair of slippers, and would then bend down on the rose bushes to water them or put on some fertilizer. He would do the same to the peonies, the tulips, and the other plants. We also sometimes hear him singing to the plants. He says that there was a person whom he inflicted great pain on who loved plants and flowers of sorts and that this garden was his way of saying sorry."

The chairwoman realized that she was the person the old man was talking about as she placed the peony in the porcelain vase. She guessed that the bachelor might have taken inspiration from the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona as locals have said that the church was built as an atonement for the city’s sins, but in their case, the massive garden is his way of honoring her and of saying sorry to her. Tears in the corner of her eyes threatened to cascade down her cheeks. She took a deep breath and directed her attention back to the flower arrangements that they were doing, hoping that the tears that would soon glide down her face would go unnoticed.