𝗘𝗡𝗚𝗟𝗜𝗦𝗛 𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗜𝗢𝗡
Lord Lionel Shahbandar had everything that others could not even dream of. His own company, money until he dropped and a huge estate.
But one thing he did not have.
A love he neither sought nor missed.
Only when he ha...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
The next morning Lionel woke up and yawned once heartily. He had slept well, but he would have preferred to have his lioness next to him. Unconsciously, he reached over to the empty side of the bed and stroked the cold cushion. "I'll bring you back to me, you belong by my side," Shahbandar murmured, trying to convince himself. For he didn't have much hope that she would accept him as a future partner.
Lionel now knew that he could not win Saskia over with gifts. How did he even come up with this stupid idea? Hadn't that always been the solution to everything in the past? No, those times were over now. If he wanted to convince her of himself, he had to reveal his feelings. She was more important to him than his sky-high pride, he knew that now.
What was he waiting for? Time was working against him. Full of joy, he got up and went into the bathroom to take a shower. Freshly washed, he went back to the bedroom and took out his small suitcase. Unusually for him, he put on a pair of dark blue jeans and a dark red shirt, on which he left the first buttons open.
He looked at himself critically in the mirror and straightened his hair. Lionel wanted to do everything he could to make Saskia see him from a different angle. He usually wore suits, but they were much too formal for his purpose.
He carelessly put the clothes he had already worn into the suitcase. His cleaning lady would take care of them when he was back at his estate. He closed the suitcase and went downstairs with it and put it in the vestibule.
Lionel didn't have the nerve for breakfast today and got a bottle of cold water from the kitchen. He opened the cap and drank a few large gulps. He put his head on the back of his neck and closed his eyes for a moment. He was terribly nervous. In truth, he was very afraid of failing. Saskia had become important to him. He had only really realized that in the past month, when he had no longer had her around.
The emptiness he had felt when he had eaten his meals alone at the dining table or continued to work on his book in his large office. He had even lost his desire for the book project. Without Sassy's sometimes cheeky remarks, while they worked together, he just lost something.
By now, it wasn't just lust that he felt for Saskia. She had accused him of that yesterday and she had not been wrong. But his feelings had evolved.
Lionel closed the water bottle, went into the vestibule and picked up his suitcase. He stepped outside and took a deep breath of the fresh, cold air. The weather had improved overnight and the rain had stopped. Thick clouds that looked like a flock of huge sheep slid along the horizon. Occasionally, a few rays of sunlight flashed out between them.
He stepped up to his vintage car, put the water bottle and suitcase on the back seat. Should he just drive to her relatives? But he didn't want to show up empty-handed either. He spontaneously decided to drive to the small town center and look for a flower store.
Lionel was driving along the main street when he spotted a flower shop. He stopped his silver car in front of it. That alone caused a stir in the little town. After all, it was not every day that one saw an expensive car standing around. When he got out, the eyes of the few villagers who were on the road were on him. But that didn't bother Shahbandar. He was used to attracting a certain amount of attention wherever he was.
He entered the store. Immediately, the scent of flowers welcomed him.
"Can I help you?" the staff member asked curiously, looking him up and down.
"I'd like some fresh long stem roses," he replied, continuing to look around.
"I'm sorry, but we only have plants here, not cut flowers," the woman said apologetically.
Now Lionel finally realized what a small town this was. But he didn't want to look any further, he wanted to finally see Saskia again.
"Good, then show me your most beautiful rose bushes!", Lionel replied, as a better idea had just occurred to him.
The woman nodded happily, as they had a nice selection of different colored roses in the glass house. She motioned for the lord to come along with her to the back.
Lionel's gaze slid through the spacious glass house and lingered on a rosebush with dark red blossoms. "This one and this one," he ordered the woman, pointing to another rose bush that had white flowers with red edges.
The employee wrapped both together with white tissue paper, that brought out the colors even better. At the cash register, he decided to buy a gift card for more plants. "Another £1000 gift voucher please," he said to the woman.
The roses almost fell out of her hands. She stared at the lord when she heard the sum. She had never issued a gift card for such an amount before.
"Is there a problem?" he asked, slightly arrogantly, as the lady stared at him as if he had just stepped out of a UFO.
"N-No. It'll be taken care of right away!" she quickly defended herself, and with shaky fingers, wrote a coupon.
Lionel paid for everything and went back to his car. He was probably going to be the town talk of the day before long. The thought of it, however, only cost him a weary smile. He stowed everything safely in the back seat, got in and drove off.
It wasn't very far to Saskia's home. Hopefully he wouldn't be greeted with another straw or pitchfork, he thought to himself as he drove to her cousin's farm.
Saskia had woken up completely exhausted. She had taken another medication during the night so that her slight cold wouldn't get any worse. Against all odds, she had gotten ready and was drinking a large cup of chamomile tea in the kitchen.
Over and over again, she relived in her mind yesterday's meeting with her former boss. She just didn't understand what it was all about. She believed him that he had had nothing with PJ. But why he had signed the house over to her remained a mystery to her. She had not received a reply to yesterday's mail from Shahbandar. Maybe she should have taken the time to talk to him about everything. But she had missed this chance, because he surely didn't like the slap in the face.
Saskia was torn from her thoughts when Sam spoke to her: "Sia, I think you have a visitor. There's a silver vintage car out in the yard with your ex-boss in it."
