BELLRAM V01 - Ambivalence of Light and Shadow I

BP001-P11 - White Wine 3

By now they were about halfway down the path that led between the hedge and the house.

"Here on the right is one of the entrances to my garden. This has all been remodelled recently."

Directing by his hand gesture, Meia looked to her right at a passageway in the hedge with a flowery archway.

"Ahh." she made, nodding, supposedly impressed.

"You like flowers?"

"Mhm."

"Then I hope I can show you some that will delight you. Most of the plants from the estate are from my home. A few of the more easy-care types have also been sown sporadically in the meadows from the hill. Before we go into the garden, however, I would like to show you the courtyard for a moment." Casually, he gestured ahead with a look. "To be honest, I need to have a look how the preparations are going. Unfortunately, I haven't had time to do that today."

"I-I'd like to."

Irritated, Meia looked back at the driveway. She had the feeling that part of his statement did not match her earlier perception.

~Sporadically? There are more flowers than grass. Does he mean the grass?~

Something else irritated her too. He had said: 'my garden'. It was his, but it still seemed a bit conceited to say it like that. Wouldn't one normally say: 'the entrance to the garden', or something like that? Maybe he took care of the plants himself and therefore wanted to emphasise that it was his? Should she praise him then? That would probably be appropriate.

"It-it really turned out very nicely." ~As far as I can tell so far.~

"Thank you very much." Mr Monet replied briefly.

Meia tried to decipher his smile. She did not feel that her praise was overly successful.

~Was that too much? I could have done without the 'really'. ~But maybe he received so much praise that it had become meaningless to him? Meia noticed that she had already praised him several times in the last five minutes alone. So maybe that was the case. The logical conclusion would therefore be to stop praising him? Meia was stumped. If her praise was worthless, what was she supposed to do? Somehow, after all, she had to respond to all the pomp that was to come. ~Just be surprised?~

At that moment, Meia realised that she was making eye contact with Mr Monet, then she understood that she had been staring at him since the beginning of her pondering.

Quickly she turned her head away and looked into the hedge.

It must have seemed as if she had already fallen for him completely. Now he must have thought that he didn't need to make any further effort to win her heart. At this moment she realized with shock that in her effort to appear calm turning away was certainly rather counterproductive. It would have been smarter to ask a question to distract from herself.

~He probably didn't notice. Just walk on cool as if nothing had happened.~

"You wonder about the pin?"

~Of course he noticed it.~

"Y-Y-Yes. He looks very... erm... unique looking.", Meia mumbled to herself as the blush rose to her face.

"The pin, so this cross here, it's our family emblem. Elements of it can be found in many places on the estate."

"I-I see."

Mr Monet did not let anything show. Either he was an outstanding actor or he had really overlooked her dreamy gaze.

Maybe he had not noticed because of his height? After all, he was more than a head taller than her.