𝐆𝐎𝐋𝐃 𝐑𝐔𝐒𝐇 - 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐨𝐧

𝐎𝐍𝐄

SUMMER 1813 -
timeline - 1

maybe it was a good thing flora was incapable of sitting still. of doing as she was told. maybe the fact that she just so happened to be an incredibly good liar would come to her aid. and maybe her mother should've thought through giving her a window so easy to sneak out of.

flora certainly thought so as she walked faster through the streets of london, farer than mayfair. she was well aware of the scolding she would receive if her mother or anthony found out what side of town she had ventured to. it make her heart race with anxiety, and caused her to pick at the skin surrounding her finger nails until she felt blood. everytime it bled the girl would hiss in pain and look at her hands as if they had betrayed her. then, despite the searing pain, she would repeat the habit over and over.

it angered her mother to no end, "you have such delicate hands, darling," she would tell her "why do you ruin them so?" the question would just make flora shrug, she didn't know why she did it, it didn't make her feel better or her anxiety go away. she just kept picking and repeating the horrible cycle of pain.

she turned her focus from her hands to the street that she crossed, careful of any carriages incoming. flora had no idea what compelled her to sneak out that day, in broad daylight, just right out her window. she didn't bother to lock her door, or tell her mom she was taking a nap, something compelled her to simply climb out her window and just keep walking. where was she going? she had absolutely no idea, but she told herself that as long as she was back by dinner everything would be okay.

flora thought that maybe she was rebelling in her own way. it was deemed incredibly scandalous for an unmarried woman to promenade unsupervised. by society's standards, flora shouldn't have even be let out the house without a maid or a brother. her casual stroll to a working class area could have her ruined, and she did it anyway. if flora was totally honest with herself, she was just incredibly bored. she was also her own person who was basically an adult and could very well make her own decisions. even if those decisions were quite stupid ones.

flora didn't consider herself ditzy, she liked to believe she was at least spatially aware. those assumptions she had however were discredited when she felt her shoulder forcefully collide with another's. the wind was knocked out of her on impact. she barely had to react before the person caught her waist trying to study her. in return she (accidentally) reached for his arm, resting her hand around his bicep.

she watched, through the strands of auburn hair pulled in front of her face, as a single newspaper clashes into the mud. she assumed that this had to be the stranger she had bumped intos paper. her suspicions only confirmed when she caught the glimpse of a stack of newspaper's balancing on his shoulders, being held up by the hand that wasn't holding her.

she slowly moved her chin up, forcing herself to face the man she had so callously collided with. she felt the wind knocked out of her again. this time by his mere appearance. tall, with light hair strands that illuminated in the summer sun, piercing light eyes filled with an alarming amount of concern. she could feel how muscular his arm was from her hold, his slightly unbuttoned white linen shirt also left little to the imagination. flora thought he was the most beautiful person she had ever seen.

it made her sick to her stomach.

"are you okay?" he asked, in an unfamiliar accent to her sheltered ears.

she just stared at him for a moment, perhaps a moment too long, "oh-yes" flora lied, "i'm very sorry, i was looking where i was going and-"

"it's fine" he told her, "that was my fault."

flora didn't believe him, it had to have been her fault. she was the one looking at her hands instead of ahead of her. losing the urge to look at her hands once more, she did. sparing a glance towards the ground where his fallen newspaper laid. it finally clicked in her mind that he must be a paper boy, and flora had just ruined his product.