English Version: Dandelions in the Wind

28

"Can't you knock?!" Charlotte exclaimed, surprised and slightly annoyed, as Georgia breezed into her office unannounced. "I swear! You're always giving me a heart attack!" She frowned, reprimanding her cousin for the intrusion.

"Okay! Okay! I'm sorry!" Georgia raised her hands in surrender. "I'm only here to give you this report." She placed the folder on Charlotte's desk, her attention quickly diverted by the array of floral decorations. "Whoa! Since when did your office turn into a flower shop?" she exclaimed, admiring the flowers arranged in vases and plastic pots decorating every corner of Charlotte's office.

Charlotte coughed, focusing on the report inside the folder, trying to mask her discomfort with humor. "Flowers make me relax, especially when you barge into my office without knocking," she replied, her gaze lowered to avoid eye contact.

Georgia approached a vase of roses. "Who is D.L?" she asked, picking up a card attached to the flowers, then sat on the couch. "If you were a vegetable, you'd be a 'cute-cumber.'" Reading the message, she couldn't contain her amusement. "Charlotte, what era did your suitor come from? These lines are straight out of a slum book from the '90s!" she chuckled, amused by the quaint charm of the message.

Charlotte bit her lip, suppressing a smile at the observation. "It's a complimentary card. They came pre-written like that," she defended, trying to maintain a semblance of seriousness.

Georgia merely rolled her eyes, finding the whole situation amusingly outdated. "This is the kind of stuff I find in slum books." Her curiosity led her to another bouquet, from which she pulled a card and read aloud, "Are you a magician? Because whenever I look at you, everyone else disappears." She couldn't help but laugh. "Seriously, I expect to find a card asking if he can walk you home from school. Where does your suitor find these, a time travel portal?"

"She didn't write it! I told you, they're complimentary!" Charlotte couldn't help but laugh in response.

"She? Are you being courted by a woman?" Georgia's surprise was noticeable in her tone.

Charlotte coughed, deliberately avoiding Georgia's probing gaze as she opened her laptop and focused on the screen. "What's wrong with that? We're not living in the eighteenth century," she countered.

"D.L.? Is it Dionne?" Georgia pressed as she scrutinized Charlotte for confirmation. Receiving no immediate reply, she stood up and approached Charlotte's desk. "You've got to be kidding me, right?" she asked, her arms crossed in disbelief.

"Yes, it's Dionne. We've been seeing each other for over six weeks now. I don't see anything wrong with it," Charlotte admitted, finally meeting Georgia's gaze.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner? Why keep it a secret? I'm the only one who knows you're a lesbian, Charlotte. I've known you since we were kids," Georgia exclaimed, her voice tinged with hurt and surprise.

Charlotte sighed, the weight of the moment pressing down on her. "I'm sorry. It's just... You tend to get too protective of my dating life. I didn't want you to worry," she explained, her eyes dropping to the floor. "It's complicated. I don't want to mess this up. I want this, Georgia," she added, looking up, her gaze imploring understanding.

"How complicated can it be?" Georgia inquired as she sat down opposite Charlotte."She used to be a casual fling of my brother," Charlotte revealed, her voice low.

Georgia rubbed her forehead, sensing the complexity of the situation. "Is there more?" she guessed, anticipating further revelations.

"Uhm, she's not usually into serious relationships. That's why I haven't told my brother about us. And now, Dionne wants to try it with me; she's ready to commit," Charlotte confided, the enormity of their situation hanging between them.