Matthias chose and sent the flowers out during his break time, so he assumed that the flowers would have reached Heather’s office by then. I’m sure most women wouldn’t say no to flowers. It might be a rather traditional gift, but I believe it’s customary to gift flowers to one’s girlfriend during celebrations like this.
Heather had been kept busy the whole day. She was finishing up her work when a young man arrived at her office with a parcel in his arms. The young man broke into a smile when Heather held the door open for him. He was always polite to his customers, but he was especially friendly that day when he saw how pretty his female customer was. “Hello. This is a gift for you. I’ll need you to sign this,” he uttered politely.
She simply took a glance at the rectangular-shaped parcel that was still in his arms without showing any intention of taking it from him. He began to feel rather awkward under her scrutiny, and he couldn’t seem to tell what was going on in her mind. “Who sent this?” she asked. She had a feeling it was Matthias, but she wanted to make sure anyway.
“Mr. Locke,” the young man answered honestly.
Heather seemed to contemplate something for a moment before she gave the young man her orders. “Leave it on the couch.” She waved a dismissive hand toward the couch as if she couldn’t be bothered by the gift at all. Based on the packaging, she was pretty sure that he had gifted her fresh flowers. She wasn’t too fond of flowers—it was a common gift she received ever since she was young.
Isn’t Matthias a little too uninventive? Does he think I’m going to go out with him after he sends me these boring flowers? He must be daydreaming. Moreover, he didn’t even send these himself. How can he expect me to go out with him when he doesn’t even show any sincerity? He’s probably busy with work at the Locke Group now. I knew that I shouldn’t have held any hopes for a man like him.
This tiny disruption was soon ignored as Heather continued to bury herself in her work for a while. She only had to handle some final matters before she could get off work. Most of the other staff members had rushed out of the office since it was Valentine’s Day, and she was the only one who didn’t mind staying back to complete her work.
By the time Matthias arrived, Heather was still occupied with the tasks she was handling. He quietly pushed the glass door open before he slipped into a corner where he watched her doing her work. She had been too immersed to notice his presence, but he didn’t mind as he found her even more charismatic right then.
Heather only realized his presence when she looked up after she finished her work. The first thing that caught her eye was the tiny, wooden box in his hands. She sent him a puzzled glance as she wondered, Did he just rush over after he finished his work? That little box looks interesting. I wonder where he got it from. It seems rather delicate and exquisite—it looks almost like a work of art.
“Everyone else is gone. When are you planning to let yourself off work?” Matthias said as he gave her a lopsided grin.
“Right now,” Heather replied as she hastily tidied her desk. It was important that she kept her desk tidy.
As he walked toward her, he quickly realized the flowers that had been left by the couch. She didn’t even open the packaging, so I guess she’s not interested in it at all. She spread her lips into a smile when she realized that he had noticed the flowers. “I didn’t open it because I don’t like roses,” she explained. Since it was Valentine’s Day, she was certain that he had bought her roses—she didn’t even bother to check what flowers they were.
“It’s fine. You can throw it away if you don’t like them.” He put on a generous smile to show that he wasn’t bothered by her words. He continued to explain himself when he realized that she was eyeing the wooden box in his arms. “This is for you as well. You can throw this away if you don’t like this too.” He was starting to sound rather grumpy, probably because he hadn’t expected to receive such treatment from a woman. It was the first time he had purchased any gifts for a woman in a long while, after all.
She took the box from him, feeling the firm structure against her palms. “This box seems really special. I like it,” she said after taking a glance at the box. Its exterior design was simple and elegant, which suited her taste perfectly.
“Aren’t you going to take a look at what’s inside?” he probed. His actual gift was the lipsticks that the box contained.
Heather gently shook the box, listening to the sound it made and contemplating for a moment before she opened it. The lid was lifted to reveal a bunch of lipsticks. She scrunched her nose as she looked at all the different lipsticks inside—she hadn’t expected such a gift. Matthias might be the only person who’d get the idea to keep lipsticks in a wooden box, she thought. Her expression remained calm as she shut the lid.
“I spent the whole afternoon picking these out for you, so I hope that you like it,” he uttered.
Her expression flickered the moment she heard his words. Does he have nothing better to do? How could he spend an entire afternoon choosing lipsticks? A faint smile appeared on her face as she pictured the sight of a man browsing lipstick collections at a beauty store—the image itself was amusing to her. “Would a man like you know anything about lipsticks?” She opened the box again to pick out a few that caught her eye. These look pretty decent, she thought.
“You don’t have to worry about that,” he mumbled awkwardly. He couldn’t possibly tell her that he had ordered his assistant to help him pick out the lipsticks, could he?
“Well, this was a thoughtful gift. Why don’t we grab a drink at your place?” she asked with a broad smile on her face. He couldn’t conceal the surprise in his gaze, as it was rare for her to take such an initiative. Does she have some sort of ulterior motive? Something doesn’t feel right here.
Heather’s smile remained on her face. She seemed like she was in a good mood. “We’ll have to drink until we’re drunk tonight, then!” he uttered in a serious tone. It was rare for him to encounter someone who enjoyed drinking as much as he did, and he was glad that he wouldn’t have to spend Valentine’s Day drinking on his own.
Matthias had ordered his housekeeper to decorate the place earlier that day. The housekeeper was a professional he had hired at a pricey rate, so he was certain that the Locke Residence would look completely different by the time he got home that night.
Indeed, both Matthias and Heather received a huge surprise when they first returned to his house. Heather quickly frowned and glared at Matthias as they were greeted with a shower of petals over their heads. Matthias had the urge to slap his palm against his forehead when he saw the proud grin on his mixed-blooded housekeeper’s face.
“What are you doing, Evan?” Matthias asked annoyedly. He told the housekeeper to set the mood for a celebration at home, but he hadn’t expected the decorations to turn out so embarrassingly cheap.
“Valentine’s Day! Romance, petals,” Evan announced in an exaggerated tone. He didn’t have a good grasp of their language, so it was clear that he was a foreigner. Matthias tried his best to control his temper since Heather was right beside him.
Meanwhile, Evan proceeded to reach for Heather’s hands before planting a kiss on her fingers. “Welcome, beautiful Miss Langston.”
Heather decided to forgive the man when she saw how earnest he looked—it was acceptable for him to do such a thing only because of the innocent, warm demeanor he gave off right then. She therefore gave the housekeeper a forced smile before turning to Matthias. “Let’s go to the balcony.” The open-air balcony was Heather’s favorite place in the Locke Residence. Since the Langston Residence was designed to look more like a traditional castle, it didn’t have an open balcony, and she couldn’t enjoy the breeze outside when she wanted to.
“Okay.” Matthias reached for Heather’s hand before he shot Evan a hostile glare to indicate that he was angry at Evan for having kissed Heather’s fingers.
Heather found herself caught in an awkward situation. She wanted to brush Matthias off, but she decided that it would be better if she didn’t shame him in front of his housekeeper. Once they were a distance away, and once Evan could no longer see them, she then pulled her hand away from Matthias. “You’re making me feel uncomfortable. I don’t like getting too intimate with others,” she whispered in his ear as a reminder. She felt displeased as Matthias seemed to have crossed the line as her fake boyfriend. He was a little dejected when he felt her soft touch slipping out of his fingers, but he knew not to insist on holding her hand.
The both of them got to the open, rooftop balcony while Evan hurried around to get the maids to prepare various dishes for them. Although Evan was a somewhat odd character at times, he still managed to tick most of the boxes that his job required.
Meanwhile, the two individuals were dumbstruck by the sight that greeted them at the balcony. Evan had arranged for Romeo and Juliet figurines to be set up on the balcony, and he even added colorful lights to enhance the Valentine’s Day mood. Matthias pressed two fingers against his temples. How did Evan decide to go with such decorations?
Heather pressed a hand over her lips to conceal her smile. “It’s pretty cute. It certainly sets the atmosphere, don’t you think?” She tried her best to comfort Matthias when she saw how annoyed he looked.
He felt much better when he realized that she didn’t seem to mind the decorations. He just didn’t want to embarrass himself in front of her. There was a long table that had been set up near them, and it seemed like they were about to share a candlelight dinner.
Heather turned to flash Matthias a smile. “Don’t you think the table is a little too long? It’s going to be hard for us to talk,” she uttered as she raised an eyebrow. She wasn’t too interested in having a candlelight dinner then.
Similarly, Matthias didn’t have any such intentions—all of it had clearly been arranged by Evan. I should have seen this coming—he’s from a different culture, after all, Matthias thought as he rolled his eyes. “Should we ask to change the table, then?” he asked awkwardly.
“It’s fine. That was just an offhand comment.” Even Heather could sense the awkwardness in the air then. It felt peculiar to her since it was her first time interacting with someone of the opposite gender during Valentine’s Day. At one point, she even wondered if it was the right decision to have agreed to visit Matthias’s house. All those news articles came out after I last visited this place. We might be stuck together now, but I don’t know if he has a hidden agenda for what he wants to do tonight. I can’t let my guard down, she thought as she threw him a glance. I have to improvise as we progress.
Matthias felt rather nervous himself. He had spent most of his years focused on his job, and he was clueless when it came to romantic relationships. Both of them were kept a distance apart as the dishes were served at the table, and Heather found herself settling down a little as the distance made her feel safer. The more she thought about it, the more she decided that it would be better if they had kept a distance. It was a special day, and they were surrounded by such a romantic environment. Even Heather herself felt dazed by the setup—anyone who didn’t know better would have probably assumed that Matthias was trying to go after her.
The tense atmosphere between them eased up after they drank a few glasses of wine. Alcohol didn’t just warm their insides; it seemed to also heat up the atmosphere around them. Both of them began to discuss a few random topics, ranging from politics to market trends. They gradually got comfortable with one another when they realized that they had a few topics in common. It was then that Evan’s voice sounded from a distance away. “You can’t go there, Nikolai.”
Matthias felt his heart sinking the moment he heard this, and Heather quickly raised her head to look in the direction of the voice. Soon enough, Nikolai appeared in front of them with a look of disbelief on his face. His gaze was filled with hurt as he looked at Heather before shifting his focus to Matthias.
“I’m sorry for disturbing you guys.” His body was stiff and tense as he turned around and walked off without looking back.
