1. RETURN?

It's one of beautiful mornings of the spring season. first rays of sun touching the ground,cool wind rustling by the trees with the slight aroma of blooming flowers. giving it a peaceful and Serene feel in contrast to the always busy and hectic life of city.A young woman is standing on the balcony of her room lost In her own thoughts while admiring the beautiful nature.her cherry like lips stretched into a pretty smile showing her dimples,her long wavy hair dancing with the wind.

suddenly a sweet honey like voice called her from behind, ending the chain of her thoughts.

She turned around to the voice and her eyes landed on a cute little girl standing near the doorframe in her cute white and pink bunny nightwear, yawning and rubbing her eyes to get rid of the sleepiness.

" Mommy.. good morning" said the little girl in her cute baby voice.

Her heart shaped lips curved into a beautiful smile. she walked towards her and crouched down to her level, hugging her she planted a kiss on her forehead. "good morning sweetie, did you sleep well last night? " to which the little girl nodded in yes. smiling she looked at the wall clock which is indicating 6:30am. " wow! my baby woke up so early today! you sure you get enough sleep?"

she asked picking her up. the girl again nodded her head and wrapped her arms around her neck. flora patted her back softly and said " why don't we have an early breakfast today hmm?...go brush your teeth and fresh n up while I make some yummy breakfast for us?"

"Okey mommy" said the little girl before she ran towards the bathroom.

In a happy mood she walked over to the kitchen to prepare the breakfast while humming a song when her phone started ringing. she smiled when she saw the phone screen showing "Daddy". she hurriedly swiped the answer icon.

flora : "Hello papa!" she greeted him happily.

Leonard : " Hello princess! how are you my dear? hope I didn't disturb your sleep?" he asked in a voice filled with warmth and care solely reserved for his family.

" I'm fine dad and don't worry I woke up an hour ago. by the way.. Umm.. dad is everything alright? I mean you usually don't call me so early in the morning, what's the matter? " she asked with a bit of worry. she knows that her father wouldn't call her so early in the morning just to chit chat.

" everything's okay princess but you are right I didn't call you just to have a nice talk, although I wish I could talk to my precious baby all day, but anyways.... flora i want you come back to country A. heaven's forth birthday is coming soon and I want to celebrate her birthday here in our royal mansion. also I'm hosting a grand party to celebrate the 25th anniversary of our company

but most importantly i want to talk about some important matters with you. it's about "him"." he said putting more stress on the word 'him'.

flora very well knew which "HIM" he's talking about. ,she frowned and her face turned deadly serious in a second upon the mention of a person whom she never ever want to see in this lifetime again. " Him!.. what about him? I thought he's–"

" NO!.. not on the phone flora, come back here in two days. and then we'll discuss about it, this discussion will take a lot of time." he said stopping her in the middle of the sentence.

"now stop overthinking and tell me where's my dear granddaughter? I want to hear her sweet voice." he asked changing the topic.

flora understood that her father didn't want her to take any more stress and that's why he changed the topic, so she didn't argue about it with him and let the matter rest for now.

"she's in bathroom getting ready dad.and yes!..don't worry I'll be back in two day after settling some important things here at restaurant."

" good, and don't leave anywhere without security. I'll send some of my most trusted guards."

" NOooo!!" she almost screamed on phone." Dad please.. I don't need unnecessary attention on me. just send uncle Julian to pick us up when we reach country A." she knew that her dad would send an army of guards just to follow her around unnecessarily.

" No Flora I know you don't like all this but you have to take some trusted and experienced guards for protection. you're safe in country S but the case is different here. I won't tolerate any reckless mistakes regarding both of your security I won't compromise on that."

" dad calm down. we're both safe here. I won't do anything that'll compromise our security but please don't send people unnecessarily.i am just a restaurant owner here not the princess of Martin family. and i don't want heaven to be scared, you know uncomfortable she gets around new people."

" hold on a sec!!.... just a restaurant you say?. dear one, are you forgetting that the restaurant you're talking about is one of the most famous restaurant in the whole S country?. and as the CEO you need security and bodyguards. "

" which I already have and that's more than enough dad. and I will not let anyone invade my privacy and that's final. " she replied in Stern voice leaving no chance for discussion.

sigh!!..."what should I do with you.. you're just like your mother.. stubborn as rock. Hahh!!!.. Alright I won't send anyone, just take care and I miss you my dear. come back soon. it has been 3 years since you've returned. text me when you land here, I'll send Julian to receive you as you want. by the way i met Alexis few days back she is handling your company very well but i think you should give that poor child a break!. she was such a chirpy and bubbly girl before but lately she had become a workaholic like you."

" hehe!!.. dad don't put the blame on mom! my stubbornness came from you. and aren't you a workaholic too... I mean what's wrong in being a workaholic? did you forget who trained her.. yes! me! so take a chill pill dad she's capable in handling such hectic tasks. to be honest I'm actually very impressed by her skills. but if you say so than I will give her a few days break when I'll be back. take care papa.. I love you. " she ended the call and let out a long sigh!

"alright take care sweetie... try not to worn out yourself. and give my love to heaven. now I'm hanging up.i have a meeting in 15 minutes. bye honey, love you "

' meeting in fifteen minutes!.. who's being workaholic robot now? my typical dad' she face palmed herself.

putting the phone aside she sighed!.

'thank god dad got convinced, but i can sense that something is wrong over there. he sound worried I'll have to return as soon as possible. I can't run away from my responsibilities as a princess of Royal Martin family anymore and moreover I have my own company to look after in country A which I created with my own blood and sweat without anyone's help. in my absence my friend and the vice President of my company Alexis is handling it. it's time for me to take the reins in my hand once again.

although this restaurant is very precious to me but I believe that Dawn can handle it here for some weeks, she is my assistant and had worked with me for a long time. she's capable and smart.'

a sudden tug on her shirt pulled her out of her thoughts. and she saw her cute daughter tugging at her shirt which a cute pout on her face.

" mommy I'm hungry" she said in her cute baby voice. just like her mother...her doe like blue eyes, deep and clear as the Ocean, staring innocently at her.

" Aww!.. my little munchkin I'm really sorry I was talking with your grandpa on phone and forgot about the breakfast. but don't worry I'll quickly Whip up something tasty for you... Umm..

How about your favourite pancakes? sounds good?"

" yayyee!!!.. pancakes!!!.." she started jumping and clapping her hands with a big smile on her face. flora giggled watching her cute antics before she went into the kitchen and started preparing. soon the delicious Aroma of pancakes filled the room. she placed the tower of three little pancakes with chocolate and toffee sauce for heaven with a glass of milk and some whipped cream and diced fruits on her pancakes with orange juice.

" sweetie we're leaving for country A in two days to meet your grandpa, he's missing you very much. it's a good thing that your summer holidays has already started so we don't have to worry about your school." she said wiping the toffee sauce from the side of her lips.

" woosh!!.. go?? " she made a sign of airplane with her hand and look at her mommy.

" hehe!!.. yes baby we'll fly to country A to visit grandpa. you wanna see him right"

"Hmm..heaven miss grandpa" heaven answered.making a cute pout.

flora pinched her squishy cheeks and laughed. sometimes she wonder how can her daughter be so cute. such an angel she is!." Don't worry baby you'll see him soon." she said patting her head.

after finishing their breakfast and spending some sweet time with heaven, playing and teaching her how to paint, finally she got some time to call her assistant.. in two rings she picked the call.

"Good Morning boss " she quickly wished her.

"Good morning Dawn, I want you to book two tickets of the flight to country A for tomorrow night "

" Country A boss??...but bo..boss we have to work on our new spring menu and interior design and decorations before the end of the week. and you have a meeting scheduled with little blossom foundation's head, day after tomorrow!." Dawn almost had an heart attack thinking about the workload she had to bear in the absence of her boss.

" I know Dawn. put all the important meetings and documents on today's and tomorrow's schedule. I'll only look into the urgent documents. in my absence you'll be the incharge of the restaurant. I'll be back in a month probably. and don't forget to book the tickets. I'll see you in the office in 30 minutes. be ready and place all the importance files on my desk.also!.. tell all the staff to meet me in my office in 30 minutes" she hanged up the call after giving the instructions to her.

Dawn felt like crying. she had to work her a** off for a whole month!! in flora's absence. her boss's brain work like an computer, she can efficiently manage multiple tasks at the same time without making a single mistake and always has some amazing ideas for the betterment of restaurant. she's very strict about her work and wont tolerate any mistakes regarding work. but Dawn!...well! she's a normal human so doing that much amount of work is extremely exhausting. a long sigh escape from her mouth, she can feel an headache coming already! 😩.