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"End things? End what exactly?" he said his voice raising a quiver bit higher, he was furious, a rare state she'd never witnessed with him. even when she'd teased him mercilessly trying to reach his limits. she always reached hers before he ever did. She looked at him, really looked at him for the first time since he entered the room, his eyes were guarded eyes, and features tense, the open smile he'd greeted her with was gone and replaced with a tightly locked jaw. He was hurt, she'd blindsided him, but it was the right thing to do, whether he understood or not, she had to do it. she steeled her heart as she said,

"I am asking you to let go of our relationship" she responded ignoring the drop of her stomach, and the visible tension building upon his shoulders and jawline, his ever so peaceful features are slowly becoming fierce.

Their carefully built truce was chattering.

"No" he simply said, but his tone was deadly and final.

"In that case, I am going to have to leave," she said as she reached with trembling hands and removed the engagement ring, trying her hardest not to break the neutral mask on her face. His posture was rigid as he watched her put it in front of him, he opened his mouth to say something but their gaze locked and his protest died on his lips. she took that opportunity and gathered whatever strength was left in her, grabbed her coat and left...

Sarah snapped out of her reveries and stepped on the brakes in record time. Sparing the old lady and herself a lot of trouble by smiling and waving for her to continue crossing the road. She sighed in relief as the woman scowled at her and continued on her way as if she owned the main street.

Sarah looked, through the rearview mirror, at the black SUV behind her waving apologetically to the driver; the man barely stopped before he bumped into her.

He waved back at her a helpless smile on his face. He looked a bit familiar, but with his sunglasses on and her sleepless night, there was no way she could pinpoint where she'd seen him before.

Could be a resemblance to an action movie star, since he was mountain-muscles, tight-shirt type. She needed to watch out before her trips down memory lane started affecting more than her sleep.

Shrugging it off, Sarah entered the fenced gates of the Agricultural Institute and drove toward the main building. She pulled into her parking spot; still wondering how she ended up spacing out while driving again. She locked her car and launched through the cement steps, her short black hair dancing across her neck. Students passed her waving with smiles that she returned, ignoring some of the female population's stares at her attire. When you have to spend hours a day on your feet, observing a seemingly never-changing plant, the last thing you would want to wear are high heels, that's why she decided long ago that sneakers were the best choice.

Besides, it's not like she was about to complain about her profession choice. Professor Wattani, her boss, went through the impossible to have his hands on the seeds, it was hard to find the nearly extinct, yet unclassified Plant, and launch into work to introduce it to the botanical world. and she had her sacrifices to talk about.

She could remember being so excited at the time, as they planted it with care and anticipation, checking on it every few hours as if the sprout would appear if they showed it enough care and attention. She was dedicated enough to not care much about her attire, but people didn't see the practical side of it, they always eyed it differently.

Yet, he never seemed to mind when she entered the café still in her work clothes, stealing time between her shifts to meet him.No, he always seemed glad and equally worn out reviewing his papers while he waited for her, smiling widely at seeing her, as they both put their jobs aside for a few stolen moments, or so she thought. Had she believed that they could put on a wall between the two? She felt that feeling again, gnawing at her from inside, she muffled it as she walked faster until it was nothing but a numb soreness.

Inside the almost deserted reception area, she went to the hall indicating with a dark grey sign "LABORATORIES". She reached the only iron door with print required access; she inserted her card and put her finger in the steel box at her right, the red light turned green, and the door groaned open. Turning on the lights, she checked her phone ignoring the half-dozen messages and put it in silent mode.

The laboratory's space was divided into four sections, one sitting area with most of the kitchen's equipment, the laboratory's counters in the middle, a side door for their offices, and the observation room where The Queen, as they named her, stood in all her magnificent glory. Sarah took a minute just to admire the flower, wondering if she was worth what they go through for her. Even before blooming, The Queen was a beauty. An intoxicating beauty.

Snapping out of her daze, she glanced toward the offices, wondering why P. Wattani wasn't already at his desk, the man was very rarely late...

As she prepared the lab for the day, the door opened revealing a man in his early thirties. He made a show of sighing dramatically shoving his hand through his ginger, ear length hair, his lips curving into a cheerful easy smile.

"Good morning, it's good to see you out and about." He said referring to her recent less than punctual mornings, she had trouble going back and seeing the plant knowing what she could have had instead.

"Oh! Come on Adam, don't be so defeated! I was bound to regain my position as the first arriver. It was only a matter of time" Sarah said chuckling.

"Well, it doesn't mean I won't take it away once more."

"Perhaps, but today it's you who's going to take samples from Maria while I examine the Queen."

Adam sighed, threw her a challenging glance then left the lab. Sarah rolled her eyes and opened the adjoining glass door to The Queen's room, she checked the temperature and humidity and inspected it closely taking photos to check the unnoticed changes since the previous day, after three days of waiting for the bloom, they started to get impatient. By the time she finished, Adam was back with a chart of samples and flipping through the reports with absent-minded ease.

"This time it was her niece coming for the weekend; it seems she has a problem settling down after four rough divorces..." he commented casually.

"I didn't ask..." Sarah said stifling a laugh but failing.

"No you didn't, but it was on the tip of your tongue." He lifted his head and smiled, handing the report and joining her at the counter.

"You seem to take particular pleasure in it, after all"

"If I did, I would accompany you every time, and personally assist to your torture!"

"And you would have if you knew Maria wouldn't harass you as much as she does me."

"Oh come on! I'm not that cruel! I'm just doing the poor lady a service."

At his questioning look, she continued. "The woman's day revolves around handling samples, apart from watching bacteria colonies grow, she practically has nothing to do. So mingling in everyone's private lives and playing matchmaker is the only breath she has out of her misery."

Adam ignored her and lifted a sample in the light; he examined it for a while before he said.

"I almost forgot. You have visitors. Since poor Maria seemed to need more company, I left her with them."

Sarah groaned when she saw the evil smile on Adam's face. "Now who's cruel?" She mumbled as she left her seat and went out, Adam's chuckle following her.

Sarah hurried through the corridor, thinking of the people who could have visited her. And who might currently be at Maria's mercy, trying to get their life story out of them? But all her guessing didn't prepare her for who was in the reception hall, nor did she predict the twisting pain that overcame her instantly. The visitor Maria was "keeping company" was no one but Sarah's ex-fiancé Elias Sandston.

The man she once thought was the one for her...