Lavender
The curtains billowed freely and she closed her eyes at the feel of the cool breeze. The blue sky was bright and hot but the air felt chilling as though it was night. Yesterday's test was finally over and Lavender hoped she'd ace them well. She knew there's a huge percentage she would succeed it, but she hoped anyway because her logic goes that by thinking of it, there'll be more favour pushed to her side.
The sound of water sprinklers running on the lawn and birds chirping in trees was pleasant and if she could, she wanted to stay that way for all morning. Thinking of the birds and animals in general, she wondered sometimes what goes on in their bird conversation. Whether they communicate differently than humans did. There's breakfast for all? Let's go on a hunt for more food? It was a silly thing to think about but one that she liked to do anyway.
Wait, breakfast? Food? Yeah now that reminds me, I need to get those for my fuel.
But Lavender loved the sensation on her face and she leaned against the window pane to savour the moment for a little bit more. Just a little bit more...
"Lavender, dear!"
She smiled to herself. Well. Time to start the day, I guess.
Her grandma probably needed her help with something again. Still closing her eyes, she said, "Coming!" before stretching her arms out.
She imagine looking like one of those people in TV ads with the perfect life in a perfect morning and she chuckled at the image of looking so perfect like that. Living with her grandma was different from when she lived with her family in the city. It wasn't perfect, but it was less restricting; the air wasn't too polluted which was surprising considering the town she lived in. It wasn't as big as the city back home, but it had some similar bustles.
And, she mused, she didn't need to always be rigid and proper at all times in her parents' presence, pretending they were once the untouchable family with exquisite manners and extreme wealth. They had always been fighting about the most incomprehensible things and she needed to get out.
She thanked her lucky stars that they didn't object her decision to live with her grandma.
Going to university in her parents' hometown had been a good choice so far. Besides, she get to be with her grandmother who lived alone, one she rarely saw except on holidays; and that had been scarce too.
As she walked down the stairs, she found her grandmother muttering while hunched, peering curiously around the television.
"What's wrong, Grandma?"
Sixty-eight year old Lilian looked at her granddaughter and huffed in irritation. "I was hoping you could tell me. Technology these days! They've been nothing but a burden to me."
Lavender looked at the old model television that looked like it belonged in the…well in the old, old days; it didn't seem like there would be hope for it. "Err…grandma. I don't think there's anything we can do about it."
Lavender had only been living with her grandmother three months ago since she found it better to commute to her college, and this was the first time she'd seen the television.
Lillian frowned in helplessness at her granddaughter before turning to the object. She did this a couple of times and Lavender chuckled.
"Grandma, why do we have this here? What happened to the one Dad bought you?"
Lillian made a 'pshaw' sound and waved her hand at her granddaughter. "I sold it."
Lavender almost gawked. "You sold it? Why?"
"To help raise a cause! Doris, the one who lives next door needed it for her cat's surgery and I couldn't do nothing. It saved Loppy's life." Lillian looked proud of it.
Raise a cause? Doris, as in the grumpy old woman who would hiss at her whenever she greets? How did her grandma approach the woman?
"Wait, Loppy?"
"Penelope, for short. It's simple that way." Her grandmother fished out a phone from her pocket –one that looked like it came out almost a decade ago – and scrolled through something before showing it to her.
It was a picture of a cat, a breed that one of her friends had - Japanese Bobtail. It looked like it was trying to catch the feather wand, standing on its hind legs. But the picture captured focused a little bit on how frightened the cat looked. The quality of the image was a little blurry but she could still see the cat clearly.
It…kind of reminds me of a meme. A cute one, regardless.
Lavender stifled a giggle. "Loppy." She tried it on her lips before chuckling. "Sounds like a nice name for a cute cat."
Lillian beamed at her granddaughter. "Isn't it? And Doris have become less of a pain since us old gals chipped in for the surgery."
Lavender was relieved to know that. She only hoped Doris wouldn't hiss at her whenever she pass by her house.
She walked around the couch and touched the TV. "Well, grandma. I'm no expert but I think we should call someone to pick this up. Speaking of this, where did you get it anyway?"
Her grandmother simply patted the old TV lightly and answered, "Darling, there was a sale. You know I love them."
Lavender's eyebrow raised in surprise before a grin graced her face as she shook her head lightly. "Of course you do. I just didn't realise how bad it is."
Lillian patted her granddaughter's cheek before she went to rearrange some flowers in a vase nearby. "It's for a good cause, dear."
Later that afternoon, Lavender went out on an errand for her grandmother. Having back pains recently, her grandmother hadn't gone out much, except to the doctor, gardens or her book club meetings with some of the elderly women in the neighbourhood - which also included Doris.
Lavender was glad she stayed with her, else who knew what could have happened. Despite advising her grandmother to not garden so much, the dear old lady was still persistent at it; at the end, Lavender had gave in, with the condition that she mustn't work too much.
After parking her bicycle at a lamp post near the pharmacy and locked it, she entered the store lot. Searching for the prescribed medicines seemed easy, if she could only understand her grandmother's tiny but elegant chirography. Still, she thought she could understand a tiny bit of it, like the word 'and' for example.
The pharmacy was quiet and with not many people frequenting it, the temperature was colder than usual. After strolling through the aisles and around, prompting the pharmacist to look at her suspiciously after the third time, Lavender blushed a little, hastened her steps in to the aisle and hid her face with her hair. She sighed and told herself to just ask the person at the cashier for help.
But if there was one thing about her that sometimes aggravate even herself and the people around her, it's that she's independent to a fault, even if that meant she would be stubborn regarding certain things. It's a habit, really but Lavender just liked to solve things first without depending on others if she could help it.
Still, she had to admit, her behaviour was simply ludicrous.
Deciding to approach the person, Lavender turned around and immediately bumped into someone. She lost her balance and felt herself falling but a strong grip held her, making her right herself.
Startled, she looked up, her disarray hair in her face before she swept them aside.
Lavender stared wide-eyed at the guy before her, whom slightly mirrored her expression.
"The…bakery guy!" She exclaimed. Then, she wanted to hide forever. The bakery guy…really? Why did I say that?
Cringing internally, she instantly tried to mask her expression to hide the wince she thought she portrayed and open her mouth to apologize.
But he beat her to it.
"Uh, yes, it's Kai." He pushed the mask down and Lavender could see that despite his bloodshot eyes and red nose, she thought he looked amused. It was no point denying anything because she knew she's having a crush on the guy since the day they met, and well, despite the condition he's in now, she still found him attractive.
Okay, weirdo. Get it together.
"Yes! Right, I…knew that. Sorry! I just…" She shook her head and said, "Thanks. I-I'm Lavender, by the way."
Don't panic. Just talk to him normally like you did at the bakery. But my God, how is he so attractive? And his voice.
Lavender warned her hormones to behave.
Kai nodded and smiled, his tongue testing her name before saying, "It's no problem. Lavender."
Her heart lurched and her chest suddenly felt warm. Why did she suddenly feel this way?
Oh God, maybe I'll need to get some chest pain ointment while I'm here too.
It was starting to feel awkward, although she didn't know why it felt so. They were both standing in front of each other, him looking like he wanted to say something but couldn't decide the words while she was frantically finding for them just to prolong the small talk.
Then, she got an idea.
"Oh, um, if you don't mind, could you help me…with this?" Lavender showed him the list of medicines her grandmother asked of her. She hoped he wouldn't mind, and she also hoped he knew what was written in it.
Lavender thought that for a miniscule moment, he looked relieved. Kai looked thoughtful before he nodded.
She was puzzled, but if given to her fancy there would be many things to dwell on the possible reasons why he had that reaction – all of which would involve her. And she really didn't want to entertain the possibility that he was relieved because of her – because what proof does she have?
She cast those thoughts aside and focused on Kai. He was studying the list she had given him with a pensive expression, his eyes scanning the items before a slow smile, one that looked victorious, spread across his face.
"It says here that you'll need painkillers and relieved patches."
She raised a bemused eyebrow. That's it? That's grandma's list…? But it looked so long!
Lavender bit her lip and took the list he handed her, before saying, "Is that all?"
He grinned. "I'm afraid so."
She peered into the list again, trying to identify the ones Kai had said, and while she did find them she struggled to make sense of the rest.
Looking up at him, she said, "Thank you. But what are these?" Lavender pointed at the end of the paper.
Kai didn't need to check the list again to answer her, his tone amused. "I believe those are doodles."
Lavender stared at the paper long, before she brought her gaze up and stared at him.
Doodles.
Her grandmother had drawn doodles and she had thought it was part of the list. Was she an idiot? Could she not distinguish doodles and medicines?
But as she squinted at it, it looks suspiciously familiar like several tiny penguins. And the list was six lines long.
Oh, Grandma.
She closed her eyes and held in a deep breath before exhaling.
I've totally humiliated myself in front of him.
She looked at him again, this time knowing full well her cheeks were pinked. "Um, sorry."
His eyes softened and a smile curled his lips. "Hey, don't worry about it."
She was star-struck and for a moment, Lavender thought of shielding her eyes from the sudden glare of light in the store. Was it really the light or his smile?
Okay, cool it. And where have your wits gone? Say something, darn it!
She cleared her throat and tried to plaster a genuine smile. "Uh, okay."
"So," She started after a few seconds passed. "I don't think I've thank you again, so thank you." When he looked befuddled, she felt small. "For…the cake?"
Lavender could see an instant realization dawning on him and she felt relieved. There was a twinkle in his eyes, however, that gave the feeling that he knew more than he let on. Was he just kidding then?
"Ah. Of course. The cake that I delivered two days ago. How did you and your grandma like it?"
At the thought of the delicious cake, her nervous state dissipate as she gushed, "Oh, it was wonderful! I love the taste of the checkerboard vanilla and lemon in it. It's sweet and sour but not too sweet and sour, you know? My grandma could be pretty particular about cakes, and the way you guys combined the taste together without it overpowering one another, it was…heavenly. Just right. You guys did a really great job in executing what we want for it!"
As if she realised how excited she was at the end of her words, Lavender looked up at him, hoping he wouldn't look at her like she was weird or anything that would throw him off.
Kai grinned, looking very pleased to hear that. "I'll be sure to pass the compliments to the team." Then, his eyes softened and he smiled softly. "I'm really glad you like them. You and your grandma." He added hastily.
Lavender looked at him, her nervousness gone but the flutter in her stomach remained. "I really like them. We! We like them, a lot."
He chuckled. "Well, we have a sale this weekend and we're going to add in the vanilla and lemon cakes to the batch. It seems to be a hit among the elderly ladies recently."
Lavender giggled. "You could blame, or thank my grandma for that. She had her Book Club sisters join in for tea that evening and suffice to say, they're all over the cakes."
Kai made a sound of recognition. "I see. Huge thanks to your grandma then." He smiled widely. "If you have the time, don't hesitate to pay us a visit."
"Okay." She said softly.
It was all Lavender could have said to get her wits right and heart thumping normally.
Because she knew that had she let her mouth run off for a little while more, she would do or say something crazy that would make her agonise over those actions on sleepless nights.
ns 15.158.61.19da2
