⊱Couper les grands coquelicots⊰

Cut down tall poppies

┏━━━━━━༻♔༺━━━━━━┓

I followed him wherever he went. School, part-time job, university, new home and office work. How eerie that he resembled the man I would go to in the garden. It was uncanny.

I put something on him and his days turned better. He would get excellent grades. He would find money while he was walking. He had bought his house earlier than expected. He got promotions at work and people congratulated him.

All these fortunes and yet, when the night fell and a gray fog settled around him, he looked sad. It hurt me. No matter how much I tried to make him smile, it was fake.

I could not understand it.

Anyone would be happy for the things I brought. Yet, he looked drained. His eyes were dull, devoid of any light. His sighs were perpetual. He would spend his weekends laying on the bed and staring at the ceiling motionlessly.

Was it because of... the piano?

I slowly opened my eyes and laid there for a few minutes, unable to move. My head was throbbing and my throat was burning. It was drier than the desert.

I whimpered. "Oh gosh... please... not a cold!"

•───────────⋅⚜️⋅───────────•

I coughed endlessly and my throat felt like it was being ripped out. My mind was buzzing and hazy from the pain and I wanted to drop to the ground. Still, I continued typing even though I had already lost my train of thought.

"You don't seem well, Bloom."

No shit.

"Maybe you should take the rest of the day off," Lin said. If only I did that earlier. But I was trying to prove that I was serious about my job after failing my projects few times.

"There's just two more hours until work ends. I'll be fine." Even talking was hurting my voice.

I lifted my body up and staggered to the cabinet in the corner of the room to pull out some painkillers. I threw some into my mouth and downed them with warm water. Sheer willpower could not overpower the cold.

Luckily, tomorrow was a weekend.

•───────────⋅⚜️⋅───────────•

Rolling on the bed, I reached for my phone and picked up the call. "Hello?" My voice turned groggy and deep.

"Bloom. I'm outside your apartment. Can you come out real quick?"

I jumped up in shock. "What?! What are you doing here?!"

"I brought you medicine," Jay said and jumped backwards when I swung the door open. He was dressed in a beige sweatshirt, black skinny jeans and coat. Maybe it was because he was rich, but he looked chic and on a different level than me.

Wait... I was in red shirt and pink polka dot pants.

I tried to cover my pants with my hands but looked stupid instead, probably. "How did you know my apartment number?"

"Lin told me." He looked at my hand motions in confusion. "She said that she should pay you back for bringing her medicine and fruit, so she gave me these." He showed me a bag full of medicine and soup ingredients.

"Why did she give you those and send you here and not come herself?"

He shrugged. "She said she had a meeting."

"So... you came here to give me those when it's a weekend?"

"As long as it helps your health." He handed me the bag to take and turned around before walking away. "Take care."

He was leaving?!

"Wait!" I unintentionally yelled, making him jolt. "Shouldn't you at least have some tea before you go? You brought these all the way here..."

He shoved his hands into his coat pockets, looking at me a little bit puzzled. "I don't want to bother a sick person."

"I can't let you leave like that. I'm well enough to serve a cup of tea." I gestured him to come in. He hesitated for some time before giving in to my glare.

"I'm sorry for intruding." He took off his expensive looking shoes and hung his coat before coming in.

I placed the bag on the kitchen counter and poured some tea I had managed to boil in the morning into the cleanest and fanciest cup I could find. He sat down at the table and thanked me as I placed the cup in front of him.

"Biscuits?" I offered.

"Uh... Sure." He seemed so awkward, it was kind of funny. He was stiff on the chair and his eyes darted all around the kitchen.

I pulled out my favorite pack if biscuits from the cupboard and put them on a matching plate, placing it before him. I remembered that I had some pie as well and I turned around and shuffled around until my vision suddenly blurred and my legs turned numb.

"Hey!"

Jay rushed towards me and wrapped my arm around himself to pull me up on my feet. My head and neck were burning and my breathing was heavy. The pain was persistently intensifying.

"You're having a fever!"

"I see," I whispered, closing my eyes as he helped me through the house.

He gently laid me down on my bed and placed a hand on my forehead. I opened my eyes to see him looking down at me with a frown, seemingly worried. His thick eyebrows were furrowed deeply but he did not look cold and distant like usual.

"Have you taken any medicine?"

I shook my head. "Just a cough medicine."

He walked out the door and soon came back with a glass of water and a plate in hand. When he placed it on the nightstand, I saw biscuits and a tablet.

"Eat some biscuits and take this one. It will reduce the fever. You should take a medicine after eating something."

At that point, my whole body was shivering and tingling with pain, a wave of pain in each spot one after the other. Still, I pushed myself up with my elbows and shoved some biscuits and downed them with warm water before swallowing the medicine.

I dropped back down, bouncing on the bed, and winced when my head throbbed at the action.

"Easy there."

I scowled and whimpered because of the agony and my bitterness started to surface. My mind was muddled and wanted to scream to stop the pain. My mouth was loose and I did not think before speaking.

"I hate everything... I want to disappear..."

Jay walked in and put a rather cold towel on my forehead, making me yelp. I was angry that he was acting so nice to me when I used to resent him.

"Why are you here?"

Jay paused before saying, "To help you... I think..."

"Why are you even working at the JL marketing? Because of you, I got compared and scolded once. You already have so much money and businesses given to you by your family. Why would you need to work here?"

Maybe because of the tears that were welling up or maybe because he was silent that I kept talking.

"I hated you. I hated how you didn't give your all to school but got into Harvard. I hated how you were just born rich and comfortable. You just had it so easy."

Silence grew and I started hating myself for spilling these stupid words. It was pathetic of me to think that way. But I still thought that way.

He flipped the towel on my forehead and I yelped again.

"I'm sorry you feel that way," he said softly. "You know... I look up to you."

I opened my eyes wide. "What?"

"When I saw you studying so much back when we were in school, I realized how lazy I had been, depending on my family's wealth. I started working hard and gave my all to my university application. I wanted to start depending on my own self. I studied hard and when I graduated, I did not just want to receive my family's companies. I wanted to work on my own. That's why I applied for JL Retail and... I saw you."

Our eyes met and I was ashamed of what I said mindlessly. To think that he thought that way.

"You just seemed so above everyone," I murmured, embarrassed.

He gave me a lopsided smile. "That's how you seemed to me."

I nibbled on my lips. "I'm sorry, Jay..."

"It's fine." His smile grew and he never seemed so warm.

I turned my body the other way in embarrassment. "I think I should sleep the fever away."

"Okay. Sleep tight."

┗━━━━━━༻♔༺━━━━━━┛

Listen to Fever by Enhypen for the feel lol /j

Hope you're enjoying it 🥞😇