Chapter 13

The next day, Lumae and Jackson walked into each other on their way to the entrance of the company, "Lumae, what a coincidence!" She turned to look at Jackson, who was clearly almost late again, his hair was a complete mess, his outfit was clearly grabbed on the go and his socks were two different colors, something that bothered Lumae A LOT.
Lumae scoffed, "You truly are a masterpiece of all colors, huh?" Jackson looked down towards his feet.

"Ah shucks, wrong socks!!", Lumae couldn't help but giggle at Jackson.

He gives her a judgmental stare, "Seriously, it isn't THAT bad, is it?"

Lumae tried to hold in her laugh again, "Well, Jackson, you tell me whether flamingos and aliens are a good choice." She burst out laughing again, this time followed by Jackson's laughter as they enter Flos.co.

They enter the elevator, pushing the button to go towards 'the forest'. Just as the elevator doors were about to close, a firm hand blocked it. Looking up, Lumae made eye contact with Mr. Mortez. "Good morning Mr. Mortez", Jackson greeted him, nudging me in the arm to tell me to do the same.

"G-Good morning sir", he kept his eyes fixated on Lumae and for almost a split second she almost felt attracted towards him, but he was her boss, so she just pushed that feeling down. When he turned to push the button to his office and broke eye contact, her eyes instantly fell to the ground, immediately catching Jackson's flamingo and alien socks again, trying to contain her laughter, but a chuckle escaped from her mouth.

Mr. Mortez slowly turned towards Lumae and Jackson, looked down at Jackson's socks, made eye contact with him and sighed, "Mr. Mckay, you are clearly aware that those socks are not suitable for work, don't let me catch you like this again." Just as he said that, the elevator doors opened on their floor and Mr. Mortez gave way to Lumae's side, so Jackson could go by first, but as it was Lumae's turn to go by, an overwhelming, familiar scent hit her, almost making her want to stay in the elevator, and for a moment, she could've sworn Mr. Mortez smelt it too.
When she finally exited the elevator, the doors behind her closed and she could feel how a strange sinking feeling fell over her body. Jackson then came up to her looking a little worried, "Hey, Lumae, are you okay? You seem pale for some reason." She looked up at him, a bit worried herself, but she shook off the feeling.

"Y-Yes, I'm alright, let's get to that project now, shall we?"

They then proceeded to head towards 'the forest'. With Jackson making jokes again to try and lighten up Lumae's mood.

Meanwhile, Mr. Mortez, on the floor just above them, couldn't help but hear through all the layers of concrete, and it bothered him. He couldn't stand the thought of Lumae being this close to another person, another man for some reason. He couldn't get anything done like this.

After about three hours, Mr. Mortez went to 'the forest' looking quite angry. He slowly walked through all the rows and rows of plants, to where Lumae and Jackson were giggling whilst looking at a Cassia obovata. He stood right behind them and somehow both of them didn't even notice.

Lumae continued to giggle, "Seriously, Jackson, that's so rude, the lady clearly wanted to test if blonde fits her. She didn't look like a granny on purpose."
Jackson was about to talk, but they heard a sound coming from behind them, "Ehem".

They both turned around, shocked at the sight of Mr. Mortez. "Hello, Mr. Mortez", Lumae quickly reacted, and nudged Jackson in his side with her elbow, to tell him to do the same.
Mr. Mortez angrily stared at Jackson for a while, but then landed his gaze on Lumae, being fixated with her beautiful blue eyes and long, dark hair, braided to her side.

"Mr. Mortez?", Lumae broke him out of his trans.

"Oh, right, sorry. Ms. Moonshaddow, it has been brought to my attention, that a new project has recently arisen, and I would like you to go do research on the plants needed for this project, but unfortunately Jackson won't be accompanying you, since he'll be busy with this project." Lumae seemed confused for a second.

"Sir, if I may ask? Why have you chosen me?"

Mr. Mortez wasn't prepared to answer that question at all, but managed to get a comeback to it. "I thought you'd be the most suitable, since the place you'd be going to, is the forest right next to your hometown, so you'd know the area better, and since you've already been doing this from a young age, you can basically see this as a vacation." Lumae almost didn't know what to say.

"O-Oh, thank you sir? When should I leave then?"

Mr. Mortez turned to Lumae,"You leave tonight, I have already arranged everything. You'll be staying there for about 3 or 4 days, depending on how fast you can research this specific plant. Details will be sent to you via e-mail." He then turns and leaves, without saying anything else.

Lumae looks at Jackson, confused about what just happened. "Does...uhm, does that usually happen?"

"It's rare but it does."

That evening, when Lumae got to her apartment, she immediately started packing a few things. She grabbed something to eat and got dressed into something more comfortable.
She then got an e-mail from Mr. Mortez. "*There will be a car waiting for you around 7, don't be late.*"

Lumae glanced at the time, 6:45. She quickly rushed to grab the last few essentials and went outside, where she'd be met with a gorgeous frozen black BMW 5. Almost in awe with how beautiful it was.

She proceeded to get inside, but the driver was really serious for some reason, he didn't say hello, or create small talk or anything. So Lumae just sat in the car in silence, laying her head down on her hand, looking out on the beautiful city scenery. With buildings as far as the eye can see and as tall as the mind can imagine, and she drifted off to sleep.Not even noticing that another frosted black BMW 5 was following them.