His Little Flower (Felix and Flora) novel Chapter 5

I rushed back to the kitchen as soon as Felix was out of sight. My head was spinning, I could feel the blood rush in my veins, my heart beating so fast I could feel it in my neck. I touched the back of my neck, feeling the warmth under the palm of my hand and closed my eyes. One. Two. Three. Five. Six.

No.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Si-

“Are you okay, honey?” I felt Lydia’s hand on my shoulder. I nodded, still trying to catch my breath.

“Are you feeling sick?” She questioned, and I shook my head. “I’m sorry about that. I just get really anxious sometimes.” I looked back at her to see her eyes filled with concern, her lips turned down into a worried frown. I managed to muster a smile. “It won’t happen again.”

Lydia’s brows furrowed. “You’re allowed to get anxious at work, Flora.” She said softly, patting my shoulder. “Sit down, I’ll make you something cold to drink.”

I nodded gratefully, sitting down on a stool near the counter. I watched as Lydia made me some lemonade. Of course, I had to have a panic attack on the first day of work. I wondered if Lydia now thought that I was too mentally unstable to work here and would only be a liability to her. I was a good worker. And this was only my second panic attack this month. And it was a mild one at that. If Lydia wanted to fire me, I would convince her. I couldn’t let this job go. I needed the money too much. And I needed to speak to Felix. I was sure he would remember me. How could he forget? We’d spent our entire childhood together. We had shared a deep friendship, but more than that, we had shared a deep love. I knew I wasn’t wrong about that. Maybe I looked too different now. After all, I had just been a child the last time he had seen me. Maybe he had been too tired to notice.

Lydia handed me a glass of lemonade, and I sipped on it slowly. “Thank you, Lydia.” I told her. “I don’t know why this happened. But I promise its rare. I won’t let it affect my work.”

“Happens to the best of us, child.” She assured. “I’ve seen girls have worse reactions to Felix. He has that charm, you know?” She grinned, trying to lighten the situation. I cracked a smile at her joke. Women had always had such reactions to Felix. But I hadn’t felt like this because he was too attractive, I had felt like this because it felt like my whole world was caving over me, and I was going to get stuck under the rubble.