Page 26 of Mr. and Mrs. Novak

"We continue gathering evidence," I respond. "But now, we know exactly what we're looking for."

I return to my office after this depressing discovery, leaving Nicolas and Akim to continue their investigations. The day slips by between meetings and phone calls. With everything happening at Gloventis, I shouldn't even have time to think about Sophia, and yet, she never leaves my thoughts. I want to mend the broken bond between us, and for that, I have an idea. I still remember an episode from fifteen years ago, when I had just arrived at the Delorme's.

"What are you doing?" I asked, leaning toward her.

"I'm planting tulips for Mom," she replied without looking up.

I raised an eyebrow. There was a flowerbed just a few feet away.

"Why don’t you plant them in the ground?"

"I want her to see them from the kitchen while she cooks."

I shook my head, amused.

"You could just cut them and give them to her once they bloom."

"I hate cut flowers. They wilt too fast."

She opened the bag of bulbs and carefully placed them in the pot.

"In the meantime, she’ll have to put up with an ugly pot in her kitchen," I pointed out.

"Maybe," she said, undeterred, "but she'll know a secret is growing in silence. The waiting, the anticipation… Sometimes that's more precious than the reward itself, don’t you think?" She flashed me a bright smile.

I looked at her, a mix of perplexity and admiration swirling inside me.

"You’re a strange girl."

A smile tugged at my lips as I remembered how, in the following weeks, Renée, Sophia, and I had watched each stage of the tulips' bloom with growing excitement.

Around five in the afternoon, I leave my office and head to the nearest garden center. A little lost at first in the sea of products, I finally locate the bulbs section. I pick tulips, the same kind Sophia once grew for her mother. Then, following a saleswoman’s advice, I select a suitable pot and soil.

An hour later, back home, I lean over the kitchen counter, carefully preparing the gift for my wife and wrapping it neatly under Laurent and Asli’s curious gazes. Contrary to what I expected, Laurent doesn’t chase me out of his kitchen—though I’m certain he’ll disinfect his countertops with bleach the moment I leave.

Then, heart pounding, I wait for Sophia to return and for dinner time to arrive. Just like this morning, I cross paths with her in the hallway as we head toward the dining room.

"How was your day? Did you manage to fix the security breach on your client’s production servers?"

"Yeah, it was tense, but I got it done," she says.

A faint flush colors her cheeks. Does she remember our last kiss? Because I can’t stop thinking about it.

"Come," I say softly, sliding my hand into hers. "I want to give you something."

She looks up at me, intrigued. A brief hesitation, then she follows me in silence. We walk through the living room, and I hand her the carefully wrapped package. She stares at it for a moment before slowly unwrapping it. When she sees the pot filled with soil, raw emotion flickers in her eyes. She doesn’t say a word. She knows.

"Thank you, Ruslan," she murmurs, her voice barely more than a breath.

She sets the pot on the coffee table and gazes at it, lost in thought. I can tell what’s washing over her, what’s tumbling inside her.

Dinner unfolds in a strange atmosphere, our emotions on edge. Every glance, every gesture is laden with unspoken words. We sit there, just inches apart, both fully aware of the tension tying us together, yet each holding back.

Patience.

I have to take it one step at a time.

One day, she will be mine again.