Feel the Way You Feel, My Love

“Thank you, Joyce. That will be all for now.” Natalie dismissed her. “Ms. Cohen, please have a drink,” she added as she pushed one of the mugs toward Lina.

“Why are you still calling me Ms. Cohen? I’ve already addressed you by your first name, haven’t I? Doesn’t this suggest an inequality in our perceptions of one another?” Lina said pleasantly as she took a sip of her coffee.

Natalie returned her smile. “You’re right. I guess I shall address you as Lina.”

“That’s a good start.” Lina set down the coffee as she extracted a pouch from her purse.

“As you might have already guessed, the contents of this pouch are the gift of the king to his princess,” Lina said as she took the boxes out one at a time.

There were five in total. It seemed like Lina wanted five designs for each box, which translates to five formal dresses.

“May I see them?” Natalie pointed at one of the boxes.

“Of course!” Lina answered graciously. She faced Natalie so that she may see the box being opened. With a dramatic flourish, the massive ruby appeared before Natalie’s eyes.

“It’s beautiful.” Natalie’s eyes widened in awe.

gemstone was such a rare occurrence in the market. And we haven’t even taken into account its size too, Lina said as she handed

that meant. She was being offered a chance at handling the

the pair of rubber gloves offered to her. Then, with trembling

glimmered strangely. Natalie saw countless sparkles being reflected off of its many facets. It really was

so beautiful,” Natalie murmured again as she replaced the

of coffee. “This particular stone came from the ocean. It was rumored to be discovered at the site of an underwater volcano. The purity of the color

shaken at the mention of the

it?” Lina asked

smiled apologetically. “I was just surprised

that Blazing Heart is the largest and brightest ruby ever discovered to date,” Lina continued, paying no more attention to Natalie’s outburst. “After it had been crafted into jewelry by a master

a

the only one of its kind, then it is currently in my possession.” A smile played on

a quavering voice as she pointed a shaking finger at Natalie with her mouth opening and closing in disbelief.

satisfied nod. “The businessman that you