The Enchantment of Shattered Illusions - Chapter 2

Churro held his head up high as he steadily pulled the cart of flowers behind him. It was a simple task, considering the weight seemed less than usual. He must be getting stronger from all the years he has worked with the family.

He occasionally trotted as he gallivanted through the town square with his human companions and that one canine. How he enjoyed visiting this place—it allowed him to show off the shiny coat of hair he always wore, and his nicely brushed hair the one named Tepi always cared to tend to.

Before he knew it, the small group had arrived at their usual spot where he saw the human women give away the flowers in exchange for shiny rocks. He never cared to understand the reason for the trade—what he looked forward to was resting in his shady spot before it was time to return home. It allowed him to people-watch and observe their silly behaviors with each other.

While Tepi unlatched Churro from the cart, Zalli unrolled the awning provided by the community for different vendors. It was first come, first serve, but everyone had their preferred spots they typically went to, so there was little to no fighting when it came to setting up.

They typically did not require awnings because they were in alleyways and received most of their shade from adjacent buildings; however, since it was midsummer, they took any chance of escaping the heat. Their arid climate made the sun’s rays give a slight burn if you stood out in the open for too long with minimal protection.

Working together, the two sisters moved their displays in their typical set-up—facing out at an inward angle, forming a v-shape around their cashier box and table for wrapping the flowers. Here and then, Zalli would look around the general area with minor anxiety.

It had been almost a few weeks since the initial attack from Yoltzin Property Advisors. The two land brokers had been visiting her home, in the beginning, every few days until she had threatened them to leave her and her family alone with her broomstick on the fourth intrusion. After that, they took to meeting with her on her market days—which were every other day, practically.

It was never long, their interactions. She was always direct and steadfast since her response was the same as before. She did not even look at the packet of documents left behind in the cursed manila envelope she had tossed aside on the table.

Why she hadn’t thrown the damn thing away altogether, she was unsure about, but she was determined to at least not read its contents.

Whenever the advisors showed up today, she could never know—always at a random time, always unwelcomed—but at least she wouldn’t have to worry about it anymore throughout the day once it was over with.

Zalli took a step back to admire the aesthetic their little stand showed. It was welcoming and cozy. The smile that began to form on her face, out of habit, quickly disappeared into discontent.

“Looks a little bit ... empty, huh?”

Tepi stood alongside her sister and said out loud what Zalli thought and hoped to hide.

“It just needs a—readjustment.”

“Readjustment?”

Her little sister scrunched her nose up in confusion, wondering where Zalli’s thought process was going.

“Yeah. Let’s ... grab the sheets used to cover the flowers ... We can place them at the bottom of the display—like a table skirt!”

“Table skirt?”

“Like the ones at home. The ones Tia Xilo made.”

“Oh.”

Tepi was trying to keep up with her older sister’s thinking, and on a normal day she could fill in the gaps with ease, but lack of rest was holding back her normal cognition.

“We’ll push the flowers to the top so it’s in the line of sight of the buyers, and the curtain will delete the negative space given from the empty slots.”

“Alright! That sounds pretty good.”

Zalli liked to distract herself with work constantly. With her mind focused on rearranging their display, she could forget thinking about when the two wretched property advisors might show up.

Customers arrived here and there throughout the morning, buying either individual roses or getting a bouquet. No matter the amount, every purchase came with garnishes and wrapping paper in a pretty arrangement executed by one of the sisters.

Selling their product was never an issue for Zalli and Tepi. Business was swift and available. The problem was the low inventory supplied by their land.

As morning crept into the early afternoon, they would usually restock the flower display with more of their commodity stored behind their cashier box by now. Unfortunately, they did not have any extra goods. So, per the new routine recently established, it seemed they would head home by mid-afternoon today.

The moment the thought of having lunch crossed Zalli’s mind, a voice with a tenor cantor emerged and drawled out a question.

“Hello. How much for a bouquet?”

The man adorned his figure in business apparel, clearly similar to the two hawks who had been circling her haven recently. His clothing appeared to be much more crisp, though obviously tailored to his form.

His sudden appearance caught her off guard. It took a slight moment for her to even give a response as he waited patiently, more amused at her stunned silence than anything.

“A-uh bouquet is worth either copper weighing about 70 g, gold at 0.20, 453 g of cacao, or anything of equal value for trade.”

“And if I were to buy the entire rest of your supply?”

His dashing smile brought the corner of one end to be higher than the other. Zalli was sure it brought many girls to swoon at the sight. She was sure she was about to be one of those girls herself, but her intuition was telling her to keep her guard up around this stranger. After all, he looked a lot like the enemy already.

“Well, that would make 9 bouquets so ...“ She did the math internally in her head, making quick and precise calculations. “630 g of copper, 1.8 g of gold, or ... 4,000 and ... 77 g of cacao beans.”

“How about I offer you 4 g of gold?”

Tepi’s eyes bulged out in astonishment. Huizi’s ears stood tall, sensing the excitement in the air, and Zalli felt dumbfounded at the exorbitant offer. Sapphire blue eyes only crinkled in further amusement.

“That’s too much—who are you?”

Whispered shouts of her name rushed past Zalli. Her little sister was trying to convince her to take the offer adamantly. She was jumping and flailing her arms about, but Zalli only waved an arm down aggressively to Tepi, dismissing her input. The girl was always jumping to opportunities without considering the effects and consequences.

“I am nothing but a supporter of your small business,” the man took a step closer to the two young ladies, now under the awning with them. He had to duck his head to avoid the fabric hitting his face, and standing at his full height forced Zalli to bring her gaze higher in order to meet his eyes head on. He was not above 183 cm tall, but she imagined he was pretty close to that. “It looked like your little flower shop needed some ... monetary help.”

“You’re from the Yoltzin Group, aren’t you?”

Zalli squinted her eyes in further distrust, slowly solving the minor mystery of why the strange, handsome man was before her.

“Well, more than that. I’m Calip Yoltzin, CEO of Yoltzin Property Advisors. A pleasure to finally meet you in person, Ms. Tlahuizcal.”

He extended his arm forward, waiting for her to return the handshake. Zalli only stared at his large hand before taking a step back, creating more distance between the two.

“Ah, so you’re Sr. Yoltzin. Can you please stop sending your minions to everywhere that I am at? My answer will not change, even with their persistent pestering.”

He chuckled as he brought his arm down and placed both hands in his pockets. He turned away from her to observe the setup of her shop closely, purposefully ignoring her request and declaration.

Awkward silence filled the air. Tepi grabbed her sister’s attention and mouthed ‘What are we going to do??’ She mouthed back to her ‘I got this, don’t worry about it.’

Feeling weird Sr. Yoltzin was not saying anything, Zalli decided to question him, also wanting to take advantage of his being there to answer some questions that had been troubling her mind as she went to bed these past few weeks.

“What do you want with our farm, anyway? Aren’t you some big city man who could invest his time in other areas of greater potential? You know, city potential?”

He moved to the other end of the little space, bending his shoulders low to bring his nose down and smell a nearby rose contently. His back was still facing them as he gave his response.

“Other areas, like what?”

“I don’t know—but not here. Not my farm.”

Zalli stood her ground, arms crossed with determination, hoping she could somehow convince the man before her, the man who she found was starting to aggravate her nerves a lot, to leave her family alone.

“Oh no, especially your farm. It has potential. The area, the soil, the conditions are absolutely—,” In a sudden movement, Sr. Yoltzin turned around and was but a step away before Zalli. She had not noticed his slow strides around her shop were made with the purpose in mind to intrude on her personal space. “Prime.”

“You know that is not quite true, currently. You could invest in the potential and still suffer a loss.”

He took an inch closer this time to the farmer. Zalli had made the conscious choice to not move away from him when he got close to her the first time, but her subconscious was apparently not on the same page because, without her permission, her body stepped away in nervousness when he moved the second time.

“With the way you’re running it, it looks like it’s headed that way. And even if this little project fails, my company wouldn’t suffer too much in financial loss. It’s just a drop in the bucket.”

“Look here, jerk!—”

Zalli went to push him away by jabbing a finger in his chest, but he didn’t budge. Her finger met with an unexpectant, well-defined chest, and instead of moving him back, she felt herself moving in the opposite direction, until her lower backside met with the bouquet preparation side of the table.

She looked to Tepi as a means to ask for her help, but her little sister seemed rooted in her spot. Her face was weirdly blank, and she was not even looking in their direction anymore. Even more unusual, Huizi had not moved from her laying position at all. She usually stands in a sitting position when an unfamiliar face presents itself to the group, and right now she would usually be by her side, growling at the man to get away.

Strong arms moved to cage around the farmer, distracting her momentarily from the perusal coursing through her brain.

“Your resources—they lack the cutting edge of today’s advancements. I know for a fact with my involvement I can get your farm to prosper. Your way is a maybe at best. My way is an absolute yes of working, no matter what.”

Rapid breathing rose in Zalli’s chest. She felt dumbfounded to be placed in a position like this, with this guy making her feel small and beneath him. The thought enraged her, and with sudden clarity, like a fog clearing a field from a powerful gust of wind, she gathered her wits and was determined to kick the arrogant dolt out of her shop.

She gently brought both hands to his chest, causing him to look down in minor confusion. With a sudden jolt, Zalli crumpled his ironed Oxford and pulled him down to her knee; in an aggressive movement she kicked his groin with such ferocity, he lost his breath for a moment as he fell to the ground.

“It really was a pleasure meeting you today, Sr. Yoltzin. But I think it’s time for you to leave.”

Like a spell broken, Tepi ran to her sister, gathering her arm in her embrace, confused but determined to support Zalli at the interaction that had suddenly transpired.

Huizi was by their sides as well, growling down at Sr. Yoltzin, who was currently crouched down to one knee. Zalli only peered down at the man with narrowed eyes in disdain.

He coughed twice before he stood up, this time a few steps away from the group.

“You can address me as Cal. I intend to know you very well, so we should might as well be on a first name basis.”

He brought his hands up to adjust his business attire and comb back any hair that had come out of place from his slick back. His crumpled shirt was no longer to be seen and his suit conformed to looking sharp again. Zalli, tired of his crap, groaned in annoyance and went to push him out into the alleyway.

“Ugh! Just get out of here!”

Her canine companion moved further ahead and ushered the man away with a snarl. He brought his hands up in defense with little resistance, but he had a swaggering smirk on his face the whole time.

He even had the audacity to laugh as he turned away with a wave of departure, and walked towards the central area of the town square. Zalli stared on, making sure he would truly disappear as he weaved his way between the musicians and artists, who either tried to grab his attention or were already entertaining a small crowd to their business.

Just before he rounded a corner and was finally gone, he turned around to find Zalli still looking at him. With an alluring grin, he waved a final time and left the line of sight of the farmer.

“Hijo de–”

“Excuse me?”

Zalli turned around and encountered Srta. Maceuhqui, a middle-aged woman who had her own business as a dance teacher.

“Uh, hello Srta. Maceuhqui. I’m so sorry for my language. How can I help you today?”

“Don’t worry about it, mijita. My boyfriend has said worse things in our bedroom,” she giggled at her confession before she put in her order. “I wanted to buy a bouquet for him. We’re going on a date tonight!”

She radiated beams of happiness and glee, oblivious to the farmer’s current demeanor.

“Of course! Tepi, could you help out Srta. Maceuhqui with her order?”

Zalli bit out her customer service voice, still trying to reel in her confusion and anger. Her sister did as she was told and made idle chitchat with the dance instructor as she prepared the bouquet for her.

The eldest left the portico where they had set up their pop-up shop and walked towards where Churro was currently tied.

The donkey raised his head as he heard one of his owners approach. When she sat by his side and lay atop his body, he returned to lay his head down on the ground and considered why she was with him. Of course, she is here. Churro always has the best ideas. Don’t know why she didn’t think to join me earlier. Hm, humans always think a bit differently.

The domesticated mammal always exalted himself, never paying attention to the daily habits of the girls he shared so much time with.

Tepi joined them some time later, not able to join them sooner since several customers forced her to stay at their stall, occupying her attention. Zalli spoke first, in haste, still partially riled up from the interaction earlier.

“Why didn’t you help me? You just stood there and-and did nothing!”

She stared at her sister’s knees, trying to express herself. In vulnerable moments, she felt making eye contact was too overwhelming.

“I don’t know ... I—” She brought her eyebrows together, trying to assess her previous actions and understand why she didn’t move. “I didn’t process what was happening until you kneed him. It was like I was in a dream haze the whole time. Present, but not really?”

Tepi seemed genuine in her explanation. Not that she was prone to lie to her sister, but Zalli was not sure what to make of it.

“I’m going to get the groceries, since it seems like we’re almost done here. Go ahead and stay at our spot and finish selling the rest of the flowers.”

No longer willing to feel raw emotions and not able to understand her sister’s experience, the farmer decided just to leave it be and let the moment pass with no resolution. She felt any further prodding would only aggravate her more, given her current emotional state.

“Zalli, I’m sorry ...”

She stood up from the ground and walked over to her sister. The elder sister went to only give the younger one a kiss on the head, a means to reassure her, but Tepi held onto her side in a firm embrace, as if she felt like the kiss was not enough. She returned it with just as tight of a hold before she walked away to buy some eggs and other things they needed. Maybe this was something to discuss later when she is feeling a bit more calm and clear-headed.