The Enchantment of Shattered Illusions - Chapter 5

Zalli looked away to regather her thought process. Ideas flew across her mind as she tried to decipher her next move. She really wanted to have an outburst of astonishment. But if she acted on impulse, she could lose whatever upper hand she might have now.

No, she should move with careful consideration. Right now, she unwillingly has entered a game of chess with the CEO. One wrong move, and she might foolishly allow him to do something like take her queen, or worse, checkmate her.

Holding her ownership of her property over this man is the most she could do. She was going to ensure that she would not lose it to him. For now, Zalli figured she should present herself as naïve and curious, and determine how far she could get with her question asking.

“Couldn’t you just have asked for my permission, to-uh, look for this thing?”

She made eye contact with him again as he stayed in his rested position with his arms resting comfortably on his knees. The whole time Zalli was figuring out how to respond, Yoltzin admired her profile. It was not like he could see her figure underneath all the excess fabric she wore, but he found her overall form to be cute.

Sensing it was his turn to respond, and also feeling a little strained from being crouched for too long, the handsome man with the sharp jawline stood at his full height. He stretched his neck out tenderly, bringing his head down from one side to another as he gave his reply.

“Tch, as if you would let a stranger roam about your farm, looking for treasure. Plus, I don’t ask for permission. I make things mine and I do as I please.”

He meant it to only be a playful quip, but Zalli just found another reason to categorize the man as bothersome. In a huff, she flipped her hair away from her face; her soft blue front highlights had escaped her tied up hair at some unknown point. Moving ahead, the farmer went back to her current task.

“Well, now I am even less likely to sell my land to you. If this treasure is so valuable, it belongs to me and I should be able to profit off of it.”

“Aurozalli. As if you could even find it! You didn’t even know about its existence until now. Like I said before, you lack the proper resources. What I could find in months, or even weeks, would take you years. I, at least, know where it could be.”

The maiden slightly cringed at hearing her birth name leave the man’s lips—already one too many times. She didn’t bother to glance at him as she took her bearings to tell him to stop addressing her as that. She was still writing her notes, after all.

“Even though that’s my name, stop saying that. Only my abuela calls me that.”

“Shall I say Zalli, then?”

Agitation submerged the woman. Does this CEO really know no boundaries? She thought, before she turned in his direction and brought up the side of her clipboard to point it directly at him.

“Only my friends call me that.”

She said it pointedly, eyes narrowing when saying the word ‘friend’ to emphasize that they had no type of relationship, even close to that.

“Well, you’ve been my friend this whole time. I only let my friends call me Cal.”

“What are you, dense?”

His hands were back in his pockets as he stood relaxed and looking nonchalant. His debonair smile was back on his face, this time one corner of his lips higher than the other to give a crooked smile. Yet, his expression came across as authentic, which only pissed off Zalli even more. She struggled to decide whether she should chuck her clipboard at him or not.

“No. I am only confident it will happen anyhow, so might as well as make it established now.”

“Never mind. You’re not dense. You’re delusional.”

“I didn’t get to where I am today by letting something as finical as reason hold me back.”

He brought his shoulders up in an effortless shrug. Yoltzin took a step closer to his favorite farmer. His eyes had turned away as he spoke, but the urge to glance at her brought his attention to circle back to the woman. It is not like he would even fight the urge, anyway. Any chance to admire her was a blessing to him every single time.

Zalli was not sure how to respond to the CEO anymore, so she ignored him. Together, they made a turn to go down the next aisle of rose bushes. She had not realized it, but throughout their conversation, they could actually make good progress as they moved further into her fields. She was not anywhere near being done yet, but by some means, talking to Yoltzin did make time move by faster.

“So. Can I roam about your farm and search for my treasure?”

This man is an absolute menace, she thought before she countered.

“Alright. I think it’s time for you to leave.”

At that moment, her trusted companion had slowed down her run around the fields into a jog to join her owner. Huizi always had the best timing—excluding yesterday. Zalli only considered it a fluke, though. It would be unreasonable of her to ask for perfection from her Xolo; perfection is nothing more than an arbitrary concept, and her dog was mainly dependable for her, at any rate.

“Does your dog bite?”

Yoltzin cautiously asked. Knowing already how the donkey viewed of him, he could only imagine how the medium-sized dog would react.

“If I tell her to.”

“Makes sense. I will take my leave, but before I go, I have a question for you.”

One of Zalli’s eyebrows raised up as she took in the man before her. Somehow his Oxford shirt was still nicely tucked into his suit pants with minimal creasing. His lace up dress shoes didn’t even seem to have a smidge of dirt carried onto them. They were still very reflective; so much Zalli was certain she could see her reflection in them. She thought, how annoying it must be to be flawless all the time.

“What is your question, Yoltzin?”

He brought one hand out of his pocket to rub the back of his neck, as if he was unsure on how to go about his interrogative.

“How are you going to manage for the Mid-Summer Festival?”

Though her face became expressionless, her eyes squinted a little to scrutinize the man, no longer making curious observations, but now judging to find any flaw or crack in his exterior.

“What does that matter to you—how do you even know about that?”

Not hearing any commands from her owner, Huizi took the liberty of investigating the man from yesterday while they conversed. The canine circled around him as she sniffed away, which caused the CEO to lose his bearings. He took a few awkward steps before he brought his attention back to Zalli.

“Well, for some reason, I would like to see you succeed in your endeavors.”

“But my success only means I will be least likely to sell.”

“Whether you sell to me is not really my goal at hand. I just want the treasure, and seeing how we are not strangers anymore—friends really—”

“We are not friends.”

“Once I have your permission, I will excavate away.”

Yoltzin continued his jabbering, not at all disturbed by Zalli’s interruption. She only sighed and looked up to the heavens to find some patience for the man in front of her.

“Now that I have a good understanding of your character, I doubt that will ever happen.”

Zalli shoved past him to move on with her job. Huizi followed behind her, wagging her tail in mirth. The farmer didn’t notice how Yoltzin took in a deep breath behind her, inhaling her scent. He closed his eyes in satisfaction before he shook his head to straighten his behavior. Not wanting to get left behind, he moved with the group, trailing at their heels.

“Don’t dismiss me just yet! I just think you need to know me better.”

“But aren’t we friends? Don’t we already know each other well enough?”

Not wanting to talk to the back of her head, Yoltzin jogged ahead, arriving at the front of the group with ease.

“Ah-hah! So you admit it’s true.”

The CEO walked backwards to face the farmer head on. He took care to look over his shoulder from time to time to confirm he wouldn’t trip over a rock or some random ditch.

“No, I don’t. That’s just what you wer—”

In an unexpected movement, Yoltzin brought his finger up and gently pressed it against Zalli’s lips to halt her sentence from being finished. Her eyes crossed to look down at his invading digit momentarily before she brought her glare back up to Yoltzin.

Before he could get lost in her forest brown eyes, he removed his finger and spoke right away.

“I merely jest. But we are in the beginning stages of a type of friendship, after all. It will take some time before we can better appreciate each other.”

Silence passed between the two adults. Zalli realized she probably would not be able to focus on her job anymore if the CEO continued to bother her. In this way, she did not respond to his perusal; instead, she walked in front of him again, this time at a faster pace and with a goal in mind.

“I’ll be good for the festival. There is nothing to worry about.”

She threw the declaration over her shoulder, finally answering Yoltzin’s question from earlier. Both he and Huizi were following her diligently, keeping up with her pace. Even though she said she would be fine, he still wanted to show he could be of use to her.

“If you need any of my help, don’t be too prideful to ask. I don’t mind extending some of my resources out to you.”

Being called prideful miffed Zalli enough to garner a dirty look and send it over to Yoltzin—all without breaking her determined footwork. The group was finally out of the fields, so any stopping now might hinder completing her intention. She turned to look forward again as she acknowledged him, only out of sheer social courtesy.

“Uh, thank you. I think there will be no need for it, though.”

“Oh! And if you still want to sell your property to me, that offer is still on the table. Whatever you have as a proposition, I will gladly take!”

Finally, back to the gate door, Zalli unlocked it and swung it open. She spread one arm up to display to the CEO it was time for him to take his leave. The farmer gave a fake smile, one she typically reserved for her customer service, to hide the irritation the lean man had a special talent for bringing out.

“Goodbye Yoltzin.”

He stepped forward to place himself in front of Zalli. The smile on his face was one of mirth.

“I will come by tomorrow to continue our talk!”

“No. That won’t really be necessary. I am sure we have had all the conversation that we need.”

Yoltzin crossed past the gate, allowing Zalli to quickly close and lock it. Considering his persistent attitude, she didn’t want to take any chances of him trying to sneak back in somehow. He easily could if we wanted to. Seeing how the gate only went to his chest, if he were to jump over it she was not too sure how to physically stop him other than releasing Huizi on him. She doubted it would happen, though, as she could imagine jumping fences was not his style.

Either way, it was a physical proclamation of setting a boundary between the two of them.

“Great. Until tomorrow then!”

He turned around to give a wave of departure before swinging back to jaunt towards his fancy sports car. Yoltzin still wore his enthusiastic smile as he gave his goodbye. Zalli only crossed her arms in impatience as she waited for his presence to be entirely gone.

It was not until the piles of dust he left behind settled she could dispense a breath of relief. Zalli probably stood there longer than necessary, but she had to make sure Yoltzin was completely off her farm and was not trying to return with some ridiculous excuse.

Huizi walked up to her side, which prompted the farmer to scratch the dog just behind her ears. There was fur at the apex of her ears, which Zalli always seemed to forget about until she lovingly rubbed the thin appendage between her fingertips.

Zalli felt parched. Now that she stopped working, she could recognize her body’s need to drink something. Leaving the outdoors, she walked into her kitchen to see if there was any refreshment in the refrigerator.

She opened the door and peered in to see there was an agua fresca in a glass pitcher. Chipper to drink something sweet, she took it out of the appliance and placed it on the dining table. After she grabbed a glass from a nearby cabinet, Zalli walked to the freezer by the back door. She lifted the lid up and bent over to search for the bag of ice.

The search did not take long since, within the next few minutes, she prepared her sugary drink with ease. Scarred from being scolded too many times when she was younger, she put each item away; it was never because she didn’t want to, she just tended to be forgetful.

The farmer released a content sigh as she sipped on her piña. Before she left to walk around the house, she remembered to give something refreshing for Huizi too. Instead of pulling the entire bag of ice out, she grabbed only a handful from the bag and then walked to the canine’s water bowl to gently plop it in. A splash or two still escaped, even though Zalli was trying to not create a watery mess in her abuela’s kitchen.

Zalli grabbed her drink as she took her stroll around her house. Just outside the kitchen, on the right-hand side, was the main storage room. She entered the dark room, curious to see if they were low on any of their supplies. She brought her hand up as she blindly searched for the string to turn on the lamp. Once she caught hold of something long, she gave it a tug, which created a soft yellow light to appear.

The shelves looked a bit bare, but from what Zalli observed, they still had all the grains they typically used at hand. She looked from the one bag of arroz, to the few bags of frijoles, to everything else, like spices and herbs, placed chaotically on the shelves. To someone who didn’t know better, it would seem like their organization carried no structure. But the categorization was determined by size, so small items would not become hidden, thus forgotten about, next to the larger items.

Zalli took another sip from her drink and turned away to leave the room, after she turned the light back off. She was aware they usually carried more items in their storage, but what they had for now would just have to do.

Now back in the little hallway, Zalli turned right to exit the corridor and found herself in the family living room. It was where she found her family to be at—all except for Tepi. Her abuela was sitting on one couch, facing away from Zalli. She seemed to be working on something, but the farmer couldn’t see what it was. Her Tia Xilo was sitting on the adjacent couch, with her back facing the front door and stairs.

Zalli took another step in further and noted the basket weaving her tía was attending to. A sudden clarity hit the farmer, which made her exclaim in revelation.

“That’s it!”

“Ay, díos mío!”

“Cabrona, you scared me!”

“Zalli, what’s wrong with you?”

“I swear, my heart is pounding so much right now.”

“Is something wrong?”

“Ay mija, you got me good.”

Without meaning to, Zalli unexpectedly frightened her relatives. As they chided her, one speaking over the other so much it was hard to determine who was saying what, she tried to stifle a giggle from the situation. She was not succeeding.

“Don’t laugh, niña. What if I died from a heart attack?”

Her abuela admonished Zalli for her reaction.

“Then I would feel really bad. But that didn’t happen, so it’s fine!” Abuela Ezi tsked at her, but said nothing more about it. The farmer went on to explain why she had a sudden outburst. “I’m sorry I scared you, but I just got really excited about an idea I had.”

“And what idea is that?”

Zalli’s tía asked, curious to know what got her so delighted. Zalli walked over to where Tia Xilo sat before responding. She took a big gulp from her drink before she set it down on the coffee table with a small clank. As she sat next to her tía, Zalli didn’t notice the scowl her abuela had sent her way for not using a coaster under the perspiring beverage.

“Tía, do you think we can use your weaving skills to decorate the flower arrangements we will need to make for the summer festival?”

Not one to put down her work while having a conversation, Xilo stopped all hand movements to respond to her sobrina.

“Well, I suppose I could do it. I would need help, though.”

“Yes! Absolutely! Me and Tepi could help.”

Abuela Ezi interjected herself into the conversation, wanting to take part in the new project Zalli had for the farm.

“I can help too. I’m the one who taught your tía how to weave, anyway.”

“Did you ever teach mamita?”

Zalli turned herself to face her abuela as she asked her question. Weirdly enough, the expression on Ezi’s face was one of confusion, as if she had no memory of it, before it relaxed into one of pleasant understanding.

“Of course, mijita. I taught everything I know to Xilo and your mamá.”

Zalli smiled kindly, but felt a little unsettled by the reaction she observed from her abuela. Moving on quickly, she assumed her abuela must be nearing the age of forgetting details and memories.

“Great. I’m going to finish my work outside.”

“Don’t forget your hat. It’s hotter now than it was earlier.”

Zalli grumbled an agreement to her abuela as she stood up to leave. She didn’t like the sensation of anything on her head, but did as she was told.

She left her agua fresca on the table, focused on getting back to work. Ezi tsked again—more so to herself knowing her nieta’s behavior well—and placed a coaster under the drink herself, after wiping away any perspiration that was leftover.