Chapter 5 - THE FIRST TIME HE HEARD HER REAL VOICE
William invited me to a public botanical garden.
Not a restaurant.
Not a gala.
A garden.
I nearly refused.
But curiosity won.
When I arrived, he was standing beside a fountain, wearing a dark coat.
He looked different without bodyguards surrounding him.
Still intimidating.
But less like a man preparing for war.
“You came,” he said.
“I almost didn't.”
He smiled.
“Fair.”
We walked through the conservatory.
William asked about the plants.
I told him about orchids.
Rare ferns.
Soil acidity.
The way certain flowers needed darkness before they could bloom.
At first, I stuttered.
Then less.
Then hardly at all.
William listened.
He didn't interrupt.
Didn't finish my sentences.
Didn't look embarrassed when I struggled.
Eventually, I stopped talking.
He looked at me.
“What?”
I swallowed.
“N-nothing.”
He smiled.
“Clare.”
I looked away.
“People usually get impatient.”
“With what?”
“My speech.”
William's expression softened.
“I noticed.”
My stomach dropped.
Then he continued.
“But I also noticed that when you talk about something you love, you forget to be afraid.”
I stared.
He smiled.
“I like hearing you talk.”
My eyes filled.
Nobody had ever said that to me before.
Not once.
I looked down.
William stepped closer.
“Clare.”
“Yes?”
May you like
“You don't have to become someone else to be worth listening to.”
And for the first time in twenty-three years, I believed it might be true.
