Flashback 6 years ago...
In a dark forest lies a girl unconscious. Suddenly someone flickers a torch over her face.
"Hey! Who is there", the woman says.
The girl wakes up due to the bright flashlight.
"Who are you?", asks the woman.
The girl tries to speak but nothing comes out and then she realizes she is mute...
She picks up a stick and then writes something on the ground.
*I am Scarlett. I can't speak.*
The woman reads the words carefully and her heart melts on reading *she can't speak*.
"Beck what are you doing?" an old man comes running carrying some woodblocks on the back.
"Who is this?" he asks.
"She is our daughter, Scarlett" the woman answers happily.
Scarlett gets confused about this sudden mother-daughter relationship the woman developed.
After that, the couple carried Scarlett to their house.
Flashback ends
Scarlett has been living with them ever since they found her in the forest. She was adopted by a woodcutter family someplace in East Asia. She doesn't know which place it is. It's an old village with few people. The people here are peace-loving and united. She has made many friends here.No one mocks her or teases her for being mute.
"It's high time Scarlett should get married now", said the woman worried.
"Yeah you are right, she is 25 years old. It's more than enough age for her to marry", said the man.
The couple had been searching for the right boy for their only daughter. But people rejected Scarlett because of her inability. They never told Scarlett about this because they knew she will be disheartened.
Many guys in the village adored Scarlett for her cute attractive face but none of their parents wanted their son to marry a mute girl.
Scarlett was sitting on a stool in front of a gas stove roasting some meat. She still liked to cook in fact she cooked better than before. She was happy in her simple life. Honestly, she didn't want to get married because she feared that the boy and his family won't treat her the way her parents treated her. They will always look down upon her and treat her low.
She can't bear to give up on her peaceful life. But she knew she has to get married. Girls at her age had children of 5 and 6 years old and here she herself was a child.
She was 25 but she didn't lose her innocence, she was still the same old soft-hearted Scarlett unlike the bitches girls turn into.
She had totally forgotten about the time before she came to the forest. Her old life, foster parents, Liam she remembered none.
Time skip
"I love you Scarlett", said a boy.
"I love you too", Scarlett whispered back. Soon they both engulfed each other in a hug.
Scarlett hugged her pillow tight in her sleep.
Soon she felt emptiness and she opened her eyes to see that the boy she hugged vanished.
"Don't go", she whispered but it was too late the guy had vanished.
Scarlett woke up from her sleep and found herself smooching a pillow.
*Again I saw him. But why do I not remember his face?*she thinks hard and tried to reminisce about the face but it's all hazy.
She has been getting this dream ever since she came here, a boy proposing to her but every time she forgets the face.
She lies down and cogitates through her thoughts deeply, the time before she came to this place. She remembers none except her name.
She can feel the emptiness as if she was made for someone special but who is that special?
Deep in her thoughts, she dozes off to sleep.
Liam's pov
I woke up in the guest room today.I quickly rush to my work and get engaged in it. My office door opens and my junior worker Harry Park comes in.
"Good morning Sir",
"Good morning", I greet him coldly.
"Sir, could you please do me a favor?"
"What ?", I ask.
"I am really sorry. I can't go for the business meeting, my wife is pregnant and the date is anytime soon", he says shaking probably scared of my outburst.
"Okay", I reply.
He dashes off the cabin and I hold my head in frustration.
Who the hell will now go to the meeting?
We need a well-experienced man and he was our last hope.
The only option left was for me to go on this business trip and attend the meeting.
Author's pov
Liam packed his stuff and was ready to head out for his trip. He boarded the flight, he was pissed because he never wanted to take pains for going on the trip in between his busy schedule.
He was cursing his office staff for being so disloyal to their work. He had mentally decided to deduce their salary by 30% for their unfaithfulness.
He decided to take a small nap until the flight lands. He didn't know what twists and turns his life was going to take.
After 2 hours Liam arrived at his destination. He got down and headed towards his booked suite.
He looked dashing in his black buttoned-down shirt and black tight-fit jeans, a handsome rich CEO. Which girl would not ogle over his eye-catching features? So was the case with all the girls in the airport but as usual, Liam wasn't interested in any one of them, the only thing he cared about was work.
He told the address to the taxi driver and then sat inside with his luggage. He was alone on the trip for the first time, all his co-workers and employees were so busy that work became unimportant to them.
The driver took a U-turn and was heading towards a very empty lane.No life or vehicle was seen around.
"Are you sure this is the right way?", asked Liam worried.
Something seemed wrong to him. He thought that the hotel he will be staying in might be in some posh area but they were somewhere between dense jungle.
"I think we came the wrong way", said the driver frightened of the consequences he will be facing from his passenger's outburst.
"Mr, you stop the car", Liam annoyingly got down as soon as the car came to halt.
It was a dense jungle nearby and not even a soul was visible.
He paid the driver and let him go.
But now it struck him.
"Why the hell did I stop over here? Damn!! what's wrong with me?", he held his head in frustration.
The driver was gone and he was left alone in this lonely area.
He walked some steps to find someone for help but no one came. Liam kept on walking until he reached a wooden board. On it was written "This way".
Liam followed the board and crossed his way through the bushes only to find a very neat and small village located there. It looked beautiful and he could see people.
*I think I should go there*, he thought to himself and headed to one of the huts. It was an old-styled hay hut but looked neat and pretty. An old woman approached him seeing a very well-built dressed-up man.
"What happened young man?", she asked.
"Um! Ma'am, I am lost, my driver dropped me at this place. Can you tell me where I am ?", he asked.
"This place is called *Blossom* and you may spend your day here until someone comes to pick you up", she asked him to settle properly.
His mobile network wasn't available for the past 4 hours and he tried it again but all in vain.
Liam sat in the hut on a wooden stool. Soon he was served some tea and snacks.
"Thanks", he said politely.
The old woman continued to watch his every move, she was pretty impressed by Liam.
"How old are you young man?", she asked.
"My name is Liam and I am 26 years old", Liam smiled and told her.
"Liam, nice name", she said.
Suddenly the old woman thought something and asked
"Are you married, young man?"
Liam was bewildered by this question by the old woman but then he said a plain "No".
The old woman's face lit up with delight.
"He is the right one ", she said. Liam's face color paled.
*Is she thinking of marrying at this age?*he thought and twisted his face.
"Are you planning to marry?", she asked.
Liam frowned a bit.
"Ahh I don't know", he said.
Suddenly she rose up and went outside the hut.
"Scarlett Scarlett", she shouted.
A girl or more like a woman, very innocent and pretty came running.
She stood there waiting for her mother to speak further.
"See we have a guest. You have to escort him. His name is Liam", she said to the younger girl.
"Young Man, this is my daughter Scarlett. She will take care of you. Don't hurt her she can't speak", she said the last words carefully without hurting Scarlett's feelings.
Scarlett and Liam looked at each other and their hearts started thumping at inhuman speed.
They both were staring at each other with a lot of emotions, hidden deep inside them for 6 years.
They could feel the connection within them. Their meeting didn't look new, it felt as if they had met before.