Ranunculi are bright-colored flowers used mainly for medicinal purposes. They are available in colors like yellow, pink, red, and white. They're also known as buttercup, commonly. It is a beautiful flower, which can amaze anyone with its inner and outer beauty. The floral meaning of this beautiful flower is 'I am amazed by your charm.' This exotic flower symbolizes radiant charm and magnificence. They can also be used as an alternative to roses.

— — —

"We can't do this, Jack," said Naomi with furrowed brows.
"Why not? I thought you wanted this." He held her hand, but she pulled back.
"This isn't right. He's my dad. I can't kill him."
"Didn't you want him dead?" His soft gaze disappeared.
     Suddenly, the door opened, and someone burst in frantically. "Sorry, I'm late!" Allura apologized in between pants.
     "There you are Ms. Sinclair!" the producer said. "We already started the script rehearsal without you."
     She took a seat and waved her hand. "Yes, I know. Please go ahead!" The lead actor, Sawyer, looked at her and smiled to which she averted her eyes at. His smile got smaller, and he looked down at his script.
     "Okay, let's continue from where we dropped off!"
     Naomi nudged Sawyer with her elbow. "Hey, it's your line," she pointed out.
     "Oh, sorry," he apologized and put on his acting face.
     After the meeting ended, Allura handed a flash drive to the producer. "Here are the first ten scenes of Checkout Girl. It's my new project," she declared.
     He took it and said, "Ms. Sinclair, I appreciate you coming to the meetings, but you need to make more comments to let us know what needs improvement or any suggestions."
     "Well, I don't know. I think everything is fine. I trust in your skills, Mr. Ryder. You even picked Mrs. Damier to be the director since she was a great match, so I feel assured."
     "Not that I disagree with your statement, but this is a dramatization of your work. There's no one else better than you who knows how the story is supposed to go, and I want to make it as true as possible. Isn't that right, Mrs. Damier?" Mr. Ryder looked to the director.
     She leaned back in her swivel chair with a pen to her chin. "Although I would also love to hear her thoughts on what we're doing, if Allura thinks what we have so far is fine, then we should respect that. I know well that if there's anything not to her liking, she will definitely let us know," Mrs. Damier responded, her accent evident.
     "Yes, that's exactly right. Thank you, ma'am," Allura remarked. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I must get home to feed my cats." She got up and packed her bag.
     "Can you at least tell me what made you late to this meeting?" he questioned.
     "I went to buy food for Calamity, Peace, and Hope."
     Mrs. Damier laughed heartily at her response. "And how are those three little cuties doing?"
     "Oh, just wonderful! Calamity is spritely as always while Peace tries to hide from him by going into her comfort box. Hope is adjusting to the new environment quite quickly. I feel like she'll soon adapt the personality of Calamity as if they're partners in crime. I must hurry home in case they did anything messy to my living room again. See you again next time!" She waved bye to them, and Mrs. Damier nodded with a smile while Mr. Ryder waved her off.
     "I swear she gives me a headache often," Mr. Ryder stated.
Mrs. Damier chuckled then said, "Leave her be, she's a young writer who doesn't know much about filmmaking. As long as we do our job, everything will be fine." He sighed and rubbed his temples.
     Allura was heading toward the closing elevator quickly until she noticed Sawyer standing inside, and she turned on her heel.
     "Allura!" he called out to her as he kept the elevator door open. "Ms. Sinclair!"
     She couldn't continue to ignore him since he spotted her. It would look too obvious that she was avoiding him. "Mr. Gatlin, thank you for holding the doors," she said politely as she walked back toward him.
He gave a youthful smile as he kept his finger on the button for the doors until she had fully stepped into the elevator. "No problem!"
     She was going to press her floor when he did it for her, and she shrunk back to avoid clashing hands with him. "Thanks..."
     They stood in silence for a while until he broke it. "How's writing Checkout Girl going?"
     She looked up at him and replied, "I actually finished the first ten scenes during the meeting and handed it over to Mr. Ryder." He was a whole head and neck taller than her.
     "Oh, that's great! You work really fast, Ms. Sinclair," he remarked.
     "That's only because I enjoyed writing it. Thank you for sparking the idea in me."
     "I did nothing. You're the one who came up with the whole elaborate plot."
     "It wouldn't have come to me if you hadn't spoken about your sister's experience at the mart. I even got the idea to put the twist because of you. Oops, that's a spoiler," she covered her mouth, "but it should be fine since you're probably going to be casted for this one too. You're a perfect fit for the role." She stopped talking when she noticed he was watching her intently with a small smile on his face, and she averted her eyes. "Sorry, I rambled."
     "No, no, no, you're fine! I enjoy listening to you talking about your work," he declared quickly.
     "Okay," she said quietly.
Silence took over again until he broke it once more. "Allura," he said her name softly, and she blinked in surprise before he continued, "have you considered what I said before?" The elevator doors opened for his floor, but he paid it no mind as his attention was fully on her.
     "Mr. Gatlin, I thought I told you my answer..."
     "You said you'd think about it," he remarked with a frown.
     "And my answer is the same," she mumbled. "It's not ideal for you..."
     "That's for me to decide, Allura."
     "No, please, Mr. Gatlin, you know it's not possible for us."
     "But Allura, I like you!" he exclaimed sincerely.
     "Then stop liking me and don't call me by my first name; it's Ms. Sinclair to you," she responded sternly. He looked at her wistfully, and she blinked uncomfortably. "I'm sorry...Please don't bring this up again next time." She walked out of the elevator on her floor, leaving him standing dismally in his spot.
     The doors closed shut, and he gripped the metal handles on the walls before exhaling deeply. "You're so stupid," he muttered as he crouched down with his eyes closed.
     Allura was his alumni at the university he attended. He first met her on campus during one of her visits, and he was completely awestruck by her presence. Others would think otherwise, but Sawyer found her whole being attractive. From her loosely tied up hair to her doe eyes and gapped teeth, to her chipped nail polish and quirky style and even her adorable height, all of which he fell in love with within seconds.
     He had watched as she had exchanged words with one of the professors, who had introduced one of the students to her, and the way she had timidly navigated through the conversation had made him smile foolishly.
     From then on, he had asked around to find out her identity. He had discovered she was an English major who had kept to herself most of the time. Not many were friends with her either, but she hadn't cared. She had used the lack of social distractions to pave her way through university with strong effort and straight A's.
     He had only seen her a handful of times after that first one-sided encounter, and each time, she had failed to notice him the way he had to her. Eventually, she stopped showing up, and he had no way of contacting her since requesting for her personal information from the institution wasn't allowed, and nobody had her current contact information.
     He only knew that there was one way to meet her one day, and that was to finish his major then continue on to acting school where he would learn to become an actor then he would work hard to make it as an A-list actor. That way, he would end up working with her because he knew she was working as a writer. He felt like it was fated due to the fact he was already aiming to be involved in the entertainment industry.
     Now, he felt like he screwed things up. He had recently confessed to Allura after years of keeping his feelings locked safely within his heart. She was taken aback, of course, as she didn't knew of him like he did of her. It was only their second rehearsal meeting, but they were introduced prior when searching for casting for the dramatization of her work.
     As soon as he saw the name of her work in the list of potential roles he could take on, he begged his agency to help him get the role. He did his best in the interview, and he was ecstatic to become part of the project. He thought just being able to see her was enough, but the more exposed he was to her, the stronger his feelings became, and he couldn't hold them back anymore.
     That day he confessed, she had politely rejected him, but he still had hope and had asked for her to take time to reconsider. Since then, he noticed she was avoiding interactions with him unless necessary. He didn't pressure her to give him a response, but it had been a while, and he was getting worried.
This particular interaction pricked at his heart because of her firm rejection, yet again. He couldn't do anything if she wasn't willing to accept his feelings. He could only continue to silently sulk while watching her from afar.
Allura jogged to her car and entered it quickly then exhaled heavily. "Ugh, I feel bad for rejecting him again..." she said quietly. It wasn't like she didn't like him because she did find his personality attractive; he resembled her fictional type very much. However, knowing that she was only a mere writer while he was a young and popular actor made her completely anxious about getting involved with him.
It was already enough for them to be working on the same project together as she loved that he was able to enact all her male lead characters perfectly so far. She quite practically fell in love over and over again with him when he was immersed in his roles.
Another problem was their age gap. She wasn't a fan of older women and younger men tropes. One might say it wasn't that big of a concern since she was only five years older, but to her, it was too much already. Biologically, she would look much older than him as they aged, and that made her feel absolutely self-conscious.
Sawyer's fans were already fidgety about him always working with her, and it made them suspect that they had some sort of special relationship when it wasn't true. She would not appreciate being shunned for 'going after' a younger man, their 'husband,' to be specific.
Aside from the reasons she just thought of, the most important and valid of all was the fact she wasn't good enough for him, neither in appearance nor intelligence. She didn't and couldn't understand why he liked her; what could've possibly brought on his feelings?
     "He deserves a beautiful, young woman who makes them look like a golden pair of earrings, not mismatched socks," she said sadly. After that last confrontation between them, Sawyer went back to silently admiring Allura from far, and she stayed unbothered as always, or so she thought.
The more she watched him embody her characters, the more she felt attracted toward him; this wasn't only because she saw him as her characters, but also because he was naturally charming. She knew this fact, but being able to witness it up close was like getting drunk on one's favorite beverage even though there was no alcohol in it.
"Ms. Sinclair," Mr. Ryder called out to her, but she didn't hear him because she was entranced in Sawyer's performance. "Ms. Sinclair?" He waved a hand in front of her to catch her attention.
She blinked and looked at him. "Sorry, were you calling for me?" she questioned apologetically.
"You must really like his performance to not be able to pay attention to what's going on around you." Sawyer overheard him then looked at Allura, who had a light blush to her cheeks, and he melted at how cute she was.
"Yep, he's just really good at his job," she responded in slight embarrassment.
     "Well, he is one of the younger top actors for a reason!" he exclaimed while she laughed nervously, and Sawyer held back a smile. Not long after, the production crew were cleaning the set, and the actors were heading home for the day. Allura was about to go home when someone from the crew stopped her.
"Ms. Sinclair, can you take this to Mr. Gatlin?" The crew member handed her a script book. "He forgot it here."
"Um, you can return it during tomorrow's shoot," she declared.
"But he'll need it to practice his lines."
"I'm sure he can use his original copy." She really didn't want to go to his apartment.
"This is his original copy..." the woman said slowly. "He lost his second copy not long ago."
"Oh...Is his manager not here?"
"No, she left with him a while ago." Allura pursed her lips in hesitation. "We thought you could give it to him since his place is on the way to yours."
There was no way she could deny doing this task now that she was put on the spot like this; she had no other excuse because they knew she had no plans today since they asked prior during small conversations.
"Of course, I'll return it to him then," she stated and took the script from her hands. The crew member thanked her and walked off. 'Why did he have to leave this here?' she thought.

— — —

     Sawyer was getting dressed when his doorbell rang, and he paused with his head through his shirt collar. "Did Kirby forget something?" He went to open the door while putting his arm through his shirt sleeve. "Did you forget something again?"
     Allura stood opposite from him, and she averted her eyes when she noticed he was still putting his shirt on. She coughed a little and responded, "You forgot your script, Mr. Gatlin."
     He froze and looked at her then the script in her extended hand. He blinked a few times and stuttered, "O-Oh, I thought you uh, you were um, Kirby. Thanks, thank you, Allura. I mean, Ms. Sinclair!" He laughed nervously, and she held back a laugh. "Um, would you uh like to come in for coffee?" He smiled a little.
     She shook her head. "Tempting but no, I only came to drop off your script," she replied.
     "Oh..." He hung his head in disappointment.
     "Have a good shoot tomorrow." She turned around to leave, and he gnawed on his bottom lip. She was already going down the floors in the elevator when he thought of sending her off. He hurried down the stairs to catch up to her, but when he reached the entrance of the building, he witnessed Allura being harassed by a group of girls.
     "Excuse me, girls, I need to get to my car." She tried to go around them, but they blocked her way.
     "Don't you try to escape! We know that you're trying to seduce our innocent Sawyer with your old womanly tricks!" one of the girls exclaimed in frustration.
     "What? Oh, please! Do I even look like I have the attractive potential to do that?!" Allura defended with a self-insult.
     "That may be true, but our Sawyer's young and innocent, so your seduction skills would probably work on him either way!" Another girl crossed her arms with an angry pout.
     "Please stop this, girls. Sawyer wouldn't be happy to know his fans were unruly like this. You girls shouldn't listen to rumors or jump to conclusions, else it'll inconvenience him."
     "Shut up, what do you know?!"
'God, this is what I was afraid of.' She was about to speak up again when something hard hit her head, and a wet substance spilled over her face.
     "That's what you get!" They were about to throw more, and Allura shut her eyes with her arms hiding her face when Sawyer pulled her away and covered her with his body. He turned around and glared at the group of girls, and they gasped in horror. "Sawyer, we didn't mean to do that to you!"
     "Of course you didn't because it was meant for Ms. Sinclair here," he stated bitterly. Allura watched his back, which was tainted by remnants of eggs and gritted her teeth in frustration. "I'm very disappointed in you guys. How could you just attack an innocent person like this? I thought my fans were better than this...I guess it's my fault."
     "No, never! It's not your fault! It's..." they glanced at Allura apologetically, "our fault. We just thought..."
     He sighed and patted one of the girls' head. "It's alright. I understand the want to protect me, but this isn't right. Is there any evidence of foul play from Ms. Sinclair here?" One of the girls opened her mouth to respond, but he cut her off. "No, there's not because they're not true. If there's any reason why I'm always working on Ms. Sinclair's works, it's because I admire her and them in a completely professional manner. So, please...please refrain from treating anyone like this."
     "Okay..." they all said collectively with their heads hung low in embarrassment and shame.
     "I'll hold you guys to that," he remarked with a charming smile. "Go on now. Oh, wait! Please apologize to her as well." They turned to Allura who was standing behind him silently, and they apologized individually. After they did so, he shooed them off then turned to her and noticed she was frowning. He knew he shouldn't in this situation, but he found her expression cute.
"Why?" she asked.
"Hm? Why what?" He tilted his head in confusion.
"Why did you do that? I didn't need your help. What if they just get more suspicious of our relationship?"
"Then was I supposed to watch you get harassed by my fans?"
She looked into his eyes and said steely, "Yes."
He remained eye contact with her then sighed in frustration. "Ugh, I can't handle this. Come with me." He grabbed her hand gently and pulled her back into the apartment building.
"H-Huh? W-Wait, Sawyer!" She was both surprised and lost at what was happening. "Someone's going to see!"
"I just checked, and nobody is watching." He disregarded her complaints the whole way back to his apartment.
     "What are you doing?" she questioned incredulously. He pulled her into his kitchen, placed her in front of the isle and wet a rag then wrung it out before standing before her again. He then proceeded to wipe off the remnants of egg in her hair and on her face. Allura flinched a little as his hand neared her. "I-I can do it myself!"
     She tried to take the rag from him, but he avoided her. "I'm already doing it so allow me, please. Besides, it's my fault that you got egged."
     "It's not your fault your fans acted out. It's my fault for thinking it was okay for me to come here by myself."
     "God, Allura, why would you ever need to think that? Stop blaming yourself for things that are out of your control! You shouldn't have to avoid me because my fans don't understand what privacy means and believe in stupid rumors," he remarked in frustration then leaned against the counter behind her with one arm and his head hung. "I hate that I can't..." He trailed off then stood straight again.
     "I'm sorry..." she apologized sincerely.
     "What? What for?" he asked with furrowed brows.
     "For being like this." She looked down at her fingers as she fidgeted. "This is why I can't accept your feelings."
     "What?" He looked at her intently.
     "I would only hurt your image, Mr. Gatlin."
     He groaned loudly and said, "I don't care about that. I care about you! I became an A-list star because of you, Allura! God, I yearned to see you and talk with you for years. I worked myself sick for several years to become popular and get a role in your work. Do you really think I'd let my fans' expectations get in the way of my feelings for you? And stop trying to set a boundary between us by calling me Mr. Gatlin; I love when you say my name no matter the tone and reason." He sounded breathless as he stared into her eyes.
     She stared at him in shock after hearing his supposedly reassuring confession. "I— Wow, okay..." She didn't know what to say in response. She still felt that it'd be best if they didn't get involved with each other any further, but his words were overly tempting. 'Maybe it wouldn't hurt to try...He seems very distraught by my principle.'
Suddenly, his face went bright red, and he stuttered, "U-Uh, p-please forget what I j-just said!"
"It's fine. You're passionate and honest. That's what I like about you..." she mumbled loud enough for him to hear.
     His eyes widened at her quiet statement. "D-Do you mean platonically or...?"
"Not platonically..." she answered, not looking at him.
He smiled brightly and asked, "May I kiss you?"
'What?!' she thought as she looked at him with shock then averted her eyes, totally flustered.
"I'll take that as a yes?" She didn't answer him, so he started to lean in while she shut her eyes and shrunk back a little. However, she ended up knocking over a vase of colorful ranunculi on the counter with her elbow. It hit the ground with a shattering noise, scattering the flowers about.
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry! I ruined your vase and flowers!"
"Don't worry, you didn't ruin anything. You'd never ruin anything for me." She went to go clean up the shards of glass, but he stopped her. "No, don't pick it up. I'll do it."
"But—!"
He gave her a small smile and patted her head then retrieved a broom and dustpan to clean it up. "How about you go to the bathroom and wash out the egg for now? I'll feel bad knowing you'll leave with egg residue on you."
"Okay..." She started leaving when he grabbed her wrist and stopped her.
"I'd like to be able to actually kiss you next time. When you're ready, of course." He rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb, and she blushed intensely before rushing off into the bathroom then shutting the door. He lightly laughed to himself and bit his bottom lip.