Hazrin, born Azrina, was born a boy and he was genetically a boy. Then his mother registered him as a baby girl. When he was 2, his mother sent him away to live with his aunt, deep inside the vineyards of France. Without knowing anything, he lived almost twenty years of his life as a girl. Now he has returned home, to his home country, and decided to care for his little brother and sisters, as a man. Can he untrain himself of all feminine gestures and become a real man? Enter Iskandar, the nephew of one of the wealthiest tycoons in Southeast Asia. He had a plan, of becoming independent from his uncle, but that would cost him to betray the only one he holds dear. Will he sacrifice all for Azrina's love? Or will he sacrifice Azrina instead? Then comes Max, a german man from an impoverished noble household. For the past fifteen years, Rina Sofiana de Havensall, has always been in his mind. Now that he had fulfilled his promise, he came to find Rina, to ask her to honour her part of the promise. Bliss Behind A Stalk of Rose Part 1 By Shinieris

"If it is a boy, then my master will bring you both into his family."

The woman, who was lying on the hospital bed with her baby in her arms, said in a quiet voice, "If it's a boy, then he will accept us into his family?"

"Yes."

"How dare he..." her eyes shooting daggers at this man in a crisp business suit, "They threw me away, ruined me because I fell in love with their favourite son. Now they want us back, if he's a boy?"

"Yes, that is correct-"

"GO BACK TO YOUR MASTERS!" she cried at the top of her lungs, as the baby woke and cried, "Tell them this baby is a girl. MY baby is a girl!"

------

"Ah! I'm so sorry, sir," Hazrin said to the white collar businessman who had his table covered in spilt coffee, "I'll get this cleaned right away."

"No, don't worry about it," the man said as he grabbed his briefcase and suit. He was handsome, with well-defined face and mature disposition. "Take your time," he said as he sat at the bar.

"I'm very sorry, sir," Hazrin bowed repeatedly to the man's back, before he ran into the service closet to fetch a towel.

"The usual?" the bartender asked.

"You know I can't get away with 'the usual' in broad daylight. Just get me a cup of coffee," he said as he buried his face in his crossed hands on the counter.

"Rough day, Iskandar?" the bartender asked when he came back with a cup of hot coffee.

"You don't know half of it. And what's worse, my uncle arranged for me to have dinner with the daughter of his business partner," he said without lifting his head.

"Again? Which one is it this time?" the bartender asked.

"Marina Adawiyah Syed Zaki Mukhtar," he said.

"Syed Zaki Mukhtar? The Vice President of Kental Holdings Group?" the bartender whistled.

"You know about him? I was under the impression that you don't care much about rich people anymore."

"Just because I got kicked out of my family for marrying a penniless orphan, doesn't mean I don't have any brothers or sisters in the family. So what's wrong with her? I assume you don't want to go to the dinner appointment?"

"You know damned well why! In a way, I feel bad about this. She's pretty, smart, nice and from a good family. She's perfect. She doesn't deserve me," he said as he sipped his coffee.

"Let me guess, you're still gay," the bartender said as Iskandar sprayed forth whatever coffee he had in his mouth.

"Pipe it down! Geez! For your information, I do enjoy female companionship from time to time. Say, that boy just now, the one who spilled coffee on my sleeve. Is he new?" he said as his eyes scanned the coffeehouse.

"What? You want him to pay compensation for your expensive designer shirt?"

"No, I-"

"Let it go, Is. He's just an orphan. And his monthly pay isn't even enough to cover half your shirt."

"You and your orphans..."

The bartender shrugged, "What can I say? I have a soft spot for orphans."

"No, I wanted to ask, is he like me?" Iskander surveyed the coffeehouse, hoping to catch another glimpse of the boy.

"You mean gay?" the bartender asked as Iskandar shot daggers from his eyes, "No, I don't know, and I don't care to know something so personal. If they want to talk about it, fine by me. I just won't go poking around and making them uncomfortable."

"I just feel that he was too jumpy when our hands touched just now," Iskandar stated as he made a fist.

"What, you find him cute now?" the bartender chuckled.

"No, instead of cute, he was more along the lines of pretty, and fragile. And his voice sounds like a girl," he said as his mind drifted off.

The bartender leaned forward, pulling Iskandar's necktie to him, so that their faces were just inches apart. "Now, you don't go around making passes on my staffs. I'm not running a lowly brothel here."

"Your ugly face is too close, Eric," Iskandar said as he released his necktie from the bartender's hand, "I was just interested, that's all." Then Iskandar grabbed his briefcase and stood fixing his necktie.

"Well, time to go back to work. That was an excellent coffee," Iskandar said as he walked out.

"Hey Is, who's going to pay for this?" the bartender yelled at his back.

"My tab," Iskandar waved without turning around.

------

Hazrin leaned to the wall of the service closet. His face was flushed and his body trembled. He looked at his hand, and with his other hand, rubbed at the place that brushed the man's hand just now.

Calm down, he said to himself, It was just a little touch. I've practiced lots of times, I shouldn't be so excited from just touching a man's hand. Hazrin took a deep breath, counted to ten and then slapped his face with both hands. I've resolved to go back to being a man. Just need to pull myself together.

Hazrin fixed his uniform, grabbed a clean towel from the towel rack and walked out just as his name was called.

------

Azrina Sofiana Abdullah, so said on her National Identity Card, pruned the stalk of a rose as the evening summer winds blew her baju kebaya open slightly. She did it with skill and grace, as one who had been doing it for almost twenty years. Flower arrangement was her favourite hobby, as the sweet smell of roses, jasmine and lavender around her home attested. She found its slow and gentle pace soothing, and the sweet smell of flowers and the act of making it, healed whatever hurt she accumulated during the day.

"Sister, sister, look, look!" Rina looked at her sister, who was skiping along so happily with a sheet of exam paper in her small hands. She was wearing a typical middle school uniform, and did her hair in twin ponytails, making her look younger than she really was. She could already guess what it was about, but she put her pruning shears down and waited for her sister to tell her.

"I got full marks on last week's test, sister!" the girl said as she showed Azrina a math test sheet with 100% written on the upper right corner.

Rina smiled, took the test paper from her sister's hands and without looking at it, hugged the girl, "I never doubted even once, Nini. You're a very bright girl and if you work real hard, you will surely become a doctor in the future."

"Hee, I'm going to be a doctor for you, big sister. Just wait for me," Nini then pushed Rina an arm's length, "Would you teach me match and biology again tonight, sister?"

Rina patted Nini's head as she said, "Sure, but only after dinner. Now go take a bath."

Nini hugged her sister then disengaged and went to her room, discarding her school uniform along the way. Rina was about to get up when a voice spoke from behind the door.

"That girl, she has no sense of shame," a hand picked up the collar ribbon and hair ribbon that Nini dropped.

"She's just a little girl, Mira," Rina sat back down, then she picked up her shears and another stalk of rose.

"Little? She's already 14! You're being too nice to her, Rina. She's becoming spoiled," the girl, still in her high school uniform bent over and picked up another piece of Nini's clothing. At school, she wore her hair in high ponytail, as befitting her reputation for being a sporty girl, at home, she wore her hair loose, and it reached halfway beyond her back.

"Do I need to remind you that calling your sister by her name is rude?" Rina said as she picked up a length of freshly-cut grass.

Mira frowned. "Nuh-uh, I'm not calling my crossdressing brother as 'sister'."

"My identity card stated that I am female, ever since I was born. For all purposes, you see me as your sister," Rina said without missing a beat with her pruning.

"You see, that's just so messed up. That's identity fraud! Why would mom do that?"

"I failed to ask her that question when she was still alive," Rina said without emotion.

"What does it matter anyhow? You're training yourself to be a guy anyway!"

The phone rang before they could say anything more, and Mira, ever the popular girl, picked it up before the third ring. She spoke into the phone, then handed it to her sister, "Yours," she looked almost disappointed with that.

Rina got up unhurriedly, brushed the accumulated rubbish from her skirt and grabbed the handle of the phone. "Hello?" she spoke into the phone.

"Oh ma fille bien-aimée. Votre voix est toujours aussi doux que le jour oá¹ tu m'as laissé," said the voice in rapid french.

Rina sighed. She didn't need to ask to know who it was. "Maman, tu parle trop vite."

"Don't tell me you have forgotten how to speak french? My dear daughter can't speak french! Ce monde va se terminer" said the voice on the other side.

"Mama, it's hardly the end of the world. Why do you call anyway?" Rina asked, feeling slightly annoyed.

"Je veux que tu rentres. Je m'ennuie de ma fille," the voice said as if she was about to cry.

"Stop, mama. I didn't spend the past 20 years with you without knowing which tears are real and which tears are fake. Now level with me," Rina said.

"Tch, you're no fun. Tu étiez beaucoup plus doux."

"What is it, mama?"

"Someone asked for your hand."

"To do gardening?" she asked confused.

"No, you silly girl. To marry. You are already of that age, Rina. If you have stayed here, you would have been considered an old maid already," the voice in the phone admonished.

"Mama," Rina said, suddenly thinking of her genetic mother, and realized how much this woman in the phone had been closer to a real mother than her genetic mother ever was, "In case you don't remember, mama, I'm not exactly what they're looking for."

"What are you babbling about? Many people are looking for you. That Duffort boy, he's been coming around here asking if you're back since the day you left. The Schlechers been asking about you since before you left. And the de Barry-"

"OK, stop. They can ask all they want, but mama, I've resolved to become a man."

"Such a waste. I groomed you for the past twenty years and look at what you're doing to me!"

"I never asked to be raised as a girl!" Rina raised her voice.

"That was for your own protection!"

"How was that called protecting?!" Rina yelled into the phone.

Silence. Neither spoke a word for the next few minutes.

"Are you okay with not saying anything, mama? I'm sure long-distance calls are very pricey."

"I was waiting for you to calm down, dear daughter," the voice replied.

"Whatever you say, I'm not going back."

"Think of your sisters, and your brother in university. I can set you up with a good husband, and if it's for the good of the vineyard, I can arrange for you to inherit the land and the business as well," the voice on the other end pleaded.

"You want me to be at the mercy of my future husband? To stay behind in the house, quilting, knitting and doing whatever the lady of the house do around there? You want me to be you?" Rina fumed.

"Now that hurts, dear daughter. What's wrong with being me? It's not like you can live for long with the insurance payout. Your bank is surely becoming empty by now, I believe?"

"NE REGARDEZ PAS VERS LE BAS SUR NOUS! It may not be much, but that's what our parents left us! Don't you dare make fun of their effort, mama!"

"No, I'm just saying-"

"Have a nice day, mama!" Rina said right before she smashed the handle onto the phone holder.

"Careful with that," Mira said, "We're out of warranty for that one."

*Sorry for being away for so long. My laptop is under repair again , huuuuu :( I really need a tablet.
*As always, comments and feedbacks are very appreciated.