Hazrin, born Azrina, was born a boy and 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 cause 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 3 By Shinieris

"When I grow up, I'm going to be your bride," the seven year old girl said to the older boy.

The boy smiled, "Then I will give you the best life you can possibly wish for, or I am not worthy of marrying you."

"Really?" the girl giggled, "You promise?"

The boy raised his right hand, with the other placed close to his heart, "I swear on my father's memory, I will regain my family's fortune and you will never want for another husband. But how about you?"

"What about me?" the girl smiled innocently.

"Will you wait for me, until the time when I can fulfill my promise, my dear Sophiana?"

"Hehe, of course. I will wait for you forever," the girl then kissed the boy's temple, and with a wave, ran home for dinner.

That was the last time they met each other. Two days later, the boy and his mother left the vineyards. For the harvest season is over, and there was not much work left for casual labourers to make ends meet.

"When I grow up, I'm going to be your bride," the seven year old girl said to the older boy.

The boy smiled, "Then I will give you the best life you can possibly wish for, or I am not worthy of marrying you."

"Really?" the girl giggled, "You promise?"

The boy raised his right hand, with the other placed close to his heart, "I swear on my father's memory, I will regain my family's fortune and you will never want for another husband. But how about you?"

"What about me?" the girl smiled innocently.

"Will you wait for me, until the time when I can fulfill my promise, my dear Sophiana?"

"Hehe, of course. I will wait for you forever," the girl then kissed the boy's temple, and with a wave, ran home for dinner.

That was the last time they met each other. Two days later, the boy and his mother left the vineyards. For the harvest season is over, and there was not much work left for casual labourers to make ends meet.

------

"Miss," one of the customers called.

"I'll be there in a minute," Hazrin said to the businessman.

"So one arabica coffee, one ice blended cappucino, one blueberry cheesecake and one soup of the day. Would you like anything else, sir and ma'am?" Hazrin said to the two customers he was currently attending.

"No, that will be all, thank you," the man said as he pushed both menus to their waiter.

Hazrin accepted the menus gratefully, "Your order will arrive shortly, sir." Then he turned to the serving counter and clipped the customer's orders before going back to the other table.

"Good afternoon, gentlemen," Hazrin handed the menu to the three businessmen at the table, "How can I assist you today?"

The man who called for Hazrin just now, whom Hazrin assumed to be the lead asked, "What would you suggest I choose?"

Hazrin pondered for a few seconds, then he said, "For starters, we have a wide variety of coffee for you to choose from. The mildest ranging from local Highlands Coffee to the strongest, Sumatran Cofee. And of course, we have many different kinds of cakes, which you can see from here," Hazrin gestured to the cake's display beside him, "Or you can try our special soup of the day, which is excellent chicken soup by the way. I've tried it myself," Hazrin said with a wink.

The man flipped the menu without actually looking at it. "Any combo you would suggest?"

"We have only three combos for lunch, sir. The first is the 'Soup of the Day Combo', which consists of the soup of the day, a cup of coffee or tea of your choice, lunch salad and potato wedges in cheese. The second combo is the 'Midday Cake Combo' which consists of a cup of coffee or tea of your choice and a slice of cake of your choice. Another one is the Lunch Break Combo, which gives you a cup of coffee or tea of your choice, lunch salad and a choice of one of seven western dishes we have today, sir.

As the other two businessmen made their choices and handed Hazrin their menus, the first man lazily flipped through the menu, his eyes on Hazrin's face and said, "Any of those choices include being spoonfed by you, miss?"

Without realizing it, Hazrin made a very girlish giggle and a wide, embarrassed smile. With great difficulty he supressed his giggling and said, "I'm sorry, sir," he giggles, "But our cafe doesn't allow employees to have unhealthy mingling with customers."

"Oh, that's too bad," the man gave Hazrin his most winning smile, "Then I shall have the Lunch Break Combo, with a sumatran coffee and chicken chop," he handed his menu to Hazrin, who had moved to stand next to him, "And your phone number, please."

Hazrin smiled widely and giggled continuously as he clipped their orders at the serving counter and proceeded to the staffroom to attempt to stop giggling and to try bringing down the red in his face.

Right after Hazrin disappeared into the staffroom, one of the men said to the first man, "Aiman, I know you're a playboy, but come on, that's approaching gay, dude."

"What gay, Hafiz?" the man asked.

"Dude, did you not realize you have just flirted with a guy?" the man clarified.

"What are you talking about? Seriously, me, flirting with a guy? Hafiz, you know my reputation. Have I ever been gay?" Aiman said.

Hafiz frowned. "Dude, were you blind? His nametag said Hazrin!"

"So she borrowed her vest from a guy, big deal. Listen, Hafiz," Aiman put his hand on the guy's shoulder, "I have had many experiences with women. I know how their bodies looked like. Now that, just now, had the body of a woman or at least a barely legal girl with B cup breasts."

"How the heck can you see that?" Hafiz asked with his mouth wide open.

"I have an x-ray vision."

"You know," the other guy butted in, "I actually do agree with Aiman. Although short-haired women aren't my preference, that was definitely a woman. If you can't tell from the face, you can confirm it with the voice."

Hafiz raised both hands in surrender. "All right, whatever! I'm here to eat! Get off my case!"

------

"S. Karanathan, Private Investigator speaking," said the voice on the phone.

"Hey Nathan, it's me, Iskandar here, how's business?"

"Aiyoo, you know this business, sometimes you're rich, most of the time you're broke. But how are you old friend?"

"Doing fine, but listen. I have a job for you. Where can we meet?"

"How about that usual place? Towkey?"

"No, that place is not safe at the moment, Nathan. An annoying little bird is using that place as an insurance."

"Want me to investigate this little bird, Iskandar?"

"No no, that bird just wants to watch for now. She's not a problem. I need you to investigate something else, old friend."

"Okay then, meet me at the mamak restaurant below my office."

"Sure, 2 o' clock?"

"2 o' clock would be great."

"See you there then," Iskandar pressed the 'disengage' button on his handsfree as he tried to add a few more elements to his spreadsheet. Then he laid back on his large executive chair and muttered, "Uncle's daughter, huh?"

------

"Hazrin," the large chinese bartender called to his newest employee.

"Yes, boss?" Hazrin turned around.

"Come," the bartender said as he gestured to the tall chair on the other side of the bar, "And have a seat."

Hazrin approached with apprehension as he wondered why he was called. He then put his notepad on the bar and sat with his hands on his lap.

"Don't worry, it's a lull time. Can I get you anything?" the bartender asked with his back turned.

"Umm, no thank you, Mr. Wong," he said to the bartender.

"I've told you to call me Eric, remember? Here, I don't know what your religious beliefs are, but I think a melon juice would be a safe choice," the bartender said as he pushed forward a glass of cool watermelon juice.

Hazrin took it gratefully. He took a sip through the straw and felt the cool water refreshed him. "I'm sorry, Mr - Eric, I'm just not used to it yet." Hazrin said.

"It's been a week since you started working here. How are you holding up?" the bartender asked as he grabbed a cup of coffee he made earlier and took a sip.

"I'm fine. It's kind of hard, but I'll manage," Hazrin said to his watermelon juice.

"How about your half-siblings? How are they holding up?"

"Mira and Nini are both strong girls.They don't show it, but I know they cried at night. I told them that it's OK to talk to me, but they must have been trying to deal with it in their own way," Hazrin said as he felt a tear starting to form in his eyes.

"What about Fahmi? How's he holding up?"

Hazrin made a sad laugh. "Fahmi... I think he hates me. Before he left for Germany, he told me that he'd rather prefer that I don't exist." Tears flowed from Hazrin's eyes.

The bartender quickly pulled out a sheet of tissue paper and offered it to Hazrin, who graciously took it.

"But why..." Hazrin sobbed, "We don't even know each other well. Why would he hate me so?"

The bartender patted Hazrin's head and said, "Siblings always quarrel, always argued. Doesn't mean they meant what they say. True, it's possible that he felt some resentment towards you. After all, he spent the past 18 years thinking that he was the oldest of your mom's children, then suddenly his older sister came-"

"Boss!" Hazrin said through sobs.

"Oops, sorry. Slip of the tongue," then he lowered his voice to a whisper, "But seriously, Azrina, why are you doing this? With your beauty and your education, you can get a much better job, with better pay than I can offer you."

"I have my own reasons... Eric," Hazrin got up, "Thank you for the drink, I'll go freshen up."

"No, you sit down," the bartender said sternly, "You finish the juice first, then you can go."

Despite feeling like he'd rather be anywhere but there, Hazrin quietly sat back onto the tall chair and tried to drain the cold fruit juice quickly. That earned him a dose of brainfreeze.

*As always, your comments and feedbacks are very appreciated. Compliments make me write faster and constructive criticisms helps me improve. Speculations are also welcomed.