They were both looking at me sharply as though I would know what to say. As though I had been expecting flowers from my boss, who very likely had his assistant Lana order them for every teller he hadn’t yet gotten his hands on.
Nick handed me the flowers after picking out the note.
“Hey!” I shouted trying to reach for it. Nick was 6’5. I wasn’t going to win.
“Dear Aria,” he read out loud in a dramatic voice, his right arm over his chest. “I hope you enjoy the roses. One rose for each day until I change your mind.”
Nick gasped as Stacey counted: “Thirty roses!”
I felt myself get hot in the face with embarrassment, but a tiny bit of me fluttered in excitement. What the hell was wrong with me?
“There’s a P.S.” Nick announced. “P.S. I picked out the roses myself, so don’t bother thanking Lana tomorrow.”
“Have they developed technology to intercept brain-waves yet?” I looked at Stacey.
“No Aria, he can’t read your mind.” She flashed a huge grin. “You have a lover!”
“What?” I said louder than perhaps necessary. “I do not have a lover. Zayden – Mr.Sinclair – is not my lover.”
“Looks like he will be in about,” Nick surveyed the roses, “thirty days.”
I sighed. “No he won’t. I’ll return the roses.”
“No you won’t!” Stacey yelled, looking like I had just said I would amputate her imaginary puppy. “He’s a multi-squillionaire. And so handsome. So, so handsome. Are you stupid?”
“That’s not the point-” I stopped myself mid-sentence and gave her a suspicious look. “How do you know he’s handsome?”
“What?” she said defensively. “I read ZEN Magazine.”
Oh right. That. I had a copy of the issue with Zayden’s interview under my bed.
“I found it under your bed,” Stacy added. “You’re already kind of sleeping with him.”
“Shut up, Stace! Let’s just eat the pizza, watch some T.V., and never speak of this again.”
“Sure, if by never you mean thirty days,” Nick butted in.
“Thanks for the unsolicited opinion, Nicholas,” I said turning up the volume on the T.V. and getting under a blanket.
They continued to offer what they thought were clever comments but I tuned them out, focusing instead on the giant bouquet of red roses. Was I in trouble? Would he manage to get what he wanted in thirty days? He couldn’t take what I didn’t want to give. I felt a strange pang in my chest. The problem was, I was not entirely sure I didn’t want to give in. My cellphone rang, breaking the dangerous train of thoughts.
“Hi mom! How are you feeling?” I answered the phone.
“Hi sweetheart. I am doing much better. The doctors said I’ll be running around by the end of the month.”
I smiled. “I am so happy to hear that, mom.”
“Don’t be, we still have to pay for the stupid surgery. If I hadn’t gotten the damn surgery-”
“If you hadn’t gotten the surgery I wouldn’t have a mother,” I cut her off. “So you just worry about getting yourself all better, and I’ll worry about the bills.”
“Like you don’t have enough expenses paying your way through college. I’m sorry for being such a lousy mother, baby.”
“Don’t say that!” Tears formed in my eyes, ready to break free. “Having to file for bankruptcy because dad bailed on you after forcing you to co-sign on his loan does not make you a lousy mother. It makes you a good person who faced terrible consequences for being one. You need to stop blaming yourself. You took care of me all my life, now let me take care of you. It’s going to be okay.”
“But-”
“No but. I’ll figure out a way to pay the hospital bills. You relax and get all pretty. It’s nine o’clock, John will be over with his daily tea service.”