“I mean, yes. Good. Morning. Fine. Everything’s fine.”
He studies me for a second longer than should be legal. Then steps aside so I can pass.
I do. Very quickly. Like he’s made of fire and I’m wearing gasoline.
I make it maybe ten feet before I stop and press my back to the wall.
Breathe. Do not spontaneously combust. Do not turn around and drag him into a supply closet and do extremely naughty things to him.
I whisper, “We are normal. We are chill. We are beige.”
Someone snorts.
I look up.
Dex. Holding a protein shake and grinning like he just unlocked a new form of entertainment.
“Ohhh no,” he says. “That is the face of someone who did something fun and is now terrified of feelings.”
“I am fine,” I insist.
He shakes his head. “That’s what people say right before they panic adopt a cat and cut bangs.”
“Go away.”
He sips his drink. “Can’t. I was sent to get you.”
“By who?”
“Colby.” Dex shrugs. “Apparently something ‘dramatic and floral’ arrived at reception and you need to see it before someone streams it.”
My stomach drops. No. Nope. The universe would not be that cruel...
Spoiler: The universe is that cruel.
I walk into the lobby and stop dead.
Because there it is. On a marble pedestal. Right in front of the elevator bank.
A floral arrangement the size of a mid-sized SUV.
Roses. Peonies. Lilies. Baby’s breath. Twinkle lights. A string quartet could absolutely live inside it.
“Oh my god,” I whisper. “It looks like the finale of The Bachelor.”
Dex walks around it. “Nah. This looks like someone proposed and got rejected so badly he panic ordered a whole botanical garden.”
There’s a card. Of course there is. A fancy one. Wax seal. Calligraphy. Probably scented.
Before I can grab it, Colby appears out of nowhere, snatches the card like he’s intercepting a grenade, clears his throat dramatically, and reads in his best overly romantic poet voice:
“Annabelle,Some loves don’t end… they just pause.”
Dex clutches his chest. “Bruh.”
Colby continues because he is committed to the bit:
“You and I are a song unfinished.But I’ve written the ending.And I want you to hear it.”
