The mystery biker holds out a hand containing a long, thin box wrapped in matte black paper, tied with a deep red bow, and passes it to me. I instinctively put my hand up to take it then pull away quickly.
“Um, how do—” I stutter. The person pushes the box at me, and when I gingerly take it, they stride out of the glass doors, and kick off on a big, black bike that moves as fast as I can blink. I’m speechless. I don’t really know what happened there, and I have no idea why I’m so edgy.
“Well?” Layla prompts, making me blink and come back to reality.
“Aren’t ya going to open it and see?” Jo asks, bumping my shoulder.
“What could it be?” Layla muses excitedly, bouncing on the balls of her feet.
“I think it’s jewelry.”
“Yes! Yes, it could be a sparkling diamond necklace, and matching earrings, and a bracelet.”
Their enthusiasm for what’s in the long, thin, beautifully wrapped box makes me a little excited, and I look at both of them with a perplexed smile before running my eyes down the length of it. There’s only one person it could be from. Only one person knows I started my new job today, and one person who knows exactly where I’d be. Denham.
I place the box on the countertop in front of me and pull the ends of the perfectly tied bow until it falls apart. I peel back the wrapping and wiggle the lid off.
A rose.
Nestled amongst black satin lining is a red, red rose.
It’s beautiful. Perfect.
There’s no note. I don’t need one.
He makes my heart race. Always thinking about me.
“Aww, I’m so jealous. My man never sends me things like that. Actually, he never sends me anything,” Jo whines.
“Well, at least you have a man, I don’t even have a guy to send me things,” Layla responds by crossing her arms and huffing.
“Babe, you’ll find a guy, there’s someone out there for everyone.”
“Everyone,” she repeats. “Yeah, I suppose.”
Their conversation continues, with the oohs and aahs, with the finishing of each other’s sentences, and as nice as they are, I can’t stand here and listen any longer.
I take my rose, and go back to my office, leaving the girls twittering between themselves.
The last two hours of the day pass quickly, and although I feel fine, my brain is exhausted. My eyes continually drift to thebeautiful red flower sitting in the box on my desk, and I’m still in awe of how thoughtful Denham can be.
“Time to go home, Arianna.”
“Oh. Wow. Is that the time?”
Beth nods and thrusts my purse into my hand. “Have a large glass of wine and make that man of yours rub your ankles and kiss your feet.”
I laugh. “Thanks, Beth. And thanks for today. I’ve loved every minute of it.”
“Oh, Arianna. Don’t thank me just yet. I went easy on you today. Wait until next week, you’ll be begging me to let you go home early.”
I highly doubt that, but I know Beth would like to keep up her tough persona so I humor her. “Yes, boss.”
“So, I’ll see you nine am sharp tomorrow?”
Beth sits back at her desk, practically dismissing me and flicking through more paperwork.
“Try and stop me,” I answer.
