Be Mine: Valentine Novellas to Warm The Heart

by Nicole Flockton

  "Your mobile number." Already Everett had his phone out, thumb at the ready. "Oh four..." he promoted.

  She rattled off her number before she could let her nerves get the better of her. He wanted her number! Why?

  In a moment, her phone beeped in her pocket. "There," he said, noticeably relaxed. "Now you have mine."

  Oddly, she liked the sound of that. She couldn't help but smile. "I'll see you."

  "I hope so."

  Amazing how heavy a ten-kilo box of candy hearts can get on the last block home from the bus. Ros's arms wanted to fall off and die, but her resolve refused to give up the box even for a moment.

  Everett had given her a whole box of candy hearts. Why did that thrill her?

  Only when she got to the porch, did she dare put them down. Her wrist complained so much she might not be able to pick up that box again.

  "I'm home," she called out, in case Soli was in.

  "In the office" Soli called back.

  Can you really call an art room an office? Ros found Soli on the floor surrounded by Prepaid Post Bags as she sorted out the day's shipping. She had a short list in one hand and a handful of beaded bracelets in the other. She looked like she was trying to marry the logic of one with the other.

  "I got something of interest on the porch you may want to see."

  Soli didn't look up. "Okay," she replied, absently. After staring at the list and the bracelets, then the list again, she shoved it into a Prepaid Bag and sealed it up. Only then did she turn her consciousness back to the real world. "You were saying?"

  "Come see what Everett gave me."

  Soli rose, the hem of her skirt tumbling more bracelets to the floor. "Who's Everett?"

  "Tyler's housemate."

  "You found the place?"

  Indeed, she had. "Tyler wasn't home, so I gave the box to Everett." She clamped her lips shut. Should she be saying his name? The thought of saying his name out loud made her feel...?

  "He give you something in return? I hope it was his number."

  How did she know? Ros turned suddenly, lest her rising blush give her away.

  What was happening? There was nothing shameful about meeting someone new, unless...

  Ros strode out of the office and to the porch.

  The box was still sealed; she didn't dare open it on the bus. It wouldn't do to tear it open. Ros headed back into the house, pushing past Soli, to fetch a knife.

  When she returned, Soli had crouched down to study the box. "He gave you ten kilos of candy hearts?"

  Ros rubbed the back of her neck. Her wrists still protested. Now her back was starting to complain too. Couldn't everyone just shut up and let her enjoy the fact that some guy gave her a box of candy hearts? "I told him I liked candy hearts."

  "I'll say."

  More for something to do, Ros slid the knife into the tape and slit open the box.

  Inside, in four separate plastic bags, were more candy hearts than she'd ever seen in her life. Even when her grandparents had gone overboard (mostly likely because hearts were on special), she'd never seen so many hearts.

  Soli selected an orange one. Ros would never have chosen an orange one. Experience taught her they were the worst, to be ignored and shunned until one was feeling pretty desperate around Easter for something other than chocolate. Even then, it was more because she wanted the memories, rather than the actual sweet rush.

  Having popped it in her mouth, Soli worked the candy heart around. "Na'bad," she said around dissolving sugar. "Na'good, but na'bad."

  A purple one for Ros. To her surprise, it even tasted like grape. What would Everett taste like?

  That startled her. She shook that thought out of her head.

  Soli was watching her. "That bad, huh?" This time, she chose a pink one. "Can't go wrong with pink." It went the way of the orange one. After a thoughtful moment of sucking, she rendered her judgement. "Better. So, tell me about Everett."

  Everett? That was sudden.

  The whole of her experience flashed before Ros's eyes, from when she first saw his sweaty form bent over that Trident Workbench, ever-so-focused on his precise cut, to the beads of condensation running down his cold drinking glass, as he pressed it to his forehead, and the hot-hot touch of his skin under her fingers.

  Ros burst out into tears.

  This sudden swing of emotion startled Soli so much, she rolled back onto the porch. She recovered her feet but kept her distance.

  "Ros?" She asked cautiously, "What happened?"

  Ros wiped at her eyes with her bare hand. "I don't know! He was so nice." And so fine. She honestly couldn't recall any man that looked as good as he did.

  "And then...?" Soli had taken a step closer, hand outreached, but not yet daring to touch her housemate.

  "And then he gave me a whole box of hearts." She clomped over to the edge of the porch and sat down, shoulders heaving. Heaven forbid anyone should see her like this. Why was she crying?

  Soli hadn't moved. "Did anything else happen?" Her voice was gentle and cautious.

  Ros shook her head. Nothing had happened. Nothing. She'd shown up, she handed over the box, he invited her in for a cool drink, then gave her a box of hearts, and she left. "He gave me his number." She sobbed again.

  "But nothing else happened?" Soli prompted, still cautious.

  Ros shook her head. She pressed her hands tightly between her knees. Why did it feel like something should have? "He was just so sweet. I don't know."

  Soli fell to the porch, rather than sat down, the boards rattling under her sudden descent. "So, nothing happened, and you're bawling your eyes out?"

  Ros nodded.

  "Over a guy you just met?"

  Yep.

  It didn't make any sense.

  "Was it anything he did?"

  She shook her head. He'd been ever-so-nice. And she'd said stupid stuff.

  "This is stupid." She wiped at her eyes again, using the hem of her shirt. That reminded her when Everett had done the same thing, only it was the glistening sweat of his brow. Her insides turned to liquid.

  Ros slumped back until she laid on the porch, legs over the edge, staring up at the roof. Red tiles rested on old wooden beams, festooned with spider webs. "I feel sick."

  "Too many hearts?"

  She only shook her head.

  Soli sat back. She selected another heart from the box, popped it in her mouth. She chose one for Ros, held it over her face, and Ros took it, no hesitation. She slipped it onto her tongue, and this gave her something to focus on.

  Her housemate observed her for a few moments. "Ros, I think you're in love."

  Ros's gaze slid sideways to Soli. "This is love? I don't like it."

  "You get used to it."

  Ros sniffed. "No wonder Tyler's having a hard time." She sat up. "Did Livvie love him?"

  At this, Soli tilted her head. "Maybe. Not the same way he loved her. He reminded me of a puppy."

  "What? He wet himself, he was so eager?"

  "I think he did, a couple of times."

  Ros leaned back. "I'm gonna have to meet this Tyler."

  Soli lifted a shoulder before she helped herself to more hearts. "I'm going to have to meet this Everett."

  Ros's stomach clenched. Oh, no you're not!

  She startled at her own thought. Where'd that come from? Was Soli right? Had she fallen in love with Everett?

  It couldn't be love. She barely knew him. Didn't even know his last name. They'd shared cool drinks and a bit of a chat, and he gave her ten kilos of candy hearts, and that's it.

  That's it.

  "So," Soli prompted. "Tell me about him. Is he cute?"

  "I saw him first." The words popped out of her mouth before her brain could stop them.

  But Soli gave her a genuine smile. "Aww, our baby is growing up!" She gave Ros an enthusiastic hug. "If you're finally showing interest in a guy, there is hope for you yet." She held up her hands in surrender. "I promise I won't make a play for him until you
tell me it's over."

  Until what's over? "I only met him today."

  "Haven't you heard of 'love at first sight'?"

  Heard, yes. Experienced?

  When she was in high school, she recalled many a fellow student going "boy crazy". It wasn't quite as bad as a cat going into heat, but they went all giggly and moony, as if they'd left their common sense at home. Ros didn't feel giggly or moony. "I don't know if it's love." Didn't even feel like lust. Wasn't lust supposed to be like a craving? Or maybe hunger. An itch? This was more like a niggly feeling, like when she knew there was something she was supposed to remember but couldn't recall.

  What did she love? Chocolate? Pizza? They were all right, but she didn't go nutso over them. Morning cuppa? Nah. Not really her thing either. Soli had a thing for herbal teas of various kinds, but it could only be laced with honey, no milk. She loved her dad's homemade macaroni and cheese, with its bacon and corn and sauce so thick you could stand a spoon in it.

  Her dad loved her mum, but they'd been married for decades. Theirs was a sort of comfy love, like wrapping in your favourite blanket and curling up on the couch. It was gentle and comforting.

  These feelings were neither.

  But neither were they nerves. Goodness knows she'd had enough stage fright in her life to know when her stomach was doing flip-flops, threatening to throw up its occupants of butterflies and/or lunch.

  So, what did she love?

  Candy hearts. She loved candy hearts. She loved the thought of February, and how it was too short a month to really enjoy. While her grandparents still sent her American goodies throughout the year, it was the candy hearts she loved best. Maybe it was the family legend, the association of the little lollies with her family traditions of love. Maybe it was the colours, or the not-quite-natural flavours. The little sayings on them like "Be Mine" or "True Love" felt real, but only when printed on a candy heart. Should anyone say such things out loud, it would sound ridiculous.

  Ros remembered the pilfered candy heart in her pocket. She pulled it out. These candy hearts were different. Unlike the American ones that were printed with edible ink, the words on these Australian ones were pressed in, as if stamped with a die. Three-dimensional letters. "Be My Grl" this one said, the letters almost falling off the edge of the heart. She scooped up a few more from the box. "Are these Asian? I've never seen them before locally."

  "Dunno," Soli replied. She'd given up eating the hearts and was aligning them, reading each message before sorting it into whatever pile made sense to her logic. "They're in English. Why?"

  "No reason. Oh, I think Everett's Korean. Do they celebrate Valentine's Day?"

  Soli dredged her memory for randomosity. "I think they do, only it's the women giving men gifts, and only chocolate. No candy hearts at all."

  "Oh. Okay."

  Soli tapped a finger on her lips as she regarded a handful of candy hearts. "I got an idea."

  Ros merely raised an eyebrow.

  "Send him an innocent text. Say, 'I and most of the candy hearts made it home safely. RIP a few casualties.' Throw in a wink if you want. He'll think it's funny."

  Ros didn't pull out her phone. "Why would he think it's funny?"

  "Because I think it's funny."

  She looked to the box. "I didn't even open it until we got home."

  "But they haven't made it inside yet. That's hilarious."

  Ros sighed. It had been a heavy box. Everett had been nice, and maybe it would be a good courtesy to let him know she'd arrived home without incident. She pulled out her phone and replied to his initial text. She typed out Soli's suggestion. "But I'm not putting in a wink." Waitaminnut... "Is this flirting?"

  Soli didn't look at her, so intent was she on digging through the box. "Not yet. Especially if you're not going to put a wink on it." She sighed and abandoned her excavation. "Honestly, we've got to get you flirting more. You can flirt on the next text if he replies favourably. Right now, you're just letting him know you're okay. After all, it was thoughtful of him to give you a whole box."

  Good point. Ros sent the text unembellished and put her phone away. She didn't expect to hear back, and that was okay.

  At least, that's what she told herself.

  "Want to help me carry the box inside?"

  Soli inspected it on all sides. "I suppose I'll have to. I doubt we'd be able to eat them all out here in one sitting."

  3

  The next morning as she was eating breakfast, Ros's phone got a text message. Soli, who had walked back into the kitchen at the same time, perked up. "That from him?"

  Ros, focused on her cereal, hadn't even checked her phone. "Dunno."

  Soli added the sugar she'd forgotten to her coffee. "If it is, I'm disappointed."

  That made no sense. "First you want me to flirt with him, then you don't want him to text back?"

  Soli took a sip of her magical morning brew, now that it wasn't muttering nastily at her. "I was expecting him to respond yesterday." Her eyes were peeking over the rim of her mug. "Weren't you?"

  Was she? She'd spent a good portion of the night thinking about him, how he moved, the glistening of sweat in his hair, how solid his arm felt when she'd touched it, how well he filled out those jeans.

  "I suppose I was. After all, I don't know him very well." Her cheeks grew warm. He'd given her his number, for crying out loud! "I think he likes me."

  "Sure," Soli said into her mug. "You're quite likeable."

  Ros stirred around the remains of her cereal.

  "You know you're supposed to read his text." Soli was like a dog with a bone.

  Ros ignored her in favour of breakfast, downing the rest of the milk in one go. Sure, she was going to read his text. Just not when Soli was around. She slammed the empty bowl down and bounded off her seat. "Gotta go to work!" she announced as she flew through the door.

  Lessee: purse, work badge, housekeys, out the door. Already she'd tucked a plastic bag stuffed full of hearts in her pocket. She hoped it would be enough for the day.

  It wasn't until she'd reached the pavement that she realised she'd forgotten her shoes.

  Soli had been right. It had been Everett who'd texted her that morning. It was a simple laughing face. No message, just that.

  Her heart thrilled. Normally she would have been annoyed had someone only sent her a single emoji, but this was Everett sending her a single emoji, and a pleasant one at that.

  Essentially, he'd laughed at her joke; Soli had been right. Maybe Soli was right about several things. Maybe she should have flirted that first time.

  Without a second thought, Ros texted Everett a winky emoji. She sent it off without letting a second thought dissuade her.

  Only once it was gone, did she question her choice.

  But it wasn't dread in her stomach. Nerves, yes, but not dread. Not quite anticipation, but rather the giddy nervousness of an unsupervised child doing something they probably shouldn't do, like jump on the bed or eat the whole packet of chocolate biscuits.

  Soli would be proud of her. Not that Soli was ever going to find out.

  Not that Soli needed to know such things to stir Ros. As soon as Ros's purse and shoe bag hit the entry floor that afternoon, Soli came out of her office with an idea.

  "Have you told your family about the candy hearts?"

  "No." The thought had never crossed her mind. Oh, maybe she'd mention it eventually, when sufficient time had passed to make this story more nostalgic anecdote instead of recent ongoing news. But otherwise, why would it interest them? Besides, it had been a hot day in late November, and the only thing that was on Ros's mind was to get out of her stuffy polyester business clothes. Then, a cool drink.

  And maybe some more candy hearts. She'd left the bag at work, hoping to nibble on them for the next day or so. It pleased her to know they waited for her in the desk drawer, their silent little affirmations just for her.

  Her phone beeped; a message had arrived.

  Soli folded her arms
. "It's another message from him, isn't it?"

  "No," Ros returned, without looking at her phone. Really, she had to get out of those clothes. Soli was dressed in another patterned maxi dress, the tell-tale dirt stains announcing she'd done more garden work. At least she looked comfortable.

  She did not give her housemate the satisfaction of confirming her denial but went to change. Cotton Bali pants and a singlet. Ros stretched and let the cooler air of the house touch her skin. Much better.

  In privacy, Ros opened the message. It was an MMS, which needed to download. Ros had had her data off all day, as it did her no good while at work, and hadn't bothered to turn it back on until now.

  Normally she didn't think of her personal phone when she was at work, except for today. She'd had it on stealth mode. It wouldn't beep or ring but would vibrate in the desk drawer.

  Indeed, she'd had half-an-ear out listing for that buzz-buzz of a reply. Why had she sent him a wink emoji? She'd fretted about that all day, worried that he'd not seen it, or he'd had, and didn't reply.

  Until now.

  The message was his.

  Data on, download.

  To her surprise, it was a picture of a young Asian woman giving her a double thumbs up. Not what one would have expected. An accompanied text message said, 'My sister approves.'

  Still staring at the screen, wondering what it all meant, Ros wandered out of her bedroom. She was halfway down the hallway when Soli's voice startled her.

  "Well? Spill."

  All Ros could do was lift the phone and show her the picture.

  Soli wrapped her hand about Ros's, to hold the phone steady. She studied it a good long while, her lips moving. Eventually, she nodded her approval, releasing her hand.

  Then she turned and walked into the office without another word.

  That was... bemusing.

  Ros looked at it again as she went into the kitchen. Ice cold lemon cordial was what she needed. A bit of mint, and maybe a dash of rum.

  The young woman, Everett's sister, seemed happy enough. Why? Was it because she'd gotten rid of yet more candy hearts, or something else?

  Soli burst into the kitchen with a pale doona over her arm. "Remember how I said I had an idea? I think your family would get a big kick with a picture of you surrounded by kilos of candy hearts."