Twisted Truths & Leveled Lies

by Lessner, S. K.

  “So who’d he buy flowers for then?” She braved the question since we were finally smiling and laughing.

  “Who knows? Some woman though.” I said woman as if it were an alien species.

  “Oh my God. What a jerk!” Her eyes were huge and the look of complete surprise washed over her entirely. “And he came here for them? Wow, Mel, I’m so sorry.”

  “It’s not your fault, Joan. Trust me. You know how hard I am on judging men. He even fooled me that night. It’s no big deal. Besides, we all got to drool over him that night.”

  We both began making funny jokes about all of our ogling and lustful thoughts, laughing harder as we continued to make light of the situation. As much as I would’ve liked to use this incident as an example of why she shouldn’t keep setting me up with men, I knew she felt awful already and decided to save that for future prospects.

  Two hours later we decided to call it quits. With business being so busy, both of us had driven to work during the past two weeks. Walking was out of the question after such long days. People just don’t realize how hard it is to come in at five in the morning, run around filling orders, work with customers, rush to vendors across town to get supplies we run out of, deal with the nonstop orders or problems that arise, and return home late at night. I admit Joan has two little kids at home and I know she has it even harder, but she has Paul to help her. During these busy times of year he always takes some vacation days or comes home early when he can to help out. Other days, I try to get her to leave early and let me finish up. But on days like this, that isn’t an option.

  After locking up, we walked out to our cars and gave each other a quick hug.

  “Goodnight Mel. Love ya…” She slowly pulled away from me, the guilt about Miguel written all over her face.

  That little part inside me wanted to indulge in that, but truthfully she wouldn’t have ever allowed Paul to invite him if she had known he was such a jerk.

  “‘Nite, Joan. Don’t worry about Mr. Heartbreakingly Handsome either. It was still fun.” I reached over, ruffling up her hair like I’ve done since she was a little kid.

  “Ugh, stop. You’re gonna mess up my elegant ponytail here.”

  “Yeah, I especially like what the beautician did with the natural look.”

  “Huh?”

  “You know, all those leaves and stems placed strategically throughout your hair.” I said jokingly as I plucked a rose petal from her hair. “It’s to die for.”

  “You weirdo!” She laughed and went to her car. “See ya tomorrow.”

  “Okay, kiss the kids for me! Bye.

  CHAPTER 3

  As expected, the following day was beyond hectic. It was borderline insane. There were 3 mix ups with deliveries, countless last minute orders coming in, and quite a few arrangements that still needed final touches added to them. It had been a mad house all morning and we had only begun a few hours ago. With employees scrambling to get everything done and out the door on time, I barely had time to listen to one of the drivers when he came to me with another problem. My mind drew a blank. I didn’t know what to do. There was a problem with the delivery address for an order. The form wasn’t completely filled out and the signature at the bottom wasn’t legible. Instead of filling out the recipient’s name and address, the purchaser simply wrote the florist’s address below it.

  Did I take an order yesterday and forget what to do with it? I’d barely slept all week so remembering things from previous days was virtually impossible sometimes.

  “Um, Mel?” John, the driver, cleared his throat and looked at me impatiently. He was behind schedule and this was only making it worse.

  “Just leave this one behind, John; I’ll take care of it.”

  Shaking my head in confusion, I took the arrangement from him and sat it next to the almost empty form. As I looked closer at the flowers, I realized it was the same arrangement that I had made last night for Miguel. I turned the flowers around and noticed a small card tucked inside the middle of the bouquet. It had my name written on it. How did he get that in there when I took the arrangement to the cooler before he left? Unable to figure the puzzle out, I assumed it was another thank you for my help, another way for him to twist the knife a little further.

  I thought about throwing the card in the trash without reading it, but remembering that we had to figure out the delivery address, I knew it had to be opened. Taking a big breath and mentally making sure I had my big girl panties on, I lifted the sealed envelope and pulled the card out. His penmanship was beautiful. Long strident strokes that reminded me of the hands that wrote it. Hands I’d dreamt of touching me a hundred different ways. Ugh! Stop it already! Puffing out an irritated breath of air, I began to read the message.

  I was speechless. I stood there, staring at the flowers, unable to comprehend any of it. I reread the card three more times and still couldn’t move a muscle. Everyone was rushing around the shop getting other orders ready and flying past me asking questions, but I remained motionless. I didn’t notice Joan had come near me until she clapped her hands in my face to get my attention.

  “Hey, snap out of it! What’s wrong?”

  “Joan, it’s his flowers.”

  “Whose flowers? What do you mean?”

  She was getting frustrated with me, but I wasn’t sure what to say.

  “Miguel. Miguel’s flowers. Me, Joan.”

  I wasn’t getting anywhere verbally. Forcing myself to hand her the card, she gave me an even more confused look, but took the card and opened it, reading it softly out loud.

  Dearest Mel,

  I hope you enjoy the flowers. I don’t know what

  you like or even what your favorite color is, but

  I would love to find out. For now, I knew if you

  prepared them, then they would be perfect.

  Miguel

  On the opposite side of the card he added:

  Would you please join me for dinner tonight?

  “Wow.” Joan was almost as speechless as I was. Of course, only momentarily though. “Oh my God, Mel. He is soooo not a jerk! You have to go!” She started bouncing up and down. “I’ll finish up here. I can even have Paul bring the kids and they can all hang out with me.” Taking a break from her bouncing, she looked at the card again, reading it silently this time. “Wow. I can’t believe it.” She said softly before looking back at me.

  Wow was right. I never saw this one coming. Part of me felt quite guilty for thinking such awful things of him. But the other part was way too happy to worry about it.

  “Okay, are you sure though, Joan? I know you’re just as tired as I am.” I already knew the answer, but I didn’t want to take advantage of her.

  “Don’t be stupid! Would you really consider not going?”

  “Well, no. I just don’t want to leave you with all the work.”

  “Oh, don’t worry, next week you can give me a day or two off to make up for it.” She knew I would too, so it all seemed perfect.

  “Wait. How do I tell him? He didn’t say when he’d pick me up or give me his number to call him. Does Paul have his number?”

  She looked down at her watch and scrunched her eyebrows together. “Paul’s in a meeting for the next two hours.”

  We both stood there for a moment thinking, staring at each other silently, while the chaos around us continued.

  “Hmm, is this his order form?” She asked as she grabbed the form from the table it was resting on. “Maybe his number’s on there.”

  Flipping it over, a huge smile spread across her face as she held it up in front of me. Sure enough, on the back of the order form was his phone number. Why didn’t I see that earlier? Grabbing the paper from her, I shook my head, but couldn’t resist smiling as well. Glancing at the clock, I saw that it was already ten in the morning so I knew I had to call soon since he asked about dinner for tonight. But first, I needed to get the shop under control and make sure that everything was running smoothly. Otherwise, I’d never be abl
e to concentrate on a phone call. It was the equivalent of being in a room with ten screeching toddlers who had paint brushes in hand, Legos and matchbox cars strewn across the room, and tons of breakable vases as well. At least, that’s how it felt at the moment.

  An hour later, Joan and I finished preparing the orders for delivery and I excused myself to the office to make the call. I think I was more nervous making this phone call then I was when I first met him.

  I grabbed the phone, took out the phone number and then sat the phone back down again. I did this two more times. And I thought giggling in the kitchen was teen like?

  Okay, on the count of three. One, two, three…

  I grabbed the phone, dialed the number as fast as I could, and immediately heard it ringing. My heart was beating frantically again. I was pretty sure they could arrange an entire symphony around the fast staccato thumping in my chest. After four rings, I was certain that the voicemail would answer, when I heard a click, followed by the deep masculine voice that brought me to my knees so easily.

  “Hello, this is Miguel Sandviel speaking.”

  “Hi, Miguel, this is Maelianna.”

  Pause.

  “Maelianna?” he asked apprehensively.

  It took me a few seconds to comprehend his confusion before I realized that I had used my full name.

  “I’m sorry. It’s Mel.”

  “Maelianna,” he said slowly, testing the name with his tongue. “I love your name.”

  I could hear the smile in his voice, but I was extremely grateful he couldn’t see my flaming cheeks or feel how sweaty my palms were at this point.

  “Thank you. Oh, and thank you for the flowers. Of course they’re beautiful.”

  For this I was rewarded with the sound of his laughter. I could listen to him talk and laugh for hours. It was the perfect accompaniment for my symphony.

  “I was hoping you would,” he replied. “So, am I lucky enough to have dinner with the beautiful Maelianna tonight? Say, about seven?”

  I could also listen to him repeat my name a hundred times more.

  “Yes, I would love that.” I replied, a bit breathless after imagining him saying my name again and again.

  “Great, can I pick you up from your house then?”

  “Sure. I live on the same road as my sister. When you turn onto their road, mine’s the fourth house on the left.”

  “Sounds good. I’m looking forward to it.”

  “Me too.” That was an understatement if I ever heard one!

  “I’ll see you later tonight then.”

  “Okay, bye.”

  “Goodbye.”

  Adrenaline is an amazing thing. I had more work completed in the next four hours then I usually did in an entire day. I was worried about what to wear, and pushed myself to get everything done so I could leave as soon as possible.

  Just as I finished checking to make sure everything was ready for Monday, Joan came into the back room carrying a tall bag with a hanger on top. It appeared to be a dress bag and I wondered what she was doing.

  “For you, sis.” She grinned sheepishly, holding the bag out toward me.

  “Me?”

  “Yeah, you’ve been working your butt off today. I know you didn’t have time to go get something ready for tonight, so I had Allyea go do it.”

  Hearing Allyea’s name and knowing she was a twenty-something college girl, who normally wore cargo shorts with a tank top or t-shirt, filled me with trepidation. I wouldn’t want to hurt either of their feelings if it was as bad as I thought it might be.

  “Just open it. I know you’ll love it!” She was trying to control her excitement, but her feet were already hopping up and down and her smile lit up the entire room.

  I took the bag and carefully unzipped the front of it. Holding my breath and praying it wouldn’t be too hideous, I glanced inside.

  It was far from hideous. It was beautiful. Hanging on a padded black hanger was an off-white, floral, one-shoulder summer dress that would fall slightly above my knees. Reaching inside, I ran my hand down the smooth fabric, enjoying the silky feel beneath my fingers.

  “Joan, let me pay you back for this. It’s so nice.”

  Shaking her head, she brought her hands from behind her back, holding a pair of dark green heels in one hand and a gold necklace with emerald green stones spaced evenly throughout the chain in the other.

  “No way. Those are too much.” I couldn’t believe that she had done all this for me while we had so much going on at work today.

  “Oh stop it, Mel. The color will bring out the green in your eyes, and the shoes weren’t as much as you think. The necklace was Mom’s so don’t worry.”

  I was astonished with my sister. All these years I thought I had to take care of her and here she was taking care of me. I couldn’t believe how lucky I was to have her.

  “I love you so much.” I grabbed her and hugged her as hard as I could. I wasn’t even paying attention to the dress and shoes that were wrapped up inside our hug.

  “Stop! You’re gonna wrinkle it!” Joan pushed me back and laughed at me. “Now, go home and get ready. I can’t wait to hear all about it tomorrow!”

  “Thank you so much. You really aren’t as bad as I always say!”

  We both laughed and she left the room to go back to the front of the shop. I grabbed my purse, dress, shoes, and necklace and hurried out the back door to my car.

  CHAPTER 4

  It was ten till seven and I was finishing my hair when I heard the doorbell ring. Hurrying to the living room, I looked through the window on the side of the door and had to catch my breath before I opened it. Miguel’s arms were behind his back, his muscular chest outlined by his shirt. He was rocking back and forth on his heels, looking toward the door with the cutest grin on his face.

  I unlocked the door and opened it shyly. “Come in, I just have to put my shoes on.”

  He smiled and took a step around me to enter as I shut the door behind him. As he passed by, I inhaled deeply, drinking in his fresh, clean scent. Not only did he look gorgeous, he smelled mouthwatering.

  Never taking his eyes off mine, he walked backward a few steps and lowered his eyes down to my lips, my neck, slightly pausing at my chest and then heading lower. I could feel the heat growing in each part of my body as he slowly appraised me.

  “You look amazing.” He slowly brought his eyes back up the same path and met mine again. “Mel, you are so beautiful.” His voice was so soft I almost missed his words.

  “Thank you, you look really good yourself.”

  He was wearing black dress pants and a white dress shirt, the top two buttons undone. I briefly imagined what the rest of his skin would look like if I unbuttoned more, before I reminded myself that he was still watching me.

  Grabbing my shoes from the couch, I sat to put them on, leaving a space open for him to sit beside me.

  “Have a seat while I put these on.” I held up the shoes so he knew what I meant, but he didn’t sit down. He took the shoes from my hand and lowered himself to his knees in front of me.

  Noticing the confused look on my face he asked, “Can I put these on you, please?”

  I was speechless, again. I could only nod my head to tell him yes.

  He sat one shoe down and lifted my right foot in his hands. Tenderly sliding his hands from my ankle to my toes, he balanced the empty shoe on his pinky. I wondered if that was kind of like a pinky promise of things to come. Giggling at my thoughts, I tried unsuccessfully to divert my attention.

  “What are you thinking?” His grin twitched as he directed my foot into the shoe.

  “Oh, nothing.” I looked from my foot to his eyes and felt my face flush and heat blossom throughout my body.

  With a lopsided grin, he gently lowered my foot and moved his attention to my other leg, repeating the entire procedure again. This time, he started at mid-calf, slowly tracing the curve down to my ankle, around the heel of my foot, to my toes. I was acutely aware of every inch
of skin his fingers grazed. My senses flared and my heart raced uncontrollably.

  “Even your feet are beautiful,” he whispered as he slid his hands back to my ankle and started to slide my foot into the shoe. Gently buckling each one, he sat back to admire his work.

  All I could think about was the effect he was having putting my shoes on. How much more would I come apart if he were to actually take something off?

  “Thank you,” I replied, in an equally soft voice.

  Extending his arms, he stood and took my hands in his, helping me to stand. It was a good thing he balanced me, or I might have gone tumbling forward. It had been years since I had felt this turned on, and never had it been so intense. It took a conscious effort to appear unaffected. I could only hope I wasn’t failing miserably.

  After locking up the house, we walked to his car. Guiding me gently, I could feel his hand lightly at the base of my back. The butterfly migration had returned, and I could feel tingles radiating from my back all the way around to the front.

  When we reached his silver Audi, he opened the door and held my hand as I got inside. With a small smile, he shut my door and quickly walked around the front of the car.

  Taking the opportunity to watch him, I noticed how extremely elegant he appeared and I silently asked, why me? It wasn’t that I thought badly of myself. He just seemed so much more accomplished than I was.

  Quickly reprimanding myself, I remembered the look on his face in the living room. He wanted me as much as I wanted him. I wouldn’t allow any of my negative thoughts to ruin this night.

  Starting the car, he pulled out of my drive and headed toward the city. “I hope you like where we’re going.” He glanced over toward me. If I weren’t mistaken, I’d say he might be nervous as well.

  “I’m sure I’ll love it,” I said as I watched him shift gears.