by J. L. Ryan
Her jaw dropped, “We’re what?”
He glanced at her, “You heard me.”
“Yeah, I heard you, but I don’t feel like this is such a great idea. I mean…this is something that I am supposed to be doing with my future husband.” She shrugged, “Seems strange.”
He shook his head, “It’s not strange. He isn’t here and I am. It’s better than going out alone. Besides, maybe I can help you get the perfect price.” He turned back to the road. She was still apprehensive, but decided to go with it. He continued driving, until he turned onto a secluded street. He pulled up in front of a house that had a sale sign in front of it.
She looked at the house and imagined living there. It was fairly good size, but she would have to check the inside out. She got out of the car and they headed up to the door. From the car in the driveway, she knew that the realtor was already there.
He opened the door and called out, “Veronica?”
A tall woman came out of a room, wearing a smile. “Hello,” she held out her hand and Tiffany shook it.
“Hello,” Tiffany spoke. She was looking around the entrance of the house.
“Thank you for meeting us on such short notice,” Scott was saying.
“Not a problem. Let me give you both the guided tour.”
They followed her, through another room where she introduced the living room. It was a nice size room and Tiffany could picture the type of furniture they would get and where it would go. “This is a nice room,” Scott was saying and she nodded.
“I’ll show you the kitchen.” As she led the way, she looked back at them. “When are you both getting married?” She asked.
“Um…” she glanced at Scott, looking for some help to explain it to her, but he was just smiling. “We’re not.” She finally spoke. The realtor looked away and she playfully hit him. He laughed.
“Tiffany is getting married. We’re just friends.”
“Oh…” Veronica said, seeming unfazed. “This is a nice kitchen. Do you like to cook?”
She opened her mouth to speak, but Scott was speaking instead. “She makes great peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.” He replied. She glared at him and she could see that he was having a wonderful time on her behalf.
Veronica glanced back at her and Tiffany snickered, “I do alright in the kitchen.” She turned and snared in his direction. “You are dead,” she whispered.
He raised his eyebrows, but brushed past her as they entered the kitchen. “The best part of the house is the majority of appliances are staying.”
“Why is the seller selling?” She asked, glancing at the nicely decorated room.
“She is getting older and her daughter lives out of town, so she decided to move closer to her daughter. She doesn’t want a lot of her stuff.”
“This is a nice kitchen,” Tiffany mumbled, looking at the appliances. They each seemed fairly new. The tiled floor was also something that she liked.
“We can go upstairs where you will see the two bedrooms and a bathroom.” They followed her out of the kitchen. When they reached the staircase, she pointed to another door. “There is a half bath right there.” She led the way up the stairs and they reached the floor. She opened the door and they entered the room. “This is the master bedroom. It has a bathroom attached.” She looked all over the bedroom. It was bigger than her New York bedroom, at least by three times.
“This is nice,” she replied, opening up closets and stepping inside. In the bathroom, she could see the sink was completely made of ceramic and also looked brand new.
“Wow…” Scott mumbled, stepping in behind her.
She looked at him and nodded, “Nice, huh?” She whispered.
He nodded, “Definitely nicer than my apartment.”
She smiled, as they stepped out of the bathroom. They exited the bedroom and looked at the other two. They were about the same, just smaller. “This is nice. Really it is,” she started. They headed down the stairs and Veronica turned to her when they reached the foyer. “I am almost too afraid to ask the asking price.”
Veronica held up her finger and disappeared back into the kitchen. “This is nice, but it’s going to be way too expensive,” she whispered to Scott.
Veronica came back into the foyer and looked over the paper. “You are looking at $115,000.”
Tiffany gasped, figuring that it would be something like that. She opened her mouth, but again Scott was interrupting. “I’m sure that is just the asking price.”
Veronica nodded, “I am sure that the owner would negotiate.”
Tiffany tried to smile, “I appreciate the offer, but in order for us to be able to afford it…we would have to agree to way less than that. I am sure that she won’t agree to negotiate that much. Thank you, but we’ll have to keep looking.” She headed out of the house, not wanting to think about it for another minute.
Scott joined her and they got into the car. “Don’t you want to at least try?”
She thought about that, but then shook her head. “We have only looked at one house. I am sure there will be much more to look at. Thank you!” He turned from her and they waited until Veronica’s car pulled out of the driveway and they followed her. She had no doubt that there would be plenty of houses that they could look into.
***
Scott dropped Tiffany back off at her hotel. He had one of the best times he could have even imagined just looking at houses with her. It felt like they were a couple that were getting ready to get married. He still didn’t know how Erick could stand being away from her.
He got back home and threw his wallet and keys on the coffee table and crashed on the couch. He didn’t know how he would pull it off, but he knew that he wouldn’t feel right if he didn’t try to win her heart. He couldn’t give up without a fight.
He got off the couch and thought about ways to a woman’s heart. He grabbed a notebook from the kitchen drawer and took a seat at the table. He began writing her a letter:
Dearest Tiffany:
I have tried numerous times to tell you what’s in my heart, yet the words always fail me or you are with someone else. While this might not be the most opportune time, I feel that I have to be honest with you and myself. Since the first day I laid eyes on you, I knew that you were something special. It was after our fake marriage at the age of 10, that I began to realize that there was more to you.
You are beautiful inside and out and I have been blessed to call you my best friend, but over the years I have struggled with what’s right and wrong. I have wanted to be happy for you and I am, to an extent. I have watched you pursue your dreams and I couldn’t be more proud of that. I stood back and didn’t say a word, when you chose to stay in New York City, even though my heart was being ripped from my chest. I hear news that you are getting married and I am left wondering how I could be so stupid.
I am asking you not to walk down that aisle, because what you need is and has always been right before your eyes. I love you, Tiffany and nothing is going to stop me from saying that. I have been too scared to admit it, but I am running out of time and this is my last hope. Please, give us a chance. You are everything I could ever want and I have to tell you that. I will remain by your side no matter what happens, but I am hoping that you can find it in your heart to say that you love me too.
Love,
Scott
He looks at the letter and almost crumples it up, but he can’t. He spoke from the heart and that’s all he could do. He did know that he couldn’t give her the letter so soon. He would focus on other ways to get through to her and use the letter has a final piece. He closed the notebook up and left the kitchen. He needed to take a cold shower and try to put her out of his mind. It wouldn’t be easy, but it was what needed to be done.
***
Tiffany yawned as she filled out her third application online. She hoped that one of the employers called her. She was just about to hit submit, when she heard a knock on her hotel room door. She quickly hit submit and then w
ent to the door. She peered outside to find a man holding a bouquet of flowers at her door. She opened the door and smiled. “Hello.”
“Hello. Are you Tiffany Reynolds?”
“Yes,” she replied, staring at the bouquet of pink roses. They were her favorite color of roses.
He handed the flowers to her. “Enjoy!” He smiled, turning and walking away from her.
She looked down at the flowers and carried them back into the room. She placed them on the table and leafed through the bouquet, until she found the car. She removed it and read what it said:
Tiffany –
You are more beautiful now than the first day I saw you.
I hope these brighten your day.
She flipped the card over. It wasn’t signed. “They have to be from Erick,” she assured herself. She smelled the bouquet and smiled. “They sure are gorgeous,” she mumbled, placing them on the table to brighten up the room. She heard her cellphone ringing and looked down to see that Scott was calling her. “Hey, Scott.”
“Hey…what are you doing?”
She looked back at her computer and groaned, then looked at the flowers. “Staring at the most beautiful bouquet of roses. Erick knew the pick me up I needed.” There was silence on the other end that she thought she had gotten disconnected. “Are you there?”
“Uh yeah…I’m here.”
“So…what’s up?” She asked, getting back to the reason he called.
“I thought maybe we could go out for lunch. I have some extra time, before having a meeting this afternoon.”
“Sure, that would be great.”
“Okay, meet you at my work at noon?”
“I’ll be there,” she replied. “See ya then,” she hung up the call and looked back at the roses. She dialed up Erick’s number. It went straight to his voicemail. She waited for the beep and then spoke, “Hey, babe…I just wanted to call you and tell you how much I love you and I miss you. I’m sure you’re busy getting things finished up for work, but I can’t wait to talk to you. Goodbye.” She hung up the call. She wanted to hear his voice and thank him for the beautiful flowers, but it could wait. She walked back to the computer and closed it up. She would give it some time before applying for any more positions. She needed to get ready for lunch.
***
Scott couldn’t concentrate. He should have known that she would assume the roses were from Erick. He groaned in frustration, tossing his pen. “What did this pen do to you?” He looked up to see Heather, his receptionist, standing in the door.
“Oh…thanks.” He said, taking the pen from her. He hesitated, before looking up at her. “You’re a woman.”
“Thanks for the brilliant deduction,” she replied with a laugh.
He smiled, “I just meant, out of curiosity what do women like to receive as gifts?”
“Flowers,” she stated, with conviction.
“Been there…done that,” he replied. “What else?”
She seemed to ponder on that. “Well, you can’t go wrong with candy…chocolate especially.” He had thought about that, but he was trying to get away from the usual gifts. He chose flowers, because he knew how much she loved pink roses. “Jewelry is always a plus.” She replied, smiling. “I guess that most women really just go for something that comes from the heart.” She shrugged, “Doesn’t have to take a lot of thought, but it needs to be real.”
He nodded, trying to think about that. Some ideas entered his mind and he thought that he would have to try them out. “Thank you. Now, did you need something?”
“I was going to let you know that I was going out for lunch. Do you need anything?”
“Nope, I will be heading out soon. Enjoy.”
She smiled. She turned around, nearly running into Tiffany. “Hey, Heather.” They hugged one another, but when they parted Heather turned back to me. A look of recognition in her eyes. I tried to ignore her, turning to Tiffany.
“Tiffany, I hear that congratulations is in order.” She stuck her hand out, showing Heather. I had to roll my eyes, because I was getting tired of dwelling on it. “That is a beauty.” She glanced back at Scott, “It’s a beauty, isn’t it Scott?”
Scott nodded, “It sure is.” He stood up and walked to the door. “Are you ready to go?”
“I better get going,” Heather said.
“Goodbye, Heather.” He called, as she left the office. “Where do you want to go?”
She shook her head, “I don’t care.”
They headed to the door and left the building. As they walked down the street to the corner restaurant, she began talking about the flowers. He wanted to ask if she was trying to make him jealous, but decided against it. He opened the door for her and she entered. “How did he sign it?” He asked.
She turned to him, “That’s kind of private, don’t you think?”
“Oh excuse me,” he replied, sarcastically. He walked up to the podium and the hostess had them follow her. When they sat down, he looked at the menu. “If you have some cute name for each other and you don’t want to tell me how he signed it, then more power to you.” He looked through the menu, hoping she would see that he wasn’t bothered by her words; even though he was.
“It’s not that. In fact he didn’t even sign his name. It was the words that meant the most. That’s all.”
He looked up at her, “If he didn’t sign his name, how do you know that he sent them?”
She laughed, “Who else would send them?”
He shrugged, “I don’t know. I was just curious.” He looked back at the menu, knowing that he needed the conversation to be dropped. “I’m starving,” he said, changing the subject.
She looked in the menu and he casually glanced at her from the corner of his eye. He hoped that the next attempt went more smoothly, because he was bombing out.
***
Tiffany received a call, right after she got out of the shower. She didn’t recognize the number, but since she had submitted so many applications she knew she needed to answer it. “Hello?”
“Hello, is this Tiffany Reynolds?”
“Yes, this is she.” She said, crossing her fingers.
“Hello, Ms. Reynolds. This is Matthew Riley from Riley advertising. How are you doing?”
She could barely find the words. She couldn’t believe the owner was actually calling her. “I…I’m doing great.” She replied, trying not to sound too eager.
“Good to hear. I was hoping you could come in today so we could talk. I have received your application and I am very impressed.” She could have squealed with pleasure, but she held back.
“That would be great. What time works best for you?”
“How about coming by at eleven o’clock. Do you know where we’re located?”
She nodded, realizing that he wouldn’t be able to see the gesture. “I do. I will be there. Thank you!”
“You’re welcome. See you soon!” The call was disconnected and she stared at the phone. She twirled around her hotel room. She was hoping that this was the break she was looking for. She glanced at the clock, she had two hours to get ready and be there. She knew that it was about thirty minutes away, so she would have plenty of time. She grabbed her classiest outfit she had packed and got dressed. She spent more time on her hair and makeup. She wanted it to be perfect.
She was putting her earrings in, when she heard a knock
. She rushed to the door and peeked outside. A guy was standing at her door. She frowned, but then flung the door open. “Hello?”
“Ms. Reynolds?” He asked. She nodded, “Please sign here.” He handed her a clipboard. She signed her name and then he handed her a small box. “Have a nice day.”
“You too,” she replied, absentmindedly. She looked at the package and saw that there was no return address. Her name and the hotel address was handwritten on the front. She recognized the writing, but couldn’t immediately place it. She opened up the box and found another box inside. This time it was a velvet box. She opened it up and
stared at the necklace. Her eyes got big, finding the gold cross inside. Wrapped around the cross was rubies that alternated with topazes. She pulled it from the box. “It’s gorgeous,” she spoke, putting it around her neck and going to the mirror. “Perfect to complete the ensemble.” She couldn’t believe how thoughtful Erick was. His birthday was in November, representing the topaz birthstone and her birthday was in April, representing the ruby. She ran her hand over the cross.
She had yet to hear back from him when she received the flowers a few days earlier. She picked up the phone and dialed his number again. Again it went straight to his voicemail. “Hey, Erick. I am starting to worry a bit. I haven’t heard back from you in a few days. Thank you so much for the necklace. It’s gorgeous. Also, the flowers were perfect. I love you.” She hung up and glanced one more time in the mirror. She was ready to go land the job.
She called a cab and fifteen minutes she was out the door and heading to Riley Advertising. She was relieved to see that she wasn’t nervous. She was anxious though. She paid the cab driver and hurried up the front steps. She was glad that she had brought her portfolio along. She felt professional and ready to make her move.
She approached the desk with confidence. “My name is Tiffany Reynolds. I am here to meet with Matthew Riley.”
“Of course, Ms. Reynolds. He will be out in a few minutes. You may have a seat.”
She sat down and waited for him to arrive. Like clockwork, it was only a couple of minutes. He walked out with swag, offering his hand to her. “Ms. Reynolds, it is very nice to meet you.”
“Likewise,” she spoke, standing up. She followed him, past the reception desk.
“Please hold my calls,” he stated to the receptionist. They entered a room and he held back for her to go before him. “Please, have a seat.”
