Lies in Love

by Ava Wood

  At quarter after seven, Talia returned to her apartment. She wanted to shower and put on a fresh pair of clothes, maybe even wash the silly look off of her face. She was out of the shower just in time to get dressed, run a brush through her hair, and throw on her favorite fedora before the girls arrived. As she descended the stairs, she could still feel the smile plastered on her face as thoughts of Landon in her apartment resumed. How would she get through this day without letting on what had happened the night before, not that there was any reason to hide since Camey had been the one to send Landon her way. She would have to give that girl a big smacking kiss when she came into work.

  As Talia began sorting vases in the cabinets, the back door opened and Sara came trudging in.

  “Good morning.” Talia had failed at washing her smile away.

  “Morning.” Sara sounded terribly grumpy.

  “Coffee?” Talia had put on the flower shop’s pot when she came down from her shower.

  “Yes, please.” Sara looked up at Talia. “What has you so chipper this morning?”

  “Nothing really, just lots and lots of coffee.” Talia beamed as she filled a mug for her sister. After handing it to her she returned to flitting around the shop moving different vases and pots from shelf to shelf, organizing them by color and size.

  “Seriously, Talia, it’s too damn early.” Sara sipped at her coffee, her eyes drooping closed with each swallow.

  Talia ignored her sister and continued working. She turned to the back door when she heard it open and Camey came waltzing in.

  “Morning, ladies.” Camey buzzed in with a rather pleasant mood.

  “Good morning.” Talia saw Camey turn quizzically to Sara at her greeting. Aware she was about to add fuel to the fire, Talia crossed the room and hugged Camey tightly, kissing her on the cheek before she let go.

  “What the hell, Talia?” Camey’s eyes were open wide.

  “I just wanted to say thank you.” Talia was practically laughing at Camey’s disbelief.

  “For what?” Camey looked from Reina to Sara then back to Talia.

  “For sending Landon to me.” Talia grinned until she saw Camey’s face turn to dismay. “What’s wrong?”

  “What did he say?” Camey’s face was etched with worry.

  “He said that you told him where to find me. I honestly can’t thank you enough. We had such a nice time last night. He took me out to dinner and then we came back here and…”

  “Did you sleep with him, Tal?”

  Talia couldn’t figure out why Camey was so angry. “No.” Talia would have slept with him, but clearly that wasn’t what Camey needed to hear. “What’s the big deal? I thought you would be happy about this.” She quickly realized that they had an audience. Sara and Izzy, who had come through the pass-through just minutes before, were eavesdropping.

  “It’s just really fast. I would hate for you to jump into bed with someone you barely know.”

  “What, like you?” Talia was angry and perplexed. She didn’t understand why Camey was so mad and where she got the audacity to say such a thing.

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Sara came rushing over, putting herself between Talia and Camey.

  “That was a low blow, Tal.” Camey rolled her shoulders back and looked square in Talia’s eye. “I was only trying to look out for you. You don’t have to be such a bitch about it.”

  “Whatever. Just get to work and let me worry about my personal life. I can take care of myself.” Talia shoved a milk-glass vase into the cabinet and headed upstairs to the storeroom. She wasn’t up for arguing with any of the girls this morning. She wouldn’t let them sour her mood or drain her of her coffee-infused energy.

  “What the hell is wrong with you? I told you to break things off with Talia.” Camey paced in the back alley with her phone lodged against her ear.

  “Good morning to you too.” Landon’s voice was thick, no doubt from being woken up.

  “I can’t believe you told her I hired you.” Camey was longing for a shot of something hard to ease the throbbing in her head.

  “What? Wait, you told her?” Landon no longer sounded half awake.

  “No, I didn’t tell her. Didn’t you?” Camey rubbed her temples trying to soothe the pain.

  “No. I told you it was our secret. Although, I feel awful lying to her, especially if I’m going to see her again.”

  “Oh no you don’t. You will not be seeing her again so there is no need to let the cat out of the bag. You were supposed to be ending things last night, remember?” Camey took a steadying breath as she leaned against the railing to Talia’s apartment. When Landon didn’t respond she added, “This isn’t some kind of game. I won’t sit by and watch you hurt her.”

  “I have no intention of hurting her.”

  “What are you expecting will happen when you drop her like yesterday’s news?”

  “I don’t plan on doing that. I have feelings for her, Camey. I don’t want to hurt her.”

  “That’s hilarious. You think I’m going to let you date her while you traipse about with the common whore? You’re a gigolo, for fuck’s sake.” Camey was seething and she didn’t try to hide it.

  “Camey...”

  “I’m tempted to go in and tell her right now what you really are, try to talk some sense into her before you break her heart.”

  “No, don’t.” Landon was breathing heavily over the phone. “You won’t just be hurting me if you do that.” Camey could hear him sigh through the phone. “If you tell her, don’t you think she’ll lose all faith in you and your friends? She could lose everything just by you telling her the truth. It’s the only thing that has kept me quiet up until now. I don’t want to hurt her like that.”

  Camey stood open-mouthed, staring at the sky. She hated that Landon made such a valid point. “I don’t want to hurt her either. But how do you intend on hiding who you are from her? You don’t think she’ll notice when you aren’t available because you’re out on one of your dates?”

  “That won’t be a problem.”

  “You can guarantee that?” Camey wasn’t convinced that Landon could keep his escorting a secret, but she sensed something in him; she could feel that he wanted to protect Talia.

  “Yes.”

  “Whatever. Look, all I know is that if you hurt her, so help me God, it will be the last thing you ever do. She’s my best friend and I won’t allow you to ruin her life.”

  “Understood.” Landon sounded sincere.

  “I don’t know what your plans are, but if I sense for one second that you don’t have her best interest at heart or that you might hurt her in any way I won’t hesitate to tell her everything, regardless of what it does to our friendship.”

  “I got it, okay.”

  “You better.” Camey felt she was being a bit harsher than necessary, but she wasn’t going to back down. She wanted Landon to know she meant business. “I gotta go. Just remember what I said.”

  “Yeah.”

  Camey hung up the phone, satisfied that she’d made her point. Her only problem now was telling Sara about the developing relationship between Talia and Landon. She was certain Sara would find a way to make this all her fault. She eased the back door open and looked around. The second the door opened, Sara pounced on her. Camey immediately decided there was no time like the present to break the news.

  “What is going on? What was all that with you and my sister?”

  “Talia and Landon went out last night.”

  “What?” Sara began pacing, looking around for her sister as she went. She kept her voice low as she continued. “How could you let this happen?”

  “I…” Camey grew incensed with Sara. “I wasn’t in this alone, you know. I may have found the guy, but you and Reina were all for it.” Camey realized she needed to get herself in check before Talia heard them talking. “Ugh, why did Reina have to take the day off? She should be here helping us figure this out.”

  Sara was still pacing. “This is bad. This i
s very bad.” She stopped in her tracks and looked at Camey as though something had just dawned on her. “It was just a date, right? Maybe they won’t even see each other again?”

  Camey shook her head. “I just got off the phone with him. Apparently he has feelings for her.”

  Sara guffawed, then covered her mouth, aware that Talia might overhear. “That’s rich. He’s a gigolo.”

  “I know that.” Camey saw Talia enter the back room. She forced a smile and walked into the cooler, sensing Sara close on her heels. She grabbed a handful of flowers and began busying herself forming a haphazard arrangement. “He wants to see her again. I told him to come by here last night and make her want to forget him, but he showed up here last night and took her out.”

  “We have to tell her, Camey. We can’t let him manipulate her.”

  Landon’s sincerity was still ringing in Camey’s ears. “We can’t tell her. She’ll hate us; at the very least she’ll shut us all out again. I can’t bear that, can you?”

  Sara shook her head. She grabbed some flowers from a nearby container to add to the arrangement Camey was working on.

  “If for one second it seems like he plans to hurt her, I’m telling her everything. I’ll accept all of the blame.”

  “This was such a bad idea. Reina is going to flip when she finds out.”

  “That’s all I need, just another round of I told you so’s from her.”

  Sara gave Camey a condescending look. “Good luck.”

  “Yeah.” The girls ended the conversation when Talia waltzed into the cooler with a clipboard in her hands.

  “Since we are basically caught up on orders, I want you guys to run inventory this morning. We need to do a little spring cleaning.”

  Both of the girls nodded, Camey taking the clipboard from Talia before they got to work.

  Landon alternated his time between researching flowers and scouring the Internet for some kind of job. He didn’t necessarily need money, but he needed something to fill his time, to get his mind off of its incessant thoughts of Talia. His multiple hours of floral research and endless urges to visit her at work had him feeling like some juvenile stalker. He’d never been so infatuated with a woman. He was pleasantly surprised when his brother came barging into his new dwelling, quickly making himself at home.

  “How’s the place working out for you?”

  “It’s good. Thanks.” Landon shut his laptop and joined his brother on the couch. “I was just looking for a job. I need to find something to make myself feel useful.”

  “There’s a janitorial position available at the school.”

  Landon looked at Dawson from the corner of his eye. “You’re kidding, right?”

  “It’s a job, Landon.”

  “I know. Sorry. I just can’t see myself in those pale blue shirts pushing around a mop bucket. I’m not that desperate for work just yet.”

  Dawson nodded, seemingly in disapproval. “So, where’d you go last night? I heard you get in pretty late.”

  Landon knew this was coming. “I went to see her.” He knew he didn’t need to elaborate. It was what his brother had encouraged him to do, his whole reason for moving here.

  “Good.”

  “I’d be at her shop now if I thought it wouldn’t scare her off. I’m afraid if I go rushing over there every time I get the urge she’ll run for the hills.” Landon looked at his brother. “What is wrong with me?”

  “I believe you’ve met your match, brother.” Dawson smiled, but it did nothing to improve Landon’s musings.

  “This isn’t me.”

  “Oh, but it is.” Landon smacked his brother on the shoulder. “You’ll get used to it. I did.”

  Landon rolled his eyes. “So what are you doing home so early?”

  “I just came home for lunch.” Dawson checked his watch. “I actually need to head back for my next class.”

  “Have fun.” Landon smiled sarcastically.

  “Always.” Dawson exited the apartment, leaving Landon with his ruminations.

  After half an hour of rummaging through ‘help wanted’ ads, he gave in and made the trip to Perfect Petals.

  Music played softly from somewhere behind the register when Landon entered Talia’s shop. A young blonde sat behind the counter, swaying to the music. She looked up when the door thudded closed behind him.

  “Hi there. How may I help you?” She was a cheery little thing, no more than seventeen.

  “Is Talia here?”

  “I’m sorry. She’s out. Is there something I could help you with?” The girl had hopped off of her perch and was rounding the counter.

  “No.” Landon shook his head then changed his mind. “Well, yes. I would like a flower arrangement.” He immediately regretted his statement when Sara peeked in from the backroom and ducked back behind the wall, but he couldn’t back out now.

  The blonde bounced around the showroom pointing at arrangements, but Landon didn’t see anything appealing.

  “These are nice, but they’re not what I’m after. Could I request something custom?”

  Looking acquiescent, the blonde answered, “Sure.”

  Landon thought back to the research he’d done all morning; many flowers’ meanings were a jumble, but there were a select handful that he knew he wanted to put into a bouquet. “I’d like a collection of delphiniums, red daisies, pink roses, and white orchids with maybe some baby’s breath and fern filler.”

  The blonde’s nose scrunched at his request. Clearly it was an odd bunch, but each flower had a special meaning to him. The delphinium to show his open heart, the daisy and orchid for Talia’s unknown beauty, and the rose for her grace. He hoped she knew what he was saying with each flower. He wanted to speak to her in a way that only she could understand.

  “There’s a selection of cards on the spinner there if you’d like to pick one for your bouquet.”

  Landon examined the cards and found one with a blue rose on the front. He pulled the card from the rack and began to write:

  Thank you for last night. Seeing you again can’t come soon enough.

  He finished off the card with his phone number and name and stuck it in the tiny envelope that matched and handed it to the blonde.

  “I’ll have Sara pull this together. It shouldn’t take too long.” The blonde was smiling flirtatiously. He’d seen that look more times than he could count.

  “That’s fine. The flowers are for Talia. If I could just pay for them, I’ll go and you can leave them here for her.”

  The blonde was quite confused but rang up the flowers and Landon paid, leaving a significant tip for her help. He was mentally patting himself on the back as he walked out of the shop and climbed back on his bike. It wasn’t until he was pulling into his brother’s driveway that he began to regret the gesture. He worried she wouldn’t like the arrangement, or maybe that he had remembered the flowers meanings wrong. What if what he really said was I’m sorry for your loss, but you’re miserable to be with. He was second guessing himself, something he’d never done before, but where Talia was concerned, he just couldn’t stop. She made him uncertain and almost insecure. It was a dismal effect, but at the same time, he felt amazing. She brought out emotions in him that he had shoved far away over a decade ago. Wrapped in a jumble of emotion, he decided he would do the only thing he could do where Talia was concerned: be patient.

  Sara was placing the last delphinium into the flower arrangement when Camey and Talia came through the back door from their last delivery of the day.

  “What the hell is that?” Camey stuck her finger in her mouth and made a gagging gesture, looking at the arrangement Sara had put together.

  Sara leaned her head in Talia’s direction and smiled.

  “What’s going on?” Talia looked to Camey then back at Sara. “What is that?”

  “See for yourself.” Sara carried the bouquet to Talia with the card facing her.

  Talia plucked the card from the flowers and read the words inside. Camey
was immediately leaning over her shoulder trying to see what it said.

  “Who are they from?”

  Talia clutched the card to her chest. “He thinks I’m beautiful.”

  Sara’s brow furrowed. She had snuck a peek at the card and there was nothing about Talia’s appearance written on the paper. Her sister was really losing it. “He didn’t say you were beautiful.”

  Talia evened her gaze at Sara. “You read the card?”

  “I had to know who put this hideous arrangement together.” Sara laughed, watching Talia turn on her.

  “It’s not hideous, it’s beautiful. He is saying so much with just a few flowers. It’s very sweet.” Talia had a ridiculous grin plastered on her face.

  “What the hell are you talking about? If you ask me, he’s saying he has terrible taste or he’s color blind. Either way, it’s not beautiful at all.”

  Talia rolled her eyes. “It’s no wonder Daddy left the shop to me. You never listened to a word he said growing up, did you?”

  Sara’s jaw dropped. She was hurt by her sister’s words, but they were true. She was too busy being a teenager to care about what their father had to say. “Whatever. Enjoy your ugly flowers.” Sara stomped out of the room putting an end to their conversation.

  Orange and red filled the sky as Talia locked up for the evening. She had donned one of her favorite oversized sweaters while bringing in the displays. The spring air was still cool and crisp with a slight bite from the wind gusts. She couldn’t wait for warmer days of beaches and bathing suits and floppy hats. Remembering the flowers on the counter, she wondered what Landon would look like in his swimming trunks. She quickly chastised herself for being so presumptuous. Who said they would still be talking weeks from now, much less spending the summer together? She turned to her flowers, sweeping them into her arms, and decided to live for the now.