“Actually, it’s going to her work, Grayson Motors over on Taylorsville Road. She’s their financial agent.”
“Good! We have a delivery over on Taylorsville already scheduled for this afternoon, so we’ll take hers too. Pick out a card and we’ll include it.” Nikki pointed to the little rack at the other end of the counter.
Tony picked out a small birthday card and wrote in it:
To my beautiful Annabeth,
I hope you have a happy day today and every day.
I love you,
Dad
“There,” he said, handing the tiny card to Nikki. “That oughta do it.”
“Beautiful choice,” she told him as he handed her his credit card. The transaction was almost over, and so was his contact with her. Should I ask her out? I don’t know what to do. Indecision swallowed him. He didn’t want to leave, but he was afraid she’d laugh and turn him down flat if he asked her out cold turkey. Why could he make a five-minute decision on hundreds of thousands of dollars, but couldn’t ask a woman to dinner? Had Dottie really done that much damage?
“Sign right here, please,” she said, handing him the receipt. Do something! his brain was yelling, but his hands were shaking as he signed and handed it back. “Thanks and let us know if she’s not happy, okay? We’ll want to make it right.”
“Will do.” It was all he could squeeze out. He could feel his face getting flushed. And he couldn’t think of anything else to say.
“Well, have a nice day, Tony Walters. Guess I’ll see you at the gym, huh?” She smiled that smile again and looked down at her feet. His heart was hammering.
“Yeah, see you at the gym,” he mumbled. He stood there looking at her for an awkward moment, then turned and hoofed it to the door. When he made it to the sidewalk and the door closed behind him, he realized he’d been holding his breath. Why had he been so nervous? What was it about her that made him feel like a complete imbecile? Had she noticed how tense he was? He’d really screwed up. He hadn’t asked her out. But did he want to go out? He hadn’t given it serious consideration in a long time.
Once Tony was gone, Nikki finally took a breath. She’d barely been able to slip the receipt in the cash box because her hands had been shaking so hard. He probably thought she was some kind of freak because she’d acted so weird. She’d treated him like any other customer, but she’d wanted so much to talk to him, to find out what he was like. Was he as beautiful on the inside as he was on the outside? She’d never seen a man so gorgeous. But it looked like he was just being kind. She tried to concentrate on how pleasant he’d been, not how disappointed she was. Kelly was wrong – he wasn’t interested in her at all, just ordering a gift.
Tony walked across the street and got into his truck, trying to think of an excuse to go back inside, but he couldn’t come up with anything. So he sat, head on the steering wheel, mentally kicking himself for not having the balls to come right out and ask her to dinner.
Across the store, Nikki called out to Carol, “Going to the bathroom.” She shut the door and let the tears fall. How ridiculous – someone like him wouldn’t give her a second look.
Tony started his truck and pulled out onto the street. At least he’d see her at the gym. He had to work up some courage. He never thought he’d want to date anyone, but if there was a chance she might say yes to going out with him, maybe it was time to give it a try.
“Oh, Daddy, the flowers are beautiful!” Annabeth was practically singing over the phone.
“Like them? Send me a picture of them. I’d like to see,” Tony grinned into the phone.
“I will!” She hesitated. “So, did you meet Nikki?” Annabeth asked.
She wasn’t going to give it a rest, so he figured he might as well tell her. “Yes, actually, I did,” he answered.
“And?”
“Turns out she goes to my gym. I recognized her when I walked into the shop.”
“Really? That’s cool.” It sounded like Annabeth was eating something.
“Are you eating birthday cake?” Tony asked.
“Actually, birthday cupcake. Katie picked them up for us. They’re very good. Stop by and have one, why don’t you?”
“I think I’ll do that.” He started straightening up his desk. “I’ll be there in a few.”
“Clayton and Brittany are here. We’ll save one for you. But only one. And if you take too long to get here, well, no promises!” she laughed into the phone.
“On my way!” He shoved his phone into his pocket, snatched his jacket from the sofa, and headed toward Thrush Lane.
Annabeth waltzed back into the living room of the little house, grinning, cupcake frosting all over her mouth.
“Annabeth Maria Walters! What have you done?” Katie cried out. “I can tell you’re up to something. Who did you call?”
“Dad.” She wiped frosting from her face with her finger and sucked it off. “I called to tell him thanks for the flowers.” She grinned even wider. “He got them at The Passionate Pansy.”
“Oh my god!” Katie squealed. “Did you . . . ? I know what you did! And?” Clayton and Brittany stared at the two of them.
“It worked! She actually goes to his gym! Can you believe it?” She held up her hand and Katie high-fived her.
“She? Who?” Clayton asked.
“Clayton, I think your sister’s playing matchmaker,” Katie laughed.
“With . . . ?”
“With Dad!” Annabeth shrieked, jumping up and down.
“No way!” Brittany squealed with delight. “Out with it!”
CHAPTER EIGHT
“Boss, I hate to tell you this, but She Who Shall Not Be Named just pulled up.” Tony could hear Cheryl rustling around as she talked, trying to retreat to another work space.
“Aw, shit,” Tony muttered, throwing his pencil across the room. There went a perfectly good day.
She hit the office door like a bulldozer crashing into the wrong house. “Hey, Cheryl, Tony in his office?”
“Uh, yeah, I think . . .”
“Good. We need to have a little talk.” Dottie took two pieces of candy out of Cheryl’s candy dish, unwrapped one, and threw the wrapper back onto Cheryl’s desk, then walked straight into Tony’s office.
“Dottie.” He didn’t bother to ask how she was; he didn’t give a shit. He didn’t even stand. He reserved that sign of respect for those who deserved it, and she wasn’t included in that group.
She didn’t bother to ask how he was either, just threw her sloppy form down into the chair in front of his desk and crossed her legs. “I need two thousand dollars,” she announced, unwrapping the second piece of candy and tossing the wrapper onto Tony’s desk.
“And you’re here why?” He leaned back in his desk chair. God, she was a loathsome creature. He couldn’t believe he’d actually loved her at one time.
“Because. You’re my husband. You’re supposed to give me what I want.”
“In case you don’t recall, we haven’t been married for sixteen years,” Tony scowled, refusing to look at her.
“We took vows! We’ll always be married in God’s eyes,” Dottie railed.
“Oh, I see. We’re married when you want money and not married when you want to fuck someone else. How exactly does that work, Dot?”
“Do you have to remind me of every horrible thing that’s happened between us? God, Tony, you’re so hurtful!” Dottie whined and pouted, looking to drop some guilt on him. And she failed miserably.
“I’m hurtful? Me?” He could feel his ire starting to rise. “Look, I’m not giving you any money. Go ask the husband of the week for whatever you want. By the way, who is it this week?” He glared at her.
“Well, that’s really nice of you,” she spat sarcastically. “You know Hector and I are separated.”
“Who’s Hector?” That was a name he hadn’t heard before. This was her third since him? Fourth? Tony had lost count.
“Oh, you’re so damned self-righteous, aren’t you?�
� Dottie turned like the flip of a switch. Her Jekyll-and-Hyde brain was hard to follow. “Just because nobody wants you, you can’t believe anyone would want me. I can’t help it that you’re old and fat and have a big nose.”
“Me? That’s a joke. Have you looked in the mirror lately?” He knew she was full of shit, that she was sick and made everyone around her sick, but her words still stung. She’d spent so many years tearing him down, no wonder he couldn’t bring himself to ask anyone out. He looked in the mirror and saw a guy who looked perfectly fine, but he heard her words in his head and they tore him down again and again. He had to find a way to silence her voice permanently. “Dottie, I’m done. Go. I’m not giving you anything.” He pointed at the door.
“And what do you think your kids will say when they find out their mother is homeless because you wouldn’t give me a little bit of money, like you don’t have it or something?” She rose and shuffled toward the door. On her way out, she stuck out her arm and swept it down his credenza, knocking over framed photos, certificates, and a lamp.
“At least you got the ‘my kids’ part right. And my kids will say it was about time I told you to go to hell,” Tony growled, looking away from her. She cleared her throat and he turned to see what point she was trying to make.
She stopped in the doorway, turned, and pulled up her blouse to flash both of her breasts, leering at him. Tony rolled his eyes. “Oh my god, get the hell out, Dottie.” She pulled her blouse back down, shot him a hurt look, and walked out of the office, her ass swaying back and forth, until she finally disappeared out the door.
“Sweet jesus, I saw that. And I wish I hadn’t.” Cheryl was grimacing when she appeared in Tony’s doorway. He folded his arms on the desk and rested his face on them, unable to look Cheryl in the eye. “Did she really . . . ?”
“Yeah. She did.” Tony didn’t know whether to be embarrassed or sick. He’d almost give Dottie whatever she wanted if it guaranteed she’d leave town and he’d never see or hear from her again, but she’d just come back, wanting more. Homeless? The two thousand was probably for another divorce. “You know how she is. I’m sorry, Cheryl. I’m sorry you have to deal with that, sorry you had to see it, sorry I ever married her.”
“Oh, hon.” Cheryl sat down in the chair in front of his desk and patted his arm. He looked up at her, his face drawn and tired. “Oh, don’t let her rattle you. And don’t apologize to me. She’s crazy – everyone knows that. And don’t you listen to her, you hear me? You’ll find someone special, I just know it. Of course, you kinda have to go out and look, don’t you?” She smiled warmly at him. If he’d had a sister and could’ve chosen her, Cheryl would’ve been his first choice.
“Yeah, right.” He shook his head. “I don’t stand a chance. Sometimes I don’t think I can get out of bed in the morning. I hear her voice in my head and, I don’t know, I just . . .” He put his head back down and closed his eyes.
“You’ve got to get past that. You can do it. You’re a good-looking guy and women drool after you. Any woman would be lucky to have you.” Cheryl patted him on the arm again and stood. “You don’t want to be alone for the rest of your life, do you?” she asked as she walked out.
Did he want to be alone? No. He didn’t. He had to find a way to ask Nikki out. He was tired of being alone. He’d do it even if it killed him.
CHAPTER NINE
“What’s the deal with all of this stock?” Nikki called out to Marla. “I’ve got two cartons of dual-colored mugs here.”
“Secretary’s Day is tomorrow,” Marla reminded her as she came through the stockroom door.
“Oh, yeah. I guess we’re going to get hit today, huh?” Nikki took the mugs out of the boxes and put them on the shelf by color. There were pink ones lined with yellow, purple lined with green, and blue lined with orange, sixteen of each – four dozen. “Do you think we’ll have enough?”
“Probably. You know guys – they won’t all order for their secretaries. Most of them don’t even do anything for their wives’ birthdays.” Marla’s ex, Dave, was a rat bastard of the highest order. If Nikki had been married to him, she wouldn’t have had a very high opinion of men either.
Once Carol got there, she helped them unpack the cartons of flowers for the morning. They had plenty of containers and fresh cut flowers to do anything anyone could want.
Nikki wondered about Tony. Did he have a secretary? Would he come in to order something? She’d seen him almost every day at the gym in the three weeks since he’d been in for Annabeth’s flowers. Every time he came by her, he spoke to her, and she spoke back. She could feel daggers shooting out of Kelly’s eyes, and she had to admit, it felt kind of good. No one had ever been jealous of her before. She lived for those moments, a simple “Hey, Nikki, how are you?” or “Hi, Nikki, doing okay?” She was finding it easier to look at him and not her feet. Sometimes she even imagined he’d stop and say, “Hey, Nikki, wanna go for coffee?” That would be nice. Probably never happen, though.
She turned on the OPEN sign and checked the counter to make sure they had all the sales supplies they needed. Good thing, too; within ten minutes, they’d had three customers, two of whom were women ordering for their secretaries. One had a secretary named Chuck who was getting a box of chocolates and dark burgundy calla lilies. He’d like those.
The morning meandered toward noon, and soon it was lunchtime. Nikki chose to work through. It was easier than eating alone.
Clayton stuck his head into Tony’s office and spoke low: “Dad, you do know tomorrow is Administrative Professionals Day, right?” Cheryl had gone to the post office, but Clayton was still being careful.
“Huh? What?” Tony’s face twisted in puzzlement.
“Administrative Professionals Day. You know, it used to be called Secretary’s Day?” Clayton answered.
“Crap, thanks for reminding me. I need to do something for her.” Tony wrote FLOWERS FOR CHERYL on a sticky note and stuck it to the front of one of his desk drawers where she couldn’t see it. “I’ll go take care of that in a little while.”
Mission accomplished, Clayton thought. Annabeth had given him strict orders to remind Tony so maybe he’d pay a visit to The Passionate Pansy. Clayton smiled to himself as he walked away from his dad’s office. His sister was determined to get Tony together with that woman who worked there. He had to admit to himself that he didn’t think it was a bad idea. He’d watched Tony barely shuffling through his existence, numb and alone, and he’d like to see some sign of life creep back into his dad.
And it worked. Tony parked across from The Passionate Pansy and looked around; sure enough, he’d thought he remembered a café next door. The special of the day was a Reuben, so he went in and ordered two sandwiches, two bags of chips, and an iced tea. Then he walked over to the flower shop, wondering if what he was about to do would help him or hurt him.
A dark-haired woman stood at the counter. “Can I help you?” she asked, smiling at Tony.
“Um, yeah, I need to place an order for Secretary’s Day, uh, Administrative Professionals Day,” he corrected himself. “She, actually,” he stuttered, “uh, I sort of know Nikki. Is she here?”
“Oh, yeah. Hey, Nik!” Carol called out. “Customer!”
Nikki stepped out from the workroom and couldn’t believe her eyes. He’d asked for her? She smiled. “Hi, Tony!”
“Hey! I’m, well, I need to, um, you did such a good job with Annabeth’s flowers that I, um, I thought maybe you could help me with something for my secretary?” He felt his face grow warm. What the hell was wrong with him? Why did he feel so flustered?
“Sure! We’ve got a lot of really pretty things. What did you have in mind?” She came around from behind the counter, and his heart nearly stopped. She had on a pair of form-fitting, flared-leg jeans and shoes with three-inch heels, and her legs were long and lean. The long-sleeved purple tee she was wearing hugged her torso, and her breasts were round and soft-looking. A beautiful vintage amethyst pendant hung down in
the v-neck of the top, lying perfectly against her ivory chest just below her collarbone. And that hair – it cascaded down her shoulders, down her chest, down her back. It positively glittered. He couldn’t think, couldn’t move, couldn’t speak. He wanted to lean in, to sniff her hair, to touch it, touch her, wrap his arms around her waist and bury his face in her neck. He felt something happening in his jeans, and realized he was getting hard. Strangest thing – that kept happening when he thought about her. He hoped she wouldn’t notice.
Then he snapped back to reality. “Um, something colorful? She works with a bunch of guys, so she’d probably appreciate something bright and feminine.” He wondered how long he’d stood there staring at her, hoping he hadn’t made a fool of himself, but she smiled at him like nothing was wrong.
“We can do colorful. Not a problem. How much do you want to spend?”
“Uh, fifty? Is that enough?”
“We can do miracles with fifty! Let me get all of the info.” Nikki started writing down the information she already knew; Tony supplied Cheryl’s name and his address and phone number. “And where is this going?”
“Walters Construction. Over on Brownsboro Road.”
Walters; surely no coincidence. “So, is that family?” She hadn’t known where he worked.
“Yes, you could say that,” Tony answered.
Too many questions, too forward, she thought. Her insides were turning to mush, and she was getting wet just standing close to him. She wished she’d worn a padded bra, not just so she’d look bigger, but to cover her nipples better. They were hardening, and there wasn’t a damn thing she could do about it.