Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 88742 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 444(@200wpm)___ 355(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88742 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 444(@200wpm)___ 355(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
“I think I’m full. I’m going up to my room.”
“Are you feeling okay? Sorry if I was asking too many questions. Sometimes I get all mom crazy and want to know everything.”
“No, Mom. It isn’t that. I’m just tired. We’ve been doing a lot of orders at the shop recently.”
“Okay, you go back up to your room. Don’t worry about your plate. I’ll take care of it.” I thank my parents and say goodnight. I have a lot to think about in preparation for tomorrow.
I’m at work early the next day. Abigail texted me at 10:00 last night to say that she wanted me in an hour early because of our early dismissal the day before. I couldn’t really argue because I essentially had a half-day yesterday, but it would have been nice to have more of a warning. I’m so freaking tired.
“Tammy!” Abigail calls me from the second floor. “Don’t come up here. Can you go to the back and cut the stems off of the new shipment of roses?”
“Yes!” I yell back. I know Abigail will be down to run the register in a minute, so I’m not too worried. Once I’m in the back, I feel a sense of calm.
After going upstairs last night, I feel asleep almost immediately. I was supposed to be using that time to organize my thoughts and think of ways to talk to Brick, but apparently, I was a lot more tired than I thought I was.
I get the shears and start snipping away at the rose stems. Tonight, Brick is taking me out to spend the night at his house. I gave my parents another excuse as to why I’m going to be out for the night. They never question me.
I think tonight, I’m going to convince Brick that it’s better for us to go public with our relationship. I don’t think we need to hide it anymore.
Unless he has other reasons for wanting to keep us a secret.
That thought never crossed my mind until now. Maybe he’s embarrassed of me. We haven’t really gone on any public dates. If we do go somewhere public, he rents the entire place out, and the only people there are essential staff. His reasoning makes sense. He’s a pretty high-profile person, and there are people who would want to take his photo, depending on where we are.
No, I can’t get into my head like this. I can only know how Brick feels about our relationship by asking Brick about our relationship. Plain and simple.
I get through the box of roses, placing the destemmed ones neatly in a box and disposing of the snipped stems. Then I go back to the front of the store and find Abigail stocking shelves.
“I’m done with the roses. Is there anything else you need me to do in the back?”
“No, just man the register. There shouldn’t be any more inventory for today. We’re expecting a few walk-ins, though. Some brides are wanting to check out the flowers we have and discuss possible arrangements. I’m going to have you take care of that, okay?”
“Yeah, no problem.” One of my favorite parts about working as a florist is making arrangements. Working with brides-to-be, though? That can be a hit or a miss. Sometimes they go a little bridezilla on me. I’ve learned to handle it, though.
I’ve actually already made my own arrangement if I were ever to get married. I put a lot of thought into it. I wonder what it would be like to be married to Brick. Over the past few months, I’ve gotten a lot more used to his high-flying lifestyle.
Here’s hoping that he likes the idea of me being a more permanent fixture in that lifestyle.
20
Tammy
I’m getting ready for my date with Brick tonight. Since we’re just going to his house, I’m not going to do a whole lot. Just a light application of makeup and jeans with a nice tee.
It’s not like I’ll be wearing them for very long anyway.
I go downstairs and say goodbye to my parents. Brick and I have established that whenever he picks me up from my place, there’s a corner far enough away from the house that my parents for sure won’t see us. And they’ve never really wandered this way unless they’re visiting a neighbor, and they haven’t mentioned any upcoming visits recently.
Brick texts that he’s minutes away. I may have jumped the gun a bit, coming outside as soon as I did, but I got myself all worked up throughout the day, thinking about us potentially establishing our relationship. I’m sure everything will be fine.
I check the clock on my phone. Only a few minutes have passed, but I don’t like to be waiting on the street for too long. Anyone can happen upon me, and I don’t have a good explanation for why I’m out here. I guess waiting for an Uber is a somewhat passable excuse, even if I am a bit away from my actual house. An Uber pool it is, then.