28. Lucy
lucy
. . .
The following day, the red rose and baby breath bouquet remained unpicked. I stared at it, along with the phone number attached to the order. Things like this happened sometimes—sometimes customers forgot they had ordered flowers or mistakenly didn’t set up a delivery.
And my mom always made it her mission to notify them about it, so it was up to me to do the same. With a small sigh, I grabbed my phone and dialed the number. The name linked to the order was Jensen Powell, repeating in my head repeatedly as the phone rang. The person on the other side finally picked up at the fifth ring.
“Mr. Powell, my name is Lucy, and I’m calling from Blushing Blooms about your flower order. You haven’t set up a delivery, and the bouquet was meant to be picked up three hours ago, so I’m just calling to check if there’s anything we can do. Has there been some mistake on our end?”
“No,” a voice, unmistakably familiar, said over the phone. “There hasn’t been a mistake. The order is exactly where it’s meant to be.”
Jason.
What the hell?
“What in the world are you doing, Jason? You’re not Jensen Powell, and I surely don’t have the time for your nonsense. Did you put in a fake order or something?”
“No, Luce, the order is real. I wanted you to get the flowers and the apology note I attached to it. Have you read it?”
“I haven’t. I printed it out and attached it to the flowers, and that was about as interested I was in anything Jensen—or you—have to say.”
“Read the note, Luce. Please. I know…” Jason choked on his words on the other side of the line. I should have felt something—after all, he was my last relationship and one I was running from this time. At the very least, I thought I would be seeking closure. But I was surprised to realize I didn’t care about any of it. At all. And it was the most liberating feeling in the world. “I know I messed up, and I know you don’t owe me anything, but I just wanted you to know that I see now that I’ve made such a massive mistake, and I couldn’t be more sorry about it. So, I figured that if I sent you flowers?—”
“You didn’t send me flowers. I had to make the bouquet myself. And then call you to check if there was a mistake on my end with the delivery. It’s hardly romantic.” Wheels started turning in my head. “Wait, how did you even know I’d be here?”
“It doesn’t matter. I figured it out because I want to be with you again, and I wanted you to see the lengths I’d go to win you over again. I don’t know who that?—”
“So, that’s what all of this is about. You’re threatened by the other guy you’ve heard from me the other day, aren’t you? That’s the only reason you’re calling. You can’t accept the fact that someone else has something you lost. You don’t care about me, nor do you want me back. You just don’t want anyone else to have me. That’s all.” I let out a small snort. Weeks ago, I would’ve been upset about all of this, but it was entertaining right now. While some things changed and grew, some did not. Some were always doomed to stay the same and ruin your life; my relationship with Jason was at the top of that list.
“Please, just hear me out?—”
“I’m going to say this one time, and one time only. Even if I weren’t seeing someone else, I wouldn’t ever consider getting back with you. You betrayed my trust in the worst way possible, and frankly, you treated me like shit for the rest of our relationship, too. I see that now, and I don’t ever want you to call me again.”
I didn’t waste another second on him as I hung up.
What an asshole, I thought to myself. The audacity he had never failed to amaze me. If there was one good thing to come out of that conversation, though, it was the realization that I hadn’t called Sailor and needed to check up on my best friend, too. With my hectic life, I barely had the time to breathe, but I wanted to keep her updated on everything.
ME: Are you free to call?
Sailor didn’t bother responding; instead, my phone rang right away. I picked up with a small smile on my face. It was hard to believe I felt good after what should have been a difficult conversation with an ex-boyfriend.
My best friend sighed. “I see you only now remember the life you’ve left behind.”
“I know, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to. I’m practically modernizing my mom’s flower shop, and it’s taking up a lot of my time. But that’s not all. I also…”
“Found some hot guy you’ve been spending all your time with? That’s the only acceptable end of that sentence, Luce.”
I couldn’t help the small laugh that filled the room. I found myself pacing around, nervous to say the words out loud. Sometimes, they still didn’t feel real in the first place—perhaps that was partially the issue.
“Well, I suppose that’s right…to some extent.”
“Oh. My. God. It’s Luke, isn’t it? You two got back together, haven’t you? Girl, I need to hear everything! Spare no detail. Oh, God. I will have to fly down to you to meet him officially and give him a piece of my mind. If he hurts you again…” She trailed off. The smile on my face widened. I truly appreciated her enthusiasm. It meant more than she’d ever know.
“It is Luke. But we’re taking things slow and trying to see where it will take us…”
“Okay…” Sailor dragged the word out as if more things were on her mind. “Well, did you discuss how all of it will work? I mean, if things are great, I’m guessing he’s going to come to Seattle with you and?—”
“It’s not that simple. He took over his dad’s company when his dad retired. So, he has a lot to do around here,” I explained, nervously fidgeting with the edge of my apron. Now that I was saying it aloud, I saw how ridiculous we were not discussing that aspect of our lives. It was a one-way ticket to more pain that neither of us wanted to experience.
“I see,” Sailor responded, though some uncertainty still laced her tone. “Well, as long as you know what you’re doing, you know I support you, girl. I just don’t want you to get hurt. But with that said…I just need to know if you’ve already done the deed.”
“Sailor…”
“Oh my God! You did it! You did it, and you didn’t call me to let me know!” she screeched on the other side of the line, though it was all in a teasing tone. “Seriously, Luce, what kind of a friend are you if you’re not letting me live vicariously through you? Tell me everything!”
My cheek reddened, burning from her question. “It was fantastic. He’s…amazing. I didn’t even know orgasms like that were possible. That’s all the information I’m giving you for now.”
“Ah, thank you. That’s all I needed to know—that you’re well taken care of. I, unfortunately, have an admission of my own, Luce.” Her tone now grew more serious. I froze at it. It wasn’t often that Sailor spoke in that tone, so it must have been something bad.
“What is it? Is everything okay? Are you?—”
“Everything’s okay, Luce. I…I went to get your things a little while ago. I wanted to call you to tell you all about it, but I was embarrassed, I guess. With how I handled all of it. I got there, and I barely held back the urge to punch Jason in the throat. Seriously, he’s quite possibly the worst person ever to exist. Your things were packed, but some of them were missing. And I wasn’t about to let that asshole have a single thing of yours that didn’t belong to him,” Sailor spoke so quickly she barely had the time to breathe. It often happened when she was nervous, which made me nervous.
“Sailor, breathe. Whatever happened—it’s okay. You’ve done everything?—”
“I fucked up, Lucy. I really did. I lost my temper when I figured out he’s purposely keeping some of your things so he’d have the excuse to invite you over when you return to Seattle. Seriously, what kind of a person does that? Anyway, I told him that I’m not letting him keep your shit when you don’t know when you’re going to come back because your mom is still recovering…and that triggered some shitty plan in his mind to win you over. He broke up with Sarah, apparently. I’m not surprised. I’m shocked anyone wanted to put up with his shit in the first place. Anyway, I’m so sorry…”
“Sailor,” I said as my shoulders relaxed. It wasn’t nearly as bad as I expected. His plan had come through, and it didn’t affect me in the slightest. In fact, it only made me more thankful that I had Luke by my side. “He planned to send me flowers. Actually, he ordered them from my mom’s flower shop, so I had to make them myself.” I rolled my eyes. “They came with a note I didn’t even want to read. No notes and no flowers can make up for what he did. I’m going to toss the note and bring the flowers to one of our elderly neighbors who will love them.”
Sailor still sounded unsure over the phone. “So…everything’s okay?”
I smiled. “Everything’s okay. You don’t have anything to worry about. You’ve done more for me than any other friend I’ve ever had has. Even if you did do something, I’d never hold it against you. But you didn’t. I appreciate everything you’ve done for me more than you know.” A slight sniffle echoed on the other side. My own eyes started welling up, too. “Don’t tell me you’re crying.”
“I’m not. I’m not. I, uh , I’ve just got something in my eye. Nothing to worry about.” Silence. “And I miss you. This is the longest we’ve been apart since we met, you know. And I didn’t even get to punch Jason or light him on fire.”
Now, both of us laughed. In fact, we laughed until my stomach hurt. Even if I kept myself busy for the most part, I felt the ache, too. I missed her as well. She was the best friend I had ever had, and she stood by me through everything.
“Well, I can’t help you with a missed opportunity with Jason, but…whenever you’d like, you’re more than welcome to visit. My mom’s in the guest room downstairs, so you’d be getting her room for yourself…”
Sailor squealed. “Stop. The queen’s room all for me? Sign me up right now.” She chuckled. At that moment, we weren’t separated by miles of distance. We were beside each other, just like in the good old times. “I need to figure out work, but I may take you up on that offer, you know.”
“I hope you will. We’d love to have you here.”
Port-Cartier offered a lot for both familiar and first-time visitors, and I was beginning to see that all over again.