Chapter 2
CHAPTER TWO
tristan
“Tristan!” Dale pushes through the crowd at Out of the Ashes to get to me. The door is feet in front of me. I almost made it out with someone requesting something from me.
It’s not that I dislike my job. I have a blast, but sometimes it feels like they are constantly looking at me to be their gopher.
The urge to keep walking and act like I didn’t hear him is strong. It’s not who I am, though. I would feel horrible, and I don’t want to put myself through that.
Turning, I wait for him to catch up. “What’s up?”
Hopefully I don’t sound annoyed. If I do, it doesn’t register to him because he’s catching his breath and holds up a finger.
My foot taps despite trying to keep my cool. I just want to get back to the hotel. Though, it might be time to invest in a property here since we’re in town so much. I’ll get around to looking once I’m done doing whatever Dale needs.
Now that he’s caught his breath he glances up and down. “Are you leaving already?”
“Yeah, I want to unwind since we just came off tour again.”
“I totally get it. It’s the whole reason we’re building a studio out here. Being treated like a normal person in a town is nice, and it’ll give us a place to hang out when we have down time.”
He’s not wrong. They’ve come here so often, they are practically locals. The people here don’t get star struck anymore. Is this seriously what he wanted to talk to me about?
“I’ll be checking out rental properties soon, or invest in a property soon.”
“That’s a good idea. This is our home away from home.” He runs a hand through his hair. “Anyway, if you aren’t busy, I have a favor to ask you.”
So much for my day off. I’ve been with the band for a few years now, and I can’t help but wonder how they got things done before I came along. They didn’t have a crew when they started out.
“What do you need?”
There’s no point in trying to deflect. Dale will give me the puppy dog eyes and knows I’ll fold. One of these days I won’t be such a pushover. There’s only one night I stood my ground, and I regret not being my normal self in that one instance.
“So, you know Valentine’s Day is coming up, right?”
“I’m aware.”
“Well, me and some of the guys need to get some flowers ordered for our partners. But we want it to be a surprise so we can’t use our personal cards.”
Honestly, I’m shocked they all have joint accounts. I’m not sure how normal that is in celebrity relationships, but it seems odd they don’t have at least one account of their own.
“Okay.” I drawl. “Why do you need me?”
“Well, we know you talked to one of the women who runs the flower shop. We thought you might be able to get us a last-minute order and also put it on your card. You can expense it, of course.”
Do I want to do this? Absolutely not. At least he doesn’t want me to get lingerie or anything. That would be embarrassing.
“Is there any particular kind of flower you want me to make sure is included?”
He shrugs his shoulders. “I actually don’t know. Let’s say whatever they have that’s not overdone.”
As if that narrows it down. “Sure thing.” I turn toward the door once again and pause. “Wait, are these for a special occasion outside of Valentine’s Day?”
His cheeks turn a bright red before he nods. “That’s one of the reasons it needs to be kept quiet without tracing it back to me. The other guys, they have no clue what to get their girlfriends.”
I feel a lot better getting his now, but I hope he has other stuff planned because I don’t think an extravagant bouquet will be enough. Knowing him he probably has something up his sleeve. Honestly, I’m surprised they aren’t already engaged. They’ve been together for years.
“Do you want me to send pictures of what they have available?”
“Absolutely not. What if she sees it over my shoulder or something? I trust your judgement.”
Nodding, I turn toward the door. “I’ll add it to my expense report.” I call over my shoulder.
At this point, though, I should probably have a credit card to use for Crooked Halo expenditures. The number of times I’ve had to run to the store and get things for them before a show is ridiculous. Or, they could let me double check their stuff before we head to the venues.
“You’re a lifesaver, Tristan.” The door slams shut behind me. Hopefully he didn’t have anything else to add to that statement. Maybe something like, you deserve a raise. I’m just happy we’ll have some downtime for a bit.
The cold air bites through my t-shirt and I pull my jacket closed to zip it up. Winter in Texas isn’t my favorite thing. It can be warm or freezing. Right now, it’s a bit in the middle of the two.
My car is on the far end of the lot and I reach my hand into my pocket to unlock it. One of these days I need to invest in a vehicle that will auto start. Going from the cold outside to the cold inside isn’t it for me.
As soon as I slide onto the driver seat, I turn on the car and put the heater on full blast. While the car warms up, I grab my phone out of my pocket to see what time Whoopsie Daisy closes. I’d like to get this done today. Tomorrow, I’ll check to see what places are available for rent in the area.
Staying in a rental with the band is cool at times, but I need my own space. Sometimes being in my room isn’t enough. Staring at the same four walls day after day is monotonous.
The drive to the flower shop doesn’t take long. That proves to be the same for anywhere you want to go in town. It’s so small the drive to any store takes about fifteen max. That’s if there’s a small amount of traffic, which includes tractors. Never thought I’d say that.
A part of me hopes Paula is working in the front, but after the wedding we both attended, I’m terrified. Realistically, I could go to a flower shop in another town, or order online. But Dale is particular about using this one because he likes to keep things as local as possible.
You can do this. Deep breath in and out. Everything will be fine. Don’t make it awkward when it doesn’t have to be. Who am I kidding? There’s a reason I never auditioned to be the lead in my high school theatre productions. Awkward is the only thing I put off. Especially when it comes to Paula.
Opening my car door, I glance around the parking spaces in front of the building. Her car is nowhere in sight. Maybe the Gods are smiling down on me today.
I close the door behind me and head to the shop. The bell above the door lets out a little jingle, but nobody says anything. I take another step into the shop and I hear her voice.
“Welcome to Whoopsie Daisy, how can I help you?”
The smile that accompanied her previous question dies as soon as she sees me.
“I, uh, need to order some flowers.” I wave before shoving my hand in my pocket.
“Are you sure about that?”
“Yes.” I nod. “For Valentine’s Day.”
A pained expression takes over her face, before slipping back to neutrality. “You realize we cut off taking orders yesterday, right? Except for the most basic bouquets we keep on hand.”
Does the bite in her tone mean she’s jealous? Hope that she actually feels something for me blossoms. I’m not here for her, though. It’s strictly band business.
“Can you make an exception? Dale is proposing to his girlfriend and wants flowers to match the occasion.”
“Why isn’t he here ordering them if it’s so important?”
Seriously, it’s like she has to turn everything into an argument. It’s been months since I’ve seen her. A warm fuzzy welcoming isn’t something I expected, but the almost outright hostility is kind of annoying. Though, I’m pretty sure she’s using it as a way to hide her emotions.
“Because he wants it to be a surprise.”
“I don’t feel like that’s a valid excuse.” She taps her fingers on the glass case.
“Please, Paula. They have a joint account and he doesn’t want her to see the purchase. He wants it to be a total surprise for his proposal.”
Her body loses some of the tension it held. “Oh, that’s so sweet.”
“Yes, it is, which is why I really need to get an order in for them.”
She picks up a tablet and taps the screen before scrolling. This seems like a weird time to be looking at that instead of getting my order on the books.
“I’m sorry, I don’t see where we would be able to fit it in. There’s a reason the shop has a cutoff date. Especially with special orders where we’d need to get flowers we don’t normally carry.”
A small part of me feels like she’s doing this on purpose. There has to be something she can do. Maybe I should have ordered from one of the bigger shops and just told Dale that I got them from here.
Who am I kidding? There’s no way I would do that.
I’m not sure why I even considered it. The blame could be laid at his feet for not giving me this task sooner.
As much as he likes to plan these big gestures, he always rushes around last minute to bring them to fruition.
Well, I usually have to do the rushing, but that’s beside the point.
“Are you sure there’s no way you can squeeze it in? It’s just one teensy tiny order.”
“Is it, though?” She tilts her head to the side, studying me.
“You’re right.” I sigh. “I guess I need to find another shop.” My shoulders drop and I turn toward the door.
“Wait!” she calls out, and I stop in my tracks. “Let me ask my bosses if there’s anything they can do.”
“Thank you.” I’m seconds from throwing my fist in the air in victory. But I don’t want to celebrate too soon.
She disappears down the hallway behind the glass cases.
I take a moment to study some of the smaller arrangements.
I’m guessing they keep these out here for soon to be brides so they can have an idea for what they want.
There are bouquets sitting on shelves on the wall.
It’s not cluttered though. They give each arrangement space to shine.
Paula rushes back into the room with a devious grin. I’m already wondering if I’m going to like whatever she has to say. I hope like hell it doesn’t up the cost to squeeze in the order.
“Good news.” She leans on the counter waiting for me to come closer. “They can fulfill the order for Dale. The other bouquets will be pretty generic, but they’ve decided to make an exception for you.”
A sigh of relief escapes me. “That’s gr—”
“But there’s a caveat.”
“How much is it going to cost?”
“Not money, but time.” She’s still smiling, but I know she has something up her sleeve.
“What do you mean?”
“My family goes on a yearly vacation, but I don’t want to go alone. It makes it easier for them to pounce on me at the same time.”
“Okay.” I scratch my head. “I fail to see what that has to do with me.”
“Well, you have a background in theatre, and we get along well enough.”
“And?”
“I want you to go with me as my boyfriend. It’s the only way they’ll allow me to bring someone.”
My mouth drops open. There’s no way she thinks this is an even trade.