how much it
took her to put her trust in him. He could not get the image of the hurt she
had in her eyes out of his head, and he felt so guilty knowing he was the
cause. Still, no matter what she said, he would regain her trust.
No matter what.
Chella went to work earlier than usual on Monday
morning, eager to preoccupy her mind with her new job. After thinking about the
whole situation on the way to work, she decided she would call Mitch during the
day. Kacy was right. This was his first screw up. He had been there for her in
the last few weeks—from the day she met him. In her mind, she played over all
the times he’d been there since that day, whether she had asked for his help on
not. There was the visit to the emergency room due to the wrist, the emergency
room visit due to the scorpion bite. He was there when Aaron left his mark
announcing his return and handled everything from her medication right down to
her accommodation after the scorpion incident. Her conscience would not allow
her to just sever all ties because of his lie or omission. They at least needed
to talk. He had earned that. After her morning meeting, she would call him.
A surprise was waiting on her
desk when she returned: three separate bouquets of tiger lilies and hyacinths.
The card read,
9:00
AM
I
will be sending you flowers
every
hour on the hour until
I am
forgiven.
I’m
sorry.
xoxox
Mitch
She couldn’t help but smile as
she read his words. She opened the second card.
10:00
Forgive
me….
xoxox
Mitch
A wicked thought crossed her mind
as she opened the third card. Let’s see if he’ll dry out his bank account
sending me flowers.
11:00
Pretty
please…
Am I
forgiven?
I’m
sorry
xoxox
Mitch
She glanced at her watch and looked
at the time: 11:55. Another delivery would be arriving in five minutes. As she
picked up the phone, her secretary, Jade, walked in holding a new bouquet and a
box.
“Hey, Boss. Somebody’s trying to
make a big impression. Where would you like this one?”
“Put it over on the filing
cabinet. Hand me the card and the box, please. Thanks, Jade.”
Just as Jade was heading out the
office, Craig passed by. The flowers must have caught his attention. Taking a
few steps back, he walked into her office.
“Chella, Chella, Chella. Have you
been holding out on me?”
She could barely respond, turning
a deep shade of burgundy at his words. “Well, I have started seeing someone,
but I wanted to see if it was serious before I said anything.”
“By the look of things, I’d say
it’s pretty serious. Those look like forgive-me flowers.”
“What makes you so sure they’re
forgive-me flowers?”
“My darling, I’ve been married
for over thirty years. My wife has a garden with just about every flower you
can image. I know why the pink tiger lilies are there, but purple hyacinths?
The flower of forgiveness. And that many? It’s none of my business, but let me
just say this, if your answer is going to be, ‘Yes I forgive you,’ it’s
serious.”
“Craig, could you please just
leave me alone and stop embarrassing me?” she said in laughter.
After he left, she closed her
office door and returned to her desk to open the box and card. In the box were
her favorite and very expensive white chocolates. The card read,
12
Noon
Since
you didn’t respond
in
time for me to take you to lunch
I
thought I’d supply you with
your
favorite dessert
I’m
sorry.
Please,
please, please
Forgive
me
xoxoxo
Mitch
She dialed his direct line at his
office hoping to catch him off-guard.
“Mitch Mariani speaking,” he
answered at the other end of the line.
She smiled at the sound of his
voice. “There’s a really, really embarrassing display of flowers in my office.
I’m running out of surface space to put them on.”
“Three words and you won’t have
to make any space for the one o’clock one,” he responded. She heard the smile
in his
took her to put her trust in him. He could not get the image of the hurt she
had in her eyes out of his head, and he felt so guilty knowing he was the
cause. Still, no matter what she said, he would regain her trust.
No matter what.
Chella went to work earlier than usual on Monday
morning, eager to preoccupy her mind with her new job. After thinking about the
whole situation on the way to work, she decided she would call Mitch during the
day. Kacy was right. This was his first screw up. He had been there for her in
the last few weeks—from the day she met him. In her mind, she played over all
the times he’d been there since that day, whether she had asked for his help on
not. There was the visit to the emergency room due to the wrist, the emergency
room visit due to the scorpion bite. He was there when Aaron left his mark
announcing his return and handled everything from her medication right down to
her accommodation after the scorpion incident. Her conscience would not allow
her to just sever all ties because of his lie or omission. They at least needed
to talk. He had earned that. After her morning meeting, she would call him.
A surprise was waiting on her
desk when she returned: three separate bouquets of tiger lilies and hyacinths.
The card read,
9:00
AM
I
will be sending you flowers
every
hour on the hour until
I am
forgiven.
I’m
sorry.
xoxox
Mitch
She couldn’t help but smile as
she read his words. She opened the second card.
10:00
Forgive
me….
xoxox
Mitch
A wicked thought crossed her mind
as she opened the third card. Let’s see if he’ll dry out his bank account
sending me flowers.
11:00
Pretty
please…
Am I
forgiven?
I’m
sorry
xoxox
Mitch
She glanced at her watch and looked
at the time: 11:55. Another delivery would be arriving in five minutes. As she
picked up the phone, her secretary, Jade, walked in holding a new bouquet and a
box.
“Hey, Boss. Somebody’s trying to
make a big impression. Where would you like this one?”
“Put it over on the filing
cabinet. Hand me the card and the box, please. Thanks, Jade.”
Just as Jade was heading out the
office, Craig passed by. The flowers must have caught his attention. Taking a
few steps back, he walked into her office.
“Chella, Chella, Chella. Have you
been holding out on me?”
She could barely respond, turning
a deep shade of burgundy at his words. “Well, I have started seeing someone,
but I wanted to see if it was serious before I said anything.”
“By the look of things, I’d say
it’s pretty serious. Those look like forgive-me flowers.”
“What makes you so sure they’re
forgive-me flowers?”
“My darling, I’ve been married
for over thirty years. My wife has a garden with just about every flower you
can image. I know why the pink tiger lilies are there, but purple hyacinths?
The flower of forgiveness. And that many? It’s none of my business, but let me
just say this, if your answer is going to be, ‘Yes I forgive you,’ it’s
serious.”
“Craig, could you please just
leave me alone and stop embarrassing me?” she said in laughter.
After he left, she closed her
office door and returned to her desk to open the box and card. In the box were
her favorite and very expensive white chocolates. The card read,
12
Noon
Since
you didn’t respond
in
time for me to take you to lunch
I
thought I’d supply you with
your
favorite dessert
I’m
sorry.
Please,
please, please
Forgive
me
xoxoxo
Mitch
She dialed his direct line at his
office hoping to catch him off-guard.
“Mitch Mariani speaking,” he
answered at the other end of the line.
She smiled at the sound of his
voice. “There’s a really, really embarrassing display of flowers in my office.
I’m running out of surface space to put them on.”
“Three words and you won’t have
to make any space for the one o’clock one,” he responded. She heard the smile
in his
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