Page 23 of The Perfect Deception
Dina returned to her apartment that evening, yawning. She kicked a yellow petal on the front sidewalk before she dragged herself up the stairs and into the front hall of her Victorian building. More petals intermingled with leaves lay scattered on the carpeted hallway. She frowned as she opened her mailbox. Some flower delivery service had made a mess.
After a mostly sleepless night at Adam’s and a full day of work, all she wanted to do was draw a bath in her claw foot tub and go to bed. Immediately. She followed the trail of petals and leaves upstairs to her front door. Taped to it was a kelly-green envelope. She yanked it off and opened it.
Tracy said it was okay.
Her mind was too sluggish to process the meaning of the note, so she unlocked her door and gasped. Yellow flowers of every variety covered all the visible surfaces in her apartment. Centered on the occasional table in her front hallway was a vase of yellow sunflowers. Tossing her keys next to them, she moved into her living room, where vases of blanket flowers and daffodils littered her coffee table. Walking over to the windowsill, she sneezed at the goldenrod.
Kicking off her shoes, she walked barefoot into the kitchen and saw roses on the counters, ligularia in the sink and black eyed Susans on the stove. Stunned, she peeked into her bedroom. Snapdragons sat on her dresser, tickseeds were on her night table and coneflowers were tied in bunches on her bed. It was as if the pages ofThe Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowershad come to life. Another kelly-green note lay on her pillow and she sank to the floor to read it.
Please go to your high school reunion with me.
Adam
It was only when she saw each word alternating between green and gold that she realized Adam had chosen the flowers to coordinate with her school colors. She leaned against the side of her bed. Mr. Flashypants had struck again and he was a romantic. Apparently with her friend Tracy’s help.
Taking her time, she stopped to examine all of the flowers, except for the goldenrod, which she carried at arm’s length out to her balcony—allergies. Her lips twitched. He was the one who left the petals and leaves trailing from her front porch to her apartment door. It was…sweet and romantic and over the top. Pulling her phone out of her purse, she dialed Adam’s number. He answered right away.
“So will you go with me?”
Had he been waiting for her call? “Thank you for the flowers.” She tried to keep her voice modulated and steady, even though her heart was beating fast.
“Did you like them?”
“Everything except the goldenrod. They make me sneeze.”
“I’m sorry!”
“It’s okay. I put them out on the balcony where I can see them anyway.”
“I’ll remember that for next time.”
He was going to do this again? “Mm hm.”
“So, will you go with me?”
“It’smyreunion. Shouldn’t it be, ‘can I go with you?’?”
“Details.”
She laughed. “Yes.”
The smile on Adam’s face lasted the rest of the night as he watched TV and lay in bed. Dina invaded his dreams, which featured a silhouette he’d swear was her. He woke up the next morning with a smile that didn’t dim as he walked from Starbucks into his office. Only his father’s voice coming through the intercom, ordering him into his office at his “earliest convenience” made it disappear.
The man sure knew how to ruin the mood.
Plastering a neutral expression on his face, Adam sat across from his father at his massive desk.
“What’s up?”
His father frowned. “Is that how you speak to me?”
Neutrality was difficult to maintain. Kudos to Switzerland. “I apologize.”
With a nod, his father leaned forward, tenting his hands and resting his elbows on his mahogany desk. “Bradley & Company is threatening to take their business elsewhere, thanks to your carelessness.”
His stomach plummeted to his toes.
His father’s look of distaste matched Adam’s feelings at having his father think so poorly of him.