I remembered getting in the car and maybe saying hi to Raymond, but I didn’t remember how I got up to the apartment and onto the couch. When Jack woke me up with a hand on my shoulder, I was feeling extremely disoriented. He helped me up and gave me two slices of pizza. It was cheese, pepperoni, and black olives, and he ordered me to eat up, and eat up quick. I finished in two minutes flat and even asked for another slice.
I had no recollection of what we talked about, but I did remember mumbling my answers and then wishing him a good night before stumbling to my bed.
The number of times Jack Hawthorne smiled: zero. (BUT…it’s coming soon. I can feel it.)
Chapter Nine
Rose
It was finally Monday, the opening day I’d been waiting such a long time for, and now that it had arrived, I didn’t know how to contain my happiness or my anxiousness. One minute I was on the verge of hyperventilating just thinking about opening the doors enough that Owen and Sally had to force me to sit down, and the next minute I couldn’t stay still and felt like I was about to burst from happiness. Mostly, though, I was feeling sick to my stomach, worrying everything was going to go wrong and everyone was going to hate everything.
What if no one showed up? That had been the first thing I’d thought the moment I had opened my eyes that morning. What if no one walked in? My goal was to at least serve fifty coffees on the first day. That sounded like a fairly doable number.
“I feel like I’m about to lose my virginity,” I blurted out as Sally pushed a glass of water into my hands.
“Was it a good experience? Mine was pretty cool.”
“I mean, it was okay. No orgasms in sight, but at least it didn’t hurt much.” Owen grumbled something I couldn’t make out. “What did you say?”
“This place looks legit,” Sally said, ignoring him. “What you did with the flower thing is still blowing my mind. It looks so beautiful with the black exterior. The furniture, the colors—everything came together so nicely. You put out the flyers too. We’ll easily reach fifty coffees.”
When Sally left me and went to the kitchen, I got up from one of the chairs they had basically pushed me into, walked to the door to flip the closed sign to open, and just rested my forehead on the cool glass for a few seconds. Flipping that sign felt like I’d welcomed an elephant to come sit on my chest. People passed by. I even saw some of them stare at the roses as they walked by, but no one pushed each other out of the way to get in.
“Okay.” I sighed. “Now all we have to do is wait.” When I turned around, both Sally and Owen were standing in the doorway to the kitchen, Owen wiping his hands on a kitchen towel and Sally smiling and munching on a lemon bar. Taking the last bite, she walked up to the espresso machine.
“Would you like to have the very first latte of the day? I’ve been polishing my latte art skills.”
I let out a deep breath and smiled. “You know what, that’s a great idea. In fact, lattes all around, on me. We might need to drink forty-seven more today, but that’s not all that much, right? Death by caffeine is a real issue, but I’m sure we’ll be safe.”
We clinked our mugs together, at least Sally and I did and hoped for the best for the rest of the day. The first customer came thirty minutes after I’d flipped the sign from closed to open. Owen was in the back, but Sally and I were ready with our overly excited smiles plastered on our faces.
An hour or so had passed and we had a few more customers. Sally was preparing a second cup of cappuccino for the customer who’d come in earlier as she was looking through the food selection on the counter. She’d already had her free blueberry muffin, so she decided on a sandwich this time.
I grabbed a plate, lifted the glass dome, and picked up a turkey & swiss that was wrapped with parchment paper and secured with red twine. The bell on the top of the door rang, but I was busy taking payment so I couldn’t look away. After giving her the change and thanking her, I finally looked to my left, excited to greet a new customer.
And right there…right there standing with the most uncomfortable look on his face was Jack Hawthorne. I didn’t think I’d ever been that happy to see him before, but him being there so early, him just being there… The smile that broke out on my face was embarrassing.
“Jack, you came,” I managed to say softly, and even though he couldn’t hear me, his gaze dropped to my lips.
Before he could walk in farther, Raymond came in with an armful of roses and handed them to an unhappy Jack. My breath hitched and my smile brightened up a bit, taking it from embarrassing to a touch closer to manic. Jack’s expression, however, didn’t change.
Were they for me?
I begged my heart to stay calm as he walked toward me.
“There was a mix-up at the flower shop, and they couldn’t bring these themselves,” he said, and my smile faltered.
“I don’t understand. They’re from a flower shop?” I asked, my eyes going from the roses to Jack’s face in confusion.
His lips tightened and his brows drew together. “No.”
I waited. I could feel Sally standing just behind me, on my right, too.
Jack released a frustrated sigh. “They’re from me. You don’t have to use the fake stuff on the tables. It’s so the property looks good. That’s all.” He leaned forward and thrust the bouquet into my hands.
Feeling something weird and very much unexpected in my chest, I took them. There were maybe fifty or sixty long stemmed roses in every color—pink, white, yellow, peach—and they were all wrapped up in slightly shimmery brown paper. They were gorgeous, way more than what I would need for the tables, way more than anyone had ever bought me. Flowers would add no value to the property; that was plain and simple bullshit. These were for me.
I was still looking at the roses, taking them all in one by one, not sure what to say or how to say it, when I saw Owen put another plate of freshly baked blueberry muffins to my left. He whistled next to me, his shoulder barely touching mine.
“These are just for me,” I mumbled, almost to myself. “And they’re so beautiful, Jack. Thank you.” For some reason, I felt myself choke up, and my chest constricted. Hugging the bouquet with one arm, I pressed my palm against my chest where my heart was truly losing it. Sally cleared her throat, and I briefly glanced at her to see her raised brows and the expectant look on her face. “Oh, I’m sorry. I should introduce you guys. Sally, Owen, this is Jack. Jack, Sally and Owen.” My attention was still on the roses when I heard Jack’s gravelly voice as he introduced himself.
“Rose’s husband,” he said, extending his hand first to Sally and then to Owen. Goose bumps covered my arms, both because of the tone of his voice and the word itself. Husband. My husband.
“Yes, sorry. Jack is my husband.”
“Husband?” Sally blurted out in a slightly raised voice. “You’re married? You never said anything!” She grabbed my hand and inspected my naked ring finger. “No ring?”
I inwardly winced and sent an apologetic look Jack’s way, but he had his hands in his pockets and his eyes were on the food, his expression completely unreadable as always.