Lunchtime Crush

Chapter 1

The message made me roll my eyes; it seemed he'd forgotten that at the end of the movie "Benjamin Button," Brad Pitt was a confused little boy, and who wants that in a significant other? He obviously wasn't viewing this relationship from a "long-term" perspective, which was probably why he'd signed off with "hugs" instead of "love."

"Hey Anna," I said, "imagine if it was April Fool's Day, and we changed all the messages as a joke; wouldn't that be funny?"

Anna looked up from the flowers and frowned. "I'm not sure 'funny' is the word you're looking for, given that it would sabotage the business."

During her achingly rational response, I'd highlighted the entire message, a message I should've already sent to the printer. "People need to grow a sense of humour," I said.

"Most people don't celebrate April Fool's Day," Anna countered. "And besides, can you imagine the Yelp reviews we'd get?" Anna shuddered before returning to arranging the bouquet.

Meanwhile I'd deleted the entire message, and was now typing in something new. I read it aloud as I typed: "Dear 'babe,' I didn't get you roses because we're not that serious." Anna looked up with bulging eyes as I continued to read. "I mean, it's always awkward when a birthday comes along for someone you're seeing casually." Anna rushed over to see if this was actually happening. It was. "You pretend like I'm not supposed to get you anything, but I'm no fool. So here's an assortment of blooms. Bye." I finally acknowledged Anna's freak-out and smiled. "Should I print it?"

Before I could print the message of doom, Anna literally pushed me out of the way. As I soaked in the reality of being manhandled by my assistant, she'd already restored the original message and sent it to print. She sighed in relief, as I leaned against the counter, slowly coming to terms with the fact that...maybe my breakup had messed me up a lot more than I'd realized.

"I think you need a break," Anna said.

I shook my head. "No, it isn't break time yet."

"I'm just saying...an extra-long lunch would do you good." She smiled like she was holding in a secret, before grabbing the nearby broom. Before she could begin her usual routine of sweeping, I blocked her path.

"Hand it over," I said. "I'll do the sweeping today."

Anna couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Uhh...okay."

I took the broom and got to work, hoping the rhythmic motion would be a good distraction. Within five minutes I discovered that yes, I was distracted, but only because I was ranting in my head about how boring sweeping was, and how annoying it was when the sticky petals would resist the bristles of the broom. As I stood there vowing to always force Anna to sweep from here on out, the door jingled open and I was rescued from my madness.

I looked up and smiled to greet the customer, but instead of a customer I found my best friend Penny, with a duffle bag slung over her shoulder.

"Happy Thursday!"

Penny had a way of entering every room with a boundless energy and airy confidence. Maybe it was her fiery red hair that made her bold, or maybe it was the fact that she was a really positive person. Either way, her "dealing with life" game was tight.

I set the broom aside and sighed. "Hey Penny."

She rushed over to me. "So how's your day? How's business? What's new?"

"You mean...since you saw me three hours ago?" Penned nodded in confirmation. "Oh you know," I said, "just taking over the world one petunia at a time."

Penny shook her head at Anna and laughed. "This girl..." And then, without any warning, she grabbed my arm. "Let's go for coffee."

"What?" I tried to resist but she dragged me along. "But it's not even lunch time yet!"