A Cornish Affair

Tweets and Flowers

Rosie had been having one of those mornings where she actually wondered if it had been English coming from her mouth and not some alien language the children hadn't understood. Their ability to follow simple instructions had vanished. She was incredibly glad when the bell rang to tell everyone it was lunchtime.

Rosie had stayed at her desk to begin marking English books, but she suddenly became aware of a commotion out in the corridor. Looking up she saw Sally entering the classroom with a beautiful bouquet of cream, white and pink roses, tied together with a green twine.

"Somebody is a lucky girl!" Sally smiled as she handed the bouquet to Rosie. "Roses for Rosie! Have you been arguing with your boyfriend?"

Rosie was too shocked at that moment to realise how cheeky Sally was actually being, but simply answered, "I wouldn't call it an argument no." She looked at the flowers and searched for the small envelope. This was so unlike Lee. She really must have hit a nerve with him last night. Rosie laid the flowers down and took the card out. She read the words in her head, luckily!

Sorry for embarrassing you yesterday. What were the chances of it being your school I visited? Sheer luck! It was great to see you again.

Ricky (Rick)

A grin grew and spread wide across Rosie's face. "It's from..." she said excitedly, then checked herself, "It's from Lee, my boyfriend. We were arguing about DIY last night," she lied. "He's just apologising."

Sally gave a sympathetic smile. "Are you two still not married yet? He's taking his time isn't he!" Sally wrinkled her nose at Rosie, turned and left the room.

Childishly, Rosie stuck out her tongue as the door came to a close behind Sally, then immediately turned her attention back to the card. Pushing the English books out of the way, she read the card again, line by line.

Sorry for embarrassing you. Well he must have seen how pink her cheeks were. But he was sorry for making her feel like that. It was kind of him to apologise.

What were the chances of it being your school I visited? Well yes, that was pretty unbelievable. Of all the schools in all the world and all that. Was it fate? Hannah was a believer in fate. A greater being up above, directing us all to certain places at certain times to seal our destinies. She'd come back to that line!

Sheer luck! Did that mean it was good luck? Luck implied it was a chance meeting. That's a link back to fate again surely.

It was great to see you again. Well that sentence was obvious wasn't it. He was glad he'd got to see her again. In which way had it been great though? They'd said little to each other, time and circumstance not allowing it. Why would Ricky, a man (now she knew who he was) who must see so many people everyday in some wonderful and weird places, think seeing her was great?

Rosie read the whole thing again. She put it down on the desk, then picked up her phone and tapped to the message app and began to write to the girls. But then she stopped. Did she really want to tell Hannah, who would only say Rosie shouldn't have accepted them? Clair and Tina would be excited. Rosie swiped away the app and looked at the flowers.

Taking them over to the art area, she filled the sink and placed the flowers in the water. She breathed out loudly, her hands on her hips. Now what? Her first thought was that she should say thank you for the flowers. That was easier said than done though. She knew nothing about him. If she thought about it she could probably think of one or two of the songs he sang with his band. Rosie headed back to her desk, picked up her pen and grabbed an English book. She looked at the name on the front. Ruby's book. Really? That was one of theirs. She smiled and began humming the song to herself as she ticked the answers to grammar questions on fronted adverbial. Yes, she must say thank you. But how would take some thinking about.
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