Flowers for you

Sunflower

"Are you sure you're okay?" Jasper asked for the 10th time now since we left that old barn shed. I respond the same way with a small nod. Not convincing.

We stopped at the front lawn of my house and I stare at the empty building. There were no lights except for the light at the front step which was set on a timer. I could hear Spot barking inside. He already senses I am near. This makes me smile a little. What did we do to deserve dogs?

Jasper remains standing by his motorbike, hands crossed against his chest. He was still not dropping the issue. After I had found that note and almost ran out of there, there really was no time to talk about it. Not that I wanted to. Something didn't feel right, but I could not finish the puzzle that has formed in my head. What was I not seeing?

"Hey...," he says and when I turn to him, I am caught of guard by the emotion in his eyes. It was something I would have never expected to see. Especially in Jasper.

"I know you're scared," he says quietly, looking away from me now and I wonder if he is trying to recall what had happened to him all those years ago. I didn't want him to reopen old wounds. Especially since he was much younger than me then. He was probably 11 or 12 when he had received the first delivery of flowers. And his sister. Something inside me feels like it's being crushed. Oh god, I wonder how old she was? And how afraid she must have been.

"But- you're not alone in this," he still doesn't make eye contact and it tears me apart knowing that he had been alone. Without thinking, I go over to him and wrap my arms around him, wanting to tell him that he was not alone too. That I hope, even if its late, that I could bring him some comfort. He tenses under my touch and for a moment I think it is a bad idea. But then he relaxes, and we find ourselves in that position for a long time.

When it is finally time to say good bye, he waits until I get inside the front door before leaving. I watch him go with a little comfort knowing he was just a couple of houses away from where I was. After I fed Spot, I went to my room to try and ease my nerves about the whole event at the barn. It was terrifying to know Jasmine's captor was just watching me. Was that person watching me now? I shivered at the thought, tempted to ask Jasper to come and sleep over again. But that wouldn't be right. Instead, I try calling my boyfriend. His comment earlier had made me paranoid.

He answers on the third ring.

At first, I hear only muffled sounds. He was talking to someone, but I can't hear the other person's response before I hear a door slamming and then it was quiet.

"Hey, babe," he says.

I lie on my bed. "Hey, just wanted to check up on you."

"Shouldn't I be checking up on you?" he asks with a slight laughter in his voice. It calms my nerves. Nothing is wrong.

"Yeah, definitely. When are you coming back from that trip?"

"Sooner than you think." He says this with a mild ominous tone, making me think he was up to something. He had always been good at planning surprises. He always planned our dates. I guess it made me feel like I had some sort of control over my life that way. Like I could schedule everything into one whole day. He could.

"What's up, by the way?" he asks, and I feel myself thinking if I should tell him about the flowers or not. I decided not to. He doesn't need to get worked up about this. But he is my boyfriend? And his family is well known...he could have lawyers that could help. I bite my lip, weighing my options.

"Pat?" His voice sounds worried now and I sigh into the phone.

"Nothing, I just miss you and...I'm afraid of sleeping tonight because I'm alone," I tell him, smiling at how foolish I sounded.