Attraction

17.

As I clock into work I spot Jessie who's smiling happily, she walks over to me as her blonde ponytail sways behind her. She seems in an extremely good mood today, even more so than usual.

"It's so good to see you!" She says as she fills the coffee pot with water.

"How are you?" I smile at her and debate if I should mention my recent intimate moments with Paul or not- I'll probably save that for another time if I ever say anything at all about it.

"Things are going really great. My mom flew in from out of state so she's here visiting- Paul and I are doing awesome. He finally asked me to be his girlfriend but it was in the sweetest way" My words stream out as I grab a plate of food and take it out to the table it's assigned to. I walk back to the counter with Jessie.

"How did he ask you?!" She seems eager to hear my reply. She quickly takes a coffee mug and fills it before gently handing it to a customer at the counter.

"He took me to the forest and he lit some candles..." I trail off in my thoughts as I smile to myself. "Jessie he's amazing"

"That is so sweet! Wow, talk about romantic" She twirls a lock of her hair around her finger for a moment.

"What about you and Liam?" I ask her curiously, her eyes light up as I mention his name.

"I think I'm really falling for him, we had breakfast this morning and then- well, we hooked up before I came into work" She whispers the last part to me before I gasp and walk to my section to see if any of the customers at one of the tables needed any refills.
I walk back to Jessie after I finish filling up their drinks.

"You guys hooked up?" I repeat the words to her and she nods quickly, her eyes are wide and full of excitement.

"Yes, twice! I'm so serious, he's the sweetest guy I've met in so long. I can really see this going somewhere" She adds. After work, Jessie and I clock out together and we walk to our cars.

"Have a good rest of your night, Willow. I'll text you tomorrow" Jessie gives me a friendly smile as she unlocks her car door.

"Bye, Jessie!"

I drive over to my apartment and I walk up the stairs to my apartment door, there sits a dahlia flower on the welcome mat in front of my door. A smile spreads across my face and I pick it up as I walk inside my apartment, how much more thoughtful could Paul get? I decide to call him and tell him thank you, after a few rings he answers.

"Hey, gorgeous" He greets, I am swooning over his voice, he really is charming.

"Paul that's so sweet of you, thank you for the flower. I love dahlias" I say as I set the flower down on my dinning room table, there's a silence on the other end for a moment. "What?"

"The flower you left for me at my apartment, I wanted to call and tell you thank you" I repeat with a feathery laugh.

"Oh, um, I didn't leave you any flowers-" Paul admits, I furrow my brows and turn to look at the dahlia on my table.
"You didn't?"

"No, I'm sorry. Are you okay?"

"Yeah" I respond quietly, not feeling okay at all now. This feels strange.

"You don't sound okay. What are you thinking about?" He asks, I take a seat on my couch.

"I'm fine" I try to sound reassuring and I force a smile. "I'm just being my usual paranoid self. I'm sure someone just dropped it from a bouquet as they were walking by or something." Seems logical enough.

  "Do you want me to come over?" He asks. I get up from my couch and double check the windows to make sure they're locked, next I check the front door.
"Willow?"