Wren and Madeline were up early to spend some time before each goes to work. They were sitting on the bed, fully clothed except for Wren who was wearing her yesterday's clothes but left her shirt unbuttoned. They were drinking their coffee silently but at the same time enjoying not only the coffee but their company and the warmth of their bodies.
"I'm glad I could use my legs after last night." said Wren putting the mug on the bedside table and turning to Madeline who giggled softly. "I'm serious." She chuckled.
"I can see that very well. You're being deadly serious." she said sarcastically pointing at Wren's supposedly serious face.
She smiled more at her. "Alright, I can't pull my serious work face when I'm with you."
"Mmm, I'm not really sure about that. When I worked for you, you were all about seriousness. You used to scare me sometimes because you were so... unexpected."
"I did?"
"Mm-hmm." She sipped her last drops and put her mug aside as well. "You barely smiled at me or anyone except for... when we got closer to each other and then our relationship grew more from friends to boss and employee kind of involved in a secret relationship." She smiled.
"We weren't kind of involved, we were involved." She confirmed. "Did you ever, uh, wanted to kill your boss? Kill me maybe?"
She groaned. "At times, yes! Especially my first day there when you asked for a coffee. You were horrible, you even didn't say thank you or anything."
"Thank you." she said smugly and gave her a peck. "And I think last night you got your sweet little vengeance on me."
"Still! You owe me a lot."
"I know" She cupped Madeline's cheeks gently and gave her a soft kiss before dragging her lips up to the forehead and pecking it, showing her affection towards her. "I hope I'll see you today. I'll give you a call."
Madeline nodded with a smile across her face and Wren stood up, buttoning up her shirt and took her jacket tossing it over her shoulder before leaving the house.
..............................................
Two hours later, Madeline arrived at her work and then Eva reminded her that all four of them need to go and check out the bridesmaids' dresses. She agreed and called Emily while Eva called Monique. Only three arrived at the boutique, Monique, Eva and Madeline.
"Where is Emily?" asked Monique and they both shrugged.
"She is probably on her way." said Madeline and Eva pulled out her phone and started dialing Emily.
"She isn't answering her phone" said Eva, shaking her head. "I'm gonna try again."
Meanwhile at Wren's office, Emily entered with the phone in her hand, hanging up on Eva's call. Wren put the pen down and looked at her while Emily was shifting from one foot to another.
"What do you want now?" asked Wren, giving Emily a quick glance before returning her eyes back on the laptop.
"I need to go with Eva and the rest."
"Go where?"
"To the boutique."
Wren sighed and was about to refuse but Emily cut her off and she realized why Wren looked so emotionally tired today but she ignored opening up the topic. "I know, I know. I have work to do but they need me too. It's Eva's wedding and I'm one of her bridesmaids, I'm supposed to be there for her."
Wren ran a hand across her face then muttered. "Okay."
"What?"
"You may go."
She grinned. "Thanks! I'll make it up to you. I'll work extra hours if you want."
"I don't want anything; just go before I could change my mind."
"Okay. By the way did you choose anyone?"
"No," She shook her head. "I read 10 and they are a no go for me. When should you be back?"
"Like in an hour or something."
She nodded. "Then go!"
"Right! Bye!"
After she left, Wren grabbed the phone and started calling someone who knew her very well and knew what she wanted today.
"Hello, miss Wren. I've got what you want. Do you want the usual or do you want something new?"
"The same as every time."
"Alright. I'll go organize it for you and you can come over whenever you want and pick it up."
"Thank you."
She hung up and took a deep breath, closing her eyes then rested her palms against the desk before proceeding her work.
...............................................
At the boutique, Emily arrived in 15 minutes and she entered breathless and spotted her group.
"Sorry, sorry but Wren almost didn't release me."
"It's okay. You aren't late." said Eva giving her a reassuring smile. "Shall we start?"
"Yes!" They said in unison.
10 minutes later, Madeline entered the fitting room while Monique, Emily and Eva were waiting for her outside and they were having a conversation about the wedding planner who was a friend of Monique.
"Will Wren wear a dress?" asked Eva and they chuckled.
"No, never," said Monique. "She hates girly clothes and she'll kill you if you offered a dress to her. And I for one think she looks great in suits and not dresses."
Eva turned to Emily. "Where is she? Why didn't you bring her with you? We could've gone to a men's clothing store or something for her if she doesn't like dresses."
"Uh, she is busy today. I'm glad she let me out today."
Eva pulled out her phone "I'll call her and bring her with us."
"No!" said Emily snatching the phone from her. "Don't call her today." She mumbled quietly. "At least not today. She's very busy."
Eva rolled her eyes sighing heavily. "Alright, got it. She is busy, busy."
Monique gave Emily a knowing look but Eva had no clue on what was going on. Madeline heard the conversation, feeling curious on why no one should call her today. Especially today. She poked her head out of the door, looking at Emily.
"Emily... could you come and help me with the dress?"
She nodded at her and got up from her place, entering the fitting room with her.
"Zip my dress."
Madeline moved her hair to the side to help her with the zipping then turned to Emily with a curious look on her face while Emily's eyes were at the dress, adjusting it with her hands.
"What's this all about? Why 'today' no one calls Wren?"
Emily looked at her with a sad smile. "Today was her mother's birthday and she doesn't want anyone bothering her and she is a bit moody." She sighed. "Right before I left, I heard her call the florist. She's going to visit her grave after work. She does that every time, but don't worry... I'm pretty sure if you called her she would pick up." She gave her a reassuring smile and touched her shoulder.
"I won't call her. I'll give her some time alone because I know she needs it and this morning she said she'll call me so... I'm not worried about her."
She smiled at Emily who gave her a firm nod and completed modifying the dress.
Madeline came out of the fitting room and posed with the dress a few times, earning an 'wows' and 'ohs' from the others. Eva turned to them and said. "Should we go for the dresses or not?"
"It's your wedding." said Monique.
"Then yes, okay. We'll take them." said Eva enthusiastically, clapping her hands while the other laughed at her.
.........................................
Wren parked her car outside the cemetery and grabbed the bouquet of lilies as she was getting out of her car. Her eyes wandered at the place and spotted her father's car from a distance. She smiled as her feet were carrying her to her mother's grave and she saw her father, having the same bouquet as her.
"Hey, dad." she said and he turned around surprised at first but then he gave her a warm smile and opened his arms for her, for a side hug.
"I see you got her the same." he said squeezing her arm.
"Her favorites." She chuckled softly and he joined her.
"Yes, they were. You know, she not only loved the lilies, she loved small brown birds. That's why she called you Wren." She turned to him confused. "You never wondered why she called you Wren?" She shook her head.
"Wren, your name means a small brown songbird. She loved birds so much and used to hum whenever she heard them outside her window chirping in the early morning and when you were born, she chose the name and luckily for us, you have a brown hair and brown eyes like the bird." He chuckled and she looked down at her mother's grave smiling with watery eyes.
"I didn't know that."
"Of course you didn't. No one told you that story. We kept it a secret." he joked earning a smile from her. They placed down the bouquets on the grave and he put his hands in his coat pocket. "Come with me, I wanna show you something."
She followed him to his car as he opened the passenger door, extracting a wooden box from the glove compartment.
"I found this box when I was cleaning the attic. It belonged to your mother and you. There are a lot of memorable stuff inside it that you'll love."
He patted her shoulders with a smile then got inside the car, leaving her staring at the box with a smile across her lips.
..........................................
Madeline was in her car, clutching the steering wheel and her eyes were aimed forward at Wren's house. The house's lights were on and Wren's car was parked outside her garage in the driveway. She wanted to go in and check on Wren, but Emily's words made her a bit conflicted. Should she go in or not? She knew Wren when she was upset especially when it comes to her mother, she loves to be alone, usually with a drink in her hand but not anymore. Madeline closed her eyes and sighed heavily, leaving the steering wheel and covering her face then looked again at the house.
"Screw this... I'm going in." She muttered under her breath.
She stepped out of the car and walked to the front door with the keys jangling in her hand as she took a deep breath, hoping Wren would let her in, not just in the house but in her heart.
She inserted the key and turned the door knob, poking her head inside first then entered closing the door behind her quietly.
"Wren." She called out her name but Wren didn't hear her.
Madeline walked to the living room and found Wren sitting on the couch with a wooden box in her hand and some pictures were scattered beside her on the couch.
"Wren." she said softly and Wren met her eyes with a smile.
"Hey." said Wren.
"Hey." She whispered with a hesitant smile.
"Come here." She motioned with her hand and patted the spot beside her on the couch and Madeline walked to her and sat.
"What are you doing?" asked Madeline looking at Wren's eyes first before looking at the box on her lap that was full of stuff.
"Umm, my dad gave me this box today and it has a lot of stuff that I forgot about my whole life after my mom's death."
She hooked an arm around hers and took a picture from the box, showing Wren when she was at the age of five, with medium length hair and wearing a dress and her mom was standing behind her, holding her hands, raising them up and they were both smiling in the picture.
"Okay, that's so embarrassing." Wren, chuckled covering her mouth.
"No, it's not. It's cute."
"With the long hair and dress? I don't think so."
Madeline chuckled pointing at Wren's baby teeth. "Look at those teeth."
"Yep." She chuckled nervously. "Today was her birthday." Madeline tore her eyes from the picture and locked eyes with Wren. "I visited her grave today and that's how I met my dad and ended up winning the box of the year."
Madeline's hand reached out for Wren's and gave it a light squeeze as she continued. "It's just... this box has so many things like..." She looked through the box and extracted a feather pen. "Like this... She used to write down her diary using this and I remember it clearly because I watched her do it every night and..." She pulled out a paper with lyrics on it. "She wrote down this song for me with this pen. My mom wrote it for me and it's about a little bird called Wren."
"Because Wren means a brown songbird." She continued for her and Wren grinned, nodding her head.
"I didn't know what my name even means and why she wrote the song in the first place, but I'm sure of one thing... that I loved the song and it made me sleep whenever she lullabied it to me."
"I think you should frame it or put it somewhere special because things like these needs to be preserved."
"I'll do that." She turned back to the box, pulling out a silver thin rolo chain and another picture of her when she was thirteen wearing a cap and purple hoodie and her hair was shorter than the previous picture.
Madeline gasped and her eyes grew wide at the picture. "Oh, I like that pic." said Madeline putting her hand on Wren's shoulder. "I'm guessing you were like 12."
"Close."
"Fourteen?"
"Get back one step."
"Thirteen!"
"Yeah. I was wearing this necklace. My mom bought it to me on my 13th birthday. At that time my style changed a bit from girly to boyish and I started embracing myself and she knew what I liked so she bought it to me and I wore it then I think or thought that I lost it... but here it is, right in my hand and it was in the box the whole time."
"I like the photo though. Can I take it with me?"
Wren laughed with Madeline and nodded at her, handing her the photo. "What are you gonna do with it, anyway? Show it to your friends?"
She shrugged. "Maybe. I'll just frame it and put it on my desk or in my wallet. I'll figure it out somehow."
"You know... if my mom was still alive, I'm sure she would have loved you as much as I do." She played with the necklace in her hand with her eyes on it then Madeline's hand covered hers, feeling moved by her words. She took the necklace from her, looking at Wren who was smiling at her. "What?"
She didn't answer her but snaked her arms behind her neck and clasped the necklace around her neck while Wren was just looking and piercing at Madeline's eyes the whole time till she finished wrapping it.
"There you go." she said grinning at her. "Looks perfect on you and it's totally your style."
Wren looked at the chain that she was wearing and beamed at Madeline, giving her a small smile and then pulled Madeline in a warm embrace and whispering 'thank you' in her ear before pulling away and cupping her face for a lingering kiss.
They spent their night together, watching some old photos of Wren and her mother, bringing up the memories of her back to life from under the grave and Wren was sharing with her glimpses of her wistful memories that she had with her mother and by that Madeline got to know Wren better, better than ever and every second she spent with her she fell in love with her over and over again.