Chapter Twenty-Seven: Flowers
Lincoln
I called out of work for the first time in two years.
I've been staring at the ceiling for four hours now, an empty bottle of scotch beside me on the nightstand. My head is pounding, and my eyes are stinging, and all I can think about is what an actual idiot I am.
My jealousy got to me too much. Sienna claimed from day one that she just wanted this to be sex, nothing more, so why did I have the right to be angry? I knew what this was when I started it. In fact, this is what I wanted at some point too, but everything is so confusing now. I want more with her, and if this thing between us hadn't ended four nights ago, it would have ended sooner or later. She doesn't reciprocate the feelings that I have, and I have to respect that.
Plus, if Reed was telling the truth, and her psychotic ex is in fact keeping tabs on her, I'm not going to put her in danger if she doesn't care for me, too. She will be safer now that I ended things, and if her ex is still following her and follows her all the way to Europe while I'm trying to gain information, he won't stand a chance. My security followed her there, too, and at the first sign of danger, they'll take the man down in a heartbeat.
I don't even feel like getting out of bed. Even if I were to go to the office, I'd be asked questions I don't know the answers to. Am I still in business with Stone Media, or did Sienna already try to destroy the contract? It wouldn't surprise me. I deserve it.
Letting out a groan, I roll on my stomach and press my face into the pillow just as I hear the elevator doors to my condo open. At first, I think it's Sienna, so I throw the comforter off of me and race out into the living room in just my briefs, but my chest deflates when Margo strides in with a brown paper bag clutched in her hands. "Well," she huffs, "I brought you soup assuming that you were sick, but you look just fine." She looks around at the mess of the condo, at the Chinese containers Sienna and I shared four days ago, to the Harry Potter dvd's on the coffee table and scrunches her nose up. "What the hell happened?"
"It's a long story," I grumble. "I'll be back next week. I needed to take a few days off."
She gathers up the containers and tosses them into the trash can by the fridge in the kitchen, letting out a sigh. "Sienna needs to know if it's a go for the blueprints."
My eyes shoot up to hers. "When did she ask you this?"
"This morning." She narrows her eyes, growing suspicious. "Why? Should she not have?"
"No, I just—" I run my hand through my hair and sit down on the couch. "Shit. I fucked up, Margo."
Realizing she's in for a long conversation, she slips her heels off and takes a seat beside me, resting her head on my shoulder. When she's not in work mode, she's a great friend, and I know she'll separate the two once I tell her what I did, even though she'll probably want to kill me for tampering with the contract. "Lay it on me," she says with a sigh. "What'd you do?"
I go into detail about everything, not leaving out any parts except for the possible psycho ex since that's not verified yet, and once I'm finished, I fumble with my thumbs in my lap, avoiding eye contact in case she lights into me.
It takes a couple of seconds, but she finally says, "You let your ego get too much to you, Linc. You got your feelings hurt, so you just ended things before you were able to let her digest how you felt. If she's had a rough past like you said, you can't just spring things on her like that, and she even told you that she knew there was something more between you both than just sex, yet you still decided to end it?"
I can't tell her about the potential psycho ex, even though I want to. She's right about everything else, but at the time, I thought I was ending things more for her safety. Was I self-sabotaging? I got hurt, so I ended things before I could get hurt even more?
Fucking hell.
"So what do I do? How do I fix it? I have no clue how long she's in Europe for. I haven't ever had to make up from a fight with a woman, so I have no idea where to begin. She blocked my fucking number."
"Because you told her you needed space," Margo snaps.
I flinch. "Thanks for reminding me."
"Lincoln, women aren't that complicated, okay? Just wait for her to get back to talk things through, or if you can't wait that long, send her some flowers and tell her how you honestly feel. An I love you and I'm sorry I was wrong can go a long way."
"I love you? I-I don't love her. I care for her, but I don't—"
Margo sighs and rises to her feet, patting me on the shoulder. "Such a man. Naive to his feelings. You're so dumb, but also, maybe it's best to keep that information to yourself for now if she has a rough past like you said. Take it slow, and wait for the right moment. Now I gotta get back to the office since you wanted to fake sick. I'll check back in later."
"Wait," I call out to her when she's almost past the kitchen, "can I at least have the soup?"
She smirks and crumples the paper bag, revealing to me that it's empty. "I know you better than anyone, Linc. You have the immune system of a bull. I knew you were faking before I left the office."
"Then why come over?"
She smiles softly, that sarcastic wall fading away. "To make sure you were okay. I knew you were heartbroken from the sound of your voice this morning." She wrinkles her nose up again. "Also, you need to shower. Please do everyone a favor and do so before returning to the office."
Ah, there's the Margo I know and love.
***
I didn't know how close Sienna really was to Carmen and Riley until I walked into their flower shop later that afternoon.
Riley looks up from the computer at the desk, narrowing her eyes slightly just as Carmen walks out of the back room. They both look like they want to kill me, so I'm assuming they know everything.
"Get out," Carmen sneers.
"Even if I'm about to bring you business?" I ask.
Carmen scoffs and opens up a planner on top of the desk. "Trust me when I say we don't need your business, Lincoln. We're fine."
I step closer and tug out my wallet, arching a brow. "What if I want to send your best friend a hefty bouquet of flowers?"
Riley looks at me again and clears her throat as Carmen continues to write in her planner, ignoring me. "It's probably best if you use one of those flower services. Flowers won't make it all the way to Europe in one piece if you ship them."
I shrug and take out my card. "It'll mean more if it comes from your shop. I don't think the condition of the flowers matter."
Carmen slaps the planner shut and slams the pen she's holding on top of it. "Flashing your money isn't doing shit for us, Lincoln. Parading around and sending flowers is a shitty apology. Now get out."
Letting out a sigh, realizing just how hard making them forgive me will be, I rest my elbows on top of their desk and say, "I fucked up, alright? I don't know how much she told you, but I fucked up, and all I want to do is make it up to her. I can't sleep, I can't eat, I can't do a damn thing without this fucking pit in my stomach from missing your best friend so damn much. Can you please help me send her the biggest arrangement you can possibly create? I will pay anything. Name your price."
Riley's eyes soften, glancing over at Carmen to wait for her reaction. I'm holding my breath, waiting for forgiveness, and finally, Carmen rolls her eyes and waves her hand at the computer. "I'm charging you for the most expensive roses we have."
I release a sigh of relief. "Thank you." The first step of this apology was to get her friend's forgiveness as well. If I don't have theirs, I won't have Sienna's, and although they aren't completely won over yet, I'm going to work on it. I'll earn their respect back eventually.
Carmen walks to the back room without another word to me, and when it's just Riley and I alone, she sends me a soft smile. "She's going to love the flowers."
"Is that sarcasm?" I know Sienna. I know she probably hates cheesy shit like this.
"No. As much as girls say they hate flowers, it's always nice to get them. To know that someone was thinking of you." She blinks away tears suddenly and moves her eyes away from mine to stare at the screen.
"When was the last time you received flowers?" I ask.
She laughs, a sad one. "Not since my last girlfriend. That was a few years ago. Unfortunately, I don't have as much luck in my love life as Carmen and Sienna."
"And why do you think that is?"
"I don't know." She shrugs and picks up a pen to write something down in the planner that Carmen was using a few minutes ago. "I'm really shy, so first dates for me are awkward. I never know what to say, and most of the time the dates that I do have are awkward, too. It's always a lot of silence and never a lot of kissing."
This upsets me because Riley is a sweet soul. I could tell the first time I met her. She may be shy, but she's kind, and I know she'd treat her partner with the utmost respect. She's beautiful too. Tall, bright green eyes, distinct cheekbones and a round face that suits her. She'd be a knockout for any woman.
In fact, I think I might just know a woman who's crazy enough to make up for Riley's lack of it.
I watch as she types more on the computer for a few minutes, then she slides over a receipt to me. I sign it, not even looking at the price as she hands me back my card.
"The flowers should be ready for pickup later today," she says. "Thank you."
"Oh, would you mind dropping them off at my office building? I have meetings this afternoon that I don't think I'll be able to get away from. I can pay for delivery." I'm a liar, I don't have meetings, but I'm also playing matchmaker, and in order to be a matchmaker, I have to lie today.
"Um, sure. Carmen is busy with online orders today, but I can find some time to bring them by."
I smile a wide-toothed grin at her and tap my hand on the desk. "That's perfect." I turn for the door, then she clears her throat.
"Who do I bring them to?"
"Margo," I say. "She works the front desk. Trust me when I say you won't be able to miss her."