February 14th,
On Valentine's Day, Nova sat behind the cash register in the flower shop with a bad mood. Today she had already sold hundreds of flowers surrounded by happy couples.
"Nova don't look so sad, chica" her mother Maria told her.
But she just rolled her eyes, "I'd really like to go home Ma, do you still need help?"
Her mother sighed, "Could you stay one more hour, please?"
Nova nodded and went into the storage room where her sister Adriana was sitting with her husband Johnny. They both made bouquets while flirting with each other.
Her sister smiled at her, and when Nova saw a box of chocolates at the table, she got cravings, "Can I have some?" she asked her sister with a grin.
"Sure" she replied.
Nova took the chocolates and after almost eating the whole box, her brother-in-law started talking, "And Nova, what are you doing today?"
She glared at him annoyed, "Very funny, Johnny"
She had no problem with him, in fact she got along very well with her sister and her husband, they were like second parents to Nova.
But today she was just in a bad mood. It was Valentine's Day and she was single. She no longer pursued her original plan to get her ex Jake back, since he already had a new girlfriend. And even better, two weeks ago she found out that he had cheated on Nova during the relationship with that new girlfriend. So yeah, Nova spent the last few weeks crying and watching the same tv-series over and over again.
"You can come home with us if you like, the kids would be happy. You know they love you" her sister told her with a smile.
Nova loves her sister's kids. There was 10 year old Gianna, and the 8-year old twins Mateo and Emma. And they are the nicest kids Nova knows. But still she doesn't want to spend Valentine's Day with her nieces and nephew.
"Thank you for the offer, but I wanna stay home today" Nova replied.
The three talked about family while preparing more bouquets until their mother called Nova. She grabbed the box of chocolates and went back to the front.
"Yes Ma?"
"I have to tell you something. When Pa was cutting the hedges recently, he noticed that we have a new neighbor. We invited him straight away. And oh my god, you won't believe me, he's perfect for you. A 30 year old doctor who is handsome and extremely polite and courteous. I told him that I would like to introduce him to my daughter" Nova's mother Maria told her.
"What? Why would you do that?" she asked her mother.
"I- uh I thought you'd like to meet him? He's so nice, you know? And he's single. He has the whole big house to himself, imagine you fall in love and you can move in with him - then we would be neighbors!"
"Ma please stop matchmaking me. That's really embarrassing"
"But baby, I'm just worried about you. Ever since that happened with Jake you've been so sad, I just don't want you to be alone, you know?" her mother sad with a sigh.
"I'm not alone, I have you guys, and Katie. That's all I need" she told her mother honestly. Nova loves her family, and her best friend Katie.
"Okay, Chica, I just want you to be happy" her Ma replied with a smile and hugged her.
Almost an hour later, just before Nova wanted to leave, the door to the shop opened again. She sighed softly and decided to talk to that one more customer before she would go home.
While the customer was looking around, Nova filled out a list next to the cash register and therefore didn't notice how the man came up to her and put a bouquet on the counter.
"Sorry sir, I'll be right there for you," she said politely.
"Thank you, Nova" the man then said. Nova furrowed her brows in confusion, she knew that voice - and he knew her name. When she looked up, she saw Javier standing in front of her.
"Oh, Hi Javier!" she said kindly, smiling at him.
"Hi Nova, nice to see you again"
"Likewise" she replied, still smiling.
But her smile quickly dropped when she saw he had put flowers on the counter. He buys flowers for someone in her shop? That's kinda rude.
"Do you need anything else?" she asked while pressing the buttons on the register.
"Um actually, I wanted to talk to you first" he then said.
"Okay? What's up?" she asked and then noticed how her mother looked at them curiously.
Before Javier could speak, Nova went first, "Let's talk outside, yeah?"
They left the shop and Nova closed the door behind her.
"How are you?" he asked, noticing that she looked quite exhausted. And Nova was quite uncomfortable with that. She stood in front of him in sweatpants and an oversized hoodie. Had no makeup and her hair was a disaster.
"I'm okay Javier, and you?"
"I'm fine. But I was wondering why you didn't text me today?"
She stared at him with wide eyes. On New Year's Eve she wasn't even sure if he was serious about the date on Valentine's Day.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I've been really busy lately. And I was so stressed with medical school. I'm sorry" she replied.
But that wasn't the whole truth. She had actually thought about texting him, but on the one hand she didn't know if he was serious at all, and on the other hand she didn't want to annoy him. Because for the last few weeks, she was a mess. Did nothing but cry and lie in bed.
"Oh okay, so I guess you met someone?" he then asked, a bit disappointed.
"No, I didn't" she replied. "And you?" she added curiously.
Javier let out a small chuckle, "No, I told you I don't want to meet anyone else right now"
Nova nodded and looked down, "Well, uh, and the flowers?"
"They're for you"
"What?" Nova asked surprised, feeling herself blush, "You really don't need to get me flowers, Javier"
"But I want to, I mean, it's Valentine's Day"
"Oh, uh, thank you. But I can't accept them, I don't have a present for you" she replied, a bit embarrassed.
"Oh, don't worry, I don't need a present, I just want you to go out with me again today. You know, as a Holidate" he explained with a grin.
"I mean, I like spending time with you, but I really don't like Valentine's day, you know?"
"We can do whatever you want, Nova. I just don't wanna walk around town alone among all the couples" he told her with a smirk.
"Okay, well, to be honest, I'm a bit hungry. I was about to leave anyway, maybe we could get something to eat?" she suggested.
"Yes, sure. Where'd you wanna go?"
"Oh, ah, maybe only take away stuff? I wouldn't really like to sit down in a restaurant with these clothes" Nova explained.
And so they found themselves in a parking lot with two pizza boxes an hour later. Meanwhile it started to pour and Nova was glad that it was quite warm and cozy in his car.
"i think the top one is yours" she murmured as she opened the box. And when she saw the pizza she started to chuckle.
"What?" he asked confused. She picked up the box and showed him the heart-shaped pizza.
Javier let out a small chuckle, "Well, I didn't imagine spending Valentine's Day like this, but I like it"
"Yeah, me too. Thank you for the pizza" she replied with a smile.
After the two had eaten some of their pizza, Javier started talking again, "What have you been up to in the last six weeks?"
"Well, apart from work and med school, not much to be honest," she replied. She decided to skip the part about her ex-boyfriend.
"And you?" she asked back.
"Yeah, same. Work and spend a lot of time with my friends, you know, the ones from New Years Eve"
"Oh, yes. They were really nice. I liked talking to them"
"They asked about you. A lot"
"Really? Why?"
"I guess they also enjoyed spending time with you"
Nova felt herself blush again. Shit, why does this always happen?
She hadn't even gotten over the break up and cheating from her ex, so she doesn't want to be disappointed by anyone again. That's why she decided it would be only platonic and friendship-y between Javier and her. Even if it would be a weird friendship since they kinda have a big agegap.
"Hey Nova?" he asked and snapped her out of her thoughts.
"Yeah?"
"I know it's a bit random, but you wanna go to the cinema?" he asked her and pointed to the big ad on the other side of the street. Apparently there's a cinema pretty close by.
She immediately nodded, "But not a romance movie please"
And so, they we're sitting in the cinema an hour later. Apparently not many people felt like watching a horror movie on Valentine's Day because they were alone in the hall.
But they didn't really focus on the movie much, they talked the whole time. Talking to Javier felt good, like he knew everything. And no matter what she said, he didn't judge her. She felt like she could tell him anything.
And so she was kinda disappointed when the movie was over, because she didn't want the 'date' to end.