We wake early, or I should say, Angel wakes early. She comes bounding into our bedroom and leaps into the bed, I imagine like Derik does with her. I look over at her and mumble, "I'm a slow start, Angel, give me a second okay?"
"I used to be, too. Just you wait, children don't give you much of an option."
I look at her but say nothing, apparently, in Angel's mind, she already has me pregnant. I throw back the covers, and start to head towards the bathroom, "I need a quick shower to wake me up, if you want to meet me downstairs?" She remains seated on our bed, I pause at the bathroom door, and look at her.
"Angel," I point to the bed, "like rabbits."
"Ewwwwww," she leaps off our bed, making a face, "I'll be downstairs."
Taking a super quick shower, I apply minimal makeup, and toss on some denim pants and a fitted top and meet Angel in the kitchen.
As I walk into the kitchen, I notice a bag on the counter, along with a container, and a used butter knife. There is also a plate with crumbs sitting in front of Angel on the counter. As I pour my coffee, I ask, "What's in the bag?"
"The best bagels in the world!" her eyes big.
So Prince, or someone, made a delivery of fresh bagels it seems. I grab a plate and sit down and reach into the bag for one. I take a bite, Angel is right, they're delicious and I devour it.
"What's our game plan?" she asks, now that I'm more coherent.
"We're going to see just how many flowers we can fit into the back of my car," I laugh, "but I just need to eyeball the area first. I think we could have that one side done today."
Angel nods in agreement, "Without a doubt."
"Prince said for us to swing by Paisley today, Ray will feed us," as I chew, "so probably after we have a car full of flowers. Then we can come back here and get busy."
"Sounds good to me, I have a ton of gardening questions for you."
"I figured you might," I wink, happy to know she wants to learn in order to care for my garden at the Tennessee house.
I finish my bagel and grab another cup of coffee before we make our way to the back to assess the area. We smile at each other, knowing this area can definitely be completed today.
I remember I have to grab some money when I reach for my purse. I have some money from my payroll in there, but it isn't a lot, especially after purchasing all those condoms yesterday.
"I'll be right back," I tell Angel as I make my way to Prince's office. She nods as she waits by the door to the garage.
I close the door behind me, the office reminds me so much of him, the need to keep it private is overwhelming. I didn't even show it to Angel when I walked her through the house, I just pointed at the door and indicated what it was. Going over to the desk, I sit in his chair and reach for the lower right drawer. Behind some hanging files there is a lot of cash in bundles, Holy shit, I think. Pulling them out, I gather the piles onto the desk and stare at them in awe. I see they're $20 bills and all the bands say $500, there are twenty bundles, I take a deep breath. Who needs $10,000 on the ready?!
I put all but one bundle back, closing the drawer, I try to breathe, that's just not safe. I tuck the one bundle into my purse, as I pass through the foyer I make sure the front door is locked. As I approach Angel, my shocked expression must have gave me away, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." Although it's not convincing, she doesn't ask anymore questions.
We head to Lowe's Home Improvement first, even though I had Googled a garden center that is closer to Paisley Park, I want a good variety to choose from. Once there, I find Lowe's selection to be marginal. I pick out only a couple groundcover plants, but I did buy 3 Shepard hooks and 3 wind chimes.
We then head to the garden center that's closer to Paisley. The Garden by the Woods is the name and the Google reviews looked pretty good. As soon as I pull into the place, I think to myself, I should have grabbed two bundles of cash. Since they specialize in bulk orders, this is right up my alley. I end up purchasing 10 flats and take them up on their free delivery service, since they can have my order at the house within a couple of hours.
Within minutes we are pulling up at Paisley, I park, eyeing the pitiful flower beds as I go by, Angel sees me and laughs, "You don't stop, do you?"
"They need help, I'm going to have to ask him about it," I tell her as we enter the vestibule. As I open the door to step into the Atrium, I spot the flower I sent him sitting in the middle of the circle of his symbol on the tiled floor. Angel frowns looking at me, as I smile.
Monica looks at me from the reception desk, shaking her head and throwing up her hands while she shrugs, "I know, I have no idea what that's all about. It was there when I came in yesterday, I almost tripped on it, so I moved it to that table," she points. "When he came in later, he moved it back, he was obviously not happy. He does bring it back into the studio at night, but he put it back there this morning before he went upstairs."
My heart swells, he's really trying to save that flower. I let her know that we're here to see Ray, and she nods, handing me a note in a sealed envelope, "Hope yours is better than mine." She flashes her note, it's in Prince's neat script:
Don't move my flower.
"Yikes," I laugh, thanking her, then lead Angel to the kitchen.
Ray is bubbly as always, "Ladies, good morning! Talk about perfect timing, I'm about to pull a grilled asparagus and feta quiche out of the oven. Why don't you go sit down, I'll be right out."
We both head to the booth area to sit, where we find Marcus sitting and watching a sitcom on the television. I see Angel's eyes light up, he stands when he sees us, his eyes light up, too. We say our good mornings and take a seat, Angel starts to fill him in on where we've been this morning, he nods listening intently. I apologize and turn my attention to the note while they talk, again it's Prince's handwriting:
Sugar, if you can get away without being rude, come up to my suite. Wake me if I'm sleeping.
XO
I join back into the conversation just as Ray is serving the quiche. He must have known Marcus was here, because he brought out 3 servings. The quiche is delicious, we eat while carrying on comfortable conversation.
When we're done eating, I ask Marcus, "Are you busy?"
"No, Ma'am, I'm on call," he winks.
Ahhhh, that makes sense, "Do you care to keep Angel company for a moment? Prince wants to see me upstairs," as I wave the note.
Angel beams at Marcus, "Take your time," she dismisses me.
Smiling and shaking my head at the two of them, I leave them sitting at the booth and make my way back to the Atrium and up the stairs.