Present
"So, you're headed to the airport?" Rose jumped out of the trance she was in as the driver tried sparking up a conversation.
"Yes, I'm going home."
Past
"Happy 6 months, darling!" Rose handed Lannan a small wrapped box.
He dug into it, finding a small silver key.
"Is this to your house?" A wide grin spread across his face.
"Well you spend just about all your time there. So now if I'm not home from work, you can let yourself in!"
"And you're sure you want me to have access to your house 24/7?" Lannan smirked across the couch at her.
"Well now that you've put it that way, give it back."
She teasingly put her palm out and Lannan set down her gift instead. "Oh, for me? How exciting."
He tapped his foot nervously on the floor, "I hope you love it as much as I love you."
She set the gift down and looked at him with extreme fondness. "Lannan Eacott, did you just say you love me?"
Lannan turned bright red, "Well, Rose, I really was trying hold that in until you opened the gift, but I guess I fucked that up." He searched her eyes and said, "Well? Are you going to open my gift?"
"I think you've already given me the best gift," A small smile graced her lips. "I love you too, Lannan. The past six months of my life have been the best I've ever had."
"Open the gift, Rose!"
"Okay, okay! This was such a sweet moment!"
"It gets even sweeter, I promise. If you'd just open the gift." He gently prodded the gift a little more towards her.
"You are pushy tonight," Rose teasingly opened one corner of the wrapping.
"I swear to god, if you don't hurry up, I'm going to open it myself."
She tore open the rest of the wrapping to find a Cartier rose charm. Turning it over, she saw the back was delicately engraved with the words "I love you".
"You see, that was how I was going to tell you. Not some blurted out confession like a teenager."
"It was perfect."
Present
And it was perfect. So how could it have gone so fucking wrong?
She had left the rose charm in her empty jewelry box. It had never felt quite right to wear something so expensive unless it was a special occasion.
So Rose wore the thin gold strand around her neck everyday, but the rose charm only on big days. The jewelry was never the important thing for her.
Past
Rose unlocked her front door and pushed it open, dropping her purse on the table in the entryway.
Yawning, she called out, "Lan? Are you here?"
No reply was heard, so she went towards the living room in search of Lannan. She was stopped in her path by a sprinkle of rose petals that led up the stairs.
A grin slowly spread across her lips as she shook off her blazer and left it on the floor, stepping out of her shoes as she did so.
The only place to go was up, so Rose followed the rose petals up to her room, unbuttoning her blouse and leaving it behind.
To her surprise, Lannan was not in her room, and the petals kept going into the bathroom.
Mischievous thoughts ran through her brain, so she unzipped her skirt and walked into the bathroom.
A hot, steaming bubble bath had been drawn in the tub with a glass of white wine, a single red rose, and a note perched on the side.
Hey baby!
I know you had a hard day at work today so I ran this bath for you. I ran to the store for dinner stuff, so enjoy!
Love you,
L
Setting the note aside as to not get wet from the bath, she finished undressing and sank down into the warm water. Her muscles relaxed as she took a sip of the wine he had left.
It was incredible how he could always tell what she needed even when she didn't tell him.
It really was the simple things she loved.
Lannan was always a fan of the grand gestures; fancy jewelry and nice dinners out. But Rose was happy with a bath.
This bath meant he thought about her.
This bath was a sign that she had been on his mind.
That was all Rose truly needed in a relationship. Someone who thought about her and the little things.
Present
Her phone dinged and she pulled it out of her pocket. A flight reminder and a text from Lannan's sister were on the screen.
She chose to open Tannar's text, knowing that it was probably confirming the lunch plans they had made a few days ago.
Tannar: Lunch at 12:30?
Rose: I'm sorry, I won't be able to make it.
Tannar: Oh, okay? Why?
Rose: I just can't. I'll miss you, okay?
Tannar: It's just lunch, silly. We can catch up another time.
Rose: Sure, another time
Swiping over to Tannar's contact, Rose's finger hovered over the block button. Losing Tannar hurt almost as much as leaving Lannan.
She pressed the block button.
If she really was going to go through with it, this needed to be a clean break. No family, no friends, no Lannan.
Otherwise, how would she ever be able to stay away?