"I really appreciate the ride," I thanked Louis, one of my coworkers from the office. He was kind enough to stop by to pick me up on his way to work. He didn't accept the money I've offered to give in a sense of showing appreciation, since we were friends he thought it would be wrong to accept it. I didn't argue with him, I could probably use the money for lunch later on anyways.
We entered the building where many employees were lined up ready to clock in. Everyone had a separate area they were expected to work in, since this is a private business project management, there are at least 20 or more people working in each section of the building. I worked in the financial side of the building which is only a small closed out office where I count money for nearly ages. The job made me feel miserable every single day but it's one of the many sacrifices for the baby.
"Every time I enter this place I feel like I'm making my way to the bottom pits of hell," Louis said reading my thoughts loudly. I couldn't help but laugh because he barely did anything in this place. He had it easy, he was responsible for security, sitting down and monitoring a computer screen all day. I would do anything to switch with him.
"Just be glad you have it easy buddy," I patted him on the back.
"You know a lot of people think it's easy but do you realize what staring at a computer all day could do to your eyes!"
"Do you realize what counting money all day can do to your brain."
We approached the employee elevator, I scanned my badge for identification purposes. Usually the elevator doors would open automatically after scanning but today it didn't want to scan. Why is every single thing going bad for me today? "Are you kidding me!" I banged my hand on the metal doors.
"Relax man, just get another badge or let me renew it for you," Louis said taking the badge out of my hand. "You're so tense today."
"Yeah, it's not one of the greatest day. My car broke down, I came home late because of this girl I picked up from the street. I haven't gotten any sleep at all"
"Girl?" He smirked.
"Not like that. She was standing out in the street in the middle of the rain and I just so happen to stumble upon her. She slept over for the night."
"What about your wife?" He asked putting emphasis on the word wife. I rolled my eyes at him knowing what he was thinking and honestly I felt a bit offended he would draw me out to be that type of guy. I loved my wife dearly and I'm not stupid enough to let another women come between us.
"I would never," was my only response to him.
"Of course you wouldn't but some women tend to get more attached than others," he said. I ignored him and took the chance to walk away from this conversation.
"I'll see you later Louis." I walked off before he could continue talking further more.
"Just be careful man!" He called out.
"I'll remember that!" I jokingly said.
Making my way up to the third floor and down the hallway, I unlocked the door to my office. The room where I spend most of my time stressing or bored to death. I sighed when I saw my clustered desk full of papers, completely forgetting I left a whole pile of work behind from yesterday. I didn't even think I procrastinated that much, well it turns out I slacked way more than I expected. It would at least take me half an hour to get this done if not more if I don't get started right away.
Once I took a seat, there was a sudden knock on my door. I authorized the person to enter the room. It was the receptionist from the main floor of the building. In her hands was a bouquet of flowers. She placed it down on the floor near the door. I smiled assuming it might've been a gift for me. I hardly get any gifts delivered to me at work. I see the company is finally appreciating my share of work around here.
"Special delivery!" she said with enthusiasm.
"What are those for?" I asked confused at the random appreciation that's been given to me.
She shrugged, "It arrived this morning, there wasn't an address so I actually have no idea who it's from but they're quiet lovely."
"They're not from the company?"
"Nope. I would've been informed if it was from the company."
"Thanks for the delivery, I appreciate it." I got up and retrieved the flowers from the floor. It was actually heavier than it looked. I placed it near my desk where I could admire it closely.
"No problem, maybe it's from a friend or relative," the receptionist added. She walked out the door but entered again with a face of realization as if she remembered to tell me something. "I completely forgot, there has been someone on line 4 waiting to talk to you. they called twice I think."
"I'll speak with them shortly," I responded. She left me alone in my office. I was still curious about the anonymous flowers that was sent to me. The only person who I had in mind that could possibly do this was Sierra but this was something out of her element. She'd never deliver anything special to my work, she's like a face to face gift giver type of person. Could've been quiet possibly a surprise? Guess I'll have to find out when I get home.
The ringing from the office phone snapped me back to reality, I cleared my throat before answering. After the third ring, I picked up with the usual work greeting. "Good morning, Michael speaking."
There was a short pause but a heavy breathing from the other end. "Hello?"
"Hey Michael.......it's Veronica." Veronica?
I was taken back when I heard her voice from the other end. Why would she be calling?
"Hey Veronica...um is there something I can do for you?" I said confusingly.
"No, I just wanted to call you to make sure if you got to work safely and on time." She responded with her light voice.
"I...uh...I did. How did you get my work number?" I questioned her. More importantly, how does she know where I work at?
"Sierra gave it to me. I asked her for the number so I could call to thank you once more for what you did for me. I hope I'm not interrupting anything."
"You didn't interrupt anything but Veronica...you couldn't wait to tell me this some other time? You know when I'm not at work?" I chuckled.
"I would've forgotten if I didn't call you now." She said. I know this may sound weird but why could I see her smiling through this phone right this second. It's a bit weird she would only call just to thank me after she's done so many times before but I didn't think much about it.
"Did you arrive to your home safely?" I asked.
"Yeah I did, I've actually picked up a little present for you on my way back I would really like to give it to you later today. How about lunch?"
I thought hesitantly about her proposal for having lunch together. I had a ton of work to catch up on and I don't even think I have time to be taking lunch breaks but I would feel bad about declining her, she went out of her way to get me something, would be an asshole move to tell her no over the phone. "That would be great!" I forced myself to say.
"Great!" She said excitedly. "I'll come by your work around 3 and we'll head to a nearby place to eat."
"Great....I'll see you then."
She hung up seconds after. I sighed and sunk down into my chair. I could've simply said no but look at what I've gotten into myself now. Skipping work for lunch with a person I barely know or care to have lunch with in the beginning. Procrastination has completely taken over me.
I checked the watch on my wrist as I patiently waited outside for her. It was past 3 and I was fighting the urge to go back inside and sit in my office again. How can someone schedule having lunch together but can barely make it here on time. The more the minutes past, the more I'm being slowed down on my work. My lunch break is only half an hour long, how long is she going to keep me waiting.
Momentarily, a white car with tinted windows pulled up in front of the lot. The windows slowly rolled down, that's when I saw Veronica sitting in the drivers seat. "Get in," she said with a smile. I did as I was told. I opened the door and got into the passengers seat. I was surprised she arrived here with a car. I honestly assumed she didn't even own one considering the fact she was the same girl waiting out in the streets looking for a ride a night ago.
"I thought we were walking to a place," I spoke.
She let out a laugh, "you honestly think I would walk to your job?"
"I would've assumed. Speaking of work, how did you even figure out the location?" I furrowed my eyebrows coming to a realization that she's slowly figuring out personal things about me that I wouldn't suspect a stranger to know right away.
"When I called, I thought it would've been nice to just trace the location as well. To make it easier for the both of us." She drove the car down the street from my job where nearly every restaurant and fast food place was located at.
"Where we would you like to eat?" I asked her, letting her make the choice. I wasn't a picky eater I could take down anything as long as it doesn't mess with my stomach.
"I'm thinking sushi?" She said looking over at me for approved.
"Sushi sounds nice." I answered back. "There should be a sushi bar a minute away from here."
"I see it right ahead." She placed her foot down on the pedal, speeding up the car a little faster. Once we arrived to our destination, we parked the car and made our way in. The place was busy but that wasn't no surprise considering the fact the bar was located near a business street. Everyone probably comes here on their lunch break or a quick pick up. I remember coming to this place once or twice, I was very familiar about my surroundings here.
I led Veronica to the back side of the car, the booths with the flashy pink LED lights displayed on the wall. "This place is so cute," she said sitting across from me.
"You like it?" I couldn't help but smile how much her face was lighting up right now.
"I love it." She said looking up at me. "You must go to nice places like this all the time."
"Sometimes. It's rare for me to go to sushi bars, I'm not much a fan of it but Sierra loves it. I sometimes take her to places like this."
"Sierra...." she trailed off picking up the menu in front of her. "You have a very caring wife Michael. How long have you guys been together?"
"10 years." It sounded even crazier saying that out loud. I can't believe I've spent a decade of my life with one single person. Call me sappy when I say this but love truly is undefeated when you find the exact right person to share all your memories with.
"How do you do it?" She laughed. "I just find it hard to believe two people can be together for that long without getting annoyed of each other."
"I mean we probably annoy each other everyday but not to the extent of hating each other. I'm sure you've probably once in your life experienced it before." I said.
"Yeah probably..." she faintly said while distracted by the menu rather than listening to me.
"What can I get for you folks?" A waiter approached our booth afterwards. I only insisted on having coffee. I didn't want to put too many food into my system plus I'm really just trying to speed up this lunch scheduling so I can save more time for work. After Veronica ordered we were left alone again.
In the time being we didn't say much, there was an awkward silence. There was so much I was curious about and wanted to ask. Like the night she was standing alone at the shop or why her clothes were torn up. But I didn't know the right way to ask without sounding invasive of her privacy or sounding rude. I could see her staring at me from the corner of my eye. I looked up slowly and just gave her a smile.
"Is there something you want to talk about?" She said breaking the silence. "I really do want to spend this time to get to know the type of person you are Michael."
"Last night.." I found myself saying. "If you don't mind me asking, what was the real reason why you were standing out there?"
She stared blankly at me as if the question was unexpected. She took a second to think before she spoke. She then leaned over from her booth, locking her eyes on mine. "It was a rough night..someone made a promise to me but never owned up to their word." She spoke in a low tone. I could see a bit of hurt in her eyes as she was getting her words out. "We were actually supposed to be leaving town that night but it never happened...."
"They left you behind." I said the last part she was afraid to say for her. She nodded in response holding back her emotions. She turned her head to wipe her face. Wow. My assumptions about her was way off. I sort of felt bad that I labeled her to be creepy and weird, I mean she still gives off that vibe but she seems genuine and really nice. And there's definitely way more to her than I thought.
"Whomever that person might have been, they really missed a special shot." I said, hoping it would make her feel somewhat better. "Nobody ever deserves to be left behind. Who knows you might've dodged a bullet at that time too."
I could see her smiling from the corner of her arm as she continued to wipe her eyes. I handed her a few napkins from the far end of the table. "Thank you." She sniffled.
During the remaining of our time, we sat there chatting it up and getting to know each other a little more. I talked more about my occupation and past life with her, she seemed very curious about my past life because she kept on asking a lot of follow up questions. She spoke more about her past life too, and told me about her interests. Apparently she has a passion for cooking, used to do catering once in her life but eventually quit for financial purposes. She lives alone in a house that's half an hour from this area. She didn't talk much about family, nothing was mentioned about relatives or parents. It seemed as if though she really valued being independent and alone. Despite her situation with her relationship with the guy who supposedly left her behind, she isn't a social person.
The more she spoke, the more she felt comfortable about showing her personality towards me which made me feel great about because I practically broke that awkward shell of hers. She was unbelievably funny, she had that sarcastic humor that I could relate to. I'm actually starting to not regret coming here with her after all. It gave me an opportunity to learn so much about her and quite possibly start a new friendship.
The watch on my wrist started to beep, that was my signal to wrap up my lunch break and head back to work. I sighed, "Aw, I'm afraid we might have to end this here." I said to her. "I have to get back to work."
She seemed a little disappointed that our conversation would have come to an end, "I wish we had more time to talk."
"This was really fun honestly, thank you for this." It just hit me that I completely forgot the whole reason why I came in the first place, and it seems like Veronica forgot as well. "Hey, what happened to the gift you wanted to give me?"
"Oh my god! I forgot all about it!" She reached into the left pocket of the jean jacket she was wearing, she pulled out a black rectangular box. She opened the box and inside was a silver hand-watch. The watch was huge and looked incredibly expensive. There was even a rhinestone encrusted within the center. It was one thing to get someone a gift but randomly getting them an expensive watch god knows how much it cost was just crazy.
"I can't accept this.." I said still in awe at the watch itself.
"You have to. I bought it for you silly!"
"But it's too much," I couldn't help but laugh, she can't be serious right now. Why would she even spend that much on me? Hell! I would've been fine with a coffee mug or something.
She ignored my decline and reached for my hand. She brought my wrist close to her so she could place the watch on me. Once it was on, we both admired it. "Perfect," she looked up at me with a grin. She wasn't wrong on the perfect part. Crazy but perfect.
We left shortly after paying for the food. I was still stuck on the huge expensive gift on my wrist and how I'm just wearing it like it's nothing. I don't know why a part of me felt wrong about this gift, it was hard to explain. It's not that I didn't want it but I really can't take this sort of gift just from anyone. Even Sierra doesn't buy me gifts this expensive, accepting it from someone else just felt wrong.
I got out the car once we were in front of my job building. I slammed the door shut behind me. I said my last goodbyes to her before I left to go inside. As I was walking towards the door I heard Veronica calling out after me from her car.
She rolled down her window and peaked her head out, "Make sure those flowers don't die."
I didn't know what she was talking about at first but then I remembered the flowers in my office that was delivered to me earlier in the morning. My eyes became wide when I connected the pieces together. Wait a minute...
"Goodbye Michael." She closed her windows before I could get another word out. She then drove off with her car and disappeared into the road.
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y'all thought I was playing when I said the chapters would be longer!
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