A Heart Worth Healing

Chapter 4

At work the next day, Kirsty was wading through a pile of invoices when a delivery man came to the office asking for her.

"Miss McLaren?" he said, "I have a delivery for you. Would you please sign here?"

Puzzled, Kirsty signed the delivery sheet and the man went out for a moment. He came back to her desk a few minutes later carrying a huge bouquet of red roses.

Kirsty gasped in surprise as the delivery man placed the flowers on her desk. They were beautiful and she could hear the other ladies in the office whispering about them.

"Have a good day," the delivery man said, as he left.

Her hand shaking, Kirsty reached over and took the envelope out of the bouquet. She took out the card and read, "This should get old Templer's dander up, don't you think? I'll pick you up after work. Derek"

Kirsty could not help but laugh at Derek's message. His sense of humour was similar to hers. Before she could even smell the flowers, Kirsty noticed Mrs. Templer making a beeline for her desk.

"What is the meaning of this, McLaren?" Mrs. Templer demanded loudly, gesturing toward the bouquet. "You know you are not allowed to have any personal items on your desk."

Kirsty noticed Mrs. Templer's heaving bosom and sighed inwardly.

"I didn't know I was going to get flowers," she replied as politely as she could.

"They had better be gone by tomorrow or I will throw them in the garbage," Mrs. Templer stated, taking pleasure in her threat.

Kirsty glared at her boss's retreating back. She could not even enjoy flowers without her boss interfering. It was worth it to see her boss flustered for once.

"She's jealous," whispered the girl who sat next to Kirsty.

Kirsty nodded, feeling happy despite her boss's disapproval.

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Kirsty could barely concentrate on her work for the rest of the day. She watched the clock almost constantly, wishing it would move faster somehow.

When it was finally time for her to leave, she grabbed her purse and, in a gesture of defiance, left the roses on her desk. She wanted to see them first thing the next morning so they would give her strength to put up with her boss. Besides, she did not think Mrs. Templer would carry through with her ridiculous threat. It was harassment, for the most part.

Kirsty forgot all about her boss when she saw Derek outside leaning against the side of his limousine. Smiling brightly, she ran over to him and gave him a big hug. If he was surprised, he did not mention it.

"Thank you for the flowers, Derek. They're beautiful!" Kirsty exclaimed, trying to mask her pleasure at seeing him again.

"You're welcome," he replied, his eyes twinkling. "Did they do the trick?"

"You should have seen her face," Kirsty answered. "It was redder than a tomato."

Laughing, Derek took her hand and they got into the car.

"Where are we going?" Kirsty asked curiously.

"It's a surprise," he replied, winking at her.

They made small talk as the car drove away. It seemed like they had not even parted for a whole day. The time had gone by quickly because Kirsty had wanted to see him again.

When the car stopped, they got out. Kirsty noticed that they were at the park down by the river. Holding her hand, Derek led her toward a group of poplar trees and the chauffeur followed behind them, carrying a basket and a blanket.