Chapter 10
All of Gardenia's things arrived, and I felt almost giddy to give them to her. I was arranging all of the items in the pot, doing my best to make it look nice. I had to drive about 25 minutes from town to find a floral shop, where I purchased some Gardenias. They're quite bushy, so I just put the items into the leaves, almost like the fake grass in an Easter basket you get when you're a kid.
The only problem I had was where to put the ring at. It came in a tacky cardboard box, and while I could give it to her like that, I wasn't sure how it'd look. And although I didn't want to use the box, I was scared if I put it in there by itself, it'd just get lost in all of the leaves.
And that's when my mum walked in the door.
"Hi, honey, what are you doing?" She asked, eyeing all of the items in front of me.
"This is Rose's present I got her for her birthday next week," I explained. For some reason, I didn't want to mention Gardenia's real name. I wanted to keep that a secret. "Hey, I have this ring that I got her-" my mum's jaw dropped and I swallowed, "No, not that kind of ring. It's just a ring with a flower on it, and I was just wondering if you had like a nice thing that would hold it? That I could set in the plant?"
"I'm not sure, honey. I may have something from old jewelry your father got me, but I'm not sure if I threw all of that away when we moved. I'll look." She smiled, going into her room.
I began adjusting the things, trying to find new arrangements that may look better than the last. My mum came back a few moments later.
"Here you go, this is all I have. Will it suffice?" She asked, and I saw a small crystal glass box.
"Yeah, it's perfect. Thanks," I smiled at her, and she nodded her head, unloading the grocery bag she carried in.
"You're welcome. So, you really like this girl?"
And here comes her nosiness. She always did this to me in high school, whenever I went on a date with a girl, or went to a dance. She'd bother me about whether or not I liked her, and what I liked about her, and it always bugged me, to where I didn't want to see the girl anymore. Except it didn't bother me this time. Instead, I was smiling to myself, thinking about it. I did like her. And I found myself wanting to talk about it with my mum.
"Yeah, I think so," I answered. "But she's different. She's tough, you know?"
"How so?" She asked, beginning to chop vegetables for dinner.
"Like, she's closed off, and guarded. And she barely looks at me as a friend, let alone a romantic interest. She's not like other girls, mum. She's unique, and different. And I barely even know much about her, but I feel like I do. It's weird," I shook my head, setting the small glass box that held the ring into the bouquet.
"You don't have to know everything about a person to know them," she hummed. "She's very nice, Harry. I think you two would be lovely together."
"I think so too," I answered, "I just wish she did as well."
"Maybe she does. Or maybe she just needs a little push. That cute little flower thing you're doing over there may be that push she needs," she nodded her head towards it, and I looked down at my work.
"Gardenias are her favorite flower, and she mentioned that her parents don't get her anything for her birthday, so I thought that I would. Everybody deserves a present on their birthday."
"That they do. And she's going to love that. The ring is beautiful by the way. That's a gardenia on the top of it?"
I grabbed the crystal box from the plant, opening it up and showing it to my mum.
