Chapter 11
The weekend came and went, and it was now Gardenia's birthday. I wanted to give her the gift the night she was at my house for dinner, but I feared that she wouldn't like it, and I didn't want to spoil her good mood. For some reason, I have a fear that the present will set something off inside her, since her name seems to be a touchy subject for her. I almost returned the items. I was this close to seeing if I could get a refund on the ring, and take back the Bath & Body Works items, but then I realized I'd still be stuck with the cup, which was custom made. And if I was going to give her one thing with her name on it, I may as well give her the rest of the Gardenia themed bouquet.
So I went to the store when she wasn't working, and purchased a gift bag and tissue paper. I set the bouquet into the bag, which was black since I figured that was her favorite color, and covered it with gold and white tissue paper. I wasn't sure if she liked gold, but I thought it looked nice with the black and white. I wrote her a card, and was kind of embarrassed about it. I didn't know if I was going to include it or not.
I picked it out at her shop. It was a card with a dog on the front, sitting on a sign that said 'KEEP DOGS OFF GARDEN'. There were flowers in the background, and I thought it was fitting. The inside said, 'Happy birthday to a true badass.' It was kind of corny. Okay, probably really corny, but I thought maybe it'd get a small smile out of her.
Anyways, I asked my mum for help on what to write, and she just said 'write from your heart', which wasn't much help, to be honest. I couldn't really write from my heart with Gardenia, as it'd most likely scare her off. So I was trying to think of a way to write something from my heart, without it scaring her away.
I settled for a corny poem to finish off the corny card.
'Roses are red,
Gardenia's aren't blue.
But they're still beautiful,
And so are you.'
I then decided that this would probably still scare her off, so I crossed that out and rewrote the poem. I probably shouldn't be writing this card in pen.
"Roses are red,
Gardenia's aren't blue.
But they're still badass,
And so are you.'
It wasn't exactly what I wanted to write, but it would have to do.
I signed it, 'H. x', and sealed it into the envelope.
And now it's sitting on top of the counter, and I still didn't know whether I'd actually be giving it to her or not. I sighed, picking it up and shoving it into the bag before I changed my mind. I then grabbed the handles of the bag, carrying it out the door and across the street. The garage door was open, and her mum's car wasn't there, so I knew she was at work.
I knocked on the front door and waited a few minutes, not receiving an answer. Gardenia's motorcycle was also in the garage, so she had to be home. I didn't think she'd walk anywhere, and I wasn't sure if she had anybody to pick her up.
Then again, it was her birthday, so it wouldn't be surprising if she had plans somewhere.
I knocked once again, and there was no answer. I tried the handle, and it was unlocked. I knew I probably shouldn't go inside. I should knock again, or come back later. But I was scared something had happened to her, since the door was unlocked and she was home alone. So despite my better judgement, I walked inside. It looked the same in the house as it did the other day, except maybe a bit dirtier. There was a massive blanket resting messily on the couch, and the TV was playing. The kitchen was empty, but I did notice the cake my mum had made was sitting on the counter, under plastic wrap.
