The road to love (editing!!)

Chapter 30 - On the road again

When I reached the office, something was off... I didn't know what it was and it worried me.  People were either talking behind their hands as I walked by or winking at me or grinning excessively.

It was plain weird and I didn’t like it one bit.

I grabbed Sharon's arm as she walked into the office with me after happening to meet me at the elevator downstairs and riding up with me after both of us were late, as opposed to just me, for once.  "Why are people staring at us? What did you DO this weekend?"

"Me?" was her shocked reply.  "I'm not the one getting the grins, YOU are!"

I groaned inwardly.  I'd hoped I misread them, but it seems the reactions were in fact directed at me.  "Bathroom, now!"  I groaned to my best friend as we made our way over to the washrooms while trying to be as obvious as two people not trying to flee an uncomfortable situation can be.

We slipped past everyone and made it to the ladies, where Sharon and I both checked the stalls to find that we were alone.  Considering that our work hours had started about 15 minutes ago, this was kind of a given.  So we, as calmly as possible, checked our hair, make-up, outfits and shoes... but everything seemed fine.  So what the heck was going on?

"So..." Sharon asks while re-applying her lipstick.  "Heard anything from your guy recently?"

I sighed, heavily.  "Nothing but chatting through texts and phone calls.  We talk about everything and nothing... but I've not SEEN him since the awards dinner.  I miss him, Shar."

My friend smiled a sad smile at me.  "He's a Parker, honey.  I don't doubt for a moment that he will be meeting your challenge shortly."

"That's kind of what his dad said the other day as well," I sighed again as I opened the bathroom door for us to leave.

"His dad?  You didn't tell me you saw his dad?  Dish, woman!"  Sharon's exited voice came from behind me as we walked off together, so I proceeded to fill her in on Mr Parker's visit all the way to my office - this time ignoring the rest of the staff.

Opening my office door while still chatting to Sharon, my eyes immediately fell on a lone, deep red coloured rose, only slightly open, standing in a thin, delicate glass vase on my desk.  My heart jumped at the sight of it as I rushed forward to greet it.  Picking up the vase and smelling the flower's intoxicating scent, I saw the card tied to the base of the vase.  Opening it with shaking fingers, I read the penned words that brought warmth to my heart.

"By the end of this day, you will know how much you mean to me. Love, D."

Following the surprise of the rose, I proceeded to spend a rather restless day at the office, half expecting something to happen with every second that passed by, but to my dismay it was a rather dreary day.

“You seem a bit jittery today,” Mark smiled at me while we sat in his office for a quick meeting at the end of the day, as I nervously ticked my pencil against my notebook, staring out the window and wishing for the day to finally end.  “Every time someone speaks to you, you jump a mile high.  I’ve been explaining the changes to these graphics to you for the past 5 minutes, but you keep zoning out on me.”

I sighed heavily.  “I’m sorry, boss.  I’m just not myself today.”

“I can see that.  What’s up?”

“I got a red rose on my desk this morning…”  I sighed again.

“And?” Mark urged me again.  “That’s usually a good thing, right?”

“Yes… no… of course it is,” I babbled, waving my hand around as if I was waving away the smoke of doubt clouding my mind.  “It’s just that Dean said in the note that today was the day… you know, the day of the ‘Grand Gesture’,” I air quoted myself, “but it is almost the end of the day and so far… nothing.”  I huffed and stood up to pace the room.  “I’m not sure what to think and I’m actually getting rather upset.  Why build me up like this and then not deliver?  It feels like he’s just toying with my emotions again, making me believe that he cared.   If he thinks that a single rose, as beautiful as it is, would do the trick of convincing me of his undying devotion to me, Mr Parker Jnr is way off base!”