Eternity's Ending (our version of events) - Book One

Vincent

Xander is absolutely ridiculous at times and I mean absolutely ridiculous. This is why I had to lock her away in our bedroom, so she could reassess her behavior. I spend the majority of her time served cleaning up the mess her fit of rage has created. I'm hoping solitary confinement has reformed her attitude. Given who she is, I expect her to be sitting in the middle of our bed, brandishing her defiance when I open the door to discuss the possibility of parole. Instead, I find her tucked neatly beneath the covers, sound asleep. I ease the door closed and laugh at the correctness of my initial assessment of Xander's settings; firecracker and sleep. She was the 4th of July this morning for reasons she has yet to explain to me. If she isn't going to spoon feed me a way to fix what's wrong, I must create one of my own.

I keep a record; a running list of all the things I have uncovered about Xander. Things like her favorite place to watch the sunset, the best meal she's ever eaten, favorite color...I have one entry under "How to always make Xander's Day". I don't like to utilize this one too often because I don't want to water it down. But with Xander being in such rare form, I have to do something to make her happy.

I scrawl ran to get cereal:p on the back of a cell phone bill and leave it on the counter before running out the door. Traffic is terrible as I make the 15-mile drive to Thomas' store. The rain causes people to drive way too fast or way too slow and the lack of flow leaves my lane at a standstill. I jump off at the first exit I can because, at this point, the scenic route is going to be much faster than the direct route. I don't want Xander to wake up before I get home.

The sweet scent of the various plants hits me as soon as I walk in the door to the flower shop.

"Vincent, what have you done that merits a visit to my shop?" asks the old man as he looks up from his flower arranging to see who made his wind chimes sing.

I have only been in here on one other occasion the day I found this gem. I was driving home from a conference on a rainy Saturday evening and opted for the scenic route over the stationary traffic lining the freeway. Xander's favorite flower was on display in the shop window. For months she tried to teach me the color teal. I could never get the color; the colors I chose were always too blue or too green. I pulled into the parking lot to confirm what I was seeing. Thomas confirmed my suspicions and we spent nearly two hours discussing flowers, relationships and life in general. I walked out of his store with a bouquet of teal Gerber Daisies and when I presented them to Xander that evening, I realized I had also walked out of that store with a new secret weapon.

"You're married, Thomas," I laugh, "you know as well as I do, emotions are often misdirected. But as a wise man once told me, 'when you mess up say, baby I'm sorry. When she messes up say, baby I'm sorry.'"

"Ah, I do believe I've heard those words before."

"I do believe they are your words."

"I guess that makes me a wise man."

"Indeed it does."

"Let me guess, teal Gerber Daisies," Thomas says.

I nod in the affirmative.

"How many, or better yet, how badly did you mess up?"

"As far as I know, I haven't done anything wrong. I keep my nose pretty clean. But she woke up pretty upset this morning and I'd like to start the day over again on a more positive note. So how many does that warrant?"

"I think you can get by with a single daisy."

I follow Thomas to the section holding my flower. The old man scrutinizes each plant until he comes up with perfection.

"How do you plan to present it to her? You know it's all in the presentation."

"I'm open to suggestions."

Thomas gives me several presentation options, depending on Xander's state of consciousness when I arrive home. I thank him for his time and wisdom.

"Stay out of trouble," he calls out as I exit his shop.

I wave in acknowledgment and head home.

The house is quiet when I come in through the garage. I slip into the kitchen and pull a cup from the cabinet. I fill it with water and add the plant food packet that came along with it. I move the ribbon Thomas tied around the flower up a few inches so it sits higher than the rim of the cup and sneak into the bedroom. She stirs with the creaking of the door and I pause to make sure she does not wake up. When she is still again, I make my way to the nightstand and place the flower in front of the lamp. According to Thomas, it should be the first thing she sees when she opens her eyes. To make sure it isn't me Xander sees first, I make a bed on the floor beside her and wait for her to rise.