The Assistant

A Bouquet of Flowers

I'm on my way home in the afternoon, and I stop by a florist.

It's still bright daylight outside, since I took off work early today.

The bell on the top of the door rings as I step inside, relaxing upon feeling the warm air. There are flowers everywhere inside the building, ranging from live ones to dead ones. I imagine that they keep it warm in here to keep their business going all year round.

"Hi, how can I help you?" A lady with an apron on and her hair tied back asks me as she clips the thorns off of a rose.

"I'm looking for a bouquet," I answer her as I continue looking around. "Its pretty in here."

"Thank you," She smiles. "What kind of bouquet would you like?"

"Oh, uh," I stop to think.

What kind of flowers would they like?

"Can I have a bouquet with one of everything?" I ask her. "And can I have them as live flowers?"

"You sure can!" She rushes around and begins picking copious amounts of flowers.

By the time she's finished, she wraps up the flowers with a ribbon and then wraps colorful paper around them.

There are roses of all different colors, chrysanthemums, lilies, buckwheats, poppies, you name it.

"This is beautiful!" I compliment her bouquet making skills.

"Thank you!" She smiles. "I hope whoever you give this to likes them! It's the first time anyone's asked me to make a bouquet with every type of flower in the store!"

"Really?" I ask. "Is it an odd bouquet? Do you think it looks fine?"

She nods. "Its unique! I doubt there's even another bouquet like this in the city!"

I go with her opinion and take the flowers, paying her as I do. With them in my arms, I head towards the bus.

"I hope they like this," I mutter to myself as I step onto the bus and pay my fees. "They should, shouldn't they?"

***

Thirty minutes later and I'm at my destination: a graveyard.

It's vast and wide, the grass still green around every headstone.

Flowers and trinkets decorate nearly all of the graves, and I walk deeper into it, taking careful steps as to avoid stepping on anything- well, anyone.

I approach a grave that only has one bouquet of roses on it.

It's a fairly large headstone, and there are pictures of each of the people below their names.

Henry and Arietta Bardot.

The man had blonde hair and dark eyes, as well as a handsome face. He looks like his dad. The woman had gorgeous black hair and cobalt blue eyes. She's so beautiful.

I sit the flowers on the grave beside the ones that were already there.

"Hi," I start talking to them, hoping that they can hear me. "You probably don't know me, but I'm your son's boss, Hana Jett. Did you know that your son is possibly the most aggravating person possible?"

I chuckle to myself. "But he's a pretty cool guy. I guess we kind of hated each other at first, but I think that's only because we were just warming up to each other," I nod my head. "He's nice, and he's super good at his job. You know, he's not that bad looking either."

I smile up at the sky.

"I guess I'm just trying to say thank you for having a son like him. He loves and misses you both so much. I can tell how much he loves you just by how he acts. And I know that he blames himself for what happened to you two, but I don't think he should do that.

"I feel as if everything happens for a reason, and maybe it was just your time. We can't control when or where we leave, but I can make one thing clear. I'll try to make everyday with your son happy, that way he won't be sad. I don't like him when he's upset, so I'm going to try my best to keep him upbeat!"

"They know who you are."

A voice from behind me makes me jump, and I spin around.

Drake stands there a couple of feet away from me.

"They know who you are because I've told them about you," He says, taking a step towards me.

"You- You heard all of that?" I ask, my face beginning to flush red. He nods. "Why didn't you stop me, then? Why'd you let me just keep talking?"

Gosh this is embarrassing! I didn't plan on anyone else hearing this!

"How'd you even know I was here?" I ask.

"Betty told me," He answers. A sudden wind comes through, blowing his curls on his forehead.

Everyone in the office is a snitch. I can't count on any single one of those blabbermouths.

"Well, I just came to pay my respects, so dont-"

I'm interrupted by him pulling me into a hug, wrapping his arms around my whole body.

My eyes jolt open, and I stand there, not knowing what to do.

"Thank you for coming here," He whispers and I can feel his breath on my skin, sending that familiar electrical current down my whole body.

He pulls away from me and we look at each other. My heartbeat speeds up as I stare at him. His bowtie is missing today, and I wonder what happened to it. He looks oddly incomplete without it.

"Can I-" He starts, not taking his eyes off of me. "Can I touch you?"

The question suddenly takes me off guard and makes my heart cut a flip. I'm not exactly sure what he means by asking me that, but my head involuntarily nods without me even realizing it.

His hand comes up slowly to my face, gently caressing my cheek. It's cold against my warm skin, but it feels good. His thumb rubs slow circles on the area as I stare up at him.

His eyes are dark, but I can see the trace flecks of brown and gold in them. They shine under the light outside, and it's bright enough that I can see his freckles.

His hand moves farther back, pushing my hair behind my ear. His face approaches closer to mine as he leans in and gives me a kiss on my cheek.

"Be careful going home," He says as he removes his hand and backs away from me, turning around and walking to the cemetery exit.

Was that it? I look around dumbfounded. Is that all he's going to do?

I begin to walk but I stop in my tracks.

Did I want him to do more? What's wrong with me lately? If I keep thinking like this I might have a crush on him.

And that would be ridiculous.

A/N

Another chapter down! I hope everyone is loving this book! I can only say that there are a few more chapters left!

-Hannah