No Strings

Chapter 29--GIRL GETS ROSES

I greeted William at the airport. His brown hair was disheveled and he was shuffling his feet. He dragged his suitcase behind him. I waved at him with my mittened hand. I hated driving around in circles. He lugged his feet towards me. I didn't see the roses that he promised me. I didn't expect it. I was more worried about him being safe.

"God, I could use a long bath," he said. I took his suitcase. He protested at first, but was too weak to protest the second time.

"You gained a tan."

"I had to spend time out in the sun. How have you been anyway?"

"I got a proposal on my boss's desk. I don't know if it'll be accepted yet."

We crossed the street. The parking lot was on the other side.

"That's good. You must have had fun then. I'm glad you got it in."

"Did you fix the problem in Los Angeles?"

"I found an amicable resolution. The engineer was nice, so finding a resolution was easier than I expected."

We got into the elevator. I had parked on the roof.

He raked back his hair. We didn't say much on the way home. He was still thinking about work. He drew lines in the air and was muttering numbers and different kinds of degrees.

I helped him with his suitcase. I dragged it up the porch stairs. He opened the door. He forced a weak smile.

After I got it into the door, I looked up the front hall stairs.

"Wait, I got you something."

He took the suitcase back and set it against the floor. He unzipped the largest compartment. In the compartment was an arrangement of roses and tree branches. Some of the roses were a little worn on the edges. He'd put in a letter.

"I found these the last day during lunch. John--that's the engineer for the construction--and I bought flowers from a shop near the restaurant where we ate. The hard part was finding someone who would let us take part of their tree. This one couple let us when I admitted the flowers were for you."

I smelled the bouquet which was fragrant. The smell of the lemon and orange blossoms caught up in the top of my mouth and made it tingle. The roses smelled sweet. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. I'm going to take a bath. I need some sleep too. Could you wake me up at dinner time?"

I nodded. I embraced the flowers. I set them on the kitchen table and searched for a vase. I found a suitable white and green one, filled it with water, cut the bottom of the roses and branches with some sturdy scissors under the water and set them into the vase. He'd chosen intense red roses. I was surprised that he'd followed my girly desires.

***

I climbed the stairs up to William's room. He'd brought up his own suitcase. I slipped past the door and looked around his room. I wasn't shocked to find that it had a simple patterned wallpaper. I admired his sleeping face and then called his name, when he didn't wake up I shook him.

"Dinner time," I whispered into his ear.

He bolted at that. I watched to make sure he got up. He rubbed his ear as if I'd attacked it.

He muttered numbers and calculations all the way down the stairs and in the kitchen while he was making chili. He continued while he ate. I wondered if long streaks in food were healthy.

He smiled when he finished, "Yup it should work out." He slumped back in his chair. "I don't know if I want to work with that client again... So you got the proposal on your boss's desk? What is it about?"