Love & Lies

Chapter Seven

Jessie was prepared to receive persistent texts or even a phone call during the week from Jordan, both of which she would ignore anyway.  To her surprise, she only received one text from him asking if she got his first text.  It was now next Thursday, the beginning of August, and she had not heard from him or even seen him around the building much to her liking.

"Do you think it's tacky I'm sending them flowers?" Jessie asked Brendan, biting her bottom lip.  She continued to flip through the laminated photos of the florist's most popular arrangements.  "I really had been meaning to somehow thank Lauren for sending me a car when I arrived, but Jenny has done so much, too."

"Flowers are always a nice gesture," Brendan commented as he glanced over her shoulder to get a better look at the flower book.  

Although she already had spoken to Lauren and Jenny since having them over for dinner and even got to grab a bite with Lauren on Sunday, she did not bring up what happened between her and Jordan to either of them as she promised herself.

Her eyes kept batting back and forth between arrangements 71 and 74.  "Which do you think is prettier - the one with red roses, Stargazer lilies, and lisianthus, or that one at the top right corner that is just like that one but with lavender roses and dianthus?" she asked Brendan.

Brendan took a quick glance at both before he just shrugged.  "To be honest, I have never had much experience in sending flowers so I am not really good with this," he responded thoughtfully.  "They're both nice looking, though."

Jessie gave both a look one more time before looking up at the very patient florist ready to record the information into his computer.  "Um, I'll go with arrangement 74," she decided.

"Excellent choice.  Beautiful accent, by the way.  Are you from Essex?" the florist asked.

Jessie's stomach danced around and from the corner of her eyes, she saw Brendan also a bit taken back but prepared for his duty if need be.  Being that he could tell where she was from, there was no sense in lying.  "Uh, yes, I am," she responded with caution.  "How did you know?"

"My parents were from there so growing up that's what I heard," he responded.  "I've even been there a few times to visit the rest of my family.  Miss...I didn't mean to make you nervous and apologize if I did."

"No, it's okay.  It's just not everyday somebody here can pinpoint where I'm from," she explained, forcing a small smile.

"Phew.  I'm glad I didn't make you uncomfortable.  Would you like any additions to that like balloons or a stuffed animal?" the eager florist asked.

"No thank you, just the flowers," Jessie responded.

The florist bent down and presented Jessie with a neatly arranged organizer with small notecards.  "Please pick two and fill them out.  Be sure to include their names. Then I will just need the recipients' names and addresses," he explained.

She immediately spotted the "thank you" ones and began filling them out with a quick, but heartfelt message for Jenny and Lauren.  When she was finished, she clicked the pen the florist left on the counter and pushed the two notecards towards him.  He took a quick glance at them and returned his gaze to Jessie.  "Okay, let's start with Lauren's full name and address, please," he told her.

After giving him both of her friends' addresses, she began to rummage through her wallet to get her payment ready.  "Lastly, I need your full name and address and also a phone number in case of any delivery problems," the florist interrupted.

Although after being here since July and not having one problem, Jessie felt a little uneasy about giving her real name to go with her address and phone number.  All she needed was that one person who would be knowledgeable and release her personal information.  She knew she was probably exaggerating, but she wanted to play it safe.