Full Bloom (Tom Holland)

Chapter 3: Gladiolus

The Gladiolus flower is the flower that best symbolizes determination and strength, but they can also symbolize infatuation.
Tom:
I pulled out my phone to text my best friend Harrison. It became apparent to me that I hadn't told him about Chryssa yet. I knew the first thing I would tell him, but for some reason I just hadn't yet. I didn't want to face the fact that she had a boyfriend, and wasn't single. I couldn't do anything, but I wished I could. I clicked on Harrison's contact, and called him.

"Hello?"

"Hi Haz. Um, I have something very important to tell you." I said. He told me to go on, so I did. "I think that- I think that I met my future wife." There was silence on the other side for a moment.

"Are you serious?" I heard him ask. I thought about it in my head for a split second, but with nearly no hesitation, I said yes. I knew that the moments I had spent with Chryssa, had been special. I had never felt the way I did when I was around her. Then, I thought about the unfortunate fact that she wasn't even available.

"There's just one problem, Haz. She's sort of taken."

"Yeah, I would say that's a big problem! You can't just go around and say that a taken woman is yours. If you want her, you have to make her fall for you. You can't sabotage their relationship, but you can just make her realize that she might be in love with you." He said.

"I was actually thinking about that." I said. The plan I had, started developing a little more in my brain. We continued talking about the plan, and came up with an outline of the plan. It was very vague at that moment, but I knew that things would come together. I just had to spend a little more time around the flower shop, but I was determined.

Chryssa's POV:
I had been so angry with Brad about cancelling, and I had finally confronted him about it all. I thought that confrontation would change everything. I thought that maybe he wouldn't ditch me again for work, and I thought he would be able to remember our date.

I was wrong.

I sat outside the restaurant that we had planned to go on a date to. I got stood up. Brad hadn't even shown up or sent me a text. He couldn't have forgotten again, could he of? I sighed, and choked back the tears. I had tried calling him and texting him multiple times, but to no avail.

I had been given a ride here from a friend, but the friend wasn't going to be able to give me a ride home. I was supposed to get a ride home with Brad, but that wasn't going to work. I started walking home. It was about a 20 minute walk, and I couldn't think of anyone to pick me up.

I let the tears fall as I walked, and I knew that the people driving by would probably wonder what was wrong with me. To be perfectly honest, I didn't even know what was wrong with me.

I didn't know why I had been stood up, and I wasn't happy about it. I guess he could have been called into work. He was a school teacher, and sometimes at night he would take a janitor shift. It seemed like he had to do it a lot more lately. He promised that he would go on a date though.

I sat down on a park bench, and let all of my emotions out. After I thought that everything was finally going well, it all went downhill. I sat on the bench for around five minutes. I knew that I could have been home by now, but I just had to sit down for a minute and gather my emotions.

After a moment, I saw headlights pull up to the side of the road next to me.

Tom's POV:
I drove down the street towards my apartment. I couldn't stop thinking about the vague plan that Haz and I had made. I didn't know how I was going to develop it so it could work.

I continued driving, when I saw something. I did a double take, and there I saw her. She sat on a bench near the side of the road. She was in a beautiful dress, and it looked like she was crying.

I pulled over to her quickly, and opened my window. She looked up at me with a somewhat confused look on her face.

"Hey Chryssa. Are you alright?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She said, and wiped her eyes.

Need a ride?" She smiled somewhat, and nodded.

"Yes, please." She walked to my car and sat down. Then, she started crying.