I Can't Do It Alone

Tia walked up to her apartment after having finished her coffee with Kris. She had enjoyed the company, and a part of her wished that Jocelyn and Brooklyn had been right, and her secret admirer was Kris. At this point, she was over denying it to herself; she did, indeed, like Kris. Not that he felt the same way about her. When she had told him Jocelyn and Brooklyn’s idea, he had laughed right along with her, proving that he didn’t have the same feelings.

She started to unlock her door when she looked down and saw a package sitting in front of the door with her name on it. She picked it up, opening her door, and threw her keys onto the table before inspecting the package even more.

She turned it over, tearing open the parchment paper the box was covered in. Opening the box itself, she discovered a bouquet of red roses, along with a note. She placed the box of flowers on the table next to her keys, while she picked up the note to read it.

Hello Beautiful!

I know you must be wondering who I am, but hopefully you’ll know soon enough. If you think hard enough, I’m sure that you’ll be able to figure out who I am. In the meantime, I thought I’d give you some flowers that are about as half as beautiful as you are.

Until the next time I see you,
Your Secret Admirer

Tia read through the letter a few more times, trying to see if she could figure out who the person could be, but no one came to mind. She finally just threw the note on top of the flowers, deciding it would be better to just not think about it for a while.

All of a sudden, her phone started ringing, causing Tia to jump a bit before grabbing her cell phone out of her phone. “Hello?” she asked.

“Tia?” she heard Brooklyn ask.

“Hey, Brooklyn, what’s up?” Tia asked.

“Are you okay? You don’t sound like yourself,” Brooklyn observed.

“Uh, yeah, I’m fine. I just got another letter. And a package,” she added quickly.

“A package?” Brooklyn asked, intrigued. “What kind of package?”

“Just some flowers,” Tia commented, as if it were no big deal.

“Ooh, someone likes you!” Brooklyn joked. “And what did the note say?” Tia walked over to the table, grabbing the note and reading it to Brooklyn. “Oh my God, it has to be Kris!” she told her.

“Nope, it can’t be,” Tia replied, shaking her head. “I was with him today when the package was delivered,” she told her.

“You were with him?” Brooklyn asked. “Like on a date? Oh my God!” she squealed. “Why didn’t you start out with that? I could care less about some freaking secret admirer if you’re going out with Tanger!” she exclaimed.

“It wasn’t a date,” Tia replied, but Brooklyn didn’t seem to hear her.

“So, when are you guys going to make it official?” Brooklyn continued. “Are you planning on walking down the aisle before Max and I do?” she joked.

“Wait, did Max propose?” Tia asked suddenly, as she comprehended what Brooklyn had just said. “Why didn’t you tell me?” she screamed.

“No, Max didn’t propose to me. I sometimes wonder if he’s ever going to. I mean, we’ve been dating for two years, and I sometimes hint to him about marriage, but he either brushes it off or just makes a joke out of it,” Brooklyn told her.

“You know that boy loves you more than anything in the world,” Tia told her. “It’s obvious that he’d fall apart without you by his side.”

“Thanks, Tia,” Brooklyn smiled. “But, we’re not talking about me and Max. We’re talking about you and Kris and your date!”

“It wasn’t a date,” Tia repeated, sitting down at the table and staring at the flowers, wondering who they could possibly be from.

“Okay, well, tell me about this non-date, then,” Brooklyn told her.

“It wasn’t a big deal,” Tia said. “I went to go get some coffee, and Kris was there, so we sat and drank our coffee together,” she explained.

“And, there was no mention of an actual date or anything?” Brooklyn asked hopefully.

“Sorry to burst your bubble, Brooklyn, but no, it was just two friends having some coffee. We talked about my secret admirer,” Tia began.

“Wait, you brought it up?” Brooklyn interrupted. “Did he act guilty or anything, like he could be the one sending you these notes?”

“No, actually, he brought it up. Apparently, Sid and Max told him about it, and he mentioned something about it. I even told him about you and Jocelyn thinking it was him, and he laughed along with me. He agreed that that was crazy since we’re just friends,” Tia told her.

“It is not a crazy idea!” Brooklyn exclaimed. “Come on, Tia. We all know that he likes you, and that you like him.” When Tia was quiet for a moment, Brooklyn spoke up. “Tia? Are you there?”

“Yeah, I’m here. I’m just thinking about who these notes could be from. Seriously, it’s starting to creep me out a bit. I sometimes just wish it were Kris. At least that way, I’d know who was actually sending them to me. Instead, I just keep thinking I’m going to have this stalker soon,” she said in a joking tone.

“You wish it was Kris?” Brooklyn asked, focusing in on that one statement from Tia.

“Yes,” Tia admitted. “Just so I’d know who it was,” she added.

“Yeah, I’m sure that’s the only reason. Not because you’re madly in love with him,” Brooklyn said sarcastically.

“I’m not in love with him!” Tia exclaimed.

“Admit it, Tia. You like Tanger,” Brooklyn prodded.

“Fine!” Tia exclaimed. “I like Tanger!” she yelled, sick of everyone badgering her.

“Ahhh!” Brooklyn yelled. “I knew it!”

“Okay, well, can you keep it quiet?” Tia asked. “Please?”

“Come on, everyone already knows!” Brooklyn told her. “Can I at least tell Jocelyn that you admitted it out loud? She’ll be so happy!”

“Yeah, she’ll be so happy that she has something to hold over my head and make fun of me for,” Tia muttered.

“What?” Brooklyn asked.

“I said sure,” Tia told her. “But, you cannot tell Max. Or Sid,” she added.

“Why not?” Brooklyn asked.

“Because, you know those two. As soon as they find out, they’re going to go straight to Kris and tell him. And, I don’t want Kris knowing.”

“Fine,” Brooklyn sighed. “But, just so you know, I think it’d be a good thing if Tanger knew. Maybe that way, he’d get up enough courage to actually ask you out on a real date!”

“Brooklyn, I swear, if Kris finds out what I told you, Max won’t ever have to worry about marrying you because I will personally kill you myself. I don’t care if I go to jail,” Tia joked.

“Yeah, yeah,” Brooklyn said. “Whatever you say, Mrs. Letang.”