Red Roses

The rest of the week went by uneventfully but it didn't fly by either. It was as though Father Time knew I was excited for my kind of date/non-date with Jay and chose to have each hour feel like a decade had gone by. I spent most of the week unpacking boxes and placing my furniture the way I wanted it.

By the time Friday came around, I was dead tired and begging for it to be six. I was ready by 5:40 so I walked to the café earlier. I got there 10 minutes later and just as I got there someone else from my past walked out of the café.

"Cameron?" I said, not sure if it was really him. "Is that you?" He looked up and when he saw me, his whole face lit up. He grinned and ran at me. He wrapped his arms around me and picked me up, twirling me around.

Cameron had been my one and only guy friend in high school ‒ being friendly with classmates didn't automatically class them as such ‒ but he was also my best friend. We split ways when it was time for us to go to university and there wasn't a day I didn't miss him. He was the best guy I knew and he was always there for me. I loved him like he was my own brother (it felt like we were twins sometimes). He was also gay and that made me love him so much more because he was strong to deal with all the difficulties that came with it.

"Holy shit, Eve! Holy shit," he exclaimed. He also swore like a sailor. "Fuck, it's been way too long. I've missed you so much." He dug his face into the crook of my neck and hugged me tightly.

Cameron was adorable. He was short, like me, except he was a dwarf while I was a hobbit ‒ meaning he was taller than me. He had dirty blond hair and brown eyes (eyes much like my own) with freckles sprinkled all over his face. Everyone thought we were actually twins most of the time, especially when I dyed my hair blond for prom. Everyone kept saying how uncanny our resemblance was.

I laughed. "I've missed you too, Cameron. Oh God, how I've missed you."

"Cameron!" a man's voice said, sounding as though he was searching for him.

"Over here, babe," he said, his voice muffled but loud enough that the man heard. He walked over to us.

"Who's this?" he asked Cameron.

"This," Cameron said as he let go of me and grabbed the man's hand, "is my closest friend of all time. My best friend, Eve. Eve, this is my fiancé, Matt."

I smiled at Matt and he stuck out his hand to shake mine. I grabbed it and we shook hands.

"You have a fiancé and you didn't tell me? That hurts, Cam," I said, pouting.

"We came here to tell you," he retorted. "I just wasn't expecting to run into you the same day we got here."

"How did you know where I was?"

"Everyone knows this is where you ran off to," he said softly. He looked at me and he seemed to realize something. "Why are you dressed so nicely?"

"What?" I looked down at my clothes. "Oh. I'm having supper with someone."

"Ou!" he exclaimed, clapping his hands. "A date? Who is he? What's he like? Oh, I bet he's cute."

"Careful, your feminine side is showing," I joked. "And it's not really a date. At least, he never said so. But it's with Jason. Jason Phillips," I said, blushing.

"What? No way. Jay finally grew the fucking balls to ask you out and he doesn't even clarify if it's a date or not? Idiot."

I glared at him and he threw his hands into the air as though surrendering.

"Alright, well, here's my number. Call me when it's done so we can gossip and then we'll catch up. Have fun," Cameron said, handing me a piece of paper. He and Matt walked away, both waving goodbye.

I smiled and turned around. I checked my phone to see that it was already 6:10. As far as I could tell, Jay hadn't arrived yet and he didn't seem like the type to be late. I worried my bottom lip between my teeth, trying to think of reasons why he wouldn't be here. That's when I saw them.

What looked to be a dozen red roses were thrown haphazardly into the trash. A frown formed on my lips as I thought of what might have happened between a couple to have the roses thrown out like that. I went to step forward to take them out of the trash so they would have someone to take care of them when I noticed the card that was at my feet. I bent down to pick it up and began reading it.

On the front, there was a large blooming red rose and it read:

Liberton's Flower Shop thanks you for giving someone a reason to buy you flowers.

That was a little insensitive. What if someone had died? I opened the card and was shocked to find that I recognized the messy writing on the inside.

Red flowers for the one girl who suits everything red. Roses because they're as special as you are...to me.


P.S: I'm glad you went back to being a redhead.

I stared at the card then at the roses and back again. He had come after all? But why did he throw away the roses? Where was he now?

I spent the rest of the night waiting outside of the café, hoping he'd show up again. At midnight, I went home because I wasn't dressed for the cold and I was already freezing. I got home and it was all I could do to keep from breaking down.

I had missed him more than anyone, anything in the past six years and now I'd gone and screwed up whatever it was between us.

Way to go, Eve, I thought sarcastically.

I collapsed on my bed and heavy, breathtaking sobs began to leave me. Tears burned my eyes and fell down my face like a waterfall.

That night, for the first time in years, I cried myself to sleep.