A Single Daffodil

“Good evening, Miss. Vita!” Graham greeted me in his usual cheery voice as he opened the doors for me. “You look ravishing!”

“No way, ho zay!” I responded gleefully, pulling at the fabric of my dress. I was wearing one of my old baby blue colored sundresses and tan leather embellished sandals. I didn’t even bother touching the mess of curls on my head because it was just one of those days where no matter how much product I put into my locks, they would put up one hell of a fight. “You’re just as sweet as can be, Graham!”

“Shall I call your driver ‘round?” He asked as he nodded to a couple who started walking up the steps. I let him open and close the door for them before responding.

“No, that won’t be necessary. My friend is actually picking me up.” I said. “He should be here any minute now.”

Teddy, should be here any minute now, to be more specific.

Butterflies actively fluttered their little wings inside my stomach. Ever since I invited Teddy to the USA vs. Tunisia game, we’ve pretty much been inseparable. It was the strangest thing! We clicked almost immediately. He caught on to my sarcastic humor pretty quick and I enjoyed his snark just as much. The guy had impeccable taste in clothes, music, sports and even movies. It was impossible not to like the guy.

The other thing I liked about Teddy was his punctuality. It was impeccable. After the whole thing with Harry, I thought the remainder of my stay in London would be impossible. I was feeling pretty badly about things, especially myself. My self-esteem plummeted and I contemplated never leaving my hotel again. But then Teddy came along and changed everything. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect. We spent every day together. Sometimes at his place, sometimes at mine. When he had work, we’d meet up for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We even attended some more olympic games, which was a essentially game in itself because I had to sneak Teddy into a lot of games that weren’t basketball--thankfully, I’ve made a few friends with security who’ve “let it slide”. He was the best--and cutest--distraction a gal could ask for.

As Graham and I were discussing the weather and how lovely it was to have one full day without rain, Teddy and his incredibly shiny Lexus pulled up to the entrance. I looked down at my phone to see it was 10:00pm on the dot. Right on time.

Teddy ducked down from the drivers seat to offer me a smile through the window. I waved excitedly back, hopping down the steps quickly.

I could hear Graham making a ‘tsk tsk’ sound of disapproval as he followed me down the steps.

“A gentleman never just sits in his car and waits for the Lady to get in, Miss. Vita.” He frowned in Teddy’s direction before opening the car door for me. I gave Graham a grateful smile, knowing not to argue him on that one. Graham must know that chivalry is a dying trait amongst my generation, but I appreciated the sentimental gesture regardless. In that aspect, he reminded me a lot of Grandpa Gene.

“Thank you, Graham.” I replied, slipping into the passenger seat of Teddy’s Lexus.

“Enjoy your evening.” He nodded at me, ignoring Teddy’s friendly wave as he closed the door shut behind me.

“Ah, so that’s the infamous Graham.” Teddy observed before turning to me. His smile got even wider when he looked me up and down. He reached over and slipped his hand under my hair before resting his palm against the nape of my neck. My skin tingled. “Well fuck me, Miss. Spoelstra. You look positively sexy tonight.”

“Oh stawp. You’re gonna make me blush.” I rolled my eyes, reaching over the console to kiss him. His hand held onto my neck tighter, making sure the kiss lingered. When I pulled away, I felt dizzy. That was the fourth time I kissed Teddy and every time the kiss ended, I felt faint. He had such lovely lips.

“I’m about this close to skipping the party entirely and taking you right back to mine.” Teddy winked twice and clicked his tongue at the same time.

“As much as I’d love to do that,” I started as I pulled back from the console and stretched the seat belt over my body. “I haven’t seen the guys or Sophia literally in forever. They’ll come after us with pitchforks if we don’t at least make an appearance.”

Teddy sighed, driving us out of the Langham hotel and onto the main road. “I hate sharing.” He placed a free hand on my left thigh, letting his thumb rest right under the hem of my sundress. I gulped, hoping he couldn’t feel the goosebumps that just emerged on my skin. “But I suppose you’re right.”

The only quibble--if I could even call it that--I had about Teddy was how touchy-feely he was. It wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, per say, but it was interesting to see how quickly Teddy could tailor a newfound friendship to possibly something more. I’d never had a guy act so quickly. He kissed me the first time we hung out. It was right after the USA game, when we were walking back out to his car. He just pulled me into him and smacked his lips right onto mine. Initially, I thought it was a bad idea. I didn’t want to get emotionally invested with anyone right now. It was way too soon. But after he ran his fingers through my hair and gently pushed me up against his car, it wasn’t exactly easy to say no. Later that night when I went to bed, I reasoned with my feelings. I decided maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea to fool around with Teddy. Obviously, it wouldn’t be anything more than fun. I’d be leaving once the Olympics were over, we both knew that. The kissing was just playful and innocent. It was a fantastic way to distract myself from all my other feelings I’ve been having lately.

However, I don’t think Teddy caught onto the fact that I only wanted to kiss him. Like the other night, for example, we were laying on his bed watching a movie when he eventually started kissing me. It was expected of course, however his hand unbuttoning my jeans was not. I had to pull away from him then and there, telling him I wasn’t going to do that. We had, after all, only really known each other for a week. He agreed rather reluctantly before pulling me back into the kiss. Since then, I’ve noticed how difficult it was for him to keep his hands off me. I’m not gonna lie, it made me nervous every time he got a little too close to the goods. I didn’t want to keep telling him I wasn’t going to have sex with him. I knew how boys were. They got distraught or annoyed if you made them feel emasculated. I didn’t want to stop hanging with Teddy, so I was grateful that he held back from his...sexual endeavors.

“How was your day?” Teddy asked as we drove down one of the main roads. I had been quiet for the first part of the drive, mostly because Teddy’s fingers resting against my inner thigh was making me feel something fierce. Something so fierce, in fact, that I had to do everything I could to focus on the road in front of us and not how he was touching the most sensitive part of my thigh.

“Exhausting.” I responded. I sounded out of breathe. Get it together, Vita. Jesus. “Who knew that acting like a tour guide for a couple of basketball players would be so draining?”

Originally, my plan for the day was to hang around the hotel. All I wanted to do was lounge in my white robe, eat chocolate cake, drink tea, and watch the Long Island Medium marathon that was taking place on television. I didn’t have to worry about entertaining Sophia or Jayden all day because they both made plans with their individual One Directioners (or, as we all know them as, Niall and Liam). Today was going to be my lazy day.

Of course, that plan went right down the shithole when I had Lebron James, Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh and Kobe Bryant practically beat down the door to my hotel room.

“It’s eight in the morning!” I exclaimed when I swung the door open, immediately unamused by their presence. They had three days off before the game against Nigeria. You’d think they’d want to sleep in too. “What could you titheads possibly want at this hour!?”

“We’re going sightseeing today!” Lebron happily announced. “And you’re coming with us!”

“The hell I am!” I retorted immediately, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. “I ain’t going anywhere with you fools. Get outta here!”

I was about to close the door on them when Dwayne Wade pulled out a Dr. Pepper that from behind his back. “We have Dr.Pepper...” He sung the words with a wide grin on his face.

I opened the door a little wider with my foot. My mouth started to salivate at the sight of my favorite red can.“Where did you get that!?”

“We’ll never tell.” Chris Bosh hummed excitedly. “Unless you hear what we gotta say.”

“Alright, you have my attention.” I narrowed my eyes at the four of them.

“You have fifteen minutes to get dressed and meet us downstairs in the lobby. We’re starting at Buckingham Palace and then we’re heading over to the London Dungeons.” Lebron instructed. “Now, hurry on up! We got a lot to do today!”

I let out a dramatic and aggravated sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose for emphasis. “Fine. But just know that you’re all stupid and I hate you--even you Kobe. Of all the basketball players on this team, I thought you were the sensible one!”

Even though I was pretty crabby about the whole affair in the beginning, touring London with the guys was actually pretty fun. They didn’t know a lick about London history, so I felt pretty clever when I listed off the “did-you-knows” about the Palace and the Dungeons. And it definitely didn’t hurt having a Dr. Pepper in my hand the whole time. Goddamn, did I miss that stupid soda or what? I cherished every sip of that soda like it was my last.

“Where did you find these beauts anyways!?” I asked Dwayne as we boarded the red Double Decker bus the team rented for the day. A herd of tourist had spotted us boarding the bus and were now taking pictures and yelling the players’ names. That kind of attention was expected though. You can’t exactly go incognito with 6 ft 5” dudes around this town. “I can’t believe you guys found a place that actually sells Dr. Pepper!”

“Oh.” Dwayne started laughing immediately. “Yeah, um, we didn’t actually find a place that sells them. Lebron found a can at the bottom of his workout bag. He accidentally brought it over from the States.”

Angered by this new piece of depressing information, I punched him as hard as I could in the shoulder but he barely winced. Instead, he laughed harder. Meanwhile, my knuckles still throbbed from the impact. Note to self: practice the ol’ one-two before you decide to hit an athlete in his chiseled arm.

I happily relayed the events of my day to Teddy, who graciously laughed at all the funny parts. I didn’t think I was going to see Teddy today either. We didn’t make plans, and since we hung out for seven days straight, I assumed he wanted a day off from my more-than-annoying American ways. However, after getting a harassing phone call from Liam, demanding I go to his party tonight, I got a call from Teddy three minutes later, asking me if I needed a ride to the party.

And now, here we were, pulling into Liam’s driveway. And Teddy’s hand was still resting on my exposed thigh.

Oh what a long day it has been.

“Teddy and Vita? What a pleasant surprise!” Liam answered the door, instantly shocked to see the both of us standing on his doorstep.

That was the other reason why I liked hanging out with Teddy. No one really knew what we were getting up to.

The second we stepped into the house, we stepped right into mayhem. I could tell this party would greatly contrast the pool party I attended before. There were more people inside, the music was louder and it was darker. Liam had turned his house into a makeshift nightclub.

“Uh, Liam?” I had to shout over the thunderous beat of a remixed Katy Perry song. It was dark, loud, and I had no idea where to go.

“Kitchen!” Liam yelled, signaling to go forward.

Teddy grabbed my hand and pulled me through the crowded foyer and toward the living room area. As we passed several groups of girls, he acknowledge a few of them, yelling a quick hello and promising he’d come find them in a bit. I had to prevent my eyebrow from raising; I never thought to consider Teddy’s luck with the ladies. Was he a ladies man? By the looks of his killer jawline and perfectly shaped hair, it was a pretty obvious answer. I smiled, holding onto Teddy because I wasn’t sure what else to do.

When we finally reached the kitchen area, my eyes lit up when I noticed familiar faces. The music wasn’t so loud in here, the lights were actually on, and I could move around freely. This was the place to be.

“Yo, yo, yo!” I exclaimed, my arms up excitedly as I made an entrance. “There’s my crew!”

The reaction was almost instant. Trust Niall, Louis and Zayn to raise their beers and yell back the ‘yo’s’ right back at me. I punched Niall in the stomach unexpectedly before giving Louis and Zayn high fives.

“Why do you do the things that you do!?” Niall huffed, hugging his middle. Louis and Zayn were cracking up. “You are a mean bully!”

“I’m toughening you up, Irish.” I grinned before punching him in the shoulder. He yelped again. “And that one was for stealing my best friend! A whole week, Niall? Really?”

“Well, it doesn’t look like you’re exactly unoccupied either, ye know.” Niall leaned in as he spoke, eying up Teddy as he greeted Louis and Zayn next to us. Before I knew it, Niall was attempting an American accent. “Teddy, Vita? Really?”

I narrowed my eyes at Niall, trying to offer him my best menacing look. After hearing the worst rendition of an American accent, however, I couldn’t stop cracking a smile mid-angry expression.

“Esquooz, por favor!” Sophia and her wonderful accent had managed to grab my wrist and ripped me away from the boys immediately. “Best friend meeting! Right now!”

I let out a small ‘ah!’ of surprise when she pulled me to the other corner of the kitchen, where Eleanor and Perrie were waiting with the red solo cups in their hands. I grinned. “Hey guys!”

“Did you just arrive with Teddy!?” Perrie dove right into it.

The three of them huddled together, waiting for my answer. I probably should have felt cornered, but I was too giddy to be with my friends again that I just nodded feverishly.

Eleanor squealed. “Girl! He’s gorgeous!”

“Oh, mi amore!” Sophia yelled now pulling me into her and squishing my head right into her chest. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the first time I’ve had to endure this. “I am so proud!”

“Ugh, Sophia.” I groaned, trying to extract my head from her boobs. “You gotta stop doing that.”

“When did this start happening!?” Sophia clung to my arm. “Tell me, tell me!”

I was about to tell her to relax, but had to quickly ‘shh’ everyone when I noticed Teddy walking over to us.

“Alright, ladies?” He addressed the four of us. Sophia clung tighter to my arm with excitement. I winced. Jesus, Sophia. “Can I get anyone a drink?”

“Nope, I think I’m grand. Thanks, Teddy.” Perrie lifted her cup and shook it slightly while Eleanor shook her head.

I didn’t really feel like drinking anything, on account of being too exhausted from today’s activities. I also had to get up early tomorrow because I promised the the team I’d go to their practice at the gym.

But I also didn’t want to look like a lame-o at the party so I said, “I’ll have a beer, I guess?”

Teddy grinned at me. “A beer it is.” He said before turning out of the kitchen. I forgot that Liam kept the stacks of beer cases and kegs in the living room and all the hard liquor in the kitchen. That’s how much alcohol he had. He couldn’t even fit it in one area.

“Ay, Vita! I am so happy!” Sophia gushed. “You are moving on! You are glowing!”

“I am not.” I rolled my eyes but Perrie and Eleanor were quick to agree with her.

“He’s quite the catch there, Vita.” Perrie said. “I don’t know much about him personally, but I can see he’s got a nice arse. D’you see the buns!? And those tight trousers! A right tease, that one.”

“Ugh.” I cringed. The words ‘arse’ and ‘buns’ made me feel so uncomfortable. “You guys stress me out.” Without delay, the three of them took a nosedive right into a very heated discussion about men butts and started rating off everyone’s asses in the room. I observed the three of them with both disgust and astonishment. I didn’t realize just how well they knew their butts.

“I’d give Jayden a nine out of ten. Would recommend.” Perrie purred and suddenly, I felt unwell because of her words. I had to draw the line at Jayden. That was territory I never wanted to explore.

“Speaking of Jayden,” I interrupted swiftly. “where is he? I haven’t seen him yet.”

Which was strange, because I already saw Liam and those two were always joined at the hip.

“I think I saw him go out back not too long ago!” Eleanor answered, looking over at the sliding glass doors.

“Probably looking for some hotdogs.” I replied, shaking my head. I carefully removed Sophia’s clingy arm from mine and started backing away. “I’ll catch up with you guys later.”

“You still have to spill the beans about you-know-who!” Perrie sang after me.

“I will in a bit! Promise!” I shouted back before passing the group of guys once more (“OW! YOU’RE A CRUEL WOMAN, VITA!” Niall shouted after I casually pinched his backside on my way out of the kitchen. I loved teasing the kid. It was just too easy.). One extra sidestep pass another group of people in the kitchen, and I was headed towards the sliding glass doors.

“No, like, see, what I don’t get is why J.K Rowling just went ahead and decided that she’d publish seven books. She could have easily added a couple more books. Like, three more. Tops.” Before I could even place a hand on the door to push it open, it was already being pushed aside, revealing Jayden in his habitual white t-shirt and red plaid shirt combo. I could tell he was drunk because his cheeks were flushed and he was talking about Harry Potter. He always got extra passionate about Harry Potter when he had a couple of beers in him.

I felt myself get really excited to see Jayden for the first time all week, but the excitement instantly turned into anxiety when I saw who he was talking to. Harry, clad in a flimsy grey sweater and black jeans, was walking inside after him, grinning while he listened to Jayden ramble on. When he spotted me standing in front of him, his grin disappeared.

“Booger!” Jayden exclaimed at the sight of me. He yanked me into a hug, squeezing me tightly. Harry stood awkwardly behind us, slowly sliding the glass door behind him.

“Right...back atcha!?” I replied with a laugh, not entirely sure what inspired him to call me such a thing.

“Oh, Vita. My homegirl. My homeslice. I haven’t seen you in years.” Jayden refused to let go of me. He had moved from hugging to putting his arms around my neck. I had to pull at his forearms to prevent him from choking me. “I love you, kid. Straight up LOVE you. You are my best friend. My homegirl.”

“Oh God, stop getting mushy on me, will ya?” I groaned. I already got enough gripe from Sophia not moments ago. “We don’t talk to each other like this. It ain’t normal.”

Harry watched us with a nervous smile. I could feel my cheeks heat up when our eye met each other. I should have assumed that I would see Harry at Liam’s party, but I hadn’t the chance to truly anticipate it. I’d been completely bombarded by everyone else to even think about it. Now I was nervous, wondering if we were even pals anymore.

“Alright, fine. You’re right.” Jayden finally let me out of his chokehold, looking back over at Harry. Harry was looking at me. Jayden looked back over at me. I was still looking at Harry. “Oh, whoa. Sheesh, hello! I can sense some weird ass ju-ju between you two. I’m gonna go ahead and find myself another beer. Toodles, my poodles!”

I pleaded with my eyes when Jayden looked down at me, hoping he could comprehend that I didn’t want to be left alone with Harry. Maybe the sober Jayden would have taken the hint, but drunk Jayden most certainly did not. Drunk Jayden ruffled up my already mess of curls and headed towards the kitchen.

I laughed nervously when Harry and I were left alone. I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “How many drinks has that kid had? Jesus.”

“I have no idea. He’s been like this since I first got here and that was three hours ago.” Harry replied. “Why is he so obsessed with Harry Potter?”

I was not unfamiliar to the whole ‘beating around the bush’ situation, so I happily went along with it when Harry set it in motion.

“I have no idea.” I replied, shaking my head. “Try being his friend when the final books came out. He dragged me and Sophia to Barnes & Noble at midnight and forced us to draw lightning bolts on our foreheads.”

“Sophia permissively went along with it?” He quirked an eyebrow with amusement.

“Oh God, no. It was a bloodbath every single time.” I grinned.

We both laughed, but the light-heartedness of the conversation died down pretty quick. My anxiety started brewing again when I realized I didn’t know where this conversation was going. I racked my brains, hoping I could come up with a quick change of subject before Harry could--

He cleared his throat. “Listen, are we...are we okay?”

That was a loaded question. I had to take a moment to analyze it before responding.

“Yeah. Yeah, of course we are.” I answered, hoping the shakiness in my voice wasn’t too obvious. Was that even the right answer? I wasn’t sure.

“Okay, good. I was a bit worried, ye know. I’ve seen a lot of Sophia and Jayden in the past week and you weren’t with them.” He bit his lip for a second before continuing. It drove me insane. “I didn’t want you to, ye know, stay away from the lads because you were upset with me. Or something.”

I thought he was the one who was upset with me. Not the other way around. God, this kid was so confusing. I hated it. I also hated that I couldn’t look away from the tiny pony tail he managed to devise with the top half of his messy hair. It gave me an urge to reach up and play with his hair because it looked so inviting right then and there.

I sighed, resisting the urge. It would have been inappropriate and he had a girlfriend.

“No, that’s not why I haven’t been--I’ve just been busy, I guess.” I replied, forcing myself to look at Harry’s face and not his perfect hair. “I actually wanted to apologize for the last time we, you know, saw each other. I was a little...intense at the game.”

Harry smiled. “A little? Try a lot. Try a fair amount.”

I let out a frustrated sigh. “Fine, a lot. I’m sorry, okay? But Tanya said her brother was the best basketball player in the world, and I got very defensive about it.”

“I know.” Harry was now grinning. “I knew she pushed the wrong button with that one. I feared for her life, actually. And her brother’s too, now that I think about it.”

I watched Harry carefully. Now I was confused with an extra dash of perplexed. I thought he was mad for the way I acted at the game but now he was sorta acting like he enjoyed watching it.

“I’m very maternal towards my team, you know that.” I replied, testing the waters.

“Wouldn’t be you if you weren’t.” What he did next surprised me. He kicked my foot with his. It was something he used to when we were dating. It wasn’t much, but I always found it endearing. The small gesture reminded me of his childish personality and how carefree he was. For a very brief moment, it felt like we were back to normal. Just Harry being Harry and me being me. It made my heart drop into my stomach. “Did you really tell Lebron James to dunk on Tanya’s brother?”

I fastened my hands behind my back as I looked down at my feet, idly playing with the edge of the carpet with my sandal. “I didn’t not tell him to dunk on her brother...”

When I looked up at Harry from under my eyelashes, he was laughing. “You’re terrible!”

I didn’t want the pleasant banter between us to end. It was intoxicating. It took everything in me to avert from melting into a giddy school girl right in front of him.

I was just about to ask him if he’d been following the rest of the basketball tournament when I caught him peering a little left of my shoulder. His face fell and it didn’t take me long to figure out why.

“There’s my sexy lady!”

I withheld my wince, knowing it was Teddy coming up behind me. His hand grabbed at my waist, pulling me into him as he held an opened Corona Beer in front of my face. “Hope you like Corona. It was either this or a Guinness but I figured you weren’t the type of gal who’d enjoy a stout.” He looked up and nodded at Harry. “Oh hey, Styles. How goes it?”

Harry stayed silent, glaring at Teddy.

I cautiously took the Corona from Teddy, now terrified to make eye-contact with Harry.

“Right.” Teddy gave Harry a strange look before turning to me. “Well, sorry to interrupt, but I actually wanted to steal you away for a second. I have some friends I want you to meet.”

“Oh, okay.” I replied, nodding. “Yeah, just uh, give me a few seconds.”

He nodded, kissing my forehead before walking away once again. Harry barely waited two seconds before exploding.

“Are you fucking joking!?” Gone was the playful tone in his voice. He was glowering at me, his eyes dark and his brows scrunched up. “That’s where you’ve been all week? With him?”

I could feel myself getting agitated by his tone. What gave him the right to be so angered by this? “He’s actually really nice, Harry--”

“No he isn’t.” Harry sneered. “I told you to stay away from him an--”

“And what!?” I exploded, cutting him off. “You thought I would listen to you!? Come off it, Harry. You can’t tell me what to do.” So much for getting along. “Who do you think you are?”

“I’m fucking looking out for you!” He replied. “I’m not kidding, Vita. Teddy? He’s not a nice guy. Last year, he--”

“God, Harry, spare me. Just leave it be. I don’t know why you have so much beef with him.” I sighed. “I have to go. Later.”

I stalked away from him as quickly as possible so he couldn’t have a chance to say anything else. I didn’t even know how to assess his unreasonable reaction to me and Teddy. He was allowed to move on, but I wasn’t? I was raging.

I took two huge gulps of my cold beer, hoping it would calm me down. It did considerably. I was so angry with Harry that I could barely see straight. All I wanted to do was turn back around and yell at him for being the worst ‘pal’ ever.

Instead, I searched for Teddy. When I found him, I grabbed him by the back of the neck and pressed my lips hard against his.

“Feisty one, aren’t you?” Teddy grinned, grabbing my waist and pulling me into him.

That was the last thing I remember Teddy saying to me before everything else from that night completely blacked out.