A Single Daffodil

I took a long sip of my Italian Roast coffee, the strong flavorful mouthful of smoky sweetness overpowering my tastebuds. The warmth spreading throughout my body was instant, and my fingertips started to tingle.

It was another typical Monday morning at Jane’s Flower Shop. Slow, quiet, and dull. I had to get here by 7am to sign for the weekly shipment from our Greenhouses. Because business was slow on Mondays, we usually reserved them for all the mundane tasks. So with sleepy eyes and a high messy ponytail, I got to work straight away. I unloaded the boxes of flowers into their display cabinets and fridges, checked inventory, ordered more flowers for consideration weddings and impending funerals, followed up with our hotel clients, consulted with Wedding planners, and even switched up the window displays.

By noon, I was more than just exhausted. I was wiped out and ready to drop. Not even the last of my coffee could give me the extra boost I needed for the remaining four hours of my shift.

While Maggie worked in her office, I manned the front of the store, sitting on a wooden stool and lazily watching pedestrians walk by. There was nothing left to do except wait for customers and to daydream about how my lovely warm bed was patiently waiting for my return.

“Vita!” Maggie emerged from the back room, cradling a pot of roses in her hands. She set the pot down by the register and smiled at me. “Why don’t you go ahead and take your lunch break.”

“Oh!” The sound of a break instantly woke me up. “Are you sure? I don’t mind waiting until Ronnie comes in—”

Maggie waved me off. “Go take your break! I’ll see you in an hour.”

“You’re a gem, Maggie!” I exclaimed, hopping off the stool. I flattened out my black high-waisted skater skirt before walking to the back. “I’m going to go pick up some Chipotle. Do you want anything while I’m out?”

“No thank you, dear!” She replied. “I have my Whole Foods salad waiting for me in the fridge!”

I said goodbye to Maggie and grabbed my purse from the office before going out to my car. The thought of devouring a burrito bowl with extra sour cream sounded like an absolute dream right now.

Just as I jumped into the car and pointed all the air vents at me—it was suppose to reach 100 degrees outside today. Fuck me, right?—my phone started buzzing in my skirt pocket. When I looked at the screen, I reeled back with surprise.

Dwayne Wade calling.

“Never seen that before.” I muttered to myself before I pressed the ‘Accept’ button. “Hello?”

“Lil’ Spo!” Dwayne sounded frantic and out of breath. “What are you doing? Where are you?”

“I’m just about to take my lunch break.” I replied, slowly slipping the seatbelt over my torso. My heart rate quickened slightly when my brain registered his voice was traced with alarm. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

“No! You have to come down to the arena immediately.” He responded quickly. “We have an emergency.”

“What’s wrong!?” I repeated my question, my heart now racing. “Did something happen? Is my dad okay?”

“It’s Lebron.” Dwayne rushed the words out. “Everyone is freaking out, man. He just came into practice and told us he’s leaving the team!”

“He’s WHAT!?” I screamed the last part. I balanced my phone between my shoulder and ear as I put the car in reverse. My tires screeched against the tarmac as I slammed on the break, and pushed the lever into drive. “What do you mean he’s leaving? What the fuck is going on!?”

“You just need to get down here quick. You need to help us talk him out of it before the coach finds out!” Dwayne continued. “He’s talking crazy, Spo. He’s talking about going to the…” He dropped his voice to a whisper, “New York Knicks.”

The sound of my car engine accelerated as I pushed harder on the pedal.

“I’ll be there in two minutes!” I yelled, frantically swerving through traffic. “Don’t do anything crazy! We’ll talk him out of it, alright!? Just make sure my dad doesn’t find out yet! Jesus Christ, the media will have a fucking field day with this if anyone finds out!”

“Hurry!” Dwayne insisted. “You’re the only one who can talk him out of it! Meet us in the arena!”

He hung up before I could even form a response. My mind was buzzing and my heart was beating like mad.

“Oh fuck me.” I moaned loudly, swerving around the corner and turning onto the Causeway. The cars behind me honked furiously. “Not now, Miami!” I screamed to the cars, but more to myself. “We have a crisis on our hands! If we lose Lebron fucking James to the Knicks, you’ll have a lot more to fucking honk about! Jesus Christ!”

Lebron James was not allowed to leave the Miami Heat. Not on my fucking watch. He was the Miami Heat. He was apart of the big three: Dwayne Wade, Lebron James, Chris Bosh. They were the holy trinity. He couldn’t just leave! If he leaves, we’ll be screwed for next season!

Oh my God. If my dad finds out about this, he’ll have a heart attack.

I already had a foot out the door before I even put my car in park when I arrived at the arena. I sprinted across the parking lot and swung the double doors wide open, letting a gust of wind swoosh past me.

I was ready to race up another flight of stairs and ripping open more double doors that led into the main arena, but I stopped abruptly when a group of people were waiting for me by the security desk.

Lebron James and Dwayne Wade were leaning against the desk casually, dressed in their normal clothes and wearing massive grins on their faces. And above all, that wasn’t even the weirdest part about this situation.

Jayden and Sophia were there too, standing next to them and sharing similar expressions.

“Lebron Raymone James!” I bellowed, stomping towards him. “You are not going to the fucking New York Knicks!? Do you hear me? Listen, I know you’re a free agent and all, but that doesn’t mean you can just decide one morning that you want to piss off to the Concrete Jungle! I know you and Carmelo Anthony are tight, but I absolutely forbid you from—”

“I’m not going to the Knicks.” Lebron cut me off, laughing loudly.

My mouth was hanging mid-air, my face red from the panic and anger I felt towards him. It took me a moment to close my mouth and blink a couple of times. “Wait. What?”

Now it was Dwayne’s turn to laugh. “He’s not going anywhere, girl! We just said that as an excuse to get you over here.”

I blinked at him, feeling more confused then ever.

I slowly turned to look at Sophia and Jayden, realizing something wasn’t right. Sophia and Jayden don’t just hang around with Lebron and Dwayne. That wasn’t a thing that happened during the off-season. In fact, that wasn’t something that happened at all.

It then took me another second to realize that the team didn’t have practice on Mondays. And that there weren’t any other cars in the parking lot except mine.

“Okay,” I finally said, taking in a huge breath. Now I was suspicious. “What’s going on here?” I pointed my index and middle finger towards Sophia and Jayden, “Why are you two tits here?”

Sophia looked awfully too excited, and that made me nervous. Even Jayden, the ever so play-it-cool guy, was grinning like a maniac.

“There’s something you need to see,” Jayden tried to say calmly, but his voice was jittery with excitement. “and it’s waiting for you inside the arena.”

“Aye! Inside the arena!” Sophia added. Uh oh. She was clapping and jumping up and down excitedly.

I gave them a weird look. “Something inside the arena…” I repeated his words slowly, “I’m sorry, but I’m super lost here. What, exactly, is waiting inside the arena and how do I play a part in any of this?”

“Vita, don’t ask questions.” Lebron said. He jerked his head in the direction of the stairs behind him. “Just go to the arena.”

My heart started racing once again. I didn’t like the fact that nobody was answering my questions. I didn’t even like this situation to begin with. But I couldn’t help but feel curious about what was happening. Did my dad plan some crazy surprise for me and they were all in on it? It wasn’t even my birthday for another three months!

“Don’t even talk to me. I am so mad at you—both of you, actually.” I pointed to Lebron and Dwayne. “‘Lebron is going to the Knicks!’ What the hell is wrong with you!? I almost had a heart attack.” I punched Dwayne in the arm for emphasis.

“Just go!” Dwayne pointed to the stairs.

“Alright!” I put my hands up before slowly walking towards the stairs. I jumped up a couple of steps before turning around to look at them. “Aren’t you guys coming?”

“No!” Sophia answered, while the other three smirked and shook their heads. “We’ll be right here, waiting for you.”

“You guys know this feels like a super sketchy situation, right?” I asked, turning around on the step to face them. “Like, can anyone give me a clue as to what the hell is happenin—”

“Go!” The four of them yelled at me.

“Alright, alright!” I widened my eyes in surprise. I turned around and continued up the steps. “Jeez.”

I walked up the last couple of steps and entered the main foyer area of the Arena. This was usually where all the fans could come and grab food from the vendors or buy Miami Heat memorabilia during the halftime show. It was usually loud, busy and mostly chaotic. But now everything was shut down, the vendors were empty and I was the only one walking down the hallway. I wasn’t used to it.

As I made my way towards the main entrance that led straight to the basketball court, I stopped walking when I noticed something dangling from the metal frame above it. Tied to a piece of white string was a single daffodil, swaying ever so delicately back and forth.

I looked around quickly, waiting for someone to pop out from behind a trashcan or a counter. I waited for someone to come out and explain to me why my favorite flower was hanging above the entrance that led to the basketball court. But it was quiet, and I was alone.

My heart started to race.

I approached the flower cautiously, my fingers now turning numb as a million scenarios started to play inside my head. No longer was this situation funny to me. My mouth had gone dry, my hands shook and I couldn’t feel my legs. I was no longer eager to know what was waiting for me inside the arena. All I wanted to do was turn around and run away, because I was terrified. I was terrified of…who put that daffodil there and why.

But my legs carried me forward and I was walking towards the arena.

The hallway that led towards the basketball court was long and curved slightly. I noticed as I walked closer the arena, the lighting progressively started to dim. It was when I walked around the curve that I realized the arena was dark.

The entire arena was completely pitch black.

I gulped, trying to rid the dryness of my mouth. I was shivering, my nerves were completely over the edge, and I couldn’t see a thing. I took a couple of steps closer, leaning my hand against the cement wall for support. I squinted my eyes, trying to get a better look in front of me. If I remembered correctly, this hallway led straight out to the basketball court, but all I could see was my shadow, stretching far out in front of me.

After facing a quiet and blacked-out arena, I cleared my throat and gather up enough courage to call out.

“Hello?” My voice all but croaked.

And that was all it took.

A noisy bang! rang off in the corner of the arena, and suddenly there was light above those section of seats. Except there weren’t people sitting in the seats.

I gasped, my jaw dropping when I saw what was waiting in that section.

There were daffodils. Hundreds of daffodils.

Another bang and the section next to it lit up too, doubling the amount of daffodils. My eyes widened.

Before I knew it, the rest of the sections in the arena followed in a fluid motion. The lights above each section turned on, one after the other, showing rows upon rows upon rows of daffodils. I twisted around to watch the lights turn on the sections behind me. I tilted back slightly to see that there wasn’t one empty seat in the house. Every single seat held a bouquet of daffodils. Daffodils, and nothing else.

“Oh my God.” I whispered, my mouth still open as I looked way up high. There were even daffodils in the nosebleed sections. An arena full of daffodils. There must have been millions in here! It was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.

“Do you like it?”

My back was facing the basketball court when I heard it. A voice.

It was the voice I heard when I walked up to the fifteenth floor when I was taking a picture of the artwork. The voice that delivered words with a heavy, but husky and beautiful, British accent. The voice I would catch humming or singing a tune early in the morning when we’d stay in bed all day because it was much too hot to go outside. The voice that laughed at my dumb jokes. The voice that asked us to be pals. The voice that very gently told me to stop crying in Saint Malo when I heard my Grandpa’s letter. The voice that let me down when I confessed my love out loud. The voice that rang clearly through my head on my best and worst nights.

His voice.

My entire body went rigid and goosebumps erupted at the nape of my neck. My heart rate tripled, my breathing rapid as if I just ran a marathon.

He was here.

I turned around to confirm that this wasn’t a dream and I hadn’t just imagined his voice in my head. This couldn’t be happening. This wasn’t real.

When my eyes reached the basketball court, my hand flew to my mouth to cover the sound of disbelief that managed to escape when I saw him.

Harry Styles was standing by the basket. He had his hands behind his back, his head tilted forward as he watched me carefully from underneath his long eyelashes. His plain white shirt hung loosely over his torso, and matched the white converse he was wearing with his black jeans.

“You—You did this?” My voice quivered as I spoke. My mind was completely jumbled as I tried to make sense of what was happening. The last time I saw Harry, I was crying and I was begging him to take me back.

“I did.” He responded, his voice careful.

“How did you get so many?” I asked, still trying to wrap my mind around the fact that Harry was standing right in front of me. I couldn’t look away from the sea of yellow daffodils that stood out behind him.

“Well, I called every single florist in Florida.” He said, his beautiful green eyes locked on mine. “And then I called every florist in Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina and North Carolina. I told them it was the only way to get the love of my life back.”

I was pretty sure my heart was ready to explode, or at the very least, leap out of my chest. Did I just hear that right?

“What?” My voice was nothing but a whisper. I had so many questions, so many things to say, but I couldn’t articulate a word.

“Don’t say anything yet, okay?” Harry halted my fumbling words, raising his hands up. “Just—just let me get out what I have to say.”

I stared at him in disbelief, willing myself to stay quiet.

“Ever since I met you, it’s been quite the…adventure.” He started. “You were so rude to me when we first met. You were just so…mean, especially about my nose. You startled me, you know. You were about the rudest American girl I’d ever met.”

I wanted to voice my opinion about my first impression about him too. I wanted to tell him his nose was stupid and dumb, but in a cute way. Instead, I kept my mouth shut because I wasn't quite sure what kind of words would come spilling out. I was a gigantic case of emotions and I was still trying to make sense of what was happening. So I let him continue.

“But for some ridiculous and strange, idiotic reason, it made me want to get to know you.” He finally cracked a smile, albeit small, in my direction. “So I got your friends to assist me in getting you to come out with me on our first date.”

Kidnapped me, I wanted to correct him, under false pretenses.

Again, I kept my mouth shut.

“And then you took me here, where you finally decided to be a little less impolite and a little more agreeable.” Harry took a couple of steps backwards while he continued to speak. He stopped at the free throw line, right in front of the basket. He gestured towards his feet. “We were right about here when I asked you about your favorite movie—Casablanca, by the way, was a very solid choice.” He moved a couple of feet forward. “It was here where you told me what your favorite food was.” He moved again, this time a little closer to the hoop. “Here, you told me about how much you loved living in Miami, and going to the beach, but then you told me you wouldn’t be caught dead in a pair of flip-flops. You hate flip-flops because you think they’re for lazy people. You called them ‘lazy-lops’. And then you told me that Cuban coffee was a serious staple in this part of town. You said that it was—”

“—the reason Miami’s never had much of a problem with Crystal Meth.” I finished his sentence before he could. I mumbled out the words before I could even stop myself.

Harry grinned at me after I said it. I folded my arms over my torso and shrugged. “Well, it’s true.”

Now he was walking backwards, all the way to the other side of the court. He stood right at the edge of the court, gesturing to his feet once more. “Here,” he had to raise his voice a little louder for me to hear him. He sounded so confident now “Here, was where we first kissed.” He let out a small laugh, reaching up to scratch the back of his neck. His cheeks, I noticed, started to turn a light shade of pink. “I didn’t think our first kiss would be so public, and in an arena full of Heat fans, no less. But when I kissed you, I swear I didn’t see anyone else or hear anyone else but you. I kissed you, and I felt my heartbeat go nuts and I felt your skin turn hot against mine. The second my mouth touched yours, I knew that was it. I remember…I remember going to bed every night that following week, telling myself I would move fucking mountains to kiss you like that again.”

I pressed my shaky fingers to my mouth, hoping it would somehow prevent the familiar heat sensation behind my eyes. It didn’t. I could feel my expression crumbling, my calm facade slowly dwindling.

Harry dropped his hand and slowly walked towards me, his gaze steady. My heart started to skip every other beat, my breathing hitched somewhere inside my throat as I watched him approach me. It was almost unbearable, watching him take his time. Couldn’t he see that I was unravelling at a rapid pace?

“And finally, here.” He stopped a couple of feet away from me. He stood right at the edge of the basketball court, facing me. He was closer to me then he had been this entire time. He was so close now that I could see all the details of his awful tattoo choices, peaking out from underneath his shirt. He was close enough that I could see his stupid dumb nose, in all it’s glory, twitch as he offered me a lop-sided grin. “Here is where I apologize for how stupid I’ve been and explain to you how much… how much I still love you.”

My intake of breath was sharp when I heard him say the word love. My lungs started to burn and goosebumps erupted up my legs and down my arms. My brows creased with worry as I watched him carefully.

“When I left this place a year ago, I was really messed up, Vita.” He started, taking in another huge breathe. “You ended things with me, and I wasn’t ready for that because I was so in love with you. I was crazy for you. People told me I would get over it eventually, and that I would meet someone new. I bought into it, desperate to fill the hole in my heart that was in the shape of you. So I dated like mad when I went back to London because I thought I could forget you. After about the fifth or sixth girl, I realized I was looking for you in every person. I thought about you in different states, different countries, different continents. I looked for your face in every crowd, I smiled every time I saw a flower or a Dr. Pepper, and I just…I missed you so much that it felt like missing you was all that I am.”

I wanted to hit him and kiss him at the same time. I wanted to cry and I wanted to laugh. I was feeling everything and nothing at all. It was the most conflicted I had ever felt.

But I couldn’t dwell on it for long, because he kept speaking.

“You want to hear something funny? I would go out to pubs, sometimes with the guys, but mostly by myself, and I would watch the Heat games on telly.” He looked down at his hands and swallowed. “I watched them, hoping I would get a glimpse of you on the sidelines. I wanted to see your face, your smile, even if it was only for a second. I knew I was torturing myself, but I did it anyways. I thought I would never see you again…and then you came to London.” He sighed, shaking his head but he started grinning again. “And you just came back into my life and had to muck everything up, didn’t you? You drove me absolutely mental this summer, you know that? I had absolutely no idea what to do with myself, knowing full well that you were frolicking around the streets of London. Stupid me thought I could handle it too until we went to France.”

My stomach dipped when he brought up France.

“I wanted to kiss you so badly, Vita. On the airplane, in Zayn’s kitchen, in the car, on the boat at your Grandparent’s secret hideaway.” Harry’s voice was low and raspy and it was killing me. “Especially on the beach after you told me you loved me. It was all I wanted to hear from your mouth ever since I met you. Since day one, Vita. I wanted to kiss the words right out of your mouth. But I couldn’t do it then because I was with Tanya. I…I wouldn’t allow myself to kiss you until I broke things off with her.” He narrowed his eyes at me playfully. “If only you’d waited another ten minutes after you stormed off and left, you’d have found out that I stayed on the beach because I was calling Tanya and breaking up with her.”

My eyes widened as I gave him an incredulous look. He was kidding, right? While I was stuffing everything into bags and shoving me and my friends out the door as quickly as possible, he was breaking things off with his girlfriend? And what was he expecting me to do? Wait around for him to confirm it?

“Yeah, so? That does nothing for me.” I glared at him, feeling furious all of a sudden.

Harry’s brows shot up as he gave a short, surprised laugh. “I was breaking up with her to be with you!”

“How was I suppose to know what you were doing!?” I cried. “You didn’t say anything back to me after…after all I said.”

“It took me about sixty seconds after you walked away to realize that I couldn’t lose you again. I made the mistake of not telling you I loved you when I saw you in London. And I’m sorry it took me this long to make it known.”

He fell silent then and I knew it was my turn to talk. I was still trying to register everything he was saying, let alone the millions of daffodils that surrounded us. Thinking straight was completely off the cards for me at this point, but I gave it a try anyway.

“So, what now? After all this, what kind of reaction are you expecting out of me?” I willed myself to stay still, hoping my shakiness wasn’t as obvious as it felt. I swallowed, wishing my mouth didn’t feel like sandpaper. “Do you want me to get all googly-eyed over your grand gesture? Are you expecting me to just say 'Okay, sounds good! Let's just pick up right where we left off!'. Come on, Harry. I live in Miami, you live in London. Everyone in the world knows who you are and I…well, my dad sometimes has trouble remembering he even has a daughter.”

The whole time I was talking, Harry’s expression changed. His eyes went dark with something intense and fierce. He was walking towards me now, quickly closing up the space between us.

My words drifted and disappeared into thin air when he stopped right in front of me. He was so close now that I had to tilt my head back to look at him and his familiar boyish scent lingered around me.

“I don’t want to have the whole world’s attention. Yours is enough.” He whispered and then all at once, his hands were reaching for my face. His fingers, warm and rough, traced my cheekbones and I could feel my whole body trembling from his touch. “I love you, you daft thing. I love you a million daffodils and more. And yes, I do expect you to get all googly-eyed over my grand gesture. It took me two weeks to get it sorted. It took me an additional week just to get all your friends on board.”

I stopped listening after he said my three favorite words. In fact, the whole time he was talking, I was watching his lips. I was suddenly dizzy with want, watching him slide his tongue across his bottom lip. Without even realizing it, my hands gravitated to his flimsy white shirt. I had it bunched up in my fists. I didn’t even give myself another second to think about what I was about to do. I tugged on his shirt, willing him to close the space between our bodies so I could finally, after all this time, kiss him.

All the self-control I’d exerted the whole time Harry was talking went, like water crashing through a broken dam. He instantly moaned into my mouth and pulled me closer, kissing me just as fiercely as I was kissing him. There were no words to describe how much I missed his lips. It was a feeling I couldn’t express.

I gasped when Harry dipped to wrap his hands around my waist. With a cheeky grin, he picked me up and twirled us around. I let out a surprise laugh, tightening my arms around my neck as he did it.

“I missed you.” I whispered, resting my forehead against his. My lips just barely grazed against his as I said it. “I’ve missed you quite terribly.”

He easily hooked his hands behind my knees, holding me tightly against him. He grinned against my lips, causing all the butterflies that were once resting in my stomach to stir. “I think I missed you more.”

I ran my hands through his hair feverishly, messing it up even more. He hummed in delight, closing his eyes as I did it. I giggled, ready to lean in and give him another kiss. Of course that was quickly intercepted when a loud, annoying voice interrupted us.

“Can we come in now!?” Sophia’s loud voice yelled from inside the hallway I once hastily walked through. “We’re going crazy out here!”