The rest weekend passed as any other did. Annalise worked around the house, an old Victorian nightmare that she had inherited after her grandmother's death. The house was way too much for one person, but Annalise made due with what she had, and she loved the old place. Getting rid of it would break her heart. She hoped to one day have enough money to restore it to its original pristine condition. She had converted the drafty attic into her bedroom, simply because she loved the window seat and high ceiling. She spent all day Sunday outside in her grandmother's prized rose garden, trying her best to keep them alive.
Monday meant another day at the office, where she was happy to learn that most of their sick employees had made it back to work. It seemed that life would go on as usual...until just after lunch. Jade suddenly barged into her office, fresh off of catering a wedding reception, carrying an arm full of red roses.
"Where did those come from?," Annalise asked her.
"They were just delivered," Jade answered excitedly, setting the flowers down on her desk.
"Well...who are they from?"
"I don't know," Jade said, "they're not for me...they're yours." Annalise frowned...no one had ever sent her flowers, and she couldn't figure out who would. She stared at the little envelope that Jade had shoved into her hands.
"Well? Aren't you going to open it?," Jade demanded, flopping down into a chair on the opposite side of Annalise's desk. She seemed more excited then Annalise was, so much that Annalise immediately grew suspicious.
"What are you up to Jade?," she demanded, "Is this some kind of joke?"
Jade ignored her comments, instead saying, "Just open it!" Sighing, Annalise used the underside of her fingernail to open the tiny envelope. Her eyes widened as she glanced down at the card. There was nothing written on it.
"There's nothing here," she said, confused.
Jade snatched the card out of her hand, then shrugged, "Maybe it's a secret admirer....oh! I bet it's that Paul kid!" She was speaking of the 16 year old high school student they had just hired as part of the weekend staff, and Annalise was not amused.
"Don't you have something to do?"
Jade stuck her tongue out and replied, "Actually yes...that baby shower at four. But that's the only reason I'm going...not because you want me to."
Annalise watched her flounce out of the office, then stared at the mysterious blank card in front of her. When the phone rang, she jumped, then stared at it like she had never seen a phone before. It rang five times efore she finally picked it up, muttering, "Stanton & Reso Catering Services...this is Annalise speaking, how may I help you?," into the receiver. She sounded monotone and programmed, she knew, but she had been uttering that same greeting all day long.
"Hey...Annalise?"
She recognized the raspy voice immediately, her heart sank to her feet.
"Yes?"
"Hey...uh...it's AJ."
She prayed that he was calling for business reasons. "What can I do for you Mr. McLean?"
He was silent for a minute, then he finally asked, "I just...um...are you okay?"
"I'm gonna have to put you on hold for a second Mr. McLean," she said, trying to sound as detached and professional as possible. She pressed the hold button and set the receiver down. Her office door was was wide open. She jumped up quickly and closed it, then sank back into her chair behind her desk and lifted the receiver with shaking hands.
"I'm sorry about that," she said, "now...how can I help you?"
"Did you get the roses?"
"Yes I did. Um...thanks, I guess."
An uncomfortable silence followed, then finally he said,
"You didn't have any problems with the room did you, because if you did then-"
"AJ," she interrupted, "I didn't have any problem with the room...you took care of it before you left remember?"
"Yeah...I guess I did. Look, would it be too personal of me to ask how you're doing?" he said, "I mean...I didn't mean to bail on you, but-"
"Too personal AJ."
"Oh...sorry...I...actually I have a favor to ask you," he said.
"Okay...shoot."
"Kevin's birthday is next week, we're throwing him a party and we need a caterer," he blurted out.
She breathed a sigh of relief, then grabbed her pen to take down all the necessary information. "Okay," she said, "first of all, where's this party going to be held?"
"Well...um...in Orlando."
"Orlando! AJ have you lost your mind? We can't cater a party in Orlando!"
"Why not?"
"Because we're in Texas...not in Florida. We can't just pick up and come to Orlando...our services do not extend beyond the state of Texas," she explained. She tapped her pen impatiently on the desk.
"Well...couldn't you make an exception?," he asked.
"Couldn't you just find a caterer in Orlando?"
"We could," he answered, "but I've talked to the guys, and we want you. What can I say...you impressed us."
She could hear the smile in his voice, she decided to toy with him, "It's gonna cost you."
"Done," he said, "that's not an issue."
"I was kidding!," she exclaimed, "We just can't do it...we'd lose too much business here."
"I'll make up for it," was his response, "but right now I gotta go...I'll call you back later with the details. Bye."
He hung up before she had a chance to refuse again. She stared dumbly at the phone for a few minutes before replacing it on its cradle, stunned beyond belief. She finally concluded that the man was insane.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AJ set his cell phone down and grinned at Howie.
"Did she buy it?," Howie asked.
"I hope so," he replied.
"Jade is gonna talk to her later, so I wouldn't worry about. I just hope she can look innocent."
"Yeah me too," AJ said, "I get the impression that Annalise wouldn't be too thrilled if she knew we set her up."
Howie's cell phone rang, and while he took the call, AJ stretched out on the bed, leaning against the headboard and linking his hands behind his head. The tour would be ending in three days, and as much as he loved it, he was ready to go home. A person could only take so many hours on a bus and nights in hotel rooms. Howie got off the phone, laughing as a thought suddenly occured to him.
"What?"
Howie was still laughing as he said, "So which one of us gets to tell Kevin that his birthday is six months early this
year?"
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