The delivery man had told me that the roses came with no card, but, of course, I knew who they were from. I inhaled their fragrance. The buds, just opening up into full glory, were fresh and full of scent. The smell filled my entire apartment and made me feel even dizzier.
I knew what red roses represented. Did Timothy? But as sophisticated and worldly as he was, I was positive he knew they symbolized love. Did he know that they also represented passion and commitment?
There were boxes of clothing, racks full of new dresses, intimate clothing, and jewelry boxes yet to open. I stopped admiring the roses, breathed in one more delightful nose-pleasing sniff, and began dragging, wheeling, and carting my new acquisitions into my bedroom.
I had worked no more than half an hour on sorting them when the doorbell rang again. What had happened to the call box downstairs? This was a serious breach of safety. However, I half expected Timothy would be the one at the door, although our date for the evening wasn’t supposed to be for another two hours. Too bad. He was about to see me at my worst: sweaty, frazzled, and energy depleted.
But it wasn’t Timothy. Instead another delivery person was standing there. This time a young woman wearing a similar delivery costume as the person before her, except minus the smart little cap, was waiting for the door to open.
“Penelope Casey?” the young woman asked.
When I nodded, she handed me a box of chocolates. I took it in hand, double-checking that it was meant for me. I received a big smile for my doubt before the woman took off at a run, obviously bound for her next delivery.
The large box was gold wrapped with a large golden silk ribbon and neatly tied into a full bow. Whoever had formed the bow needed to be praised. My own ribbon decorating skills lacked anything near this proficiency.
I lifted up the top of the box and counted the jewel-like pieces of chocolate inside. Thirty-six pieces! I set the box down, walked over to my tablet and looked up the calories of Godiva chocolates. Sixty-three calories per piece, which would take seventeen minutes of fast walking to burn off. The good news was that there were no trans fats in the candies.