AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Another day has arrived, and so has another gift from my mystery suitor. This time, it’s a key on my front doorstep, with a scrawled note attached, dangling from the keyring.
A place for your flowers.
You didn’t think I wouldn’t take care of you, did you?
You can have anything you want. Name it.
The only thing I can’t give you is MY name.
There’s an address attached. I look it up on my browser and find a satellite view of a very large, privately owned greenhouse.
I am overwhelmed with emotion. The last gifts were just very kind gestures, but this feels like so much more. It feels like too much.
Since I have the day off, I decide to go see this greenhouse for myself, not even bothering to question whether it could be a trap, or whether there could be some kind of caveat. I bring along some of my exotic flowers that were surely going to die in the apartment.
Seeing this greenhouse in person, it’s immense. It could easily be owned by a company or a corporation, but the fact that some guy just owns it privately still boggles my mind.
I turn the key in the lock, and unlike my apartment door, it opens right up.
Looking inside, there are already an assortment of rare flowers beyond what he’s already given me, with space for more. But there’s so much more to it than that.
Inside of this greenhouse, he’s already growing fruit and vegetables, many of which are seemingly ready to harvest.
And this greenhouse is like eight to fifteen times larger than my apartment. There’s an actual orchard in here, even.
On a desk near the front entrance, I look and see a number of botany and biology textbooks, as well as guides to growing plants. Tucked under one of them, I find two worn pieces of paper.
On closer inspection, they’re the deed and title to the land, somehow in my name. I question the resources of somebody able to do this without me present, since I’m pretty sure that legally, he would have had to transfer ownership over to me. But I don’t let it bother me too much.
There are some baskets near the orchard, so I take time to harvest several apples, tomatoes, potatoes, and carrots before marveling at the variety of specimens I can’t identify here. Someday, I’m going to take the time to identify all these plants, because many look incredibly exotic.
I plant the jade vines, relieved that I finally have somewhere to put them. I wash off my hands in the faucet nearby.
On my way out, an automated sprinkler system hits me, spraying my back with cool water.
“Goddammit,” I mutter quietly. That means I’ll probably have to change when I get home.
I lock the door behind me, then carefully place the baskets into my back seat on the floor and drive back to my apartment. My mind whirls with thoughts on my drive home. I’m overwhelmed with emotion.
This is amazing, and never in my dreams did I think anything like this would ever happen to me. But it all feels suspiciously too much.
Upon arriving, I set the keys on the kitchen counter next to my other flowers and immediately wash off the crops, putting what I need in the small pantry and fridge provided by the apartment. I plop down on the couch, looking over the paperwork.
It seems like the land deed goes well beyond the bounds of the greenhouse, so there’s no reason somebody couldn’t put other property on it as well. If I had anywhere near enough money, I could probably put a house or some other structure on it, and just live there.
I can’t help but feel claustrophobic in here now.
There’s a knock on the door, and I remember that Rory was supposed to stop by. We were going to see the new Donkeycop movie in theaters.
“Shit!” I mutter to myself, rushing to my bedroom bookshelf and putting the paperwork back on it.
I open the door to Rory, letting her in.
“You ready to go?” She asks simply. “I’m glad Greg took over my shift, but the reviews for this one aren’t great.”
“Ready whenever you are,” I say simply.
She looks at my shirt, which is still dripping wet. My heart leaps, as I realize that I forgot to change my shirt.
