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Fitting for someone who ran the shop, I thought.
“Roses,” I replied. “A whole lot of them.”
She furrowed her brows at me with a hint of amusement in her eyes. “Well, you don’t sound too happy to be getting someone roses. I wonder who the poor girl is.”
I didn’t smile. Though this time would be different, it didn’t mean I had to be happy about it. “Someone important enough to be getting roses,” I muttered a response.
“What’s your name?” She asked.
I furrowed my brows at her, wondering if this was the way the typical customer service interactions went in this shop. “Marshall.”
“Well, Marshall, I’m Savanna.” She nodded her head in a direction and I followed her lead. “So, mind telling me what you did to warrant having to buy someone flowers?”
“It’s a going away present,” I said before pointing at some pink roses. I wanted to get red, but that was typical. Trisha was anything but typical.
“Oh,” she said like she finally understood. “I’m guessing you don’t want them to go?”
“Because goodbyes are always so pleasant?”
She laughed. “Obviously,” she replied to my sarcasm with more sarcasm and I immediately decided I liked her. “Can I ask a question though?”
“That’s what you’ve been doing all along, isn’t it?”
She shrugged and began leading the way back to the cash register where she wrapped up the flowers and I paid for them.
“Why don’t you just ask the person to stay?” She asked at long last.
I shook my head. “It’s not that simple. They’re leaving for school.”
She squinted her eyes and leaned her hip against the counter. “Tell her how you feel,” she said. “At least she’ll know when she leaves. She might even have a reason to come back.”
I huffed a laugh. “How do you even know it’s a her?”
She pointed in my general direction. “There’s something about you that gives it away. I can’t exactly explain it.”
I shook my head. “It’s a lot more complicated than you think, Savanna.”
She laughed again. “When it comes to matters of the heart, when is it ever easy?” She leaned forward. “But when is it ever not all worth it?”
The backyard was set up just the way I wanted it to be. And it only took about fifteen minutes to do so. There was a projector facing a white sheet hung up on the fence, and along the two oak trees that stood in the yard were lights that hung down. On a blanket next to the projector were pillows and snacks in the perfect position for us to watch whatever movie Trisha decided on. And around the blanket were the rose petals. It was like stepping out of real life and into a movie. The stars were shining brightly overhead and all that was needed to complete the picture was Trisha.
Though it couldn’t have been more perfect if I tried, my heart still hadn’t beaten normally since I’d realized she’d be leaving me again one way or another. I didn’t think there was any way I could ever make peace with that.
My depressive thoughts were cut short when I heard the front door close and heard her calling my name in the house.
“Back here,” I called back. “You gotta come see this.”
She showed up a few moments later, her blue eyes widened upon seeing the set up. She tucked a few strands of her hair behind her ears and folded her arm across her chest as she walked closer to me.
“W—what is all of this?” She didn’t sound pleased.
“I—well I just wanted to do something special for you before you left,” I replied, keeping the smile on my face. “Don’t you like it?”
A tear slid down her cheek. “I love it,” she said. “But Marshall…” She shook her head. “There’s something I have to tell you.”
“You can tell me after the movie when we’re in view of the stars,” I joked and turned her head up to look at the full sky we had for an audience.
She laughed but I heard the sob that was mixed in. I wanted to ask what was wrong, but I had the feeling I already knew what she was going to say. She was going to tell me it was over. That was why she was crying. It had to be the only reason.
