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Elouise
After walkingthe kids down to the cafeteria for lunch, I drop back into the chair behind my desk.
I don’t know why I’ve been in such a funk today. It’s like when Beckett showed up and gave me back my keys, a little balloon of sadness inflated inside my chest.
It’s stupid. I know it is. It’s not like he was breaking up with me, he was just giving my car back since his is fixed now. But…
I press my fingers against my temples, attempting to quiet my building headache. “Stop it,” I chastise myself. Beckett isn’t going anywhere. Hell, he’s so damn stubborn I probably couldn’t kick him out of sleeping in my bed if I wanted to.
My mind is suddenly filled with a visual of me trying to drag a dead-weight Beckett out of bed and I almost laugh.
Knowing that the time is ticking away, I pull my lunch bag out of the bottom drawer of my desk.
I’m about to kick the drawer shut when a detail niggles in my mind…
Keys.
Setting my lunch bag on my desk, I bend down and push the other items in the drawer aside. I swear I dropped the car keys in here after Beckett’s visit. Opening the other drawers, I do a cursory look but don’t see them. Dragging my purse out I unzip it and check inside even though I’m positive I didn’t put them away properly this morning.
“What the hell…” I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to remember where I put them.
A crackling sound startles me as the intercom speaker above my door sparks to life, “Miss Hall, please come down to the office to collect a package.”
My eyebrows raise and I quickly shove all my drawers shut before I hustle out of my classroom.
Usually, I’d be mad about having my precious lunch time taken up by interruptions, but I never get packages delivered so excitement wins out over annoyance.
When I step into the main office, the vice-principal makes a cooing sound as she hands me over the large bouquet of white lilies. “Look at these beautiful flowers!” She leans forward to sniff one while I hold the heavy vase, stunned. “Your boyfriend sure knows how to pick ‘em.”
One of the aides is eating her lunch in the office and she gives a soft laugh, “They’re pretty, even if it is a classic funeral bouquet.”
The vice-principal waves her off, “Oh hush, it’s just a nice gesture. Not everything needs to have some sort of hidden meaning.”
“Did Beckett drop these off?” I ask, thinking he should be downtown by now.
“Oh no, it was a delivery guy. Timed it nicely over your lunch break!”
At that reminder, I excuse myself and hurry back to my classroom knowing I’ll have about five minutes to speed-eat my food.
Back at my desk, half a peanut butter sandwich hanging out of my mouth, I adjust the vase trying to get it just right. Wanting the biggest lily to point toward my chair, I give it one more twist, and a small envelope plops onto the desktop.
I hadn’t even noticed it before. It must’ve been hidden beneath the large petals.
Dusting off my hands, I peel open the flap and slide a small card out. The front is blank white, but the inside has a handwritten message. I’ll always love you. I gently run my finger over the letters. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Beckett’s writing before, and I want to memorize each slope.
The bell in the hallway rings, sounding the end of lunch, and I quickly cram the rest of my sandwich into my mouth before I pull out my phone and send off a quick text to Beckett.
Me: Thank you for the flowers.
Jerking open my desk drawer, I start to put my lunch bag back, when I notice my keys sitting right there at the bottom.
I roll my eyes at myself. Sometimes I can be so oblivious.
