Page 95 of Coerced Kiss
Before, no one paid me attention. I could just keep my head down and get on with my work. I did a damn good job too, even if I have to say so myself, and I know Mr. Lewis was happy with my efforts. I just have to carry on doing more than what’s expected of me, and everything will be fine.
By lunchtime, the receptionist calls to say there’s a delivery for me. Not expecting anything, I walk to the front with a frown.
A basket with an arrangement of tomatoes wrapped in cellophane and tied with a huge, red ribbon stands on the desk. The bouquet is so big it obscures the receptionist’s face. The basket contains every shape and variety of tomato available in the state of New York, from dark purple beefy tomatoes to bright yellow elongated ones. Right in the middle is the biggest bottle of Worcester sauce I’ve seen.
Despite myself, a laugh bubbles from my lips. Pulling off the card, I open it.
In case you get hungry. Hope you’re feeling better.
It’s signed with a big, cursive S.
I need both arms to carry the basket to my desk. My colleagues give the unusual bouquet curious glances as I make space for it between heaps of files and my computer.
“Is that fromhim?” Jasmine asks when I sit down.
I pull my keyboard closer. “Yes.”
She wrinkles her nose. “Tomatoes?”
Shrugging, I open the balance sheet I’m working on. “It’s a private joke.”
“You’re having your period?” she asks, snickering as she catches the other women’s gazes. “Aww.” She pushes out her bottom lip. “Does that mean poor Saverio is suffering because sex is off the menu?”
I smile. “Do you think a little blood will put off a man like Saverio? I wish. At least my poor body would’ve gotten a break.”
The laugh dries on her lips. An envious look crosses her face before she goes back to work.
At closing time, Kevin marches over with stiff legs to help me when I shuffle sideways through the main entrance with my heavy tomato arrangement. He loads it in the trunk and asks if I’m going straight home or if I have a stop to make on the way. I tell him I’d like to go past Livy’s place, but it’s so close that I’ll walk, at which he replies he’ll park in one of the side streets until I call him to fetch me.
I thank him and start walking, but instead of driving away, he follows, rolling slowly down the road next to me until I reach my destination.
Livy opens her door wearing a pink headband and a pale blue leotard with rainbow leg warmers over tights. Big yellow feathers dangle from her ears. Her long hair is twisted into a ballerina bun.
“Oh,” I say. “Are you busy?”
She waves me inside. “Come through. I just finished an aerobics session. I was about to grab a drink.” Walking ahead of me to the kitchen, she asks, “Water?”
I close the door and lock it. “Yes, please.”
She pours cucumber and lemon water in two glasses.
“Here you go,” she says, handing me one. “Let’s sit down in the lounge.”
I take the poof while she sits cross-legged on the floor. She puts her glass in an ornate silver coaster on the coffee table and leans to the side with her arm stretched over her head. “Stretching is important, especially at my age.”
Tilting my head, I follow her movement. “You’re very supple.”
“I can still do a split.” She straightens and rolls her neck. “So, how are you settling down in your new place?”
“Great.”
“Is it a nice house?”
“It’s big.”
“Saverio is a successful software development businessman. Of course he has a big house.” She gives my clothes an approving nod. “I’m glad to see he’s taking good care of you. If he doesn’t treat you right, he’ll have to deal with me.”
Her sweetness warms my chest. “You’re the only friend I have in the whole wide world.”