Panzina’s
Passion
A Romance Novella
Teresa D. Patterson
Panzina’s Passion © 2010 by Teresa D. Patterson.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means including electronic, mechanical or photocopying or stored in a retrieval system without permission in writing from the publisher except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages to be included in a review.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, placed and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Published by Edit Again Publications
Library of Congress Control Number:
2010940777
ISBN-13: 978-146103963-1
CHAPTER ONE
Working alone in the downtown flower boutique, Panzina Wilson straightened the skewed displays before getting ready to close up. She attentively arranged assortments of colorful carnations, fragrant roses, and delicate lilies while attaching sales tags on the bins that held them. When the single bell on the glass door of L’Fragrance chimed, signaling the arrival of a customer, she had her back turned, deeply engrossed in her work.
The man entered with heavy steps. She missed the admiration in his expression as his eyes took in her petite frame and mistook his stare for one of want and lust. Self-consciously, she tugged at the hem of her dress, a very colorful and full-length sundress that caressed the contours of her body. She normally loved wearing the dress because it made her feel as feminine and soft as the flowers that filled her shop, but this man made her feel as if the delicate fabric were nothing more than strategically-placed petals on bare skin. And the pair of yellow, open-toed sandals that revealed her toenails painted midnight blue was no longer a comfortable classic. Her feet felt as naked as the rest of her body, as if she stood barefoot in a moonlit garden with her toes sinking into thick grass. As he stared into her almond shaped eyes a very intense feeling of attraction and embarrassment momentarily overwhelmed her. Not caring to analyze the feeling, she quickly dismissed it.
“May I speak to the person in charge?” he said in a manner that seemed to expect immediate obedience.
The pleasant smile on Panzina’s face wavered as she noticed his look of obvious displeasure. She closed the distance between them in an instant. She had a great deal of experience dealing with irate customers. She had found that being professional and polite at all times was the best method. Kill’em with kindness, as the old retail saying went.
“May I help you, Sir?” she inquired.
Annoyance flashed across his too-handsome features as his hazel eyes slanted.
“Yes, you can. You can get me the owner,” he repeated, tight-lipped.
Once again, his gaze swept over her, then settled on her face with feigned disinterest. For some reason, the fact that he’d apparently deemed her unimportant irritated Panzina. What if she was the owner? She bristled inside, and then decided to inform him of that very fact.
“I am the owner,” she retorted. “Is there a problem?”
His bright eyes widened, which did not go undetected by Panzina. Though he seemed to recover quickly, Panzina had already picked up on his disbelief. She hoped he hadn’t missed the spark in her own eyes before he began his charade.
“Yes, there is a problem. You screwed up a wedding order, and I want an explanation.”
“Maybe, if you start from the beginning, Mr. er-” She paused, giving him time to volunteer his name.
His tone laced with flippancy, he said, “Grant. Trevor Grant.”
Now it was her turn to be surprised, but she hid it well behind her professional mask.
That explains why he’s so obnoxious, Panzina thought. He was the Trevor Grant, the very prominent fashion designer in the city. She could understand why he would be frustrated with even the smallest details as most designers lived and died by the details of their work. What she couldn’t understand was why he’d come down to the shop himself? Didn’t he have hired help for taking care of the mundane things in life?
Panzina’s face was purposefully unreadable as she took in his immaculate appearance. His low cut hairstyle made his features more defined. Baby-doll lashes framed hazel eyes. Panzina didn’t dare let her gaze drop to scrutinize the rest of him but the thought did cross her mind. Her cheeks turned hot as a carnation blush spread over her face.
“Well?” His hard voice snapped her attention back to the present situation.
“Oh! Excuse me.” She walked past him to get behind the counter, and a display of roses made it quite difficult. Her face flamed as she brushed against him, feeling the hardness of his thigh muscles. Having squeezed all of her inventory in such a small space made it impossible to not to touch him as she passed. Panzina made a great effort to compete with the larger florists in the city. To do this, she had to keep a large assortment of flowers on hand at all times. Whether or not she had the room for all her blooms was a different story.
Amid the many coolers of buds and shelves of vases, she’d managed to squeeze in a tiny desk that held her cash register. Below it, she stored her files and current orders. If his wedding occurred in the last six months, she would have a record of it.
“I’ll find the problem, Mr. Grant, and correct it,” she managed to say, rather breathlessly.
“That’s great, but it’s a bit too late. The wedding was over two hours ago.” He stood there fuming with his arms crossed, which only infuriated her more. His rigid countenance made it difficult for her to remain calm and professional.
Panzina busied herself with finding the purchase order anyway, ignoring his sarcasm. Locating it, she quickly scanned the receipt. She was flustered, even though she couldn’t imagine making a mistake with his order. She prided herself on getting things done right the first time. Though she had prepared his order, she hadn’t been the one to fill out the form. One of temporary employees she’d hired could have made an initial error on the slip.
Trevor Grant was the last person on earth that she had expected to show up at L’Fragrance in person. He was the most talked about eligible bachelor in the city, so his wedding was sure to have been the event of the season. If she had wanted to make a good impression, it was too late for that now. He probably thought the worst of her. As for her opinion of him, well, she wasn’t sure that she even liked the man. A celebrity’s image was always greater than the actual person. She frowned as she looked at the paper in her hands.
“What exactly was the problem, Mr. Grant? Wasn’t your order delivered on time?” She asked, daring to gaze at him. She dropped her eyes quickly when she met his cold stare.
“Time wasn’t the problem. The condition of those flowers was an embarrassment!”
“That’s impossible!” she said sharply. Then remembering her surroundings, she regained her composure. She recalled another retail saying, “The customer is always right, no matter what.” She really wanted to give Mr. Grant a piece of her mind, but restrained herself. In a calm, controlled voice, she stated, “I personally saw to your order.” She swallowed down her anger and continued. “I would never have allowed damaged merchandise to go out, especially not to such an important occasion. If there was damage done during delivery, you could have called, Mr. Grant,” she said. She sighed exasperatedly. “We can; however, work out an agreement and replacemen-“
“That won’t be necessary,” he said, his tone laced with rudeness. “I have no need for twenty-five dozen flowers!”
Panzina fought hard to remain in control of her temper. This was the most arrogant brute of a man she’d ever encountered, but she refused to let he
rself be intimidated by him. Never had any of her customers been so irate and unreasonable. Well, she could be unreasonable as well and Mr. Grant was about to experience it if he kept pushing her buttons.
“Then why the visit Mr. Grant?” she asked, teeth clenched.
“I just wanted to see who was in charge of this…this business," he said. "They should never have hired a child to do an adult’s job!” With that final, stinging comment, he stalked from the flower boutique. The bells over the door seemed to jangle in anger as he exited.
* * *
“The nerve of that man!” Panzina fumed as she hurried to close up the boutique for the evening. When she’d put up the “Closed” sign moments after he left, she’d seen Mr. Grant get into a black Mercedes Benz. He had pulled away from the curb with a squeal of tires. He had taken off so fast the bell above the door was still tinkling.
Smelling the stench of burnt rubber, she wiggled her nose distastefully. As she locked the door of the boutique, she silently thanked God that Mr. Grant had been her last customer of the day. He had left her in such a frenzy she couldn’t think straight. She wanted to go home and wilt away like last week’s flowers.
Doesn’t he have better things to do with his time, like design some clothes or something? she thought as she climbed into her vehicle.
She let out a relieved sigh when her 1994 Ford Escort started on the third try. The last thing she needed was for the car to quit on her. She had to pick up TJ from the daycare center and then stop by the nursing home. She would have to rush because she now had less than an hour to visit with her aunt.
Panzina clicked on the radio, which was preset to a jazz station. At least that was in good working condition. As she hummed to the sultry sounds of Anita Baker, she forgot about her heated visit from Trevor Grant. Her thoughts turned to TJ instead.
Thinking about TJ brought a smile of joy to her face, yet she was also saddened. TJ’s father, Telvin, had acted differently the last time they’d spoken. He had been in college for a little less than a month and already his attitude had changed. Panzina felt sure that her fiancé would drift away from her, and she didn’t have a clue as to how to hang on to him now that he was a college man.
She wasn’t even sure how she felt about Telvin these days. When he’d suddenly told her that he was going away to college, it had come as a shock. Even though some time had passed, it still brought forth pain as Panzina remembered the conversation they’d had.
Panzina and Telvin sat in the living room watching a movie of interest to neither of them. Whatever was on television was all right with them as long as they had each other. They would just snuggle up and talk about whatever topic the program spurred. It was their usual routine, but this time Telvin was unusually quiet. He hadn’t laughed at a single joke. Panzina had picked up on the vibes almost immediately and knew that something was bothering him. She’d grown tired of him fidgeting around. He had rewound the movie several times before she finally took the remote control. He never rewound a movie. Telvin wasn’t the type to care much about the words of a film. He just liked the action. This was a change in him.
“Tell me,” she said, folding her arms across her chest and glancing at him. Telvin had begun tracing the patterns on the couch cushion with his index finger. “Telvin!”
“Tell you what?” he’d asked.
“Something’s on your mind.” Panzina aimed the remote at the television and turned it off. “You’re too quiet. I know when something’s bothering you. You can’t even concentrate on this movie--even though it’s boring me to death too.”
What she really wanted to say was that she could read him like a book. The last time he had behaved in this fashion was when he’d revealed to her that he had gotten another girl pregnant. He had been fidgeting then as he was now. “You’re not preparing to tell me that you’re having another child, are you?” she asked, glaring at him.
“No! Baby, it’s nothing like that.” Telvin stood up and began to pace. “I just don’t know how to tell you.”
“Just spit it out,” Panzina said, frustrated. “Whatever it is, I can handle it.”
“Well, I’m going off to college. It’s in Tallahassee and I’m leaving next week.” Then he walked out before she could say anything.
Panzina snapped back to reality when she pulled up in front of Happy Workers Daycare. She hated to think about Telvin because it only saddened her. Well, the situation saddened her. Actually, she didn’t really miss him that much.
TJ ran to hug her when she walked in the door.
“Look, I drew a picture of you and Daddy,” he said cheerfully. Panzina glanced at the artwork of the four-year old child. TJ had sketched two stick figures. The woman wore a veil and on her hand was a large, spider shaped object.
“What’s that?” Panzina pointed.
“That’s your diamond ring. When you marry Daddy, I’m sure he’ll give you one,” TJ said in an innocent voice. “Can we go swimming today?” he asked, changing the subject, as four year olds were accustomed to doing.
“Tomorrow,” she told him. “I have to stop by the nursing home to visit Aunt Gertie.”
“Okay,” TJ climbed into the car and put on his seat belt. Panzina walked around and got in on the driver’s side. “Don’t forget your seatbelt,” he reminded her. She smiled and buckled up.
“How was your day TJ?” she asked.
He excitedly told her about activities he’d participated in at the daycare center. She listened as he chatted on enthusiastically.
“Tomorrow, we’re going to the zoo. Do you like the zoo, Panzi?”
“Yes,” she answered.
As he continued with his chatter, Panzina’s mind wandered. If she and Telvin did happen to marry, the matter of TJ was still unsettled. TJ’s mother had walked away from him when he was born, but now she was back in the picture and wanting full custody. With Telvin in college, it was hard for him to make a decision. He wanted to be able to care for his son, but he also wanted what was best for his child. Right now, he thought TJ was happiest with Panzina. And just like that, he had put the issue in her court. It was typical for Telvin to depend on Panzina.
That took Panzina’s thoughts in another direction. TJ’s mother, Gina, wasn’t an irresponsible teenager anymore. She seemed to have changed. Panzina had met her and felt that Gina deserved a second chance to be a mother to TJ. Gina had explained how hard it had been for her when she had gotten pregnant with TJ. She had only been seventeen, a mere child herself. She had been afraid and a bit selfish. When she’d run off, she’d thought she’d done the right thing. Panzina believed her and believed in her. She was aware that all people make mistakes. It was a part of being human. Gina wanted a chance to correct her mistake, and Panzina saw no reason why she shouldn’t be allowed to do just that.
* * *
After Panzina dropped TJ off at his grandmother’s house, she headed toward the nursing home, which housed her aunt. It had been a hard decision for her to place Aunt Gertie in a nursing facility, but Panzina simply couldn’t take care of her alone. She didn’t have the necessary resources. When her aunt had gotten to the stage where she’d needed more attention than Panzina could provide, Panzina had researched the different nursing and rehabilitation facilities in the area. Palm Shores had struck her as the best place. She’d visited and found that the patients were well taken care of, appeared to be comfort table, and seemed happy. They came and went when they wanted and could have visitors. Since she’d chosen it, she hadn’t regretted the decision. Most importantly, Aunt Gertie was happy there, as happy as a dying woman could be.
Panzina’s vision of the Aunt Gertie that she knew and loved was quickly fading away. Aunt Gertie was now deathly ill. She’d become a shell of the woman that she used to be. Cancer and old age were taking away her precious aunt.
Panzina parked in a space close to the front of the building and sat for a brief moment before getting out of car. She had remembered to bring fresh lilies, her aunt’s fav
orite flowers. She hoped that they would lift Aunt Gertie’s spirits.
When she entered the room, her own spirits sank. Aunt Gertie could barely open her eyes. The shine had left her pupils and her skin looked ashen. It broke Panzina’s heart to see her aunt in such a condition. It saddened her because she couldn’t do anything to ease the pain. She had already resigned herself to the fact that it would only be a matter of time before Aunt Gertie was gone. Still, she’d never be ready to let her go.
Panzina leaned over and kissed Aunt Gertie on the cheek.
“Hello, Aunt Gertie,” she said fondly. “I brought you some more flowers.” She glided over to the dresser, took the droopy flowers from the vase, and replaced them with the fresh ones. “Aunt Gertie, I really miss you. I wish you could be home with me. I wish that things could be the way they used to.” But she knew that it was futile to wish. All things happened for a reason.
Before Aunt Gertie had gone into the nursing home, she had made Panzina promise not to lose faith in God. She had also insisted that Panzina not feel guilty for having to place her in a nursing facility.
“Child, I don’t want to be a burden to you or anyone else for that matter,” her aunt had told her. That was before the cancer had taken over and she still had a streak of stubbornness. “You are not equipped to deal with this. You are too young to give up your life to take care of me. I’ll be fine. And if the Good Lord wants me to come and live with you, He will provide the means for you to do so.”
Panzina had stopped in the middle of sponge bathing her aunt and sank to the carpeted floor beside the bed.
“I can’t do it,” she sobbed and shook her head. “I love you Aunt Gertie. I can’t just send you off somewhere.”
“I know that you love me, Dear Heart,” she’d said softly, wiping Panzina’s tears from her face. “Love me enough to let me go. Soon, child, soon, my spirit will be gone and all that will be left is this old, ragged body.”
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