by M. C. Vann
Henry was standing right next to me with a gentle smile, wearing a light salmon collar shirt with sleeves rolled up to the elbow and black trousers. He looked so much more formal and intimidating in this apparel. I felt a mixed feeling of exuberance and weakness as I stood by his side.
My eyes scanned the crowd for Lily and Adam, but they were nowhere in sight. Of course, the two who desperately wanted to see him weren’t here while I, on the other hand…Well, maybe I was in the same hand.
“Alexandria, right?”
“Yes,” I murmured lowly. I wasn’t used to being called by my full name, especially by someone like him. “Henry.”
“You remembered my name. I thought I saw you earlier in the restaurant before, but then you ran out so fast like you’ve just committed a crime,” he said with humor.
I laughed a bit out of nervousness but quickly regained my composure. “I thought I forgot to turn the hair curler off in the room, so I went back to check,” I lied. I hoped he wouldn’t notice my lying habits.
“I see,” he said with a smirk, which probably meant he didn’t buy my alibi. “Do you know how to play roulette?”
“No, I don’t know how to play any of these table games, but it’s still fun to watch.”
In the short seconds that I was glancing up at him, his gaze grew too intense, so I looked away, searching the room again for Lily and Adam in vain. Where were they when I needed them?
“Are you looking for your friends, Lily and Adam?”
“How do you—?”
“I met them at the restaurant earlier. I asked them if I could accompany you tonight,” he said with that smile again. “May I?”
I stood silent, caught off guard because nobody was ever this upfront with me, and I didn’t know if this was a good or bad thing. “But what about your friends?”
“They’ll be fine without me. I’m sure they can take care of themselves. Please?” He raised his brows, anticipating my response.
I gave in with a smile. “Alright, sure.”
“Let’s get something to drink first, shall we?” Henry suggested, and I nodded. He walked ahead a few steps before turning around with a wicked smirk. “I didn’t know you could keep your hair straight with a curler.”
Crap! I was caught red-handed, and he wasn’t even mad. Maybe this was a good thing.
After getting our drinks, Henry, a Sierra Mist, and me, a Pepsi, we moved around to the slot machines and arrived at one with a beautiful goddess. Henry took out a hundred-dollar bill and slid it into the slot. It surprised me more than it should. He motioned me to sit down on the leather chair.
“No, I can’t. It’s your money. It’s only fair if you play it,” I protested.
“I don’t like to gamble with chance, and if you must know, I’m a sore loser.”
I smiled.
“Come on,” he said, grabbing my shoulders and pushing me onto the leathered chair.
My fingers were reluctant to push the betting buttons. Playing with someone else’s hard-earned money didn’t feel right to me. Henry leaned over me, his face hovering just above my right shoulder. He gave me a swift look before he gently took my right hand to press the bet button.
For the next few minutes, we went through a couple more slots, talking and laughing together at our wins and losses. In the end, Henry’s entire hundred-dollar bill was spent.
“I don’t think anyone has any chance of winning here,” I said.
“I guess luck wasn’t on our side tonight,” Henry stated, and I shook my head. “But if you must know, there’s a higher chance of us getting together than one of us winning big here.”
I gaped at him with an astonished face as my mind searched for words to reply back, but I couldn’t find any. How could Henry have spoken those words so bluntly? We had only just met several hours ago. I didn’t even know where he was from and what he did for a living. I knew he wasn’t asking me to marry him, but beneath his joke lied something more and I couldn’t quite wrap my finger around it.
“I apologize for saying that,” Henry said, catching onto my reaction. “My lips are working faster than my mind tonight. I apologize again.”
I repeated with a smile. What else could I have said or done to rectify this moment? I didn’t want this to get any more awkward between us.
“Would you like to go to the Winners’ Lounge with me?” he asked.
“I don’t know. It’s getting pretty late, and my friends might be wondering where I am.”
“Right,” he said, clearly discouraged with my reply. “I didn’t realize how late it was already.”
“I guess,” as soon as I spoke, his eyes lit up, “one more thing wouldn’t hurt.”
Henry and I took open seats at a table near the DJ. As I watched the small crowd around us, I could feel Henry’s eyes on me. Frank Sinatra’s “Always” came on, and the couples in the room started walking toward the dance floor.
“Would you like to dance?” Henry asked, and I wished he hadn’t.
“No, it’s alright. I’m not really good at dancing, and I tried to avoid it when I can.”
Henry got up from his chair, determined despite my answer. “Well, you can’t avoid it tonight. Let’s go and I’ll teach you. It’s easier than you think. I promise.”
When I didn’t move, Henry seized my hand and led me toward the other dancing couples. I thought my knees were going to give out when we reached the center of the floor. Henry placed his hand gently on my waist and pulled me close to him, leaving just a few bearable inches between us. Then he took my left hand into his right smoothly. I looked up at him, pleasantly finding him in a happy grimace.
“See. It’s not too hard, is it?” he asked.
I managed a weak smile and shook my head.
“Now place your right hand on my arm,” he instructed. I cautiously raised my hand and placed it on him. “And now, we move to the rhythm of the music like this.”
We danced in silence, and it felt like hours when the beautiful song finally came to an end. Every second, I felt my heart racing in my chest.
Who really was this man?
By the time Henry walked me back to the room, it was already close to midnight.
“I had fun tonight,” I said. “Thank you and sorry again for making you lose all your money.”
Henry chuckled. “It’s okay, thank you for spending it with me. I enjoyed it very much.”
He and I looked at each other for a long, perilous moment. Both of us waiting for the other to say something, but no words were uttered.
“Um… I should go in now,” I finally spoke, breaking the silence.
My fingers fumbled through my clutch for the room card. After I slid it and opened the door, Henry grabbed my arm lightly to stop me from going in. I glanced at his hand holding onto my left arm and then up at him, those captivating eyes already looking my way.
“May I see you tomorrow for a while?” he asked.
I didn’t know if I had enough energy to see him again. “My friends and I are leaving tomorrow already.”
“When are you leaving?” he asked. “I’m only asking because we’re leaving tomorrow too.”
“Seven at night, but we have to travel to Seattle to catch our flight.”
“Then can we meet in the morning? Eleven. What do you say, Ally?”
Half of my heart wanted to say “yes” to this man, but the other half warned me not to. Gosh, I needed to make up my mind and soon before he changed his mind.
“Okay,” I finally responded. “Eleven is good. We’re going downtown to visit Mount Vernon before leaving. There’s a river walk bridge if I remember correctly. Did you want to meet up there?”
Henry smiled with a hint of satisfaction. “That sounds perfect. Promise me you’ll show up.”
He held out his right pinky which surprised me. To see a childish and playful side of him was quite adorable.
I held out my right pinky and wrapp
ed it around his. “I promise.”
Adam, Lily, and I woke up extra early the next morning to pack our things before we headed out. All the while, they were grinding me with questions about Henry again. Lily wouldn’t stop telling me how “lucky” I was and how “super-hot” he looked. She freaked out, even more, when she learned Henry had asked to see me again today.
After checking out of our room, my friends and I ate breakfast at the Sunny Express and then took a shuttle bus to Mount Vernon. We walked down the streets, stopping at the different antique shops and bakeries.
When I looked at my watch, it was a little after ten already. Henry should be arriving any time now.
“Ally, isn’t it almost time?” Lily asked, her eyebrows fluctuating with glee.
“Yes, it is,” I said. Needless to say, I was completely drowning in my own nerves.
“Deep breaths, girl,” Adam said. “Just remember to be yourself.”
I inhaled and exhaled for a few seconds before I felt slightly normal again.
“Alright, I’ll go now,” I said bravely, but my weak feet wouldn’t move.
“What are you waiting for? Hurry up, he might be there already,” Lily insisted, giving me a little push. I waved goodbye to them as I padded over to the bridge.
When the bridge came in sight, my eyes searched for Henry, but he was nowhere. There were tourists strolling down the streets and the riverwalk as I paced back and forth, keeping my eyes open for that strange, handsome man. The seconds and minutes went by, and Henry still hadn’t shown up. Our meeting time came and passed, and I began to think he forgot, or worse, that he lied to me.
No, Henry wouldn’t do that. He wasn’t that kind of person, but then again, I hardly knew anything about him.
When noon approached, I lost all hope that Henry would appear from the corner. I suddenly remembered that he had given me his business card yesterday. Maybe I should give him a call, I thought.
But what if it was true? I was just one ordinary woman versus the other thousands he could have. How could a handsome man like Henry be attracted to someone like me? Or maybe it was my imagination from the beginning?
The memories we had together yesterday flashed before me: the tulips, the restaurant, the casino, the laughs, the dancing, and the pinky promise. It was all so surreal as if meeting him was just a dream … or a nightmare in disguise.
I took out the card from the pocket of my camera bag, and without looking at it, I crinkled it up in my hand and threw it in the nearest trash bin, hoping to never see his face again.
I called Adam and Lily to see where they were and met up with them at Pacioni’s Italian, a restaurant nearby.
“Hey, mi amor. How did it go?” Lily asked, smiling vivaciously when I approached their table. “You better tell us everything.”
“He didn’t show up,” I said. I tried to hide the evident disappointment in my voice, but my friends saw right through me.
“Oh, no! Honey, come here,” Adam said. He opened his arms wide to embrace me in a hug. “Look at that face. We don’t want that now.”
Lily also joined in on the hug, and I suddenly remembered why I was here. I was here with my friends, not Henry. Even though he stood me up, I was grateful to have great friends like Adam and Lily by my side.
The three of us headed back to Seattle International Airport right after lunch. We arrived at the airport three hours early for our flight, and while we waited at the terminal, thoughts about why Henry didn’t show up raced through my mind again.
He was just one guy. Why did he have such an effect on me?
Adam and Lily sensed my obvious disappointment, and they tried to comfort me, telling me I was better off without him. That the single life was the life. I was glad they didn’t ask anything more about him.
When the plane ascended off the runway, I took one last look out the window at the city and countryside of Washington below.
CHAPTER THREE
Two months had passed since I last saw Henry. Even though I hoped to never see his face again, I found myself thinking of him every once in a while.
While reflecting back on that day we met, I arranged some pink tulips and baby’s breaths into a vase. I finished off the arrangement with some white ribbons and placed the completed product into the fridge.
My boss, Nancy, came through the door. She was like a parental figure to me since my dad passed away a couple years ago. Nancy was a good friend of my dad, and if it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t know how to cope.
She pushed her large oval glasses up her nose as she read a note in her hand. “Ally, honey, we just received an order that has to be completed and sent in two hours.”
“What kind of arrangement?”
“A vertical arrangement with any kind of purple and white flowers, preferably tulips which I think we might have some in stock.”
“Sounds good. I’ll get right on it.”
“Oh, and would you be a dear and deliver it too?” Nancy asked, handing the note to me and I nodded with a smile.
I went into the cold storage room where we kept the flowers to start. The purple and white tulips weren’t hard to find since they had always been my favorite. I could find them with my eyes closed. After selecting the flowers, I arranged them into a glass vase and finished the project off with some ribbons and extra decorations.
After placing the order in the back of my car, I looked at the note again. The place I needed to deliver to was called Pearce Hotel and Resort. I heard of this place before, but I wasn’t exactly certain of its location. I knew it was somewhere in downtown Chicago.
After circling through the crazy downtown streets for a couple of minutes, I finally arrived at the hotel. It was much bigger than I had pictured. The building must have been at least fifty floors or maybe even more since I lost count half way through. The lobby was beautifully furnished with lavish couches, chairs, chandeliers, and even the rugs. As I continued strolling, there were also restaurants and stores as well as a large water fountain in the center of it all.
I walked up to the guest service desk where four ladies were sitting and placed the vase onto the marble surface.
“Hi,” I said, taking out the order receipt from my bag. “I’m here to drop off a flower order for a Ms. Katherine Trent.”
“Thank you for the information. I’ll call the office for her. Please have a seat, and she’ll be down in a moment,” one of the receptionists said to me.
“Thank you,” I replied with a smile. With the order in my hand, I took a seat at a nearby table.
Five minutes later, a lady with brunette hair approached me. Her formal style of clothing was quite intimidating, making me feel underdressed even though we were only in a hotel. “Hello, I’m Katherine.”
“Hi, I’m Ally. I have your order here from Nancy’s Floral Shop.”
“I can see that,” she said, beaming as soon as her eyes glanced at my work. “Thank you, Ally. My manager is going to love it very much.”
“Thank you for your service. Here is our business card in case you want any more orders in the future.” I handed her the card, and she bid me goodbye.
As I walked to the entrance doors, my eyes caught onto a familiar face outside the glass windows and I stopped in my trail to take a closer look. He was walking out to the side curb with a person at his side. My feet suddenly picked up, bringing me to the revolving doors in little time, but I was already too late. The man already stepped into the backseat of a black car and a very luxurious one too, I could tell. The car drove off as I watched it turn at the traffic lights.
“It can’t be him,” I whispered quietly to myself. “How could he be here in Chicago?”
The broadness of his back. The very same physique. During the whole drive back to the store, my mind pondered the chance of it being Henry out of all people. It was impossible.
“Oh, Ally! I have great news!” Nancy came running toward me as soon as I walked through t
he doors.
“What’s the good news?” I asked, wondering what could be making her so happy.
“The woman Katherine who you delivered the flowers to just now?”
“Yes. Was there something wrong with the order?” I said, a little scared that I might have come off too strong.
“Of course not! Katherine, she’s the Director of Operations at Pearce Hotel. She called back just now, and she wants our store to help with the flower decorations for a conference tomorrow.”
“That’s amazing news, Nancy!”
“All because of you, my dear. Katherine said her manager really liked the flower arrangement you made,” Nancy said. I always received compliments on my arrangements, but this one, in particular, felt extra special. “She also said he wouldn’t have anyone else do it. Be here bright and early at seven tomorrow. We have a lot of work to do.”
“Yes, Nancy,” I told her as she gently pinched my cheek like a mother would to her child.
When I arrived home around nine, I decided to look for the business card Henry gave me back in Washington. I didn’t know why I was only looking for it now but seeing him or someone who looked like him urged me to find it. I scrambled through my drawers and my closet, but it was nowhere to be found.
Oh, no!
I forgot that I threw it away when we were in Mount Vernon. How could I be so stupid? Frustrated, I convinced myself it probably wasn’t him. The chances of him being here in Chicago were one in a million. Of all places he could be, why would Henry be here?
—————
Waking up early to get ready wasn’t the most joyful thing to do. I made myself a cup of coffee, maybe two, to help with my drowsiness.
The morning and afternoon went by pretty quickly. My co-workers and I finished all the flower arrangements and arrived at the hotel just a little after three. Katherine directed us to conference room C, and it took about an hour for the team to set up all the flower arrangements on the tables. When everything was finished, and in their place, I went to the reception desk for them to call Katherine down.