Two Valentine’s Day short stories
SO what are you all doing for Valentine’s Day?” Savannah asked. Everyone in the office excitedly shared their plans. “What about you,tasha? You’re very quiet.” Savannah smirked.
“Having your usual hot date with Ben and Jerry?”
“Actually, I do have a date.”tasha tried for casual but couldn’t quite carry it off. It had been a long time since she’d had a date.
“A date? You?” Savannah blinked, as if the natural order of the universe had just been called into question.“tell us all.”
Tasha didn’t want to discuss it this early in the relationship but, put on the spot, she found herself babbling happily about how they had met in the coffee-shop queue and just clicked.
“I’m surprised you managed to get a table at such short notice,” Savannah said.“everywhere decent will have been booked up for months.”
“He has to work tomorrow night,” Tasha admitted.“so we’re going out tonight instead. We’re going to that new Italian.”
The restaurant, not far from Tasha’s flat, had only opened a few months ago. A waiter had recently taken to standing outside, handing out free samples to passers-by. Every morsel Tasha had sampled so far had been delicious, so she was looking forward to trying it out.
Her date, Clive, met her outside the restaurant that evening. When he leaned in to kiss her cheek she smelled peppermints on his breath, and expensive aftershave.
As Valentine’s Day wasn’t until the following day, the restaurant wasn’t dressed up with balloons and hearts, but Tasha told herself she preferred it like this.the cosy, intimate atmosphere would give them a chance to get to know one another.
“I’ve never been here before,” she said, loving the retro tablecloths and romantic candles melting into raffiawrapped wine bottles.
She almost felt she and Clive should order a big plate of spaghetti and chomp the same strand until their lips met.“me neither. It wouldn’t have been my first choice,” Clive said, looking round rather snootily. A waiter approached, pinning his name badge on.tasha recognised him as the man who offered the free samples. “Great to see you guys again,” he said with a smile.
“How was the honeymoon?” Tasha laughed. “Honeymoon? Not us,
I’m afraid. It’s our first date.”
The waiter glanced uncertainly at Clive.“i never forget a face.”
“Obviously you do,”
Clive replied frostily.
The waiter quickly recovered.“of course. My mistake, sir,” he said politely.“come this way.” He showed them to a table.
“What was all that about?”tasha whispered.
“Who knows?” Clive sniffed.“some people struggle to know their place.”
Tasha cringed inwardly, hoping the waiter wasn’t close enough to hear.
“The food smells great,” she said, eager to change the subject.
Clive opened his menu with a flourish. “I think I’ll have garlic bread and lasagne. I’m assuming you’ll have the garlic bread, too?” His eyes twinkled and, despite the awkwardness of what had just happened, Tasha was ready to give him a chance.
If a few garlicky kisses were exchanged at the end of the evening, she wouldn’t fight him off too hard.
“Garlic bread is fine with me.” She grinned.
“Ready to order?”the waiter was back.“pepperoni pizza for me, please,” Tasha said.
Clive closed his menu.“and I’ll have –” “Garlic bread and lasagne,” the waiter interrupted coolly.“your usual. Of course, sir.”
Tasha’s heart went cold. How could the waiter possibly know his order if Clive had never been before?
Far too late, she looked at his left hand and saw the tell-tale mark of a missing ring.the evening went downhill very quickly from there.
When Tasha got to work the next day, everyone was too full of excited chatter about cards and flowers and gifts to ask how her date had gone.
“How many cards did you get, Tash?” Savannah asked.
“The post hadn’t come when I left,” Tasha replied truthfully. She suppressed a sigh. No wonder Valentine’s Day wasn’t her favourite. The only card she usually got was from her dad. Except she had received one. She’d found it in her drawer when the pollen from all those flowers set off her hay fever and she went looking for a tissue.
It was from a secret admirer. Tasha gazed around the office to see if anyone was trying to catch her eye. Her warm feeling lasted all of two seconds – until Bert from the post room winked at her.
She had known Bert for years. He was more than twice her age and happily married, but Tasha knew he’d frequently witnessed Savannah’s snide comments about her non-existent love life. A pity card. She mouthed a thank-you.
On the way home she considered crossing the road to avoid the Italian restaurant in case the same waiter was outside with his free samples.
A stubborn streak stopped her. Clive might be a liar and a cheat, but she had
Tasha’s heart went cold ... Far too late, she looked at his left hand and saw the tell-tale
done nothing wrong. She made herself walk past as normal.
The restaurant was transformed into a bobbing sea of red, heart-shaped balloons, and the smell wafting out made her mouth water.
The waiter from the night before yanked the door open.
“Hi. Table for . . .?”
She ducked her head down, hoping he wouldn’t recognise her.
“No one. Sorry.”
She almost walked on, but she was starving and the food smelled so good. “Actually, do you do takeaway?”
He ushered her in.“follow me,” he said, leading her to a tiny table near the kitchen.
“You may as well be comfortable while you wait. Pepperoni pizza?”
So he had recognised her. Tasha blushed. “Thanks.”
He wasn’t wearing a badge today, but she remembered his name. “I’ll stay out of your way. Tony, isn’t it?”
He nodded.
“We’re all called Tony. It’s a house rule.” Tasha had never heard anything so outrageous. Then she saw his smile. “You’re joking, right?”
He grinned.“yes. I’m Gianni. Won’t be long.” He disappeared into the kitchen and returned almost immediately with a plate of bruschetta.
“On the house. There might be a bit of a delay with the pizza. There’s a special Valentine’s menu for tonight, and pizza isn’t actually on it.
“It’s all fancy stuff with lovey-dovey names. A lot of it is heart shaped, too.” “Oh.”then it hit her.
“You don’t even do takeaway, do you?” “No,” he admitted.“but I could hear your stomach rumbling.” Tasha was mortified. Could her day get any worse? “I am so sorry . . .”
“It’s no trouble. Someone’s just nipping out to the supermarket for the pizza.”
He laughed when she made a face.“i’m joking! We’re Italian. Of course we have pizza. In the meantime, how about some wine to go with the bruschetta?”
Tasha nodded weakly.“well, if it’s not too much trouble.”
He returned with a glass of rich, ruby red.
A few early bird customers began to arrive, and for a while Gianni was busy flitting expertly between tables with the other waiting staff. He was friendly and professional, and Tasha watched him work as she munched the bruschetta.
Busy though he was, he frequently stopped to chat to her. He did this often enough that she didn’t feel conspicuous sitting on her own.
At least not until the door opened and Savannah walked in with the most gorgeous man Tasha had ever seen.
“I cannot believe you didn’t book the Japanese restaurant,” Savannah fumed.
“Luckily I managed to get us in here, even if we had to come ridiculously early.”
Tasha prayed the ground would open up and swallow her, but the restaurant was so small that – short of ducking under the table – there was no place to hide.
Savannah’s eyes landed on her and she made her way to Tasha’s table like a shame-seeking missile.
“I thought your date here was last night?” Her gaze dropped to the tiny table and the one empty plate.
“Is the food so good you came back again? Alone?”
She was smiling, but Tasha saw a mean look in her eye and knew this would be all round the office by tomorrow.
Suddenly Gianni was at her side.“yes, the food is that good,” he said, placing a hand lightly on Tasha’s shoulder. He gazed down at her.“i love to feed her. I have no idea how she keeps that gorgeous figure.”
Tasha was more than happy to play along. She returned his adoring look.
“Poor soul has to work on Valentine’s Day, but that doesn’t mean he should spend it alone.
“Anyway, it’s no hardship always getting a table in my favourite restaurant with my favourite man.”
She batted her lashes and saw laughter sparkle in Gianni’s eyes. Savannah scowled.
“Well, I hope it doesn’t affect the service for the rest of us.”
“Of course not,” Gianni assured her. “One of my staff will see to you.”
“One of your staff?”tasha asked him, after Savannah stomped back to her date.
“Didn’t I mention this is my restaurant?”
“Do you normally wait tables?”“nope.” Gianni laughed.“what I normally do is force the chef to prepare delicious snacks and stand outside in all weathers trying to pluck up the nerve to talk to you as you walk by.”
“Is that another joke?”tasha asked uncertainly.
“You pass by at around 5.30 every week night. I’m out there by 5.20 unless it’s raining. Pathetic, I know, but I’m terrible at chatting up women.”
Her head was spinning.“are you chatting me up?”
“See what I mean? You can’t even tell. That’s how bad I am.”
“Last night,”tasha began, feeling the need to explain.“my date. I didn’t know he was married.”
“That’s OK. Neither did I.” “What?”
“I’ve never seen him before in my life,” he admitted.“but the garlic bread. The lasagne . . .”
“It’s what about 70% of our customers order. It was a risk, but you know what they say about love and war.”
“Love?” Tasha stammered.this was moving too fast.
He smiled.“well, it is Valentine’s Day.” Tasha stared at him for so long that his face fell.
“I’m sorry,” he faltered.“as I say, I’m terrible at this. Did I do something wrong?”
Thinking of the lengths he had gone to just to get to know her, she replied.
“But even so, I think you might just have earned yourself a five-star review.”
Amy saw the florist’s van crawling down the road, the driver peering at the houses, searching for numbers. The name was on the side in pink flowery writing surrounded by swirling pink ribbons. Audrey’s.
They wouldn’t be looking for her address. Last year, her fiancé, Adam, had sent her a text wishing her a happy Valentine’s, but he’d sent it as a group text to several people at once and had ended up going out with one of them.
“Sorry, Amy,” he’d said later. “But it’s better we found out we’re not suited before we got married.”
He was right, but it didn’t stop it hurting. Still, someone was going to be lucky today. Just because there was no romance in her life didn’t mean she didn’t like to see other people happy. The van stopped opposite her house and the delivery guy got out. Amy tried not to notice how tall and good-looking he was. His hair was on the long side, thick and bouncy. He scratched his head in puzzlement. Not many people had numbers along here. The houses had names like Clementine Cottage or Trafalgar House. Amy’s bungalow was called Cherry Tree Cottage, even though she’d been told the cherry tree had blown down in a storm half a century ago.
The delivery guy looked across the road and nodded in satisfaction. He went to the back of his van, opened up the doors and brought out a lavish arrangement, all white froth and pink petals. Amongst the arrangement were red hearts on sticks wrapped in shiny red ribbon.
Amy’s heart leaped. She couldn’t help herself. The flower arrangement was so big he had to hold it in both hands. It was magnificent. Names flew through Amy’s mind and were quickly discarded, but wasn’t that what Valentine’s was all about? Mystery? There was no one at work who would send her flowers, although Ed winked at her a lot. He could be prone to getting things in his eyes, for all she knew. Besides, he was known as the office Romeo. There was quiet Steve from her book club, with his secret smiles, but she was sure it wasn’t him. How about Dan, the guy she’d been set up on a blind date with? They’d had nothing in common and had decided not to have a second date. Potential Valentines were thin on the ground.
He was coming up the front path so she rushed to open the door.
“You’re lucky you caught me,” she said breathlessly.“i was just about to leave for work.”
He smiled at her, such a wide, generous smile with such perfect teeth. Was it him or the flowers making her go weak at the knees? “How beautiful,” she said, pressing her hand to her chest. But he didn’t hand them to her.
“Primrose Cottage?”
“No. This is Cherry Tree Cottage.” “Oh, I’m sorry.” He sighed.
“I noticed you standing at the window and thought you might be expecting this delivery. All I have is ‘Kate at Primrose Cottage’.”
“Kate,” Amy said, her heart deflating like a balloon with a hole in it. She should have known no one would send her flowers like that. What on earth had she been thinking to let her hopes take flight
Bah humbug to Valentine’s Day, eh?
in such a fashion? “I’m sorry,” he said again, a frown creasing his forehead.“i didn’t mean to raise your hopes.”
“You absolutely didn’t,” she said firmly. “Kate lives four doors along. You can’t miss her house – it has a primrose on the gate.”
“Ah, I should have kept going,” he said. “Sorry to have bothered you.”
“I’m glad to have been able to help. Kate will love those.”
She would, too. Kate’s marriage had been through a rough patch, but she and Andrew had got back together over Christmas and Andrew was clearly out to prove to Kate how much he loved her. Amy closed the door and went to finish getting ready for work, her heart heavy. She hated to admit it even to herself, but she’d given up on love. What a thing to realise on Valentine’s Day of all days.
Amy hoped to escape at work, but a couple of heart-shaped balloons hovered over two of the desks. On the group of desks she shared with three others she counted five Valentine cards. Someone else had a red rose in a tube. It got worse at lunchtime when she popped out for a sandwich and bumped into the flowerdelivery guy coming into the building with two bouquets.
“Hello, again,” he said.“i don’t suppose you’re Fliss or Annie?”
“Afraid not,” she said, wondering why anyone would have flowers delivered to an office. A mean little voice said it was all done for show and she batted it away. Fliss and Annie were both young. Why shouldn’t they enjoy flowers and
romance while they could? She saw him again in the sandwich bar.
“Didn’t have time to make my packed lunch today,” he explained.“i’ve been up half the night making the arrangements.” “You make them?”
“Guilty,” he said, looking embarrassed. “But it’s such an art! Your arrangements are beautiful. You should be proud.”
“My ex-girlfriend didn’t think so,” he replied.“she couldn’t understand why I’d give up a job as a fork-lift truck driver to become a florist.
It was when she banned me from telling any of her friends what I did for a living that I realised she wasn’t the one for me.”
“How did you make the leap from forklift truck driver to florist?”
“The shop used to belong to my aunt Audrey and I always loved helping her out when I was a kid. She reckoned I had a knack, so when she retired . . .” He shrugged.“i’ve never been happier.”
“Well, I think it’s lovely. You bring pleasure to so many people, and comfort, I’m sure, at sad times.”
“Thank you. I must admit, it’s very rewarding.”
She grabbed her tuna sandwich. “Better be going. Nice seeing you again.” “Just wondering,” he said.“where’s your cherry tree?” She laughed and told him how there hadn’t been one for many years. She walked into her office and backtracked, double checking what it said on the door.
“Sorry,” she said.“i thought we were an accountancy firm, yet we seem to have turned into a florist and gift shop.”
“Bah humbug to Valentine’s Day, eh, Amy?” Ed said with a wink as he walked past. From the smear of lipstick on his cheek, it would seem her supervisor had found his Valentine.
“It’s all nonsense,” she said.“what a terrible waste of money.”
“It must be hard for you at this time of year, Amy,” Crystal said as she laid a sympathetic hand on Amy’s arm.
“Not at all,” Amy said. Lots of people didn’t get cards and flowers and gifts in velvet-lined boxes or taken out for lovely meals. She sighed deeply. She wasn’t sure she’d particularly like any of those things, but it didn’t look as if she’d ever find out. “I’m fine, Crystal.”
“That’s good. Who needs flowers, eh?” “Exactly.”
Amy had a sudden vision of that beautiful arrangement of this morning filling her living-room window, to greet her when she got home from work. But it would be gracing Kate’s living room. She passed Primrose Cottage on her way home from work and saw the arrangement in the window. She smiled and hoped Kate and Andrew had a romantic evening planned.
As she opened her front gate, she saw at once the cleared patch in the centre of her front garden, and in the centre, a new young tree fastened securely to a post. “What’s this?”
A label on the tree said it was a flowering cherry. She’d always wanted one – it was as if her cottage had been calling out for one for years. She straightened up and looked round, but there was no one in sight. When she went in and picked up her mail, there was one envelope without a stamp. A Valentine’s card! The writing inside was big and bold, but neat.“i’ve booked a table for two at the Swan for eight. Please come. Hope you like the flowering cherry x”.
She had a tentative list of potential suspects. Perhaps Dan had had a change of heart and decided to give them another chance. Maybe Adam had come back. What about quiet Steve? It would be rude not to turn up, and she’d hate to think of anyone being embarrassed. Besides, that flowering cherry was the most perfect of gifts and the person who had thought of it deserved a chance. Everyone knew that Cherry Tree Cottage lacked a cherry tree. When she arrived at the restaurant, she didn’t know who she was meeting, but there was the florist again, standing in the lobby looking more handsome than he had any right to be in a smart suit and a blue shirt. He was holding an exquisite corsage made of a single red rose and a froth of gypsophila. Still working, even now!
“We must stop meeting like this,” she said, and her heart knew before she did that he was her Valentine’s date.
“You came.”
“Of course I did,” she said as he pinned the corsage to her jacket.
“Thank you so much for the cherry. It’s a beautiful, thoughtful gift.”
“Thank goodness,” he replied.“it was only after I’d dug a huge hole in your front garden that I started to worry you might not be happy about it.”
“I couldn’t be happier,” she said and tucked her arm through his as they went to claim their table. She realised she still didn’t know his name and he didn’t know hers, and started to laugh. “It’s Josh,” he said as if he’d read her thoughts. She’d never understood before what it meant to be on someone else’s wavelength. Now she knew.