Valentine Flowers Coffee Break Tale

Would my Tom do the romantic thing and show he still loved me?

The flowers were beautiful; a bouquet of red roses, tied together with a red ribbon.

The trouble was, they weren’t for me. They were for Mrs Potts, my neighbour on the right.

I tried not to feel neglected by Tom, but it seems Mrs Potts is always getting flowers. There doesn’t even have to be a special occasion. But since today is Valentine’s Day, it does affect me more than usual. Would Tom bring me flowers today?

“Don’t worry, Rochelle, love,” Mrs Potts said cheerily. “I’m sure he will.”

Mrs Potts has always been so supportive and encouraging. I don’t know how I’d have got through the early months when I first came here without her. Being somewhere new is always hard and since Mrs Potts has been here a long time – decades in fact – I appreciated having her around.

So I don’t resent her getting flowers, far from it. It’s just that I wish Tom was a little more like Mr Potts. Maybe then I wouldn’t feel as if Tom is forgetting me.

“I never used to be so needy, Mrs Potts.” I sighed. “But when he spends so much time away, with work and things, I can’t help wondering if maybe… well… you know, there could be someone else.”

I know who, too. A pretty colleague. Felicity Collins. I’m only being honest when I say she’s a younger, prettier version of me. And since Tom and Felicity worked so closely on many company projects these days I can’t help wondering if one day he might look at her the way he once looked at me.

“Tom?” said Mrs Potts. “Someone else? Of course not. Blind Freddie can see how much he still loves you. It doesn’t have to be grand gestures or lots of flowers. You can tell just by the look in someone’s eyes.”

“Hmmm. But how am I supposed to see that look if he isn’t around?”

For the next few hours, every time a car approached I wondered if it was Tom. But it never was.

Sally White, another neighbour, received flowers. The arrangement was double the size of Mrs Potts’ bouquet. Lucky lady. Native blooms, they were. I don’t know the names – Tom would, though, he’s the gardener – but the overall theme was golden and purple hues.

They reminded me of our honeymoon. On a drive between two towns we saw miles of open fields, transformed into an endless carpet of colourful, living beauty – wildflowers as far as the eye could see.

It made me want to cry, thinking of our honeymoon. The fun we had, the places we visited. The way being in his arms had made me feel like the luckiest woman in the world.

“I will love you forever,” Tom had said.

“Is that a promise?” I teased him.

He pulled me close, then took our photo in front of the wildflowers. “I made my promises on our wedding day. I meant every word of our vows. Sickness, health, richer, poorer, until death. You know how it went.”

Yes, I knew. I made the same vows. But you never really think they’ll be tested, do you? Not when you first get married. You think life will just flow along easily and perfectly. And it’s a shock when you realise that all your dreams for the future can be so easily taken away.

The sun was getting low and I’d convinced myself I wasn’t getting any flowers today. Then I saw Tom arrive.

And when he stepped out of the car I saw the bouquet he held. The most beautiful bouquet I had ever seen in my life, in golden and purple hues. And if I ever doubted how devoted he still was to me, it evaporated when I saw the look of love in his eyes as he approached.

“Happy Valentine’s Day, Rochelle,” he said softly. On the card he had written, Totheloveofmylife.

“I love you, Rochelle,” he whispered. “I always will.”

When he’s here, so close, I wonder how I ever could have doubted him. My fears evaporate. As he places the flowers below my headstone, I think should have written slightly different vows for our wedding. I believe our love isn’t only “till death”, but beyond as well.