Page 7 of Secret Admirer

“Ugh.” My body almost convulses at the idea. Rolling my eyes, I set my glare on her. “You know how much I hate having parties. Plus, I have no friends to invite.”

“Oh, please!” She lets out an exasperated sigh. “You have friends. What about all those hoity-toity people who used to always swarm around you?”

“Used to is the key word in that sentence.”

“Whatever,” she rolls her eyes at me. “Rich people are crazy. If you don’t want to invite your old friends, you can invite all the people from the salon.”

“I’ll think about it.” Meaning it’s not happening. “It’s going to take me a good while before this place doesn’t look like someone broke in and robbed the place.”

“You’re having a party. What’s the use of having this awesome house if you’re going to be here alone all the time?” Trixie throws her pink hair over her shoulder with a knowing smile.

“Don’t you have to go?” I ask, changing the subject.

“I’m going.” Grabbing up her keys, she heads to the front door. Looking over her shoulder, Trixie calls out, “Do you want me to message you if your secret admirer left you another flower?”

I don’t want her to know how much I secretly like finding flowers every day when I get to work, although I don’t think I’ve been doing a very good job of hiding it. It’s nice to have something positive in my life while trying to get over the heartache of losing both my parents.

“That’s what I thought,” she smirks. “I’ll see you in a few days.”

Hustling to the door, I lock it and engage the alarm system. Leaning against the door my lips tip up.

I’m safe.

Pushing off the door, I head to the living room already bringing up my playlist, and the giant stack of boxes that wait for me when out of the corner of my eye I catch movement outside.

5

Bodhi

Placingthe purple flower on the mat in front of the salon, I slowly back away. I’ve still got at least another hour before anyone shows up. It’s been three days since Coco last worked and yet I still keep leaving her the best flower I’ve found for the day. Even not knowing if she will show up or not, I wait in the trees across the street. With nothing to do, I spend most of my days in the shade in the hopes she’ll show up—with no luck.

My heart drops into my feet when her boss shows up. Usually, she goes into the salon through the back when she’s alone, so the minute I see her, I know Coco won’t be showing up today. I continue to watch her after she flips on all the lights and then opens the front door and looks down for my flower meant for Coco.

I could stop until I know she’s back to work, but I can’t bear the thought of her face when she finds I haven’t left her a flower. The best part of my day is seeing her face light up when she spots her flower and then as she looks around, wondering who could have left it for her.

Still, I watch as she carries the flower inside and takes a picture with her phone. Or at least I think that’s what she’s doing. If I had binoculars, I’d use them even if that brings me closer to stalker status.

Is she sending the picture to Coco?

With Coco moving, I’ve fallen into a routine, even though I don’t know when she’ll be back to work at Tricks. Bright and early I set out to find her a different flower than one I’ve previously given her. It’s a challenge; I’m limited by how far I can walk and get to the salon in time to place it at the front door. I still haven’t found my bike, and at this point, I doubt I’ll ever find it.

When I had the idea of moving here, I thought it was a wise move. I couldn’t stay in the Midwest another year and chance getting hypothermia when the temperatures had already started to drop. In my haste to move away from the cold, I forgot how the temperature drops in the desert at night. My body is still getting accustomed to the heat of the day. I sweat and lose far too much water to be healthy for the night to cool down so much; I’m a shivering mess.

Luckily, I’ve found that Oasis is a kind town. Not only was Coco far too generous, offering to let me fill up my water bottle, but I’ve encountered a few others in my journeys throughout the days who have taken pity on me. My pride is bruised and battered, but I’ve learned to push it out of the way for my greater good. If it weren’t for Coco and the others who’ve been so nice, I would have moved on. To where, I don’t know, but to somewhere with a different climate.

Instead, I’ve decided to stay. I’ve found a shelter to stay in at night which is a lifesaver. When an older gentleman stopped me as I walked down his street, I thought he would tell me to stop stealing flowers from his neighbors, but his kind eyes locked on mine as he told me about the shelter only a couple of miles away from Coco’s shop. He looked at the lone flower in my hand and his eyes glistened. Then he proceeded to tell me where some of the best houses with flowers were. I couldn’t believe it. Not only had he told me a place where I could rest my head at night, but he was downright encouraging me to steal more flowers.

“Why are you helping me?” I croaked out.

“Because I see something in your eyes that reminds me of me when I was younger.” He looked down at the yellow and white flower hanging from my fingertips. “I hope you land on your feet soon, young man.”

Then he walked back up his street and into his house without looking back.

At night I lay on my cot and dream of what my life would have been like if I hadn’t lost everything. I dream about one day walking up to Coco and handing her the flowers I’ve picked for her.

“Bodhi.” A woman’s voice calls from behind me. Looking over my shoulder, I see the night director of the shelter. “Can you hold up for a few moments so I can talk to you?”

Shit, are they going to kick me out?

---