Page 42 of Through the Snow Globe
She tapped the screen and listened to the voice mail.
“Hi, Diana. This is Joann. I was just walking downtown and passed a bridal shop and thought of you. I would love to come dress shopping with you sometime soon. Wouldn’t that be lovely? Anyway, call me when you have time. Bye.”
The voice mail ended.
Diana released a breath as if she were relieved, but she wasn’t sure why. Had she expected Joann to deliver some sort of bad news? Diana didn’t have time to return that call right now. There were too many other things to take care of today. Like texting Rochelle and wishing her a happy birthday.
Diana had let Rochelle down in a big way yesterday. But when your fiancé’s life was in the balance, having birthday drinks with your best friend wasn’t on the list of priorities. Maybe Diana could smooth things over with Rochelle by sending flowers.Yeah. Rochelle loved flowers, and since she wasn’t dating anyone these days, she never got any.
Diana tapped the local florist’s information into her cell phone and pressed DIAL.
A cheery voice answered on the other end of the line. “How can I help you today?”
“Yes, hi. I would like to order my best friend some birthday flowers,” Diana said, feeling proud of herself. Today was going to go much better than yesterday. She could feel it to her core. Third time on December 4th was a charm.
Ten minutes later, Diana had completed the order. Moving on! Her interview with Mr. Powell wasn’t until two. She wanted to see Linus, but that could wait until after she secured her promotion. If this was the day that stuck, Diana needed to ace this meeting with her boss. Yesterday had gone about as disastrously as it possibly could. But today was a new day, and she was bound and determined to do it right.
Diana drove home, parked, and quickly passed by the jingling Santa on the sidewalk as she hurried to her apartment. She was going to take the time to change, brush her hair, and apply some lipstick. This time she needed to dress the part when she went in for her interview.
Once inside her apartment, Diana stepped inside her closet and grabbed a pair of black slacks and a long-sleeve button-down top. She also grabbed a cardigan and slipped her feet into some dress shoes that she would never wear to see her patients. She stepped inside the bathroom, ran a comb through her hair, and applied some plum-colored lipstick. It had been a long time since she’d worn makeup. Makeup was reserved for special occasions or for dates.
Something achy resonated in Diana’s chest right above her heart. If she had known her time was limited with Linus, she would’ve made more of an effort. She would’ve applied lipstick and gone on more dates. And after she saved Linus, shewoulddo those things. After she got this promotion she’d been working toward, she’d be able to relax a little. No more overtime. Everything would be the way it should be.
With one last glance in the mirror, Diana hurried back out of her apartment, nearly bowling down Mrs. Guzman. “Oh, hi, Mrs. Guzman. What are you doing here?”
Mrs. Guzman smiled back at her. “Well, I saw you return to your apartment, and I wanted to see how your time loop was going.”
Diana looked around to make sure no one else was in hearing range. Gossip spread fast in this apartment complex. Folks were already whispering about Mr. Zitnik’s love potion from Mrs. Guzman. Diana didn’t want to be the focus of another rumor. “It’s going well so far, but I don’t have time to talk right now. I’m heading to a meeting with my boss. For a promotion,” Diana said.
“Oh, isn’t that nice?” Mrs. Guzman clung to Leonardo’s leash as he sniffed Diana’s dress shoes. “Well, I won’t take up much of your time, then. I just wanted to mention that I was thinking about your time loop and your question about what you should do differently.”
“Yes?” Diana asked.
“I wanted to add that priorities shift like ocean sand when you realize there isn’t unlimited time. Those are the moments when you lead with your heart instead of your mind.”
Did that rhyme? Was Mrs. Guzman somehow working another enchantment on Diana without her knowing it? Maybe Diana was being paranoid, but she took a step backward. “Thanks for the tip, Mrs. Guzman. I’ve got to run. See you tomorrow,” she called behind her, wondering what tomorrow would bring. A new day or the old one again?
Diana skipped past jingling Santa, dropped some change in his tin, and hurried to her car in the lot beside the complex. She plopped into the driver’s seat and shut the door, barring the winter wind. Then she drove toward Powell Rehabilitation Center.
She used her hands to smooth the wrinkles out of her clothing as she stepped from her car. She wanted to make a good impression on her boss. Usually when she ran into him she was either too quiet or too chatty. Those weren’t management qualities. Then again, Diana had never thought she’d wanted to be in management until this past summer when she’d heard that her supervisor was retiring. Diana had suddenly felt like maybe some strand of success was what was missing in her life.
Linus didn’t understand her new goal, of course. But he owned his own toy store. He was an entrepreneur, and she was just someone else’s employee.
“Success doesn’t buy you happiness,” Linus had said once when Diana had worked overtime to cover one of her coworker’s missed hours.
“No, but it does afford you nice things,” she’d retorted. “And a wedding costs money.”
Linus negated that comment. “I don’t need fancy things or a flashy wedding. All I need is you,” he’d said, sweetly wrapping his arms around her.
Diana wished she could feel his embrace again. She almost had last night. She still wasn’t sure what had happened. One moment they were laughing and racing home. He was leaning in to kiss her. The next moment, everything had gone black.
Not tonight.
Her phone buzzed with a text message as she walked toward the rehabilitation center. She stopped and pulled her phone out of her bag to see who it was from.
Rochelle:You sent me flowers? Why?
Diana:Because it’s your birthday, silly.
