Page 96 of Poetry of Flowers

“You believe a sitcom theory decides whether we are meant to be together or not?” I chuckled, but she looked way too serious about it.

“Somehow I do, yes.”

“Alright, if it’s like this, then from now on I will hate olives and give you all of mine.”

“No, that’s not how it works because you love olives.”

“I don’t like mustard.” Her eyes went wide, and she smiled again.

“Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Now we are meant to be.”

I laughed and leaned down to kiss her. I couldn’t get enough of those gorgeous lips on mine.

She smiled into our kiss.

“Are you happy now?”

She nodded and leaned back in her seat. She wasn’t wearing any makeup for once because we had been in a rush.

“Very happy.”

As much as I loved her red lips, she was just as beautiful without lipstick, maybe even prettier just being herself. I knew she loved herself with makeup and that was the only thing I cared about, her happiness. For me, she was the love of my life and the girl of my dreams, with makeup, without, with clothes or… without.

“We should get going. We’ve got seventeen hours to go, and we’ll probably arrive in Chicago by nine or ten. It might be hard to get a room in a hotel there around this time,” Theo told us, and I started the car.

“Why don’t you search for a cheap motel in a safe area and book us a room there?” I said as I turned onto the empty highway. This car was a much smoother ride than my baby at home. Sally was already ten years old.

Right after I had gotten it, I had taken Tillie to get milkshakes, but she hated driving with me, so we walked home and I had to go back and get Sally afterward. Back then I hadn’t been the best driver because I just got my license, but now I was pretty good and responsible.

“Autumn, can you do that?”

“Why?”

“Because you’re better at talking to people. The last time I tried to book a table for my stepmother’s birthday, the manager just hung up on me,” Theo explained.

“What did you say to them that they cut you off?” Autumn asked, amused.

I could see Theo shrugging his shoulders in the rearview mirror. “I asked for a table next week, and she told me that they were fully booked until the month after. I had already been there with my father once, and the food wasn’t even that good. So, I told her that she must have read it wrong and that this couldn’t be because the restaurant down the street was much better. Apparently, she didn’t like that.”

“You really told her that the food down the street was better and thought this would get you a free table?” Tillie asked him.

“No, I’m not stupid. I was frustrated, and that makes me honest.”

“Why didn’t you go to the other restaurant directly?”

“It’s too expensive, not everyone has a rich family.”

I couldn’t even take this comment as offensive, my family had money, and my entire life I’d lived with privilege. Sometimes it made me ignorant.

“I didn’t mean it like that, sorry, Kayden,” Theo apologized.

“No, you’re right, it’s okay.”

He was right, and denying it would make me an asshole. I’d met several rich kids over the years, and most of them got defensive when anyone mentioned their family’s wealth.

“Should the motel be more in the middle or outside the city?” Autumn asked, scrolling on her phone.

“Somewhere central should work,” I replied, and she nodded.

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