Close Your Eyes (4 page)

‘Hi, I’m
Meg
an,
’ she said, smiling at him
.
She was satisfied when
he smiled back, his face open and friendly. ‘Do you want to sit together?’

‘Yes, sure.’ He nodded
eagerly
. H
is big eyes
were
an even deeper shade of blue from close up. He was dressed very smartly, more so than most of the other kids. His blue shirt
and
beige pants
were
pressed just as neatly as his father’s
,
and
his
brown shoes made him look older and less childish than the
rest
of
the children
running around the yard and screaming their heads off.
Meg
an ye
arned to join in, her vivacious nature rebelling against the confines of her clothing.

‘I’m Ryan,’ he said
. He was visibly embarrassed, and h
is little nose
crinkled
as he asked
,
‘
Did
you hear my brother? He usually isn’t like that.’

‘
He
can scream really well
.
’

Her
impressed voice held all the reassurance he needed because he beamed, nodding.

‘Yeah, he is the best at it. Mommy says that if he was any better
,
the windows would break for sure.’

They both giggled
.
Their
newly established friendship
was
confirmed as they walked over the large field
while
Meg
an
did
most of the chatting.

When the teacher called them back,
Meg
an
was disappointed, but she
didn’t worry too much. She knew that
it
was just the beginning. Ryan was there to stay
,
and he was her friend. The world was perfect.

‘
Megs
, can you help me please?’ Almost buried under the stacked boxes she was carrying, Jenna Sellers yelped for help
. T
he top
box slid
dangerously to the left. ‘Those bloody things aren’t as light as I thought.’

‘You should’ve waited for me, Jenna.’
Meg
an jumped up from behind the desk where
she was working on a computer
.
‘
If you break half of it, we’ll be done for.’

‘Don’t be such a worrywart,
Megs
.’
Jenna’s
exasperated voice calmed down as
Megan removed
some of the boxes
from the pile
. A pretty face framed with blond, curly hair
and
a victorious smile on her lips
appeared in the freed space
.

‘See, all done.’ She
carefully lowered
the boxes
to
the table
’s
honey
-
colored surface. ‘
Can’t wait to see it, though.’

‘Me
n
either
.
’
Meg
an nodded, her lovely face glowing with excitement. She fetched a pair of scissors and started opening
one of the
box
es
, carefully cutting the corrugated cardboard. ‘I hope they did a good job.’

‘They’d better
have
.’ Jenna lean
ed
closer, her blond hair shining like pure gold. ‘It’s not every day we get to work for the rich and mighty.’

‘Don’t say that
.
’
Meg
an sighed, her fingers stilling momentarily. She collected herself almost instantaneously, her hand sure and calm as she finished opening the box. ‘There, let’s have a look.’

In unison, t
wo
heads
, dark and blond,
bent over the box
. T
heir excitement
grew
as they stared into it.

‘Perfect!’ Jenna exclaimed a second later, her relief mix
ing
with admiration. ‘Just as I hoped it
would
be. You did an excellent job,
Megs
. I mean
,
your design was brilliant.’

‘All right, let’s not get carried away, shall we?’
Meg
an laughed, carefully fishing out a
beautiful flower arrangement set in an ornate silver pot. The delicate
white, pink, and
purple
petals of the orchids looked almost artificial in their perfect beauty accentuated by the fleshy green leaves
and waxy stems. ‘It looks good,’ s
he admitted, looking up to meet Jenna’s expectant gaze. ‘Are there
twenty-
four of them?’

‘Yep, madam.’ Jenna nodded, pointing to the other room
at the front
of their florist shop. ‘I left the other twelve there, so we can inspect them before they go to the House of Gloom.’

‘Come on, don’t call it that
.
’
Meg
an sighed. ‘
We
should be happy
we got
this job, really. This is a big
deal,
Jenna
. Y
ou know it.’

‘
Yeah
, right.
I know why we got it, you cheeky monkey
.
’
Unstoppable
and
mischievous, Jenna grinned at
Megan
and shook her golden mane in a playful reproach. ‘Don’t tell me it has nothing to do with Ryan
.
’

Meg
an blushed, angry with her treacherous body
for refusing
to cooperate.
She had to admit it was true.
Ry
an
was a big part of their success,
and
her heart
warmed
at the thought of the man who
had
convinced his family to use her business for their yearly gala. Jenna and
Megan
had
owned
a
budding florist’s business for only a year
and a half
,
and
their success on the local scene
was
still very moderate.
When Megan
finished her degree in garden architecture
two years
ago
, she
was eager to
start something
—
anything
,
really
—
if only to avoid
being pulled
into her family’s business.
Her dad’s
computer
programming success
had
turned his one
-
man mission into a corporation
that drew
plenty of requests for his services. Her mother’s background as a secretary helped with dealing with the more mundane part
s
of the business
. A
team of contractors
,
hand
-
picked by her father
,
took
on the jobs all over the country.
And Megan’s father had his eyes on making her part of their PR team
.

She desperately dreaded
the idea of spending her days
with her parents.
And she knew she would end up working with them if she didn’t hurry.
She
was
forced
to join
the family business
right after her return from university
,
and
the few months she
had
spent in her parents’ office
convinced
her that she needed to find something else
as soon as possible
.
She loved them, of course
.
But
she
guiltily
searched for
a workplace
as far as possible from her father’s massive office.

Her parents
were caring, loving
,
and involved… to the point
that they would suffocate
her if she didn’t watch out.
H
er mom seemed to be
especially
bent on treating her as if she
were
still ten
years old
and in dire need of advice in every area of her life.
Even though she was actually twenty-eight, Megan
still
listened to the
never-ending
stream of comments, most
ly
regarding her personal and romantic life. Sometimes she wished she had siblings
. Since she was an only child,
all her parents
’
dreams and hopes
rested
on
Megan’s
slim shoulders.