Secret Admirer (7 page)

“Huh?”

“There’s this cute guy I see at a coffee shop every morning, we talk a bit, but nothing ever happens.”

She hugged me for the tenth time that morning as I packed and offered her mom-mantra. “What’s meant to be will be.” She loaded my car with containers of food and a care package I could only open when I got to my apartment. The basket contained cookies, my favorite tea, perfume, and a giant bag of candy hearts. A Valentine from my mother. She had signed my dad’s name too, but I’m sure he knew nothing about the gift. Dad showed his love by servicing my car and passing on two hardcover crime books he’d recently finished.

Once in the apartment, I did feel a bit lonely for the first time. I filled the time washing laundry. I finished folding late and was surprised to find a missed message on my phone as I prepared for bed.

Garrett—hope you made it back safely, no need to reply, but wanted to lyk I’m thinking of you, Andressa.

I truly felt lonely no more.

Chapter Eight

“You’re smiling.”

Connor hadn’t been in line when I arrived, but he was now suddenly beside me at the service station.

I’d been in a great mood since Garrett’s text the night before. Now, I felt oddly guilty for having been caught by Connor thinking about Garrett. “I guess I am.” I realized my smile was even wider now that I had his attention.

“You have a nice smile, I hope it lasts all day.” He walked over to the counter to order his coffee.

I was too dumbstruck to speak so I left. With my coffee, complete with lid, in hand, I no longer had any reason to stay there.

Our timing wasn’t quite right on Tuesday. He was leaving as I walked in, but he did the cup salute thing so at least he acknowledged me. Part of me wanted to let go of this sliver of hope I got whenever I saw him, but another part of me worried about things working out with Garrett. I never let on that I knew his name and believed I should keep it that way until after my date with Garrett.

When my handful of hearts included not one, but two
Secret Admirers
in one afternoon, I took a page from Garrett’s book and texted a little tease.

Me—Friday can’t come fast enough

He didn’t reply, but I didn’t expect him to this time. We were playing a game of sorts. He sent one in the middle of the night.

Garrett—sweet dreams

I waited until morning to reply.

Me—don’t u wish you knew what I was dreaming

I hit send and got in my car sporting a goofy grin of self-satisfaction.

Connor was at the service station, but his phone pinged from his pocket and he grabbed it right away. A smirk took over his face as he looked at the screen.

A pang of unjustified jealousy ran through me. Any silly comments I could make couldn’t compete. I said a quick goodbye and left, eager to get to work and make Wednesday fly by. As I was getting in my car, I heard a ping of my own.

Garrett—I know WHO I wish you were dreaming about

I laughed out loud in the silence of the car and my mood instantly improved. I turned up the radio when a familiar pop song began and actually sang along. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d done that. My good mood must have been visible as the receptionist asked what I was “so chipper” about.

“I hear you’re the cheerful one this morning. Care to share?” Bree grilled.

“Just some shameless flirting,” I answered.

“Good for you.”

“Trying my best,” I said with a wide grin. This was true, but I gave her the false impression I was referring to Connor, not Garrett. I wasn’t about to set her straight. I would have to answer soon enough though when the weekend texts began.

Bree—Friday’s the big day, who’s got plans?

Maggie—let me guess, u do Bree?

Bree—I don’t know, do I, Alec?

Alec—it’s a surprise

Josh—gagged on my latte

Abbie—going to an anti-Valentine’s Day party. All are welcome, anyone care to join?

Ethan—kidnapping Maggie from the library for dinner

Josh—wasn’t planning on leaving my apartment, but maybe…

Clare—we’ll see if you-know-who shows up

Abbie—Andi? Garrett?

Oh no. How should I respond? Should I wait for Garrett to reply? So far, the truth was working so I gave a vague, but honest, answer.

Me—I have plans

Bree—?????

Me—yes, Bree

Garrett—sorry so late to chime in. May have to go out of town, if not I’ll let you know, Abbie. Thx for offer

Abbie—so glad I can accommodate the love-less

Bree—Abbie! The party sounds like fun.

Alec—we’ll stop by after dinner.

Maggie—if it’s not too late Ethan and I will too

Abbie—thx guys!

I knew Garrett would text once the group was done. Nine nervous minutes later, I was relieved when he replied lightheartedly.

Garrett—think we fooled them

Me—yes! Sorry you had to be the one to lie

Garrett—you owe me, jk

Me—I’ll make it up to you

Garrett—can’t wait to see how

Me—☺get back to work

Garrett—☺

Also as expected, Bree insisted on lunch together to hear all about my plans. I wondered if I could still manage to not lie, but merely deceive her.

As we walked through the courtyard without gloves and scarves for the first time since we’d met, she asked, “So, how’d it happen?”

I kept my gaze straight ahead as we walked to avoid giving myself away with any facial expressions. “I don’t know, it just did.”

She lightly punched my shoulder. “I told you it would. I’m so happy for you.”

“Well, I don’t really know him, so we’ll see how the night goes.”

“I have a good feeling you two were meant to be.”

“Thanks. Now, what’s the latest with you and Alec?”

Her face lit up. “Everything has been great lately, and I have you and Clare to thank. I haven’t said the words proposal, engagement, or even wedding since our talk.”

We entered the restaurant and picked up our trays, and we each took a different side of the salad bar. “Not one word?” I asked.

“Nope. I thought I would’ve cracked by now, but refraining is getting easier. We’re so happy just, I don’t know—being in the moment, I guess.” She shrugged, but smiled.

“That’s awesome. I think that’s the way good relationships are supposed to feel.”

“Yeah. You guys were right.”

I met her at the cash register and lightly bumped my elbow to hers. We walked together to our usual table and talked office gossip for the rest of the lunch break. I was glad for the levity.

Feeling hopeful and lucky, I dumped the entire contents of a candy hearts box on my desk back in my office after lunch. I got a few
Kiss Me’s
and even one
Meet Me
, which I found inspirational, but the rest were the new sayings like
BFF
,
So Fine
, and
#Love
. None were
Secret Admirer
.

As soon as the workday was over, I went straight to the grocery store, mainly because I was out of cereal and soy milk, but also because I had an experiment to perform. I placed two bags of the extra-large hearts and two boxes of the tiny hearts in my cart, along with my breakfast staples and headed home to put my theory to the test.

While I microwaved a container of Mom’s pasta primavera, I placed two of my plain white dinner plates on my combination kitchen/dining room table. I poured half the bag of the extra-large hearts on one, and the box of tiny hearts on the other.

Sure enough, the bigger hearts had longer sayings as they could accommodate the extra letters. The tiny hearts bore quips such as
Cutie
and
Luv Bug
. No wonder I hadn’t had a
Secret Admirer
pop up recently. Now I had twelve in various colors, as well as hundreds of others. Even with my new addiction, there were too many for me. I’d have to think of something to do with them.

The internet was a wealth of ideas for the candy hearts. I could make collages, bouquets, create games, or even decorate my Valentine’s card with them. The possibilities were pretty hilarious, but inspired me to take action. I arranged three candy hearts on my counter and snapped individual photos of each with my phone. I texted the first to Garrett.

Me—What’s up?(the yellow candy read)

He replied an hour later, around eight o’clock.

Garrett—Ha! Not much, met guys for wings and watch hockey game

Since I had his attention, I continued.

Me—C U Soon (purple)

Garrett—LOL, I don’t have any, can’t play along


Me—I Hope (yellow)

Garrett—hope what?

Me—Smile and Secret Admirer (blue and pink)

Garrett—☺

Assuming I was done using my phone for the night, I connected it to the charger on my nightstand. But Garrett must have gone out to the store. Around ten when I was ready to read and give in to sleep, a series of photos popped up, in rapid succession, so I had no time to chime in, which I assumed was his intent.

I Hope

You & Me

Flirt

4-eva

So cool

☺

He’d even found a candy heart with the smiley face that had become our sign off. I could tell he was using the tiny hearts. Little did he know, I had every variety so I had the advantage. I let him have the last say for the night and drifted off happily, looking forward to Friday night.

On Thursday morning, Connor was in the coffee shop before me whistling happily. He sounded as upbeat as I felt. I woke up in a great mood, remembering my exchange with Garrett and had been thinking up my rebuttal ever since. If I knew how to whistle, I would’ve been too.

“Sorry, I forget that can be annoying,” he said when I was caught staring.

I now had his full attention and couldn’t look away. “No, no. I was just wishing I could whistle too, or be as happy as you are in the morning.”

“You always seem happy.”

I blushed, though I wanted to keep talking. “Really? Huh.”

“Well, I hope whoever is responsible appreciates you.” He gave his now-customary coffee cup salute goodbye and left me wondering if, and hoping Garrett would turn out to be as nice a guy as Connor seemed. I’ll admit I hoped he was as cute too.

At the office, I arranged four large hearts to create a cryptic sentence.

Thank U

Sweet Talk

No Doubt

Good 4 Me

I didn’t have time to check for his response since I had a client call scheduled for nine sharp which lasted almost an hour. At ten, I hurried to finish an assessment for a lunch meeting in the conference room. I was glad to be busy. Work kept me focused, and I didn’t mind the day going by quickly.

I went right home and made a quick dinner, anticipating Garrett’s reply. While waiting, I went through my closet searching for the perfect outfit for our date the next night. As seven turned into eight with no word, or photos, I became worried. What if he had to go out of town again, or simply didn’t want to meet me? Had I scared him off with the last candy hearts’ message? I read it over and over to see if it could’ve been misconstrued, but didn’t see any harm. Still, I worried.

I resisted texting Garrett to see if everything was all right. I realized the question might seem weird, though I felt even weirder about not hearing from him. We’d been texting daily for over a week, and I assumed we had a thing going. I had trouble falling asleep and left my phone on and next to me on my other pillow. The tell-tale ping sounded at twelve-oh-one.

Garrett—Happy Valentine’s Day Andressa! Can’t wait to see you tonight

The message put my nerves at ease, but the photo of the two candy hearts which followed allowed my mind to drift off happily, if not giddy.

Sweet Dreams/XOXO

Chapter Nine

Not since I was a kid and anticipating heart-shaped pancakes had I awoken so excited for Valentine’s Day. More importantly, Meet-Garrett Day. I resisted wearing a red or pink sweater, I knew my limits, but did dress up a bit.

I ran into Connor, literally, at the Fresh Start and was happy for choosing a dress. I bumped him on my way to get a lid and thankfully neither of our coffees spilled. “Oops, I’m sorry.” The words gushed quickly from a combination of nervous energy and embarrassment.

He reached down to pick up the item that dislodged from his hands during the collision and said, “No, no my fault.”

The dropped item was familiar looking. And while I tried not to stare, I confirmed the bag did indeed contain large candy hearts.

As he tucked the candy back into his messenger bag, he caught my smirk. “What?” he asked and narrowed his gaze.

“Nothing.” I replied, but my smile betrayed me.

Connor held up the bag. “The candy? Not what you think, they’re for a project. Sort of.”

“Okay,” I said teasingly while walking toward the service station. “I’m not judging.”

He followed right behind me. “What about you? You’re all dressed up. Do you have a valentine?”

I weighed my words and turned to face him again. “I’m not sure exactly.”

“Uh huh,” he said.