Faceless romantic

Chapter Ten: Lost Faceless Gentleman 

As you may have guessed, those flowers were sitting on her doorstep. Jocelyn's mother had arrived home early that morning. She noticed the flowers and brought them inside. There was a little note attached that said "the way that I appreciate you birdie". Her mother left it on the table suspecting it was from Jocelyn's secret admirer. Also known as the boy she's been trying to see. It would've been hypocritical if her mom asked her any questions. Taking in her mother hasn't been so open about her own life. It was pretty obvious what was going on, her mother had been seeing someone. She was definitely seeing this individual at a weird timing of the day. It looked more like they were hooking up and then she would leave in the morning. She didn't want things to move too fast but didn't want things to turn out as friends with benefits. She wasn't a teenager anymore. If she was going to be wasting her time with somebody, it had to be someone she was planning to spend the rest of her life with. She also wanted to be sure this individual was going to be a good role model to her daughter. She wasn't exactly certain if her daughter would forgive her for how she's been acting lately. She was gonna understand eventually so it didn't matter.

~ Jocelyn's POV ~
So I woke up the next morning and saw my phone was still on. He never hung up, what a sweetheart. I unmute and softly say.
"Good morning Corpse"
I waited for a moment, A yawn came through the other side of the phone.
"Morning Birdie" A 40 Hz voice comes through.
My jaw dropped. How can a man who already has such a deep voice get his voice to become even deeper?
"Birdie? Are you still there?" He asks curiously.
"Yeah, I'm here! Sorry, it's just your voice, I didn't expect that." I felt a blazing heat come over me. I look over at my mirror and my whole face is red.
That contagious laugh of his echoes through the mic. "When I wake up it sounds really deep."
"Damnnn, whatever girl gets a chance with you in the future definitely has something to look forward to when she wakes up," I replied back.
"Well, I'm gonna go on about my day. Hopefully, you're feeling better. Goodbye." He ends the call.
I left my phone charging on my night table and went downstairs. My face was glowing, I felt genuinely happy. As I got to the bottom steps, I looked over at the dining table to see my mother with Ryder sitting on the floor next to her. There was also a bouquet of black and red roses on the table.
"Good morning mom, who are these for?" I asked her while looking at the roses.
"I'm not sure, I found them on the doorstep this morning." Her eyes locked on me like a target.
"The way that I appreciate you birdie'... Oh Corpse, he's the culprit." I smile holding the note.
"I know who it's from, it's from one of my friends. He knew I was down last night and wanted to cheer me up."
my mother smirks at me. "Just a friend? Honey, I wasn't born just yesterday. That boy likes you, so when am I going to meet him?"
I look down, blushing. "I don't know Mom, he doesn't date. I'm pretty sure it was just a friendly sweet gesture. Nothing more than that. So don't look into it too much."
She gets up from her seat and puts her hand on my shoulders. "Why are you thinking so negatively about this. You're beautiful and you have an amazing personality. What is there not to like about you?"
Brushing her hands off my shoulders, I shake my head. " I don't know mom. Why don't you tell me? You don't even like me enough to tell me about what's going on in your life. You always want to know about what's happening in mine, but refuse to tell me what's going on in yours."
She takes a step away from me. "Jocelyn, I know I've been cold towards you. I didn't do it intentionally. If you really want to know... I've been seeing someone. He's really nice, I just wanted to make sure that he's the right person to bring into your life."
I shrug, then pick up the flowers from the table. "At least he wants to see you and be there physically with you. Mom, you're not a teenager anymore. That sneaking around bullshit is what I'm supposed to be doing." I brush past her.
She grabs me by both my arms. "What did you mean by the first part? Has this boy not wanted to meet you? Jocelyn? what if he's an old man?"
I push her away from me, blinking back my tears. "He has really bad anxiety. He's afraid that when I meet him that he won't live up to expectations. Also, he's not a fucking old man for crying out loud! That girl that has been dropping me off is his best friend!"
I made a dash for the stairs. The sudden movement sent Ryder chasing after me. I let him inside my room and then I slammed the door.
"Jocelyn! Don't slam the doors in this house!" My mother screamed from downstairs then made her way to my room.
I climbed into bed, burying my face into my pillow. Ryder jumps onto my bed and curls up beside me.
"Jocelyn? Why don't you call up Natalie and ask her if she wants to come down for a few weeks?"
"Who?" I sit up, wiping my tears.
Mom: "your best friend of like 15 years, Natalie Davis?"
J: "Have you been living under a rock?"
Mom: "what's that supposed to mean?"
J: " Mom, she and I haven't been friends for months. Oh yeah I forgot, you've been too busy with this new guy you've been seeing. You have no idea what's happening in my life."
Mom: "I'm sorry that I haven't been paying attention, I thought you would've told me something."
J: "We got into a pretty big fight and her apology was shitty. The guy that sent me the flowers made me realize she was a terrible friend."
Mom: "I thought she was a pretty good friend to you..."
J: " Yeah, so did I, but that was until someone opened my eyes. A good friend wouldn't constantly talk negatively about your dreams. That was some thing Natalie always did because she didn't want me to be successful. She wanted me only for herself. She got jealous that I was becoming friends with people and living perfectly fine without her."
Mom: "I'm sorry honey... I know you and her spent a lot of time together."
J: "Oh mom there's no need to be sorry. Honestly, thank you for moving me away from her. I am finally happy and the friends that I have here are great. Although it's not many, they treat me much better than she ever did. Plus, I have a pretty good bond with my celebrity crush. If I was still friends with her, I probably would've not progressed at all.
After a bit of talking with my mom, I felt much better. Who knew that was just what I needed. Although it was nothing major, it was just what I wanted. I stayed in bed for a bit longer, staring at my ceiling. My phone goes off and it's an email from my teacher.