Flower Girl

Chapter Five

Chapter Five

     "Taylor," Melanie emphasized my name with a groan. She was frustrated and she made sure to make it known. The tinny echo of her voice on speakerphone bounces off the walls of my car.

     I finally called in a favor with one of my ex boyfriends, Jude. He was the car savvy mechanic that was able to replace the manual lock that was broken from the previous owner of my car in less than a day. He promised that this option wouldn't have me forking over a ton of money on a new car fob. Luckily, I didn't have to pay him anything because he owed me one for when I picked up his drunken self from the bar when he turned twenty-one a few years back.

      The car behind me beeped and I pressed the gas in the drive-thru line of Chick-Fil-A. "Melanie," I mocked her tone, "I told you to enjoy your day off with Brooklyn. I was not part of any of those plans." Nor did I want to be, but I wouldn't be that much an asshole. I couldn't stand even thinking about Brooklyn at this point. I'd sent him a couple of texts, a Facebook message and I was so close to writing him a letter. I felt like our five years of friendship had gone down the drain, and I wasn't just saying that because I was practically in love with him, but I was hurt from a friend's point of view.

     If Melanie noticed that him and I hadn't had much contact over the last week and a half, she certainly didn't mention it. It was almost as if Brooklyn and I were strangers. His usual mid-afternoon lunch break texts didn't come, updating me about some hockey player that he liked. He didn't even text me to talk about Melanie. At this point, I think I'd rather him talk to me about her luscious golden hair or how he couldn't wait to bang her after work (it was one time that he sent me that text accidentally) than ignore me.

     "I know. I know. But we could hang out, all three of us. Together! Just like old times."

      I laughed through my nose and tried to not sound bitter, "I don't think so Mel. Hold on, I have to pay." I pulled up to the drive-thru window and paid, got my food and told Melanie I was going to be driving again, She grumbled, wished me well and hung up. It wasn't that I didn't love hanging out with them, it's just I didn't want to hang out with them. If we're being honest, I bought two chicken sandwiches just to hang out with myself.

     Finely greeted me and my bag of food at the door, jumping up to paw at it. I had a virtual conference with one of my bride's who was out of town visiting her in-laws to go over some final details before her wedding next weekend. I hurriedly ate my dinner, shared a piece of bread with Fin and pulled on a nice coral blouse, but kept my pajama pants on.

     Midway through my conference call, Jennifer Norris mentioned for the fifth time that her bouquet of flowers must not have any baby's-breath in it out of fear that a highly allergic guest might catch it when thrown at the reception. I jotted it down, nodding that I heard her when there was three hard knocks at my door. I looked over my laptop knowing I wasn't expecting anyone.

     I must have had a concerned look on my face, because Jennifer stopped talking and asked, "Is everything alright?"

     I waved her off, deciding I'd let whoever it was hopefully figure out they were at the wrong apartment. If it was a package, I hoped they would simply just leave it next to my door to get later.

       "Yes." I nodded for her to continue talking, but there was another knock on the door. Since she could see me, I held one finger up and excused myself.

     It took me a few minutes to unlock the dead bolt since it had been sticking for the last couple of days. A few tugs, pulls and wiggles later I managed to unlock the door. Hoping to come face to face with whoever was knocking so I could call them out, I was disappointed to see it was nothing more than a brown cardboard box. I grimaced, checking the outside for a label to find that there wasn't one. I picked up the box, only to touch some sort of liquid that was seeping through the bottom. I let the box drop out of my hands to the ground and regretted it the second I did. The box's lid popped open and several dozen yellow jackets came swarming out. I screamed, I think the bees screamed back at me and I panic kicked the box off the landing and through the railing to the stairwell below me. I ran back inside and slammed the door shut. I squeezed my eyes together, trying to listen for any buzzing sounds but it was quiet.