Sunflower Love

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"Come to Thanksgiving, Winnie. Please." Madelyn begs, "It would mean a lot to me. While I want you there to help divert the attention from my gigantic swollen belly, I do miss you Winnie."

She's called multiple times since the first time she asked about Thanksgiving, always trying to convince me to come. I try to change the subject, but I think I'm running out of topic changes. Plus she is pretty stubborn and I am low on energy to try to fend her off.

Madelyn and I have always been close, but I think once college hit, the two of us just ended up going our own ways. She went abroad and then eventually went off to live a married life with Jeremy while I stayed relatively near where my uncle opened up shop when my aunt died. My uncle loved this place and I wanted to make sure his studio lived on.

I think my parents were quite upset when I took my uncle up on his offer to go to university near him. My aunt and him had no children of their own which made him worry that eventually his studio would fall back to the hands of the government. So, I went to college here and I helped him out at the studio when I could. He even offered me the apartment above which used to be extra storage space and while he finally had someone to take over his business, I got my perfect little slice of happiness.

"I doubt mom and dad want to see me." I bite my lip as I watch Theo push the last of the shelves into place. He was helping out a little before he had to leave for his flight in a little bit. "They probably still think I'm a terrible daughter who decided that her uncle was her favorite family." Theo turns to raise an eyebrow at me, but I just send him a reassuring smile.

"Please," I hear her ask someone for a napkin while Jeremy asks for a refill. "Mom and dad got over that. You're their baby, of course it was a little hard to understand why you wanted to go off and live with Uncle Ben Ben."

"Well," Theo walks up to the counter, leaning against it. My eyes travel up his arms, admiring the way they flexed as he pressed into the counter. A smirk settled onto his face as he watched me study him, "Anything else I can help with before I head out?" Theo asks, leaning a little closer.

I shake my head, "I don't think so. You've done a lot as is, Theo. Thank you. I don't even know how I can repay you." I say innocently. I mean there are plenty of ways I can repay him that he'd be pretty satisfied with, but I wasn't going to just say it.

He chuckles, "I can think of a couple of things." Theo leans down all the way this time, kissing me which takes me a little off guard. His hand lifts to press against my cheek, deepening the kiss. He pulls away with a sigh as he leans his forehead against mine, "But I think that'll have to do for now. I gotta go though, Benji. I got a couple of more things to pack before my flight. I'll text you when I land because it'll probably be late by the time we get to the hotel. Don't wait for it though."

I frown, "Okay, but be careful and get some rest."

"It'll be kind of hard to sleep when you're not there." He pulls away, "Watch my game?" Theo asks, a charming smile on full display. He seems a little nervous that I'll say no, but I don't think I'd ever have it in me to say no when he smiles like that.

I nod and he actually punches the air, which pulls a bubble of laughter from me. "I'll call you tomorrow morning." He leans down and presses a quick kiss to my lips, "See ya, Benji." And with that, he was gone. Sending me a wink through the glass just before he leaves completely.

"Winnie!" Madelyn hisses from my phone that's left on the counter. Which I must've placed there at some point during Theo and I's interaction. I sigh, picking up the phone with caution.

"So Thanksgi-"

"Who the hell was that?" She hisses again. Jeremy tells her to calm down, but she ignores him as she continues to half yell at me. "Do you have a boyfriend? Is he just a sleeping buddy? Winifred Lynn Benjamin, you have a lot of explaining to do."