"T-thanks," I stuttered as I stumbled past him and down the hall.
I wasn't so dazed that I didn't catch the look of ire from Vitra. She could have melted steel with that ugly expression, so thankfully I wasn't steel. Her melting, scathing look only bounced off my flab and fell harmlessly to the floor. I walked to the elevator and stumbled inside. My finger pressed the button for the first floor and I'd gone down twenty floors before I remembered I needed to stay for work. I pressed the large 'B' and down I went into the bowels of the building.
I stepped off the elevator and moved to my room. Something made me pause in front of the entrance. The door was ajar again. My sweet thoughts were swept away and replaced with foreboding. This was getting creepy. I stooped and examined the lock. No sign of forced entrance. Whoever did it had a key, or some experience at picking locks. I stood and frowned. My eyes were ever on the crack between the door and the frame.
I shrugged and pushed open the door. It swung back and revealed my desk, cart, chair, and a large bouquet of roses. Nothing unusual there-wait a minute. Roses? I stepped inside and squinted at the tall, ceramic vase as though I expected it to vanish like any other mirage. It stayed put, but my imagination ran off with me. I had a secret admirer, I was sure of it. He was surely a handsome devil. Anybody who fell in love with me would have to be. Oh, and rich. He had to be that. It was the only way I could live the care-free lifestyle that fit the dreams in my imagination.
I paused, frowned, and glanced down at me. There was still the same pudgy me beneath my neck which meant whoever sent me these gorgeous flowers wasn't gorgeous himself. "You're always such a downer. . ." I muttered to myself as I stepped over to my gift.
There must have been three dozen in that large vase. I gave the roses a deep smell. Beautiful, and judging by their scent they were freshly delivered. I looked around for a card and spotted a white envelope on the desk beside the vase. I picked up the slip and turned it over. Nothing written on the front or back. I cracked open the seal and pulled out a small card with roses on the cover. I opened the card and gasped when out slipped a hundred dollar bill. My hands fumbled for the bill before I grasped it tight in one fist.
I opened my fist and inspected the bill. It looked genuine. I held it up to the single bulb. Transparent and with signs of security tapes and such. Yep, it was the genuine thing.
The money wasn't the only surprise. On the inside of the card was a note written in cursive. My cursive reading was a little rusty so I read it aloud. "For your secretary's suit, and a little something to enjoy." It wasn't signed.
"Sounds like ya got yerself a new job," a voice behind me commented. I yelped and spun around to find Tom leaning against the doorway with a wide grin on his face.
"Don't you know it's not nice to sneak up on fat people? You could give them a heart attack!" I scolded him as I hid the envelope, money and card behind my back.
He tilted his head to look past me. "Looks like you survived that surprise pretty well."
I blushed and stepped in his line of sight. "I-it's nothing, just a-um, a present from an old friend."
He chuckled and pushed off from the door frame. "Do all yer old friend's spoil you like that?"
"Um, we were really good friends, now don't we have a job to do?" I reminded him as I grabbed my cart. I wheeled it into the doorway and pushed him and it out into the hallway. I shut the door firmly behind me and smiled at Tom. "Don't want to keep those trash cans waiting."
Tom stepped in front of the cart and blocked me from sprinting down the hall. His wrinkled old lips creased upward in a grin. "Yer looking mighty red. Sure you're feeling well?"
"Y-yeah, it's just the-um, the heat in the building. It's pretty bad," I told him.
His eyes twinkled, but he stepped aside. "I suppose it is. Well, let's get going to work. Those floors aren't going to clean themselves."
I often find myself drawn to talking with Tom during breaks and when we happened to meet on the same floor, but that night was different. I couldn't clear my thoughts and my reddened cheeks of the image of Strong seated in front of me. His heated eyes still tugged at my feminine desire to be taken into his powerful arms and seduced by his sweet whisperings.
"Damn it. . ." I mumbled as my body ached for his touch. I leaned against the wall of a hall and set the side of my forehead on the cool surface. A soft sigh escaped my parted lips. "Why'd you have to go and fall in love with a rich guy who barely knows you exist?"
"Ya doing okay there?" Tom asked me. I yelped and spun around to find the old coot standing with a vacuum in one hand and a frown on his lips. His eyes scrutinized me. I brushed out the non-existent creases on the front of my clothes and sheepishly smiled at him. "Y-yeah, I'm fine, why do you ask?"
"Because yer not fine. I've seen a lot of love-sick people in my days, but you've got to beat 'em all," he commented.
My shoulders slumped and I sighed. "That obvious?"
"As obvious as the nose on my face," he quipped.
I ran a hand through my hair and shook my head. "I just-well, I have this crush on a guy-"
"Alec Strong," he interjected.
I scowled at him. "Who's telling the sob story here?"
He held up his hands, but there was a twinkle in his eyes that vexed me. "All right, get to telling yer story."
"As I was saying, there's this guy, who shall remain unnamed, who I kind-of-sort-of-like."
Tom snorted. "Yer pining for him like a pine cone pines for the woods," he quipped.
"You're interrupting again."
"All right, all right, get on with it."
"It's just that-well, we live in different worlds and I'm-well, I'm this way." I gestured down to my wide-load of a body.
Tom followed my hands and raised an eyebrow. "Different worlds is one thing, but I'm not seeing yer problem there."
I rolled my eyes. "I'm fat, Tom. I'm fat and I'm ugly. No guy would want to go out with this because they'd need two cars to drive me around."
Tom shrugged. "He's rich."
"That's not the point!"
My old friend folded his arms across his chest and frowned at me. "I think what yer problem is isn't yer looks but in here." He tapped his temple. "Yer thinking too hard about what ya think he wants and not what he's been telling ya he wants. If he's the one who sent ya that gift tonight then I'd say he doesn't give a hang about how big ya are. Maybe he likes a little meat on his bones." He took on a faraway look in his eyes and rubbed his chin. "Never hurt not to be lying atop. I remember this one woman down in Tucson who was a might large than you, but she had a way with her that left nobody wanting. Always knew just where to-"
I cringed and held up a hand. "Tom?"
"Yeah?"
"Please don't traumatize me with exploits of your love-life."
He straightened and coughed into his hand. "Well, as I was saying, I think yer making a big deal out of nothing. Wait for a while. You'll see what he wants."
I sighed and shrugged. A small smile slipped onto my lips. "All right. I guess I can take the advice of a grizzled old janitor."
Tom firmly nodded his head. "Yep, and this grizzled old feller is telling you we'd better get back to work or we'll be called out for not getting this mess cleaned up." He turned away to walk down the hall.
I held my hand out to him. "Tom?"
He paused and looked over his shoulder. "Yeah?"
"Could I. . .would you mind if I cleaned the top floor tonight?"
A smile slipped onto his lips. "All right, but don't take all night. There's plenty more floors where that came from."
My face brightened and I gathered everything onto my cart. I sprinted up to him and pecked a kiss on his wrinkled cheek. "Thanks! You won't regret it!"
His eyes widened and he rubbed the spot where I'd given him my thanks. "I don't know about that, but ya better get working on that floor before I change my mind."
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