Page 23 of Origins of Eternity

“Who are they from?”

“Don’t know. There’s a card there.”

The delivery guy then held up his tablet in thanks, she guessed, and headed out the door.

“Why did you even ask him who they were from? You know exactly who sent them,” Zara said.

Arwen saw the card stuck in the flowers and pulled it out, ignoring Zara’s comment. When she looked up to share the contents of the card with her friend, she saw that Zara had left. Arwen looked back down at the card and pulled it out of its tiny envelope.

Beautiful Arwen,

I wanted to express my gratitude for allowing me to escort you out tonight and tell you that I am impatiently waiting to see you at your door. The flowers are forsythia and anemone, which both mean anticipation. I’ll see you soon, beautiful Arwen.

Iro

Arwen smiled at her thoughtfulness and breathed in the scent of the yellow-and-white flowers. She couldn’t believe she’d met a woman like this. No one had ever sent her flowersaftera first date, let alone in anticipation of one. She hadn’t even gotten flowers on an anniversary before. She sat down and reread the card, feeling giddy and high on all sorts of love hormones she knew little about. Then, she grabbed her phone and sent a message.

Iro No Last Name: You are most welcome. I’m glad they arrived. I hope it was appropriate to send them to your office. Please tell me if I shouldn’t have done that.

Arwen Lam: It’s perfectly fine. I’m out at work, but even if I weren’t, I don’t think anyone would be able to tell they’re from another woman. I could always tell them they’re from a grateful client if I need to.

Iro No Last Name: I have to head into a meeting, but I look forward to seeing you soon.

Arwen Lam: Hey, can I ask one question before you go?

Iro No Last Name: Of course.

Arwen Lam: I need to pick out something to wear. Can you give me a hint here?

Iro No Last Name: You can wear anything you want, Arwen.

Arwen grunted in frustration and typed.

Arwen Lam: I’m not a fancy person… You seem like a fancy person, but I don’t own any expensive clothes.

Iro No Last Name: I’m not taking you anywhere fancy. You can dress casually, if you’d like. It’s not a fancy kind of surprise. I just like the idea of surprising you at all.

“Yeah, I’m going to fall in love with this woman if I’m not careful,” she said to herself before she typed.

Arwen Lam: Okay. Casual, it is. I’ll see you tonight.

Iro No Last Name: Until then, beautiful Arwen.

“God, she even texts like a fucking poet,” Arwen muttered to herself. “She probably doesn’t even use a word like ‘fucking.’”

She sat down to reread the card, knowing she needed to get back to work, but the flowers on her desk continued to distract her. She’d ridden her bike in today, and now, she had to figure out how she was going to get this giant bouquet of flowers home.

“Hey, Zara?” she asked as she arrived at Zara’s desk.

“Yeah?”

“Can you drive me home?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“I want to take the flowers home, but I can’t exactly do that on my bike.”

“Oh,” Zara replied. “Yeah, sure. You can put your bike in my trunk.”