It was in that moment that I decided to do something with the money my grandparents left me. I love the place that I now called home. And I wanted to do something that would benefit others. Something to share the love that I felt. And hopefully give someone else a piece of that love and happiness. I knew that there were people who lived in the area that were struggling. I also knew that they took donations each year for community projects and child outreach programs. I needed to find things to fill my time with. The spring and summer months were his busy seasons. The days were longer, the weather was nicer, and I knew Asher would be working longer hours. He and his team just won the bid on a new development, so they were all excited about that and the amount of money it would bring in. But I knew that come June, he would be a lot busier, so I needed to keep myself occupied.
The pounding started to get louder, taking me out of my head and bringing me back to reality.
“I'm coming! I'm coming! Hold your horses!” I shout while I running to the front door. I push Beast out of the way so I could get to the peep hole. When I look out, I see a young guy holding flowers. ”What the heck?” I mutter to myself. I open the door and the man standing there smiles and holds out a bouquet of roses.
“Hi,” I say, my eyebrows coming together in question. Asher has given me flowers in the past, but he has never given me roses. He has always brought them home to me. I’ve never received a delivery.
“This is a delivery for November,” the guy says, looking up at me from where his head was bent, reading over the paper in his hand.
“That’s me,” I say, and before I can get anything else out, he shoves a clipboard into my hand.
“You need to sign where the Xs are.”
I signed by the two Xs. When I look up, he smiles and takes the clipboard, putting it under his arm. He handed me the flowers then walked off. I set the flowers on the island and look for a card but can’t find one. I know the flowers are from Asher because he is the only person who would send me flowers. I walk back to the bedroom to find my phone.
Once I have my cell phone, I send Asher a quick text.
Me: Thanks for the flowers.
There is no reply right away, so I set the phone down and jump in the shower. I am blow drying my hair and drinking coffee with I hear my phone signal a message.
Asher: Didn’t send anything
Me: Oh? Maybe my dad sent them.
“Hey, baby girl.” He answered on the first ring.
“Hi, Dad. Um, I was wondering if you sent me flowers?”
“No? Why?”
“I got a delivery this morning of roses and Asher didn’t send them.”
“I didn’t send anything.”
My breathing started to pick up and I knew my dad heard it through the phone. “I'm sure they are from someone you know,” he says quietly. I'm not as sure as he is. I feel paranoid, but after the roses that someone left me at my dad’s house, there is always a nagging in the back of my head telling me that something bad is going to happen to me again.
“I can tell you’re worried. Don’t worry so much. Nothing has happened since the break-in.”
“You’re right. I'm acting crazy,” I tell him. Flowers are not a big deal.
“If you feel unsafe, just tell me and I will be over there.”
“No, Dad. You’re right. I'm fine.”
“Okay, baby girl. I'm going to go to sleep. My phone is on if you need me.”
“Thanks, Dad. Love you,” I whisper, feeling like an idiot.
“Love you too, baby girl.” He hung up and I called everyone else I knew who might send me flowers. No one did.
Asher: Was it your dad???
Me: He said no. I called around and no one else sent them.
Less than a second later, I get a response.
Asher: I'm calling Dad now.
Me: I don’t think that’s necessary.
Asher: Dad will be there in 5. I'm on my way. Stay inside and lock the door.
Me: I'm fine. Stop worrying. Its making me freak.
Asher: Rather you be paranoid.
I hear the car pull up and I jump off the couch from where me and Beast are cuddling, and run to the front door. I look out the peep hole just as Asher’s dad is getting out of the police cruiser. I open the front door and step out onto the porch, and heard the crinkle of paper under my bare foot. I bend and pick it up. It is a plain card-size envelope. I can feel the weight of the card inside. I start to open it when it is snatched out of my hand.
I jump and let out a startled yelp. I had been so caught up in the envelope, I forgot about Asher’s dad. “Crap, you scared me,” I say, looking up at Mr. James.
He chuckles. “I got that when you screamed.”
“I didn’t scream,” I defended myself. I had become close with all of Asher’s family. His parents had taken me in as one of their own. And his brothers treated me like I was the little sister they had missed out on having. Now they made up for lost time by picking on me and torturing me on a regular basis. Sometimes Asher got annoyed with them, but most of the time, he would join in on the fun of pissing me off.
Mr. James smiled like he thought I was funny then looked down at the envelope. The smile left his face quickly and his eyes came to me. “I hope you made sure to look out the peep hole before you came outside.” His tone became serious.
“I made sure,” I mumbled, hoping that this was nothing serious. I didn’t want to start living my life looking over my shoulder.
“Let’s go in and you can show me what you got and tell me about the person who dropped them off.”
“Are you going to open that?” I ask, pointing at the letter.
“When we get inside.”
We walk into the house and I close and lock the door behind us as we turn to go into the kitchen. Mr. James is standing at the kitchen island in front of the flowers. I notice that he now has on a pair of gloves. His head is bent and he is looking at the open card.
“What does it say?” I ask.
He holds it up for me to see. On the front of the card was a picture of Manhattan at night. When he opens it, I stumble back and my stomach drops. I am looking at the words written in bright red ink.
Coming events cast their shadows before
I had a vision in the summer light—
Sorrow was in it, and my inward sight
Ached with sad images. The touch of tears
Gushed down my cheeks he figured woes of years
Casting their shadows across sunny hours.
Oh, there was nothing sorrowful in flowers.
“Holy crap.” I cover my mouth and run to the hall bathroom to throw up the piece of toast that I had for breakfast and the coffee that I drank. I feel a cool rag on my neck and a hand rubbing my back.
“Are you okay?” Mr. James asks and I can hear the anger in his voice.
“Yeah,” I say, flushing the toilet. I take the rag off my neck and wipe my mouth with it. I look up into his eyes and can tell he is pissed off. I just hope he isn’t mad at me for bringing this kind of trouble to his son’s front door. “I'm so sorry,” I say, putting my face into my hands. I couldn’t figure out why this was happening to me. I felt him pull me in for a hug.
“We will figure it out. We won’t let anything happen to you.”
“I don’t understand why someone’s doing this to me,” I cried into his shirt. I hate it more that Asher is dealing with too. If something happened to him because of me, I don’t know what I would do. “Can you give me a minute?” I ask, pulling out of his hug and wiping my eyes.
“Sure, darling.”
I shut the bathroom door, turn around to the vanity, and look at myself. My eyes are blood shot. I tie my hair up quickly and turn on the cold water then start splashing my face. I need to brush my teeth, but I'm not ready to leave the safety of these four walls. I know once I walk out that door, I'm going to be asked more questions that I don’t have the answers to. I rinse my mouth a few times then jump up on the counter and try to think of anyone who would do this to me. I can’t think of anyone that I wronged or anyone that dislikes me enough to try and kill me, or stalk me to another state and harass me. Then I start to wonder where they have been during the last few months. Nothing has happened since a week before Thanksgiving. Not that I missed them, but why did they go away, and why are they back now?
“November!” Asher bellows from the front door. I hop off the counter and start to open the bathroom door when it is shoved open and hits me in the head.
“Shit!” I cry, my hand going to my forehead where the door hit me.
“Jesus Christ! Baby, are you okay?” I didn’t know if I was alright. I knew my head hurt a lot. Who the heck opens a door with that much force? “Let me see,” he says, pulling my hands away from my face. “Fuck!” he shouts and I know from the look on his face that I don’t want to see it. I now have a headache on top of all the other crap. “I'm sorry, baby. I'm so f**king sorry.” He looks really upset. Jeez, it hurt, but it wasn’t bleeding. How bad could it be? I turn to the mirror and want to laugh. I have a bright red and purple mark in the center of my forehead. I look like Harry Potter. I start to giggle and Asher’s eyes narrow. “This shit’s not funny. I could have really hurt you.”
“I know that,” I snap. “What the heck are you? The incredible hulk or something? Seriously, who opens a door to a bathroom like that?”
“Dad pointed out that you were in here. I didn’t even think. I just had to make sure you were okay.”
Now I feel bad. “Sorry, it just hurts,” I say softly, feeling like a total bitch. He always worries. Even when I'm safe, he worries, so now that I'm in danger I might as well handcuff myself to him.
He kisses the mark. “So, why were you laughing?” he asks, wrapping me in hug.
“I was laughing because I look like Harry Potter.” His eyes come back to my face and his lips twitch. I glare at him. “Now I’m going to have to give myself bangs to hide it so I don’t have to listen to your stupid brothers and the jokes they’ll make about it,” I say, pointing to my forehead.
“They love you.” They did, I knew they did. We had become great friends. I knew if Asher wasn’t around, I could count on any of them to help me out with whatever was wrong. And they were not perverted, just brotherly. For that, I was thankful. Now Sven, he was a different story. He made me uncomfortable. I wasn’t sure if it was because he was handsome, or if it was just him as a person. Sometimes the way he looks at me or the words he uses makes it seem like he is coming onto me. But I saw him in action when me and Asher met him and the guys at the bar. I know that when he comes on to a girl, he doesn’t hold anything back. He is over-the-top aggressive and women still swarm him like a hive to honey. One day, when he meets a girl he’s serious about, she’s going to have to be really strong in order to deal with his personality.
“I know they love me,” I grumble.
“Is everything okay?” Mr. James asks from outside the door. I step away from Asher and open the door and Mr. James looks down at me. “What the fuck?” he asks, looking up at Asher.