“I think she’s pissed,” Grady said. “What did you do to her?”
“Nothing,” James said. “She was fine this morning. It’s got to be the party.”
“Why didn’t you just go to the party with her?” Finn asked.
“Because you guys wanted a fight night.”
“And you weren’t looking for an easy reason to get out of the party?” Grady pressed.
James shrugged. “These fundraising things are all the same. They’re boring.”
“It was obviously important to her,” Finn said. “Did she just tell you about it this week or something?”
James rubbed his jaw thoughtfully. “No. She first brought it up about six weeks ago. It was just in passing. It’s not like she made a big deal about it.”
Grady’s eyes widened. “Dude. She asked you six weeks before the event?”
“Yeah. So?”
“That means she really wanted you to go,” Finn said. “She bought the dress. She got all gussied up. It was really important to her.”
“You should have gone with her, bro,” Grady said. “We could have had a fight night next week.”
James swallowed hard, realization finally dawning on him. “This was really important to her and somehow I didn’t realize it. Crap.”
“You’ve come a long way when it comes to women,” Grady said. “You still have a few things to learn.”
James sighed, tossing his pool cue onto the game table and heading toward the bedroom.
“What are you going to do?” Finn asked.
“Go and sweep a blonde off her feet,” James said. “I think it’s probably going to take some begging, so I better put on a nice suit to soften her up.”
Two
James left Grady and Finn at his apartment, securing their promise that they would clear out the minute the fight was over. Since James was hoping for a happy ending to the evening, his brothers’ presence in his apartment was going to serve as a wet blanket should he actually convince Mandy to return home with him.
James parked in front of the courthouse, glancing across the road before entering the festively loud structure. The flower shop on the corner was still open. James figured a token of affection could only help.
When he entered the flower shop, a young woman in her twenties was reading a magazine behind the counter. She perked up the second she saw James, tugging her long black hair behind her ear. “Can I help you?”
James glanced at the refrigerated coolers behind the woman’s back. “I need a flower.”
“Just one?”
“Yeah, just one,” James said. “What kind of flower does a woman want when she’s about to get a big apology?”
The woman smiled. “Is your girlfriend mad at you?”
“You could say that,” James said. “I’m hoping the flower and the suit will soften her up.”
“Well, honey, if she takes one look at you in that suit and doesn’t melt into a puddle at your feet, then she’s not much of a girlfriend,” the woman said. “I would get her a long-stemmed rose.”
James watched as the store clerk opened the case and selected a solitary red flower.
“This is a classic for a reason,” the woman said.
James wrinkled his nose. “She doesn’t like the color red.”
“Red means love,” the woman said.
“What does pink mean?” James asked.
“Friendship.”
Yeah, that wasn’t the message he wanted to send. An odd-colored bloom caught his attention. “What does the blue one say?”
The woman looked at the bin of blue roses. “I don’t think it really says anything. It’s just a new hybrid.”
James smiled. “So, it’s unique?”
“Yeah,” the woman said. “Red still means love, though.”
“I want a blue one,” James said. “It matches her eyes.”
The woman shook her head doubtfully but retrieved the flower. “That will be seven dollars.”
James drew a twenty out of his wallet and tossed it on the counter. “Keep the change.”
The woman’s eyes sparkled. “You know, if she won’t take you back, I’d be more than happy to mend your broken heart.”
James smiled. “Yeah, I’m a one-woman man these days. I’m not looking to trade her in.”
“Well, she’s a lucky woman.”
“I don’t get the feeling she’s feeling particularly lucky tonight.”
OFFICE parties were boring on a normal night. Big fundraisers were practically excruciating. Given her mood, Mandy felt like she was trapped in a virtual hell dimension. Sure, this dimension had finger foods – but she wasn’t really interested in sampling.