The Hunter(11)

By the time that I had climbed up to my floor, my feet had begun to protest that my 4 inch stilettos were not intended for climbing. As I retrieved my door key from my purse and slid it into the keyhole, I began to feel stupid for my total overreaction to an innocent elevator indicator. I silently resolved that I would never take the stairs again and that I would stop acting like an idiot as I opened the door to my office.



It was the smell that I noticed first. My office smelled just heavenly. Wondering where the scent was coming from, I turned and my heart jumped as my eyes fell on the huge bouquet that was sitting on my desk. There were so many different types of flowers in various shades of pink. They were simply beautiful. I didn’t need to wonder who had sent them so I didn‘t look for a card. Only Angel would care enough to bother and only she had a key to my office to put them in here. I snatched up the phone and called her, a huge smile on my face. She answered on the third ring. “Huh … hello?”



I felt guilty that I had obviously awoken her but I needed to thank her for the bouquet. I was so touched by her supportive and generous gift. It was just what I needed to clear my head and stop these silly thoughts about strangers.



“Thank you so much!” I shrieked down the phone. “You are the best friend ever!”



Her thoughtful gesture made me decide to forget about strangers and phantoms and concentrate on what was important. Angel’s friendship was the most important thing in my life, with my newly fledged business a close second. I silently vowed never to keep anything from her ever again - whether it was real or imagined.



Angel’s confused, sleepy voice interrupted my thoughts. “Well thank you, but I have no idea why you are calling me, dragging me from slumber to thank me … oh, is this about last night?”



“Um no, this is about the your gorgeous, thoughtful gift,” I said quickly, wanting to steer the conversation away from that embarrassing topic, that I had pushed to the furthest recesses of my mind. “Thank you, it means more than you know.”



There was silence for a second before Angel, sounding puzzled, said “What gift?”



“Oh, come on Angel. Wake up, sleepyhead!” I urged in frustration. “The flowers… in my office … on my desk. They smell divine and it’s the most beautiful bouquet that I have ever seen. I have no idea how you managed to sneak them in here, missy but I am just delighted that you did. I am not going to get much work done this morning - I just want to stare at them. Thank you so -”



“Um Issy - I have no idea what you are going on about. I haven’t sent you any flowers, though I am now wishing that I had. Not quite the best friend in the whole world now, am I?” Angel’s voice had grown quiet but then she almost shrieked. “Well, come on … who are they from? Is there a card?”



I grinned and reached over to the bouquet to investigate. “Um, I can’t see one,” I muttered as I searched through the cellophane and satin ribbon.



“That’s weird,” said Angel. “Are you sure?”



“Yep,” I confirmed. “Nothing. Nada.”



“I know!” she cried. “Which florist are they from? You could call them and ask. They must have forgotten to include the card.”



I rifled through the layers again but I could find no way of identifying which florist had created the bouquet. Angel was as perplexed as I was.



“Ohhhh, unless you have a secret admirer!” she shrieked.



I jumped, not entirely sure that it was her loud shriek that had startled me. My head whipped around to look behind me. I wasn’t sure why. It wasn’t a conscious decision but, as expected, my office was empty.



“I know! I know!” she said excitedly. “Call down to the guard and ask him who delivered them. Am I a genius or what?”



I couldn’t help but giggle at her words. It was a good idea. Someone would have had to unlock my door so the delivery guy could place the bouquet on my desk.



“Yeah, Einstein. I will ask on my way out to lunch.” I said. “Now I really must get some work done.”



“Are you kidding me?” Angel almost screamed down the phone. “You can call down right now and then you can just call me straight back! Or I will come down there and find out myself.”



“Argh!” I groaned, good naturedly. “I can see that I am not going to be able to work in peace until I do. I will call you back in ten.”



“Five!” she argued and I rolled my eyes as I agreed.



I quickly realized that I didn’t yet know the extension number of the guard’s station so I reluctantly left my office to take the elevator back down to the ground floor. When the car arrived, I was relieved to find the car was empty. I shook my head as I recalled walking up all of those stairs about an hour before - just to avoid the elevator.