“Did you shave your legs?” Nicole demanded.

        “Yes I did, thank you very much.”

        “That’s a definite must. Did you change the sheets on your bed?”

        “Yes mother.”

        “Do you have the scented candles and the romantic music?”

        “Yes, Nicole! Jeez, you’re more nervous about this than I am,” Claudia said, fluffing her hair, while checking herself over in the mirror.

        “You look gorgeous…no I take that back. You look sexy.”

        “Thanks.”

        It was Valentine’s Day and so far, everything was going according to plan. Claudia’s dress was picked out and had been ironed and steamed, the dinner was planned, the table was set and Jacob would be there in thirty minutes.

        “Now you kids have fun tonight,” Nicole said grabbing her purse.

        “Where are you going, Jack’s?”

        “Yeah. I thought you two would want the whole place to yourselves. Jack will keep me busy all night,” Nicole teased with a wink.

        “Thanks for the image, Nikki. My boss and my best friend… in bed together. Wonderful.”

        Nicole just laughed as she headed for the door. “Good luck tonight, girl.”

        Claudia smiled nervously and closed the door behind her. She immediately went into the kitchen to check on the chicken. She was cooking one of his favorite meals, chicken Parmesan over linguini noodles. On the side she was making a beautiful garden salad and garlic bread.

        “Okay,” she whispered aloud to herself, “the chicken is cooking, the garlic bread is ready to go…now I have to finish the salad.”

        She continued tearing the lettuce and began washing the vegetables. As she did this, the doorbell rang. Her eyes widening, she looked down at her watch. He’s twenty minutes early!

        Claudia straightened her dress and fluffed her hair before answering the door. She was surprised to find an overweight, middle-aged man at her door.

        “Are you Claudia Jenkins?” the man asked with a Brooklyn accent.

        “Um…yes. Can I help you?”

        “I have a delivery for ya,” he answered. He handed her a long, skinny, white box tied with a pink ribbon and a small, red heart shaped box.

        “Sign here please,” he said handing her a clipboard. She juggled the items in her arms while she signed the paper.

        “Happy Valentine’s Day…you look nice,” he told her sincerely with a nod.

        “Thanks,” she said, unable to stop the blood from rising to her cheeks. “Have a nice night.”

        She closed the door with her foot and set the long box on the sofa, untying the ribbon. Inside were six yellow long stemmed roses. She pulled them out of the box to admire them and picked up the card that fell out. It read:

        Happy Valentine’s Day, Claude. Yellow roses are for friendship, right? I could never keep track. Thanks for being such a great friend. I’ll see you when I get home from Tennessee.

        Love, Your Friend,

        Josh

 
        Claudia re-read the note and then read it again, a smile sliding across her lips. She opened the small heart shaped box and found chocolates inside.

        She took the roses into the kitchen to cut the stems, then put them in a vase of water and placed the vase on the center of the table. She smiled at the roses and smelled them before going back into the kitchen to finish the dinner she was preparing.

        Almost an hour later, dinner was on the table and Jacob was forty minutes late. She sighed as she tapped her fingers nervously on against the wood of the end table. Unable to sit any longer, she stood to light the fire.

        As the fire began to grow, the phone rang. She quickly brought the receiver to hear ear, hearing Jacob’s voice on the other end.

        “Jacob, where are you?”

        “I’m sorry honey, I’m on a plane to New York right now.”

        “On a plane?” she repeated, trying to keep her voice calm.

        “I had business in Seattle today. My flight was supposed to leave three hours ago but it got delayed.”

        She sighed impatiently. “How long until you’ll be here?”

        He paused for a minute. “Give me an hour.”

        “Alright,” she said with disappointment.

        Claudia hung up the phone and sighed. Oh well. He may be late, but at least he’ll be here.

        She went to the table and carried their plates to the kitchen. She covered them with foil and let them sit in the oven. She would re-heat them later.

        Claudia found herself at the table again, admiring the flowers that Josh had sent her. Sitting down on the couch, she opened the box of chocolates and pulled one out. The description on the box underneath the piece of candy read ‘caramel chocolate’.

        “Mmm, caramel,” she said and popped it into her mouth.

        After she had swallowed that piece, Claudia pulled out another and read the description. “Eww, coconut. I’ll save that one for Nicole.”

        Realizing that she was talking to herself, she popped a piece of dark chocolate in her mouth and put the candies away, flicking on the TV.

        Almost two hours later, Claudia was still slumped into the couch cushions, channel surfing with boredom. When the phone rang, she glared at it for several rings before finally reaching to pick it up. It was Jacob.

        “Where are you now?” she asked.

        “I’m on I75. There’s been a huge accident and I’m stuck in traffic,” he explained.

        “Stuck in traffic?” she wailed.

        “Cars are lined up for miles. I’ve already been waiting for twenty minutes.”

        “Do you have any idea how long it’s going to take?” she wanted to know, shifting her weight onto one foot.

        “I have no idea, sweetheart, I’m so sorry.”

        She sighed, unable to hide the disappointment in her voice. “It’s okay.”

        “I’ll be there as soon as I can,” he promised.

        After hanging up the phone, Claudia went to the radio and turned it on. She listened for several minutes, waiting for the traffic report. When she didn’t hear what she was listening for, she changed the station and waited some more. Getting impatient, she changed the station several times without any luck. Finally, she gave in and called one of the local radio stations.

        “Hi, I’ve been listening for your traffic report but I haven’t heard one. Can you tell me about the accident on I75?”

        She heard papers shuffling in the background. “That was just a minor accident. It’s been cleaned up and traffic has been flowing at the normal rate for about ten minutes now,” a male voice told her.

        “Are you sure? My boyfriend just called and said there was a huge accident and that traffic is backed up for miles. That’s Interstate seventy-five,” she repeated.

        More papers shuffling.

        “I’m sure ma’am. If there was an accident like that we would have heard about it and reported on it by now.”

        “Oh,” she said. “Well, thanks anyway.”

        “Do you have any special Valentine’s requests?” the man asked.

        Josh’s face briefly flashed in her mind as her eyes landed on the yellow roses that sat on the dinner table.

        “No. No thanks.”

        Claudia flicked off the radio and slumped into the couch. After sitting in silence for several minutes, she finally turned on the TV again and became absorbed in a romance movie.

        A little while later, Claudia heard a knock at the door. Lifting her head from the couch, she looked around with confusion. She had fallen asleep without realizing it. I wonder how long I’ve been asleep.

        Getting up from the couch she hurried to the door, excited that Jacob had finally arrived. But when she opened it, Jacob wasn’t on the other side. It was Josh was standing on her doorstep in the pouring rain.

        Rain? In February?

        “Josh, what are you doing here?” she cried. “I thought you were at Justin’s wedding.”

        He was dressed in a tux as though he hadn’t changed out of his wedding attire. His hair was matted down to his head, rain droplets running down the side of his face.

        “I was, but I just had to see you.” He brushed past her and went inside the apartment, still dripping wet. He stopped short, noticing the set table and the lit candles. “You were waiting for Jacob, weren’t you?”

        Claudia closed the door. “Yes, I was.”

        “He’s kept you waiting all night hasn’t he?”

        “Yeah… how did you-”

        “Well, I’ve got news for you, Claude,” Josh interrupted. “He’s not coming.”

        He paused for a long moment before approaching her slowly. He stopped in front of her, stood so close, their faces were only inches apart.

        “But I’m here,” he said gently. He placed his hands gently on her shoulders and looked deep into her eyes. “I’m here Claudia.”

        Claudia swallowed hard and stared at him for a long moment. She reached out with a timid hand to brush cold raindrops from his wet cheek.

        “I want to be with you Claudia. Forget about Jacob and be with me. I’ll make you happier than he ever could.”

        Her heart was racing, pounding against her chest at a mile per minute. But all she could see were his eyes before her, staring into her with love and passion she’d never seen. His cobalt eyes, searched hers as if looking for her answer, but he didn’t wait for one. Before she could say a word he leaned down and quickly covered her lips with his.

        Claudia was shocked, not only by his action, but also by the tingling sensation and excitement that his kiss sent throughout her entire body. Almost immediately she relaxed into him, pulling his wet body closer to her.

        Claudia sat up quickly on the couch, startled and confused. She was breathing heavily, her heart pounding, sweat brimming her brow. Her eyes quickly scanned the empty apartment. The TV was still on, the room was dark, only lit by the candles that had burned to stubs and the flickering glow of embers burning in the fire place. She was alone. Josh was nowhere to be seen.

        It had been a dream.

        Claudia let out a short sigh of disbelief and bewilderment. It had been so real, so vivid. She had heard the rain pounding against the windows and felt Josh’s wet face…and she had certainly felt his kiss.

        She brought a hand to her lips that seemed to be tingling. It was a dream… She looked down at her fingertips, almost expecting them to be moist with raindrops from Josh’s face.

        It was only a dream…

        Slowly, she stood from the couch and folded her arms across her chest in effort to warm herself. She wandered across the living room and over to the front window. Peering through the curtains she found heavy snow plummeting to the earth, the wind whipping the flakes around violently.

        Looking down at her watch, she saw that it was almost midnight. She knew now that Jacob wasn’t going to show up. With a sigh, she rested her forehead against the cool glass, gazing at the snowflakes that whizzed by.

        He’s not coming.

 ~~~~~~~~

        Hours later, Nicole came home to a dark apartment. She was surprised to find the candles still burning on the table that was still set for two. Letting her eyes adjust to the dimness, she saw a figure sitting on the couch in front of dwindling fire.

        “Claudia?” Nicole called.

        But there was no answer. Nicole hung up her coat and scarf, then took a few steps toward the sofa. Squinting to see through the darkness, she realized that it was Claudia, alone on the couch.

        “Claudia?” Nicole repeated. “Did Jacob leave already?”

        Claudia was quiet for a long time her eyes locked on the burning embers in the fireplace. “He never showed up,” she answered coldly.

        Nicole stood in shock for a moment and didn’t know what to say. “Oh, Claude,” she said sympathetically, approaching her friend on the couch. She sat next to her and wrapped her arms around her.

        “He lied to me,” she said angrily.

        “Lied?” Nicole repeated. “What did he say?” she wanted to know, pulling away to look her friend in the face.

        “He told me that he was stuck in traffic. But there was no accident on I75 like he said; I called the radio station. He wasn’t stuck in traffic and for all I know he wasn’t in Seattle on business today either.”

        “That lousy little son of a…” Nicole mumbled. She jumped from the couch, suddenly motivated. “I’ll go find him! I’ll search this whole damn city if I have to…” Her voice trailed off when her eyes landed on the roses displayed proudly on the table. “Who are the roses from?”

        “Josh.”

        Nicole’s eyes widened in surprise, eyebrows raising. “Josh sent you roses and Jacob left you alone on Valentine’s Day?”

        Claudia nodded. “And chocolates too.” Her voice began to break with a sob. “Josh sent me roses with a nice little card, and chocolates in a heart-shaped box and Jacob…Jacob gave me lies and stood me up.”

        Finally, Claudia broke down. Finally, she let the tears fall and let the anger out. She had been hurt so many times, and so many times she had let it slide. She put up with the way Jacob treated her and kept her true emotions bottled up inside.

        But this was the last straw. Tonight had been her final attempt to win him back and he had blown her off, on Valentine’s day of all days. She had been hurt too many times.

        Nicole just hugged Claudia as she cried, secretly wishing she could have Jacob at her mercy to yell at and torture.

        Finally a few minutes later, when Claudia calmed down, Nicole pulled away and looked at her friend.

        “Would it make you feel any better to get a late birthday present? Gifts always cheer me up.”

        Claudia sniffled and wiped her face with a shrug. “It couldn’t hurt.”

        Nicole disappeared into her bedroom for a brief moment and then reappeared with a wrapped package in her hand.

        “Here. See, I didn’t forget about your birthday, I was just waiting for the perfect time to give you your present,” she smiled.

        “Yeah, sure,” Claudia said with sarcasm.

        “Seriously, I just had to save up the money,” Nicole insisted as Claudia tore at the wrapping paper.

        Claudia smiled when she read the box. “Shower radio with CD player. Thank you, Nikki, this is perfect! Now I don’t have to drag that portable radio in the bathroom every time I want to sing in the shower.”

        “It was little expensive but I figure it was worth it. Maybe it’ll drown you out a little,” she teased.

        “I’m not a bad singer!” Claudia cried in defense.

        “I didn’t say that, you just sing so loud I think you serve as an alarm clock for the neighbors!”

        Claudia laughed and gave Nicole a hug. “Thanks, Nikki. You always know how to cheer me up.”

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