Friday Romance: Secret Admirer (Part 2 of 3)
The next morning when Rachel arrived at her shop she noticed a package sitting beside the brick wall of her doorway. It was a yellow gift bag stuffed with white tissue paper. She picked it up and...
The next morning when Rachel arrived at her shop she noticed a package sitting beside the brick wall of her doorway. It was a yellow gift bag stuffed with white tissue paper. She picked it up and brought it inside with her, placing it on the counter as she walked her purse back to her office.
When she returned she had her phone in her hand, on speaker phone so she could talk to Sam while she investigated the package. Finally he answered, telling her he couldn’t talk for long since he had a customer on hold.
“There was a strange package sitting outside my shop when I arrived,” she said.
“Maybe it’s from your secret admirer.”
“That’s not funny. I won’t keep you for long, but I at least need you on the line while I open this.” She placed her phone on the counter and pulled out the tissue paper from the bag.
“What is it?”
She reached into the bag and pulled out a small wooden box.
“It’s some sort of box,” she said. “A jewelry box, maybe?” When she opened the box and a song began to play. There was a figure in the box twirling around, a ballet dancer. “It’s a music box. This is too weird.”
“It’s romantic,” replied Sam. “It’s not ticking is it? If it is then throw it into the dumpster out back and get under your desk.”
“No,” she replied, rolling her eyes, “it’s not ticking. It’s actually quite nice, despite how random it is.”
“I have to go. Let me know if he stops in again.”
“Will do. Thanks for putting up with me.”
“Someone has to.”
“Lucky you.”
Rachel hung up and placed the music box behind the counter.
As she was tidying up the store the bell above the door rang and her heart began to race. She turned around to see Prudence, a woman who visited at least once a week since retiring a year ago.
“Good morning, Prudence,” said Rachel, holding her chest.
“You poor thing. You look like you’ve seen a ghost. Is everything all right?”
“Yes, of course. Everything is fine. Can I help you find anything today?”
“Just here to browse,” replied Prudence. “Are you sure you’re okay? You look a bit flustered.”
Rachel walked behind the counter and pulled out the anonymous gift.
“Someone left this for me,” she said. “I found it this morning sitting outside the door. There wasn’t a note or anything with it. It’s quite a lovely gift, I just don’t know why anyone would give it to me.” She opened the box and the song began to play. Prudence walked over and placed her hand over her mouth.
“It’s beautiful,” said Prudence. “What a thoughtful present. You clearly have a secret admirer. One with good taste too. I had one in grade school who used to leave chocolates in my desk. Every morning there’d be chocolates waiting for me. I eventually found out who it was and we ‘dated’, but as kids all that meant was we held hands sometimes during recess. Any idea who it might be?”
“There was a man in here yesterday. He came in right before I closed, but didn’t say anything, only walked around for a bit and then left. It was all very strange.”
“Men can be quite strange when they’re smitten with you. Gary Johnson was his name. I wonder what he’s up to now. Not that I’m looking.” She held up her hand to show off her wedding ring. “John and I celebrate forty years together this fall. Can you believe it?”
“That’s amazing. I’m happy for you.”
“You’ll find your perfect match someday too,” said Prudence, inspecting a small lamp. “So, was he cute?”
“He wasn’t not cute…”
Prudence smirked and went about perusing the store.
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