Roses
in and buy roses - for their girlfriend's birthday or an anniversary - though usually it's
to say, "I'm sorry."
She knows what jerks men can be. At thirty-two she's known too many. But this guy
seems different. He just left, her last customer of the night, with two dozen roses and
a look on his face like he was in love. In fact, he said he was in love and she believed
him. He left with a smile on his face and a smile on hers. "Wow," she thinks as she's
closing up, "maybe there really are some good guys around."
She locks up, still smiling. Wilma, her best friend for what seems like forever, is
waiting for her to pick her up. They're going to the movies, like they do every Friday
night.
"Hello, is anybody in there?" Wilma chides as they're standing in line at the theater.
"Are you still with me?"
"Huh?"
"What's with you? You look like you're in love. Is there something you haven't told
me?"
"Good god, no. Nothing like that. Besides, he's already in love."
"He? He, who?"
"Just some guy that came in before I closed. He bought two dozen roses. He said he
was in love. He just seemed like a really nice guy."
"Was he cute? How old? Was he wearing a ring?" Wilma asks excitedly.
"Yes. About thirty-five. And no. In that order. But it doesn't matter. Like I said, he said
he was in love."
"But was he married? Was he wearing a ring?"
"No, but how many married men don't wear a wedding ring?"
Wilma continues her grilling, "Have you ever seen him before? Do you think he'll be
back?"
Jayna tires of the questioning, perfunctorily answers, "No," and stares dreamily into
space. Her smile widens.
"Oh my god," Jayna grabs Wilma's arm. "Oh my god. Don't look. That's him."
Wilma looks in the direction Jayna was staring. Jayna grabs her arm, "Don't look."
"Okay. Okay. Where is he? Is he alone? Does he have any roses?"
"He's at the window. No, he's with a woman. She's beautiful. And no, but he probably
gave them to her already and she left them home in water."
Wilma turns to see a dark haired man and blond, curly haired woman walking into the
theater.
~~~~~¤¤¤¤¤~~~~~ ~~~~~¤¤¤¤¤~~~~~ ~~~~~¤¤¤¤¤~~~~~
"I didn't believe it." Jayna says, "It just wasn't believable." They're sitting in the diner
discussing the movie after frequenting their favorite bar for a while - their usual Friday
night out. The waitress is pouring their third cup of coffee.
Jayna continues, "Come on, let's get real. What are the odds that one guy is going to
find two women in the same town that are, what is the right word? naive? stupid?
desperate? enough to get hooked up with this conniving S.O.B?"
Wilma answers, "Hello, are you there? Have you forgotten what jerks men can be?
Has this Mr. Roses guy captured so much of your imagination that you could forget
about Larry? Yoo-hoo, remember Larry? The jerk that was making out with my sister
in my mother's garage the night my car broke down and I was late for my parents'
50th Anniversary party? You were there. Remember Larry? As long as there are
stupid, desperate women around that allow jerks to believe they can get away with it,
they will get away it."
"Of course, I remember Larry. Who could forget Larry? You, me, your sister and your
mother will never forget Larry. Larry, the jerk of all jerks. Working both sides of the
fence and believing he was doing both of you a favor Larry. No, we both know that
none of us will ever forget Larry. But Larry was an exception."
"Larry was an exception. Larry was an exception!!!" The diner becomes quiet as
everyone looks to see why Wilma is so excited. She lowers her voice to almost a
whisper. "Mr. Roses really has gotten to you, hasn't he?"
"Well-l-l-l-l"
"It's okay, I understand. It's been a while since you've been hurt."
"It's just that I don't want to think that I'm going to be alone for the rest of my life. I
mean I'm only thirty-two. I know that for the most part men are jerks. I haven't
forgotten. It's just that I don't believe that all men are jerks."
"I don't believe that either. But we both know that all the ones that aren't jerks are
already married -- or gay."
"I still believe there's hope. For both of us. Someone will come around one of these
days. I do believe that."
"Okay. But I promise not to say, 'I told you so,' when this Mr. Roses turns out to be like
all the rest of them -- or married."
"Okay. And I promise not to say it when you're walking down the aisle with your Mr.
Roses." Jayna yawns, looks at her watch and apologizes, "Excuse me. Wow, it's 4:15
already. It's been a long day."
Wilma picks up the check and, as usual, starts double-checking the math. "I got this,
you paid for breakfast last week, didn't you?" She gets no reply. "Jayna?" Wilma
looks in the direction that Jayna's staring. "Is that him?"
"Uh-huh. Remember -- you said you wouldn't say, 'I told you so.'"
"Why would I?"
"Well, that's him. But that's not her. The one he was with before had short, curly
blond hair."
"Are you sure? I didn't really see either of them. It can't be him. You have to be
mistaken."
"No, I'm sure. Look, she's going into the bathroom. I'm going to go talk to her."
"Don't do it Jayna. You don't know the circumstances. What are you going to say?"
"I won't know until I talk to her." Jayna starts to get up.
"Before you go, you better look behind you. Here he comes again with the curly, blond
woman."
"What? What do you mean?"
"Well, it looks like he might have a twin brother."
Jayna slinks quietly back into the booth. "Well, I guess there's still hope." She thinks
a moment and adds, "I wonder which one of them bought the roses."
"Are either of them wearing a ring?"
"Wilma! I don't believe you."
"Well they are cute aren't they? And there's one for both of us. We wouldn't even
have to fight over them."
"This conversation is getting too weird. I think we better call it a night."
"Okay. But will you be able to wipe that smile off your face before you go to bed?"
© 1996 Bobbie Ann Pimm
Book 1 Book 2 Book 3 Book 4 Book 5