A Writer's Fairytale

Prince James: Flowers for Mary

 “Hi why did you run away from here?” Her voice was annoyingly happy and high. I could tell it was fake the minute that she spoke, but I pretended not to notice and kept my mind on Mary to help me get through this. “I hope it wasn’t something I did,” she said the moment that I didn’t respond to her first comment. While she spoke, she shoved her hips into the air and leaned forward to make sure that if I wanted to see what she wanted to show I could, but I had no interest in looking. I would not have looked at her even if I had not just met Mary.  

I took a deep breath before I spoke. “I had a long trip and I wanted the fresh air.” I did not lie to her that was the original reason that I went out. It is just not the reason that I found at the end of the night.

She sighed and put her hand against her hip that to me must have hurt badly after how far she had stuck it out. “If you needed the fresh air, I could have been your tour guide, I hear I make an excellent tour guide.”

“Thank you for your consideration, but sometimes I like to walk by myself. I am usually with people; it feels good to be by myself.” Or with Mary my mind said, but I made sure that I did not actually say it. This was a small town and small towns talked; she would have known who Mary was and some of her most terrible secrets. I wanted to let Mary the love of my life get the chance to tell me her secrets in good time.  

She came up to me and whispered “I hear that I am the perfect person when someone wants to be alone.” I knew exactly what she meant by that, and I did not want any part of it.

I gently pushed her away; I could feel her hands grip onto my shirt as I finally got her an arm’s length away. “Thank you so much for the offer, but I am only in town for tonight and I must rest.” That was the truth I did only plan to be in town for that night and the next morning when I talk to that author, but the truth was I had no interest in her.

“I see.” That tone felt like she knew something that I did not. I did not like that feeling. That feeling of her knowing something that I was unaware of. I wanted to, needed to know what she knew that I did not. She began breaking free of my arm length hold and leaned in close “Let me be your company tonight.”

I pushed her back again and this time let go and walked to the stairs; a person could only take so much. “Thank you for everything Miss, but I must get some sleep.” With that I made my escape. I walked up the stairs and found my room.

I went to look in my coat pocket when I realized I did not have my coat. I had left it with Mary. I did not know what to do. I could go ask the lady downstairs for a room key, but I did not think that was all that I would get coming to my room. Then I thought Wellesley, he told me he was in room 5 the one right beside mine. There might be adjoining door and if there was not, I can send him down to the ravenous wolf.

I knocked on the door, at first there was no reply. I knocked again and this time I saw a gleam of light come from under the door. I waited a few moments until the door swung open. I smiled at him “I don’t have my key, is there an adjoining door in your room that connects to mine?”

“No sir,” he said then looked me over. “Where is your coat sir?”

“That’s a long story.” I began moving my feet back and forth. I knew that I was eventually going to tell him, he was a close friend that just happened to wait on me, but eventually was not that night. “Would you mind going into the lion’s den to see if there is another key I might have?”

“Yes sir.” He opened the door wider to let me in. “Come in while I go and grab that key for you.”

“Thank you,” I said, right before I saw him leave I stopped him. “Whatever you do not let her come up her, please.” 

“Yes sir.” With that Wellesley left the room and shut the door behind him. I was left alone to think. I wanted to think about the lunch that I would be having with that pompous author in less than 11 hours, but I found it impossible. Every time I thought about how mad I was going to be at the author I saw Mary’s face smiling back at me. I tried to get her out of my mind. I needed to stay focused while I was in the meeting, if I did not my grandfather could lose more money to this no good scoundrel.

“I got your key sir.” I nearly jumped out of my skin when he spoke. I was focused on what was going on my mind that I lost focus on what was going on around me. “I am sorry I scared you sir. I should have knocked.”

“You’re alright Wellesley. I was just focused on something else. You said you had my key.”  I said. Wellesley handed me my key. “Thank you, Wellesley. I think I will retire for the night. May you wake me up at 9?”

Wellesley opened the door. “Of course, sir. Goodnight.”  He shut the door when I left. I walked to my door and put the key inside. When the lock clicked and I swung the door open, I could feel my body grow weary. This was the first time all night that I felt tired. I could not make up my mind whether it was the excitement of the night or if it was the worry of tomorrow that lead me not to feel tired. I decided that it did not matter and I got undressed and went to bed.

I did not think I had even fallen asleep when I heard a knocking on my door. “It’s nine, sir.” I heard Wellesley call from behind the door. I rubbed my eyes and stretched, had I even fallen asleep. I thanked Wellesley, showered, shaved, brushed my teeth, and got dressed; by the time I left the room it was ten. I saw Wellesley standing by my door. “Good Morning sir, did you sleep well?”

“I will tell you that when I know the answer to that myself.” I rubbed my eyes again. My body was slowly waking up, but I needed to wake up faster. I needed to have my wits about me when I went up against Mr. Charles. “I will meet you at the restaurant. I have an errand that I wish to run.”

“Yes sir,” he said. I had begun to walk away when he stopped me “Please show up and on time this is every important to your grandfather.”

“I know. I will show up. Can you pack all of my things, so after the meeting we can leave as soon as possible?”

Wellesley looked away for a moment. I could see the wheels in his head turning. He was trying to think of the best way to tell me something. “We will be staying here tonight, as well sir.”

“How did I not know this?” I asked, glaring at him. That would explain why the girl had that face of knowing last night. She did know something that I did not. I was staying here longer than I thought that I was going to.

“Your grandfather and I had decided that it was best if I did not tell you,” he said, looking away. “We thought that it would be nice to give Mr. Charles an extra day to make sure that his affairs are in order.”

“Is that not what all of the phone calls were about?”  I stated, turning to him.

“Yes sir, but we did rush this a little. We decided, the king and I, that giving him one more day would be best for us all,” he said, looking at me. I could tell that he did not want to be here an extra day either. He was just doing his best not to show it.

“Alright. Thank you for the information Wellesley,” I said, walking away. My first thought was anger, but my mind slowly became happy that I was getting an extra day. I was getting an extra day to convince Mary that I cared about her, and I was not going to waste it. I was going to try everything in my power to convince her that I was not just going to walk all over her. I was not just going to leave her in the dust.

I was in the lobby when I saw that the lioness was at the desk. Did she ever sleep or was the thought of hooking a prince fish enough to sustain her for weeks? I avoided eye contact with, her eyes darting back and forth looking for me. I took a sigh of relief when I was outside, until I felt a hand go around my arm.

“Hey. Some people might think that you are trying to avoid me,” she said, laughing.

“I am not.” I smiled. There was no use telling her the truth. It would just make her come at me more than she already was. “I am just busy.” At least that was the truth.

“Is there something I can do to help?” she asked, grabbing my hand.

“No,” I replied quietly. “I must be going. I have many things that I must attend to,” I said, walking away.

She called to me as I was walking away. “If you want me you know where to find me.”

“I doubt that I will want you.” I thought to myself. I walked to a flower shop that was not far from the hotel. I walked in and behind the counter was a small lady. She had long silver hair that was pinned up in a tight bun. She had deep brown eyes and her thin lips were curled into a smile. I walked up to her. “Excuse me do you work here?” I asked.

She gave me a crocked smile. “No, I always stand behind counters of places that I don’t work at. It’s kind of a hobby of mine.”

I laughed her sarcasm was a breath of fresh air, it also felt familiar. I did not know why, but it felt like I had heard that sarcasm somewhere before. “Well, I am sorry that you do not. I really need some help.”

She laughed; I could tell by the laugh that not many people responded to her sarcasm in such a fun way. “I mean I am standing behind the counter, and no one else is around. I guess I can help you. As long as the owner doesn’t find out, I think that it will be ok.”

“May I buy a dozen roses please?”

“Yes, you may.” She walked out of my sight for a minute and back into a back room. I looked at all of the flowers. Most of them I could not remember the name of. I felt bad about that, my horticultural teacher would be very disappointed; even though I could not remember their names they looked beautiful. I guess that saying “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet” is the truth. The elderly lady came back with a dozen of the reddest roses that I had ever seen. “Are these what you were looking for?”

“They are perfect,” I said. They were amazing. I had never seen roses so beautiful.

She gave me another smile. “I hope so. Roses are my granddaughter’s favorite.”  She paused her eyes became filled with more sadness then one person should ever know. “She has had it pretty tough. Nothing seems to be going her way. She is one tough girl and I feel the least I can do for her is send her flowers that cheer her up. I wish my granddaughter had someone like you.” She stood there in a daze for a minute, and then must have realized that I was still there. Her cheeks went flushed. “I am sorry; I shouldn’t have bothered you with my personal problems. Do you want to leave a message?”

I smiled at her. “It is ok everyone needs someone to talk to.” She gave me a big grin back. “Yes, could you put this in with the flowers?”

She began to read the card “This is sweet,” she said as she continued reading the card. Then she gasped. “Mary,” she said she seemed to hold the name in her breath. It lingered in the air like a ghost, in the room that I could not see, but I could sense its presence.

“Is something wrong?” I asked, after several minutes of her glancing at the card and then at me.

“No, nothing. This can’t be, just a senile old woman.” She put the card in the bouquet. Her face was still white.

I waited until she was about to hand me the flowers. “I have a business meeting that I have to get to. Is there any way that you can deliver them?”

She gave me a smile that brought a little color back into her cheeks. “Of course.” She grabbed a pen and a piece of paper from her desk. “Alright, can you give me the address?”

I gave her a sheepish smile “I am sorry. I can’t. Last night was the first night that I spent here. I can tell you where it is though.”

She let out a sigh, but it was gentle and kind. “Alright whatever you can do is what we will do.”

“The brick apartment building across from the jewelry store, in apartment…”

“220,” she said before I could finish. Her face turned back to that shock white that it was just a moment ago.

“How did you know that?” I asked her. I began to think of how she knew that, but I would not believe it until I heard it out of her mouth.

“She…” She paused her words were quieter than a whisper. “She is my granddaughter.” She paused again her silence told me there was something to the story that she did not want me to know, or she did not know how to tell me. She picked the note out of the flowers and stared at it. “Is what you say.” She paused she was trying to collect her words. “Is what you wrote in this note true?” she asked her voice was solemn and quiet.

“Every word.” I paused I saw her expression lighten, but it was still hard, and she was still pale. “Is something wrong?”

“I can’t discuss it. It’s not my place to tell you. What I can tell you is that if this is true, then you are in for a long journey. She has been dealt the bad hand in life for several years and because of that she has low self-steam and she doesn’t like men, or any person for that matter.”  She paused and looked away. “I have already said too much. I would understand if you don’t want to give her the flowers.”

“Ma’am your granddaughter gave me one great first impression and it would take a lot to shake me from wanting to do this.”

She gave me a halfhearted smile. “I really hope that is true,” she said, looking past me. I was sure that she was looking into the past. Finding where things had gone wrong and watched everything, probably like she had many times before.

“I must be going goodbye,” I said, bowing ever so slightly.

“Goodbye,” she said. I could tell in her face that she only half believed what I was saying. I just hope that her granddaughter believed me.