Sunflower

Chapter 10

Lucy

My heart squeezes when I look down at my phone and see Chris's text. Of course, he doesn't believe me. Why would he? If he told me some kind of bogus lie like the one I told him, I definitely wouldn't believe him either.

"What's wrong?" Annie asks, climbing down from the chair she's been standing on to hang up streamers.

"Chris doesn't believe me," I frown.

"Well, I have no idea why. The story we gave him was iron clad," she replies sarcastically.

My phone buzzes and I look down to see Andrew's name.

Andy: He bought it after a little convincing. Please tell me you're almost ready though. I can't stand lying to someone I don't hate.

Me: Thank you so much Andy! I owe you big time!

Andy: Yes. Yes, you do.

"Okay, Andrew said Chris bought it for now, but we have to hurry," I tell Annie.

"I can't possibly hang these damn things any faster!" she whines. "Besides, he's just gonna be grateful you're throwing him a surprise party and not running off to spend the night with your secret boyfriend."

"My secret boyfriend?" I asking, c*****g a brow.

She looks at me and smirks. "Trust me, he knows you're up to something, no matter what Andrew told him. He probably assumes the worst. As a matter of fact, I wouldn't be surprised if he's mad at you for doing this to him."

"Doing what to him? Throwing him a party?"

"Lying to him in order to throw him a party," Annie corrects me. "He'll either be super pissed that you lied or super relieved that you're not cheating on him."

Wow, is that really what Chris thinks? I mean, I know this lie was pretty far fetched, but surely he would never think I could cheat on him. I'm crazy about him. He knows that.

Doesn't he?

I start feeling a bit squeamish while my mind races. I shouldn't have let this stupid lie go so far. What if Chris gets mad at me over this? Even worse, what if he breaks up with me?

"What did you get Chris for his birthday anyway?" Annie asks.

"s**t! His gift!" I gasp, covering my mouth with my hands.

"You did get your boyfriend a gift, didn't you?" she asks me, furrowing her brows.

"Yes, but it was shipping to our apartment today. You didn't happen to notice a package at the door, did you?" I ask, since Annie and I share an apartment.

"No. Did you check with the office?"

I shake my head. "I've got to go by and see if it's there. I'll be right back."

Even though I know she's probably cursing me to the depths of hell, I run off before she can protest. And I practically run the whole six blocks back to our apartment. By the time I make it to the entrance of the building, I'm sweaty and winded. I pause when I see my reflection in the glass door. I look awful. How did I manage to leave my place looking like this?

"Excuse me, are you going in or not?" an annoyed voice says from behind me.

"Oh sorry," I reply, realizing I've just been standing here, with my hand grasped around the handle of the door, staring at myself like a weirdo.

I quickly go inside and make my way to the front desk. "Excuse me, I'm looking for a package that was delivered today for Lucy Sunday."

The middle-aged woman with thick, black framed glasses, who obviously hates her job, sighs and turns around to check the shelf where packages are held. "I'm sorry, I don't see anything for a Lucy Sunday."

"Can you please just double check? It's an important package."

She sighs again, turning around and begrudgingly shuffling through the packages once more. "No, nothing," she replies in a monotone voice.

I hurry up to my apartment to check the door. I don't usually have a lot of packages dropped off at my door since my neighbors have sticky fingers, but I'm really hoping that today, it's there. It has to be.

When I get to my door, my heart drops when I see that nothing's there. "No!" I cry in frustration, gripping my hair in my fists. "Are you kidding me?!"

I take out my phone and pull up my emails. Maybe it hasn't been delivered yet. I see an email notification from the shipper, letting me know my package did, in fact, arrive today. Which means someone else got to it first and my boyfriend won't have a birthday gift from me.

"Lucy?"

"What?" I snap, looking up. That's when I see Justin, my neighbor, standing at his door holding a package in his hands.

He looks a little caught off guard by my tone. "I'm sorry, I wanted to tell you I was holding this for you. I saw the delivery man leave it at your door and I thought...well, you know, because of all the theft on this floor..."

I sigh in relief, trying not to burst into tears. "Oh my God, thank you, thank you, thank you!"

He holds the package out to me and I gratefully take it from him.

"Seriously, I can't thank you enough. I just knew it had been stolen," I say. "I owe you big time, neighbor."

"Actually, speaking of that...I was wondering about your roommate, Annie. Is she...single?" he asks, rather bashfully.

I pause with my mouth hanging open. I wish I could say she was single because Justin is the cutest. His cocoa brown skin, his curly black hair, that smile, those dimples...not to mention, the guy is the nicest person in this building. Possibly the only nice one left. But Annie is hung up on Sam, who is far less attractive or interesting.

My phone buzzes in my pocket and I pull it out to see Annie's picture. "Speak of the devil," I tell him before I take Annie's call.

"Hello?"

"Where are you?! Andrew said he can't hold him much longer!"

"Sorry! I'm on my way back now," I say quickly before ending the call. "I'm sorry, I have to get going. Thanks again for keeping my package safe!"

"But-"

I don't give him a chance to finish. I hurry for the stairs and rush back over to Louie's. And I have only barely made it through the front door when I hear Andrew's obnoxious laugh coming from behind me.

I pause, clenching the package to my chest.

"Lucy?" Chris asks.

I turn around and force myself to smile. "Chris...hi."

"What are you doing here? I thought you were with Annie in New York," he says, furrowing his brows.

I glance over my shoulder and see that it looks like Annie was able to pull off the rest of the decorations without me. May as well get this party started.

"Surprise," I grin sheepishly.

He only stares at me in confusion.

"Hey, there's the birthday boy!" Sam says, coming over and slinging an arm over Chris's shoulder.

Chris gives him a look, moving his arm away. "Lucy, I think we should-"

"Hello!" Annie says in a sing-song voice, waltzing over like she's Audrey Hepburn.

"Lucy, can we please-"

I quickly grab Chris by the arm and pull him away before he can ask any questions. "Give me a few minutes," I whisper to Annie as I'm leaving.

I drag Chris over to the table we've reserved in the back that's decorated with balloons and streamers. At the center of the table is a cake that I hastily baked myself. When he sees it, he looks at me and smiles.

"You were planning a surprise party..."

I smile back. "I'm sorry, I know I'm a terrible liar. It just got out of hand so fast, and-"

He presses his lips to mine, cutting me off. And I instantly melt into him, winding my arms around his neck, still holding onto his birthday present. He pulls away and presses his forehead to mine. "You're the best girlfriend in the world."

"Really?" I laugh. "You probably thought I was cheating or something."

"No way, I know you'd never do that. But I did know you were lying to me. I thought it was just because you felt bad about making plans on my birthday."

"You know I'd never forget about you," I smile, handing him the package.

"For me?" he asks, smiling adorably.

He opens it up and pulls out the vintage Frank Sinatra record, which is mint condition. "Holy s**t! Wow! This is the real thing?!"

I nod excitedly.

He stares at the gift in amazement for a few seconds before setting it down on the table and practically pouncing me. "I love it! Thank you so much, baby!"

I love it when Chris gets excited like this. His smile could melt the ice caps off Antarctica and he radiates a contagious joy.

"Surprise, buddy!" Cole says, leading the other's over to our table.

"Did you guys know about this?" Chris asks him, still grinning ear to ear.

"I did. We didn't tell Cole because we knew he'd blow it," Andrew says.

"Me?!" Cole asks, pointing to himself. "I know how to keep a secret!"

"Come on! Let's eat some cake, order some drinks and get this party started!" Annie cheers.

We all sit around the table, order a round of drinks and cut into my homemade birthday cake. I give Chris the first piece, since he's the birthday boy.

He smiles as he takes it from me. "Mmm, this looks delicious."

I watch him as he takes his first bite. He chews for a while, his smile slowly fading. He picks something out of his mouth and holds it out in front of his face.

"Is this...eggshell?" he asks.

I blush furiously. I'm no Betty Crocker by any means, but I at least thought I knew how to c***k an egg properly.

"This cake is crunchy," Cole says, chewing. "Tastes good though."

"I'm sorry," I whisper to Chris across the table.

He smiles, standing. "Come on, take a walk with me."

I take his hand and let him lead me through the restaurant's back exit which leads out onto a patio overlooking the river. It's beautiful, especially at night. It's cold, but I hardly even notice. When I'm around Chris, those cheesy, warm, fuzzy feelings are all the source of heat I need.

"You are so amazing for doing this for me," he says, still smiling as he has been all night. "Although I have to admit, you had me a little worried there for a while."

He stops and wraps me in his arms. I smile as I hug him, the butterflies in my stomach going wild. We've been seeing each other for a few months now and still, it always feels new. It's always exciting.

"I'm sorry I made you worry," I whisper, looking up at him. "I just wanted to surprise you."

"You did surprise me. And you gave me an awesome gift that I can't even believe...I mean...how did you even find it?!" he asks excitedly.

"I stayed up until 4am one night having a bidding war with some guy in France on eBay."

"Really?" he laughs.

I nod, smiling like an i***t. "I heard you say you needed this one last record to complete your collection, so I started looking for it a few weeks ago. When I found it, I watched it like a hawk for days. And I made sure I was ready when the bidding came to an end."

"How much did you spend on it?"

"Not important," I say, kissing his cheek. "I'm just happy you're here with me now. I hate lying to you."

"Well, it was a terrible lie," he chuckles.

"There they are, being lovey-dovey as usual."

We turn around to see Andrew, Cole, Annie and Sam standing at the door. It doesn't feel like it's been that long since we came out here, but with Chris, it's pretty easy for me to lose track of time.

"Good news!" an already drunk Cole says excitedly. "Annie's mom got out of prison!"