Page 67 of The Sweetest Surrender

Chapter Twenty-One

Selena received a different colored rose and note throughout the entire week. It was always the same time of day when the gift arrived. The young man from Maggie’s, who Selena found out was Samuel, was prompt with the gift every evening before Selena left for the day. Last night’s rose caused the extra beat in Selena’s heart to flutter rapidly, and she read the note again and again during the stretch of the night.

“Duty calls me blind, but our connection is like soil intertwined in a vine. Because you were designed with me in mind.” –Pragma

Selena had stuffed her nose in the light blue layered rose so many times it was all she smelled for the remainder of the day. The Pragma was the obligation rose. She remembered Samuel saying it was the one that symbolized duty like with arranged marriages. At first being presented with the lovely flower, Selena was slightly taken back. But after reading Jordan’s note, she melted to see he found his own quirky way of semblance between them and the meaning that accompanied the gorgeous rose. Now, she sat at her desk with her legs crossed, staring at the door of her office.

It was Friday, and in the next hour, she’d be in the mix of Samiyah’s baby shower. Selena could’ve left early, but she didn’t want to miss another rose should one appear. But why don’t you just go to him? Something was holding her back. It was the craziest thing since Selena wanted that forever with Jordan. There had been a number of times when she pondered over their last couple of months. It was the best time of her life. But this thing with her parents stalled her, and Selena was so disoriented she didn’t know how to proceed.

When the knock on the door came, Selena made no quarrel about who was on the other side. She stood, gathered her briefcase, and then sashayed to the door just in time to catch the fleeting back of Samuel strolling down the hallway. Selena frowned and glanced down at the floor. There, a bouquet of long-stemmed red roses awaited her. Delighted, Selena crouched down and lifted the flowers along with the note that hung out of it.

“Eros,” Selena whispered. A plethora of eros at that. She closed her eyes and inhaled their fragrance, making her dizzy. Sticking her hand inside, Selena plucked the note from the roses and flipped it open.

“Images of you replay through my mind

Soft, warm, divine…

The absence of your presence has me lost in a rhyme

Wanting, needing, a lifetime.”

Selena closed her eyes as an abundance of emotion scurried through her. She strolled from her office, lost in such a daze that she forgot to lock her door. It would probably be best if she didn’t drive. Right now, her thoughts wrecked her mind. At the bank of elevators, Selena absentmindedly went over his words. When the cube arrived to take her down, she stepped on without coaching her legs to move. When her hand hit the button for the first floor, thoughts of Jordan’s top security elevator made her smile softly. She was taken to the first floor and numbly drove over to Samiyah’s three-story luxury estate. When she exited the vehicle, Selena took the note and stuck it in the top pocket of her suit jacket.

The party was underway when Selena moseyed through the door. Pink and blue decorations streamed throughout, and a table hosted a gargantuan load of different gifts. Snapping out of her reverie, Selena smiled and eased over to the twins’ bassinets while watching the women play the dirty diaper game. Currently, Claudia was holding the diaper, and the girls squealed as she stuck her nose inside to sniff the chocolate candy that pretended to be baby’s poop.

“Ewww, I can’t believe you guys are enjoying this nasty ass game.”

Everyone turned to Selena. “Hey!” They all chimed.

“We tried to wait for you. What took you so long,” Octavia asked.

“I was waiting for a delivery, and I’m glad you guys started without me because this is just disgusting.”

They laughed and Selena reached down to grab baby Zoey just as Samiyah appeared at her side with hand sanitizer.

“Oh, come on, Selena,” Phoebe said. “It’s not real poop, it’s… it’s…”

“It’s a Snickers candy bar!” Claudia shouted, excited that she’d figured out the dirty diaper’s secret sauce. They all laughed again, and Selena scrunched her nose, applying the cleanser.

“Come over here and have some,” Claudia said, passing the diaper over to Selena.

Selena slipped baby Zoey into her arms. “No thank you, I’ll just have a seat over here.”

“Aww, where’s that fun, nobody can hold me down Selena I’m used to, hmm?” Jasmine asked.

“She’s been gone ever since…”

The ladies turned their attention to Octavia who had spoken, but Octavia didn’t finish her sentence as she stared at Selena’s non-whimsical form.

“I just had a strange week is all,” Selena said, “no need to call 911.” Selena smiled down at baby Zoey, who was fast asleep.

“Well, we all have strange weeks, that for sure,” Jasmine retorted. “Just look at me, couldn’t get any stranger than this.”

Jasmine unraveled the hair wrap that covered her head in a creative twist. When the thin lacey material fell to her shoulders, a sharp gasp cut around the room.

“Oh. My. God.” Phoebe and Eden said.

“Girrrrl, what are you going through?” Eden shouted.

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