26. The French Way.

[Claire]
"Sir, I've submitted everything on your table, I will be going home now," I told my boss after finishing the day's work.
I was tired and I wanted to go home and have a good rest.
"Fine, fine, I'll check this tomorrow, I'm also going home." Mr. Anders announced and stood up from his desk. "I'll drop you home." He said gathering his things into a bag.
"Thank you sir but that won't be necessary," I told him plainly.
"Claire, it's late outside, it's my fault that you stayed so late at work today, I just want to give you a ride home, that's all, nothing else." He said.
"No, yes, I understand that, but my friends are coming to pick me up." I blurted out.
"Okay, in that case, I will see you tomorrow." He said and continued packing his things.
"Alright, Sir," I said and left his office, his expression seemed a bit disappointed but I didn't let it bother me.
He was my boss and I didn't want any funny business going on between us, I also didn't want to be the topic of the office gossip tomorrow morning.
To back up my claim, I texted Sophie and asked if she could pick me up. I was elated when she texted back that she would and I went inside my cubicle to pick up my things.
I locked the glass door and went outside to wait for Sophie.
While I was waiting outside, my phone rang and I saw that it was a call from Jean. I had been getting a lot the past few days, but I rejected the call immediately.
After a short while, I received a text message from him and I groaned loudly, why wouldn't he just leave me alone.
Sophie's car pulled up in front of me as I was reading the text and the horn distracted me.
"Did you wait for a long time?" She rolled down the window and asked.
"No, no, I'm even quite surprised that you're here already." I actually really was, it was less than twenty minutes.
"The traffic was good and I was working around here anyway." She said and I opened the door and got in.
"What were you working on?" I asked as she drove away, I had gotten in the habit of asking about their work because it was so much fun and they always had something interesting to say.
"Yeah, I was working on a wedding dress and a bridal train's dress, I came to deliver the dresses." She replied.
"Um, wedding dresses." I expected her answer to be more creative I guess.
"A goth-themed wedding dress and bridal train, the couples are from a rock band." She said and I smiled.
"There it is, can I see some pictures?" I asked, knowing she always took photos of her works.
"I haven't uploaded them yet, check my phone." She said pointing to the phone holder.
"Where's Michele?" I asked scrolling through her phone, the pictures were amazing.
She was truly mad creative.
"He's off pimping a client." She said and I laughed.
Pimping.
"I thought you don't take separate jobs?"
"We don't, I delivered the client's dress last week today is the actual event so she needs to get dolled up today." She explained.
"Oh, yeah, I knew that," I said awkwardly and she laughed at me.
"He called again today, you know," I told her seriously. "And he even texted me."
"What a prick." She shook her head and frowned. "You didn't answer, did you?" She asked.
"No I didn't, but at some point, I'm gonna have to, right?"
I was getting tired of ignoring him and being mad, especially when I missed him a lot and wanted to forgive him.
"Of course Cheri, but first you have to let him sweat, that way next time he won't be so foolish." She chuckled.
"And you, what about dear ol' Mason?" I teased her.
"He's American." She said and I burst out laughing.
"You're so bad." I laughed and hit her on the shoulder.
I knew that she was joking.
"For real though?" I asked her.
"I like him, can't deny that but I'm not just ready to be in a committed relationship and that's what he wants, I'm not ready to be exclusive yet." She explained.
"Okay, but you better make up your mind soon, that man is so fine and I would not like him to get snatched from you," I warned her.
"When he comes all the way correct, the French way, then you can consider forgiving him, and you say he's French." She ignored my comment and changed the topic.
Sophie was like this, she didn't really like to talk about Ben and when I managed to talk about him, she would always change the subject.
I wondered why she wasn't ready to be in a relationship with him, I knew that she liked him a lot.
"Do you want to come in?" I asked her when she pulled up in front of my house.
"Do you really have to ask that?"
I thanked her for dropping me home and we went inside my house.
"We should take a picture and send it to Michele," I said, removing my heels and coat.
"He's going to be so jealous." She laughed sinisterly and removed her coat.
Sometimes, I enjoyed their sibling rivalry a little too much, and I also knew that Michele would come here almost immediately, I also wanted to see him.
The doorbell rang several minutes after we sent the picture to Michele and we laughed.
"How could he get here so fast?"
I stood up from the couch and went to get the door.
When I opened the door, I was shocked to see a delivery man standing outside with a box and a dozen red roses.
"Miss Claire, these came for you." He said and asked me to sign on a pad.
"Thank you," I said and accepted them from him.
"Oh, what have we got here?" Sophie asked, looking at the flowers and the box.
"I don't know." I smiled sheepishly, I had an idea of who could have sent them.
"Let's see then." She followed me into the kitchen where I put the flowers in water.
There was a card in the middle of the flowers and after inhaling their wonderful scent, I picked it up and opened it.
—I'm sorry, please forgive me.
Signed Jean.
I smiled and closed the card back, I turned around to see Sophie already eating out of the chocolate.
"You don't even know who it's from yet?" I scolded her jokingly.
"It's from lover boy, isn't it?" She asked, smiling. "Finally, this is the French way."
I shook my head and we took the box to the parlor, we kept eating it and we even sent another photo to Michele.
The next time the doorbell rang, it was him.
***
I woke up the next day early and I got ready for work, I researched how to care for the flowers because I never had to do that before, most flowers I received in America, I didn't care about them and I just let them wither away, but this one was special, it was the first flower Jean had sent to me and I wanted to keep it fresh.
The journey to work was hectic and I swore to get a car as soon as I could, even if it was a used car, I needed to be able to move around comfortably.
I made a mental note to call the detective when I got home later that day and I strolled into the office.
"Good morning, Mr. Anders." I was shocked to see him standing beside my cubicle, he didn't usually come to work until later.
"I was waiting for you, I just dropped some files on your desk, I want you to edit them and submit them to me after lunch." He was grumpy today.
As soon as he left, I settled into work and picked the files he dropped. I had a lot of work to do and so little time, I wondered if I would have been done with them by lunchtime.
I picked them up and began flipping through the pages when someone knocked on my door. I looked up to see a messenger holding a bag and a cup of coffee.
"Miss Claire?" He asked and I nodded.
"Someone sent this for you." He passed me the bag and the cup of coffee.
"Thank you." I accepted them smiling.
If this was the French way, I was definitely enjoying it and I was definitely no longer upset with him, though it still hurt that he thought so little of me.
I opened the bag and squealed when I saw some bagels, chocolate cookies, and some donuts.
The coffee was also the exact order I normally get and I was really impressed, I hadn't eaten anything this morning and I hadn't even had coffee yet.
French way– 2, Claire– 0.