Title: Delivery
Rating: PG
Spoiler: A short mention of what happens to Nellie in the Christmas episode.
Disclaimer: The Office is not mine. Toby is not mine. Nellie is definitely not mine. I only own a bouquet of the flowers which inspired this.
Summary: A oneshot of Nellie receiving a delivery while working.
Other: This one is for Meg, who encourages me to write, puts up with my spamming and is just one amazingly patient soul. Thank you dear. It may not be what you asked for but hopefully you'll like it anyway. :)
~~o~~
It was that part in the morning were it was quiet in the office. Still motivated to get their work done most of Nellie's co-workers were sitting at their desks and working through whatever they needed to do. The others had gotten coffee and were starting to get ready, others had just taken a short break to be feeling able to sit at their desks again.
Nellie herself was waiting for her cup of tea to cool down while she read through some papers. The quietness would have gotten on everyones' nerves if it had fallen over them at any other time of the day, but this was the right moment and everybody was just relaxed. Kevin was concentrating on checking some sums, Dwight was preparing some paperwork for a new customer, Stanley was shuffling through some papers while Phyllis just handed him what he had been searching for.
So the sudden voice of a man got them all out of their reverie.
Next to Erin's receptionist desk a big boquet of flowers stood on two jeans clad legs.
"Excuse me, where can I find Nellie Bertram?", the bouquet slightly shifted to the side and the top of a head wearing a cap appeared.
Erin pointed over to Nellie, who had put down her pencil and over whose face a mixture od curiosity and surprise washed.
"The redhead right over there", Erin let her arm sink down and smiled first at the flower boy and then over at the gorgeous british woman. Nellie ignored the way the younger woman suggestively raised her eyebrows and grinned. Instead she stood up to take the flowers from the boy who now appeared behind the flowers.
"These are for you, Mam.", he said with a polite smile as he handed her the bouquet. Nellie just stared at them.
"Who are they from?", Phyllis had put her papers to the side to take a closer look at Nellie and the flowers.
Nellie meanwhile just stood there and stared at the flowers. Not hearing her co-worker's question nor the boy's answer, that he had no idea but that there was a card. Dwight repeated the question but still she did not hear them, only saw the flowers resting in her arms instead.
Roses.
But not any roses. Deep red and long stemmed roses with heavy blooms that diffused the sweetest fragrance she'd never knew existed. And a vast amount of them as well.
They were absolutely beautiful.
And only ment one thing. She had an admirer.
"Is there a card?", Pam's voice sounded clear and curious over the quietness in the office.
Embarrassed for having been captivated by the flowers and having forgotten where she was, Nellie opened her eyes and lifted her face away from the flowers. Still their soft perfume followed her. Realising that most of her co-workers had stopped working and were now staring at her she unconsciously shifted the heavy bouquet in her arms against her hip and reached between the blooms.
Her fingers stroked through the blooms. Soft and silky they caressed her skin, emitting their sweet fragrance while she searched for a card that had to be there. Once she pulled her fingers back as she had touched against thorns. But while she did so she glimpsed the whiteness of a card that had hidden itself between the blooms.
Slowly she pulled it out, her blood rushing through her veins as her heart sped up. Gripped with both exitement and nervousness she balanced the flowers higher against her waist, while she flicked the small card open with nimble fingers.
She read the sentiment on the card in silence while she felt everybody else watching her. A door was opened somewhere and someone sounding like Toby asked what was going on. Instead of an answer he was hushed. So he stared at Nellie and the red roses like everybody else.
"What does it say, Nellie?", asked Pam again, leaning forward on her desk to better hear what the redhead would say.
Clearing her throat Nellie glanced quickly to the where the painter was sitting and then back at the card.
"The most beautiful flowers for the most beautiful woman.", she let the hand holding the card sink down and hold onto the flowers which were getting heavy in her arms. "And it's send with a kiss."
The noise in the office suddenly turned up as her co-workers started talking exitedly about her sectret admirer and the message he was sending her with the flowers. Phyllis and Pam questioned if Nellie had an idea who might have send them. Dwight mumbled something about the flowers being comparable to a mating call – at least the parts of his tirade she catched sounded questionably like that. Stanley was just sitting calmly at his desk as if nothing was happening. Oscar remarked that the roses were some of the most beautiful he had ever seen. Angela just looked like she had sucked on a lemon before she reluctantly admitted that Oscar was right.
Overflown by questions and having not an answer to even one of them she tried to ignore them altogether and instead concentrated on putting the card on her desk while keeping the big bouquet balanced on her waist and arm.
There had only been one man recently who had brought her flowers – although he hadn't actually managed to present them to her. Maybe he had been too shy, or he had been mistaken about how much he had actually wanted to pay his attentions to her. There was also only one man, the same man, who had bestowed any sign of interest on her. If one could call pressing her up against the fridge and snogging her very breath out of her such an innocent word as 'interest'.
With heated cheeks Nellie glanced up to were Toby was standing by the door to the kitchen. Had he send her the flowers? And if he had, why hadn't he signed with his name? But then he knew their co-workers and therefore would have foreseen that the nosy bunch, that they unmistakenly were, would ask about the sender of the flowers and what was written in the card. So he would not have signed it.
Nellie tried to read the emotions on Toby's face but couldn't. As usual it seemed calm and passive. The expression in his eyes hidden beneath the distance between them and the light reflecting on his glasses. Was he smiling? Was he frowning? She couldn't say.
But would he have send her red roses? Long stemmed red roses even?
The flowers at halloween had been something exotic and colourful. Would he send her roses when he had chosen something less traditional before? But then so much had happened between them since that party.
Nellie bit the side of her lower lip as she turned her eyes away from the calm man who recently had creeped her out and into her thoughts so often. Right now she rather faced the flower boy who had delivered the flowers. He looked bored and eager to leave and get back to work.
"Do you know who ordered these flowers?", did her voice sound so shaky or did she just imagine it?
"No, Mam.", the boy shifted from one foot to the other. "The order was placed by phone."
So it could have been just anyone who had ordered the flowers. A shiver wanted to work down her spine. She hadn't been close to any man since she started working in Scranton. Although it also ment that it could have been Toby who had send her the roses.
She wasn't quiet sure if she prefered this possibilty to the other.
Nellie looked up to where Toby stood but found him gone. Only the door slowly falling into its lock indicated that he had gone back to the Annex. What did this all mean?
The delivery guy excused himself with a tap to his cap and left the office while the others went back to working in silence. Feeling the roses heavy in her arms she found her heart sinking just as heavy in her chest. For a moment she stared at the small white card resting on the light wood of her desk before she forced her worry out of her mind.
She had gotten beautiful red roses. A woman did not get flowers like that everyday, so she shouldn't really worry about it. Just enjoy the moment and save any kind of anxiety and finding out who send her these for later.
Flicking her long red tresses over her shoulder she tightened her hold on the bouquet. She fished the card from her table while shifting the roses higher in her arms. Then she buried her nose in the flowers, to let their sweet fragrance chase away her thoughts, while she made her way to the kitchen to find a vase.
Because no matter who had send her these, she would try to keep them and their soft silken beauty as long as she could.
~~o~~
So... who doesn't love roses from a secret admirer? ^^
And as always: I hope you liked it. Maybe leave a little review for it? If you did not - take some cookies and leave one anyway.