A/N: I do not own Phoenix Wright or Miles Edgeworth; they belong to CAPCOM. The plot, the flower shop boss and her assistant, the crowd at the flower shop and the various office personnel and their commentary are mine. :^)
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Miles has decided to buy some flowers for Phoenix and dropped into the local flower shop to get some. All does NOT go according to plan, however and the boss is about to make things a bit difficult for him...
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Chapter 2! :^)
Poor Miles... all he wants to do is just stop by and get some flowers and all he gets is grief! *sigh* And the office tittle-tattle assumes that Miles is getting some flowers for a female which, to be honest, would naturally be the first thing that many would suspect to be happening! Who'd think that a man would get flowers for another man? Anyway, it seems pretty logical to me that Miles would definitely have female admirers in the Prosecutor's Office, much to his dismay! :D
[Also, the older clerk is written for comedic effect since I have never come across someone that upfront to the point of rudeness before in my life although the snarky vegan clerk at WAL-Mart a few years back came close; I simply ignored her.]
While Miles may have originally been taken aback, and seemingly taking it on the chin by the vehemence of the boss' verbal tongue lashing, he'll pull himself back together eventually and then she'd better watch out!
"Sonny boy" taken from Margrete Zell in reference to Yuri in the awesome video game, Shadow Hearts.
Poem, Part One: Life XCVI by Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) [Website address where it was taken from will be in my profile.]
Hope you enjoy this chapter and, as always, any comments or suggestions are welcomed and appreciated!
Thank you to all my readers: those who have commented, read, reviewed, favourited/story alerted my stories and thanks also to those who have author alerted/favourite authored, as well! I appreciate it very much! I am glad that you are enjoying my stories and I hope that you will continue to enjoy them in the future! :)
Thank you to my betas, past [Lyrical Rawr & ShadowSuzaku] and present [Midnight-hunter], for all your comments and insights! I really appreciate it! :)
EXTRA SPECIAL THANKS to my beloved husband, DezoPenguin, for all his encouragement, love, concern, nagging [when necessary], support, advice, being my rock during the writing process so I don't end up tearing my hair out in frustration and for reigniting the fire within me to write! Love you, honey, and thanks!
Rated T, Humor/Romance, Phoenix & Edgeworth
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I clutched the bouquet I had chosen for Phoenix-a dozen red roses, Queen Anne's lace tucked in among the flowers and shot through with beautiful silver ribbons-gently against my chest as I hurried to the cash register. I knew that as soon as Phoenix saw this he would love it and I couldn't wait to give it to him! I felt like a kid in a candy store and very happy!
An older woman, dressed in a rather conservative but well tailored black skirt and jacket ensemble, iron-grey hair gathered in a tight bun at the nape of her neck, a pair of modern spectacles balanced perfectly on the bridge of her nose stood at the cash register, a wide, friendly smile on her face as I arrived, her hazel eyes sparkling with amusement.
"Good Afternoon, Sir," she chirped as she reached out for the bouquet I held, "I trust that you were able to find what you were looking for?"
I nodded without comment as she put the flowers on a side table beside the register and gestured to another woman who quickly rushed over, scooped up the flowers and carried them over to a small work station where she busied herself wrapping the bouquet in silver lamé decorated with small red hearts.
Entirely appropriate... for Wright, I thought appreciatively, my eyes misting slightly. I know he'll love it! The corners of my mouth twitched in amusement as I thought of it. In truth, he'd enjoy some flowers even if the flowers in question were nothing more than a bunch of daisies I'd picked by the side of the road and tied together with an elastic band.
It would be like him, too. Phoenix's tastes were very simple and I appreciated this part of his personality immensely. He was happy with the simplest pleasures of life and, through him, I certainly gained a new appreciation for them although I did retain my expensive tastes, as well. A man can't always easily give up the pleasures he has become accustomed to in his life completely.
I've definitely changed, I thought wryly, a smile tugging at the corners of my mouth, and I have Phoenix to thank for it. I sighed in bliss and contentment. I have so much to be thankful for and his love is definitely one of the greatest gifts I could ever have hoped for. The flowers seem like a pittance when compared to his gift to me although I know he wouldn't see it that way... I suppose I just feel like I could do more.
I started a bit when the clerk broke into my thoughts asking cheerfully, as she rang up my purchase, if I wanted a card to go with the flowers. I thought a moment before deciding in the affirmative. She looked pleased as she showed me a selection of cards, some small and some larger; some had various verses and sentiments-such as "Be Mine," "To The One I Love," "I Love You," "Forever Yours," among other things-printed on them while others were blank; some were exquisitely designed with a wide variety of mixed colorful sprays of roses, bluebells and violets across the tops of their respective cards and others were very simple yet elegant in their simplicity.
I looked over each one carefully, turning over this one or that one in my mind, my eyes narrowing, my index finger resting against my lips as I looked over each one in turn for a few minutes before I mentally settled on a large, cream-colored blank card.
Perfect, I thought to myself, my lips curving upwards into a pleased smile. This one is absolutely perfect! It's exactly what I'm looking for!
The clerk noticed my gaze lingering on the cream-colored card for some time and smiled.
"How's this one, Sir?" she asked, reaching over and taking it out of the plastic stand to show it to me. Up close, it still retained it's attraction and I nodded.
"Perfect!" I said, a wide smile spreading across my face as I looked at it. "I would like that one, please."
"Excellent choice!" the clerk remarked sagely. "It's a very beautiful card, indeed!" She looked at me, her hazel eyes sparkling. "She's going to be very happy to get this, Sir, I'm sure of it!"
And things had been going so well up to now. I should have known that there would have been a monkeywrench tossed into the gears at some point.
My eyebrow rose slightly, my brow furrowing.
"She?"
The clerk looked at me for a moment. "Your girlfriend," she explained, "the one you're buying the bouquet for."
"She?" I repeated dumbly, my tone uncertain. "She?"
What on earth is she talking about?!
The clerk looked even more confused than I was at this point, if that was at all possible. She bit her lip, her expression uncertain.
"Aren't you buying this for your girlfriend?" she asked, her mouth starting to turn down at the corners, her eyes beginning to narrow slightly in disapproval. "You are buying this for your girlfriend or wife, aren't you?" She looked expectantly at me.
"She?" I repeated helplessly, my face starting to turn red with embarrassment, wilting under the clerk's stern gaze. "She... who?"
"You sound like a broken record, sonny boy," she rejoined, both her voice and her tone were now markedly unfriendly and I had the disconcerting double vision of the clerk as an old schoolmarm standing over me, her lips pressed tightly together in anger and wagging her finger.
Sonny boy?!
That nettled me and I drew myself up straight, my eyes narrowing. I'd show this upstart the power of the Demon Prosecutor. Reputations can be of some use at times and this seemed to be the perfect example of the right time to pull it out.
"My apologies," I returned tartly, flushing even redder than I was before. I didn't know exactly what it was that I'd said to have her respond like that but I didn't appreciate being taken to task like that, especially when I didn't even know why she was so upset with me in the first place.
Women! I thought somewhat distantly while the clerk's eyes began to bore holes through my skull, resisting the urge to throw up my hands, who can figure them?!
She was plainly not amused by what she took to be my reticence and began to promptly inform me-in no uncertain terms, I might add-as to what she thought of both it and me.
It was damnably unfair to my way of thinking, since I wasn't even sure why she was so put out with me in the first place. I had no idea what I had said-or done, for that matter-to set her off like that. I didn't think it was any of her concern as to whom I was buying the flowers for but she, apparently, didn't share that same conviction. The evidence of her rising tone and her angry glares firing daggers in my direction were plain enough for all to see and to say that I was embarrassed was an understatement; if I could have found an open hole to jump into at that moment, I would have in a heartbeat.
Apparently the clerk thought that I needed a tongue lashing to go with the dirty looks and she did this marvelously well. Too well for my comfort.
"You miserable, rotten cad! What do you think you're doing?!"
I looked at her, a confused expression on my face. "I don't know what-"
"You rotten skunk! You have a LOT of nerve tomcatting around and now you're trying to salve your own conscience, you blackguard!"
My mouth dropped open in surprise at this latest verbal volley momentarily before snapping shut again, my eyes narrowed in confusion and embarrassment. Skunk? Tomcatting? Blackguard? What on earth is she talking about?!
"I hope that she throws this in your face, you jerk! Or stuffs it down your throat!"
I was beginning to get the idea that the clerk was in the grip of a very large misunderstanding which would go a long way to explaining why she was suddenly so hostile. And why she kept insisting on a 'she' when there wasn't one.
"I think that you have the wrong idea," I said reasonably, keeping my voice as calm as possible, "I'm not-"
I had hoped that it would have defused her temper but, as I soon found out, that had been too much to hope for. If anything, she looked angrier now than she had been before.
"You're all alike! You think that, with your pretty face, you can do whatever you want and then think that all you have to do is buy flowers to make up for it, you miserable wretch!"
Pretty... face...?!
"But-" I tried weakly to explain but she had the bit in her teeth and was off again.
"You stinking, dirty rotten scoundrel! Why, I oughtta take you outside and show you some manners! You two-timing creep! I hope she shoves them down your throat, thorns side down!"
As I stood at the register with the clerk's increasingly hostile looks making me feel like a pincushion, customers and people entering the store from the outside were remarking about hearing a loud commotion coming from inside the store and had come in to see what was happening.
I groaned, putting my face in my hands.
Terrific. Just what I didn't need—an audience!
"You're pretty low, you know that?!"
As if I wasn't embarrassed enough already, I could hear the patrons giggling and snickering behind me which made me feel even worse. I found myself wishing that I was anywhere but here at this particular moment and who could really blame me for feeling that way? My face felt like it was on fire, it was so hot, and I had no doubt that I probably looked like a cooked lobster at this point.
I found myself wishing that the ground would open up underneath my feet and swallow me since the clerk was attracting too much attention from other people who pressed in to catch the next verbal blast. They didn't have to wait long.
"I don't know what it is with you young people today but, in my day, fidelity meant something!"
I closed my eyes as a new wave of red raced across my face, wishing that the woman would just get to the point and shut up!
"How dare you play around and then buy flowers to soothe your miserable conscience!"
I don't know why she's so mad at me, I thought somewhat petulantly as she continued to harangue me in a steadily rising voice that grew louder and shriller by the moment, all I wanted to do was to stop by and get Phoenix some flowers! I didn't ask for this!
"You damned men are all alike!" the clerk huffed, banging out numbers on the cash register, her eyes shooting off hazel sparks. "You think you can dip your wick wherever you want and we women just have to turn a blind eye to it! Well, let me tell you something, sonny—we DON'T and you can go straight to hell for all I care!"
It was the last volley that really settled it for me. There was a crowd of people ringing in a semi-circle around us and I was beginning to feel like we were a side-show at the circus. Some people were openly pointing and laughing, some poking each other in the ribs and waggling their eyebrows suggestively.
"I beg your pardon?" I asked, a hint of ice sliding into my voice.
"You heard what I said, sonny!" she retorted and that disconcerting double image of her and the schoolmarm returned.
This is ridiculous! I thought heatedly, my pale skin turning even paler as the lecture went on. For some reason I couldn't comprehend, I tried to justify myself in my own mind. All I came to do was to buy Wright some flowers, not get abuse! And, for that matter, I don't even know why she's so angry at me or even what I said or did in the first place to set her off!
"Miserable excuse for a human being," the clerk went on, the crowd behind me pressing in even closer until I could, quite literally, feel someone breathing down my neck, "damn your pretty face! You flutter and expect women to fall for it which, unfortunately, they do! All looks and no brains..."
I was quivering with barely concealed rage and, when she stopped to take a breath, I leaned over the counter. Before she had a chance to say anything, I interrupted her.
"That's quite enough, my good lady," I said coldly, giving her a piercing glare that went all the way to her marrow and she backed off a little, here eyes opening wide with surprise. "I've had my fill of this nonsense and I'm putting a stop to it right now. While I don't know exactly why you're upset or even what it was that I said or did to upset you in the first place, I've taken all I'm going to take." I leaned forward, my piercing grey eyes locking onto her hazel ones, my mouth pressed into a tight, grim line. "If you don't shut your mouth right now, I will cancel my order, walk out that door and consider myself lucky in having done so!" I stared at her for a few minutes before leaning back, my arms crossed over my chest. "Not only that but I will spread the word about the way I was treated here-by you-and I'll personally make sure that you'll be out of a job within a week! Do I make myself perfectly clear?"
The clerk's mouth snapped shut in that instant, spots of color appearing on her pale cheeks as she nodded. A deathly silence filled the the store, the only sounds being the uncertain shuffling of the ring of people behind me as they jostled and jockeyed for a spot closer to the cash register. There were also some coughing and some sporadic snickers and giggling which were quickly suppressed when I turned around and glared at them.
Once quiet had resumed, I turned back to face the silent but still thoroughly belligerent clerk. I could see the embarrassed expression on her assistant's face as she stood quietly behind her, the bouquet I'd purchased held in her arms.
Let her chew on that for a few minutes! I thought triumphantly though not a flicker of emotion crossed my face as I stood there. She's damned lucky that I just didn't cancel my order and walk out! Someone else certainly would have long before this!
"Have I made my position perfectly clear?"
The clerk nodded, swallowing hard. "Yes, Sir," she said quietly, "perfectly."
I nodded with satisfaction.
"Now, my good woman," I said tersely, breaking the unbearable silence after some time had passed and I could all but hear the ring of people behind me straining to catch the next volley, "if you would be so kind as to inscribe the card you're currently holding with what I would like out on it, I would be very grateful."
I made sure to emphasize "very" and "grateful," giving her a hard look as I did so, as if I were daring her to add another piece of commentary. She didn't.
Her face flushed brick red as she murmured, "Y-yes, Sir... Of course..." in a thoroughly cowed tone, reaching for the calligraphy pen that lay next to the card stand. "What would you like to put on it?"
Much better.
I looked at her for a few moments in silence before I replied, reaching into my jacket pocket, taking out a cream-colored piece of folded parchment paper and handing it to her. "I would like what is written inside this piece of paper inscribed on it, please."
She took the piece of folded parchment paper and opened it gingerly, as if she were expecting it to bite her. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes but I kept my thoughts to myself as I watched her read, her eyes quickly scanning my written words, her brow wrinkling in concentration. A few moments later, her face drained of color, leaving her skin a pasty, sickly white with prominent red blotches in the middle that made her look like a demented clown.
I resisted the urge to groan and chose instead to look up at the ceiling, mentally counting to seventy. Five times. What now?!
My gaze traveled down from the ceiling and settled on the flustered clerk, my eyebrow raising but I made no comment as she struggled to regain her composure. I could see her assistant rolling her eyes behind her back and giving me a sympathetic look. I sighed inwardly, the crowd behind me surging forward slightly before retreating to a safe distance when I turned and shot them a killing glare over my shoulder.
"I... this... this is..." she spluttered, her hand trembling slightly, her eyes creased with confusion. "What... is this, exactly?"
"It's a poem," I replied acidly, crossing my arms over my chest. ""Is there anything wrong with it?"
"No... no..." she quickly responded, picking up the calligraphy pen, flushing noticeably. I also noticed the hand that held the pen shake slightly. "It's just... so... so..." She stopped, gesturing with her free hand helplessly.
"So... what?" I asked, genuinely curious as to the reason for her reaction. "Outdated? Pure Victorian clap trap? Outmoded and ridiculous sentiment? Pure, unadulterated garbage?"
"Morbid was the word I was looking for," she replied, shuddering slightly. She took another look at it and read out loud:
"My life closed twice before its close-
It yet remains to see
If Immortality unveil
A third event to me.
So huge, so hopeless to conceive
As these that twice befell. Parting is all we know of heaven,
And all we need of hell."
I looked at her with some surprise. "Really? I find it charming, to tell you the truth, and beautiful in it's simplicity. I find it quite curious, indeed, that you would call it morbid." I had a dreamy look on my face as I said it, a faraway look in my eyes, thoughts of Phoenix rushing into my mind.
The clerk looked disgustedly at me, muttering some choice words under her breath about "young adults these days and their weird ideas about romance" sprinkled liberally with "whoever thinks that a poem about death is romantic needs to have their head examined!" among a few other things that I couldn't quite catch. Perhaps it was better that I hadn't.
I sighed and shook my head, drawing titters from her assistant which were quickly muffled as the clerk shot her a choice look. Unrepentant, the assistant laid the wrapped bouquet on the counter and made a face at her before disappearing into the back where loud bursts of laughter were heard, much to her boss' chagrin.
I chuckled softly, sending up silent thanks for the assitant clerk.
Touché, I thought in satisfaction while the older clerk stewed, her lips pressed together angrily, Touché.
I had to admit that I felt much better in that instant than I had for the past ten minutes and it was nice to see some justice in my favor for a change. I stood quietly as the clerk copied down the poem on the card, her mouth twisting into sour grimaces of distaste interrupted only by the sound of laughter in the back room; apparently, her assistant was enjoying needling her boss a little. I couldn't really blame her.
I was having a hard time keeping a straight face myself so I made a point of clearing my throat loudly whenever I felt like I was going to burst out laughing. After the eleven minute lecture earlier, which I was still having trouble trying to figure out, I didn't want to annoy her again so I dedicated a massive amount of attention to the cluster of Marguerites arranged on a circular table to the right of the back room, coughing politely.
At last, she finished the poem and, with little enthusiasm, put it in the envelope, sealed it and placed it on the bouquet. She didn't say a word while she ran my credit card through the machine, tore off the slip and handed it to me, along with a pen. I signed the receipt and handed back to her, keeping the yellow copy for myself.
She handed me the bouquet with the card attached and I took it from her, acknowledging her with a bow of my head.
"Thank you, Sir," she said cheerlessly, forcing a smile onto her face, "come again soon."
Not bloody likely, I thought grimly but I slapped a similar smile on my own face and answered her graciously, "You're welcome and have a good day," completely ignoring the latter half of her sentence as I turned and walked out the door, the silent crowd parting as I passed by.
As soon as I had exited the building, I could hear whoops, hollers and gales of laughter pouring through the open window of the shop and I belatedly wondered why.
I wonder what was so amusing...
I let out the breath that I had been holding as the door to the flower shop closed behind me, letting it out with a loud whoosh. On the whole, the experience, with the exception of the first half, hadn't been all that bad and I was happy that I was able to get the flowers I wanted for Phoenix.
I had a spring in my step as I walked back to the Prosecutor's Office, humming a happy tune as I rode the elevator to the 12th floor where my office was located. I stepped off the elevator with a wide smile on my face, much to the surprise of some of my colleagues who I could hear whispering to each other as I passed by.
"What's with Mr. Edgeworth today? He's never in that good a mood!"
"I wonder who are the flowers for?"
"It's probably for his secretary or something although he hasn't given her flowers in all the time that I've been here..."
"Whoever the bouquet is for, they're lucky!"
"I wish Mr. Edgeworth would give me flowers..."
"Do you think he's sick and needs to see a doctor? I've never seen him like this before. It's not natural!"
"He must have caught that bug that's been going around the office these past two weeks. That's the only logical explanation I can think of. If I hadn't seen it myself, I wouldn't have believed it was possible!"
"Mr. Edgeworth's SO dreamy!"
"We'd make a perfect couple, he and I..."
"Forget it, Sue. You aren't his type, believe me!"
"I wish I was his cravat..."
"Are you kidding?! Mr. Edgeworth... bringing flowers?! Wow! I wonder who the lucky lady is...?"
"Whoever it is, she's one lucky lady. I've been trying to get him to notice me for ages and it never worked! I wonder how she did it?"
I smirked as I marched down the hall to my office, strutting like a peacock in it's prime, whistling a merry tune as I unlocked the door to my office and opened it, careful not to catch the bouquet in the door or crease it, and walked in with my head held high.
I could hear curious co-workers huddling around the open door and whispering to themselves but I paid them no mind as I set the bouquet on the top of my desk, walked over to the phone and picked it up. As I did so, I looked over in the direction of the door and said, in a voice that brooked no argument and was loud enough to carry to the pairs of inquisitive ears, "Do you mind? I'm about to make a call and I'd appreciate it if you'd clear out or I'll find some work for the lot of you to do since you seem to have a little too much time on your hands to eavesdrop!"
I waited for a moment until the gasps and scurrying away sounds ceased and, with a smirk, picked up the receiver and quickly dialed a number. I hummed softly while I waited for the person on the other end of the line pick up and a wide smile broke out on my face when, at last, I heard the person I was waiting to hear.
"Wright and Co. Law Office," I heard him say, "Phoenix Wright speaking."
"Hello, Phoenix," I said, my voice sounding a little shy and I flushed.
"Miles!" he said, his voice filled with pleasure, "it's wonderful to hear from you! How are you?"
"I'm fine," I replied, "just busy with work these days." I heard Phoenix murmur in agreement. "And you?"
"The same," he said with a hint of chagrin in his voice, "and I'll be busy until the end of the week with the new case I'm working on."
I mentally went over a list of cases that had appeared on my desk in the past few weeks, wondering which one it was that he was defense counsel for.
"The De Vere case?" I asked and I was rewarded with a murmur of agreement. "Ah, yes; that one. How's it going?"
"Fine but it could be better. I'm having trouble with some witness testimony that contradicts all the evidence we've gathered so far." I heard him sigh in exasperation and felt a surge of sympathy for him.
One of the most aggravating things about witness testimony is how widely they can vary; even with ten people witnessing the same event, you'll get ten different stories as to what happened which makes it wholly unreliable and has the end result of destroying innocent lives. I tried to avoid it if I possibly could but, when it was all you had, you were stuck.
"I'm sorry to hear that, Phoenix," I said comfortingly, "if there's anything I can do to help then don't hesitate to let me know. I'd be happy to help you in any way that I can within reason, of course."
I could all but see him smile on the other end.
"Of course and thank you, Miles. I'll keep that in mind." I heard some scuffling sounds in the background and heard someone blurt out, "Are you talking with Mr. Edgeworth? Tell him I said hello!"
I chuckled. "Give my regards to Ms. Fey as well."
"Will do!" Phoenix said cheerfully and he promptly did so. There were some more scuffling sounds in the background and some muffled voices that seemed to be getting further away, the opening and shutting of a door and then silence.
Phoenix's voice came back on the line. "There. Now she has something to do for a few hours rather than hang around here and eavesdrop on my phone conversations." He chuckled tiredly. "Ah, well. It is the way of youth, after all."
"Indeed," I agreed, basking in the warmth that resonated over the phone, enjoying the presence of my beloved, "I've had trouble with some eavesdroppers over at the office, myself, so I can fully sympathize with you there." My eyebrow lifted as I heard some soft sounds coming from behind me. "Excuse me a moment, please, Phoenix. I think we still have a few ears listening in." I put my hand over the mouth of the receiver, turning my head to face the door. "And there will be several job openings in the near future if people DON'T GET BACK TO WORK RIGHT NOW!"
The din coming from the direction of the door as feet scurried to get away as fast as they possibly could was quite satisfying and I waited until silence had returned once more before turning back to the phone. I took my hand from the mouth and lifted the phone back to my ear, a satisfied smile spreading over my face.
"Sorry about that, Phoenix," I said with some exasperation, rolling my eyes toward the ceiling, "people seem to be uncommonly interested in my activities today for some reason."
"Face it, Miles, you're an interesting person."
I snorted. "Hardly." I looked down at the bouquet lying on top of my desk and smiled before returning my gaze to the window. "They just don't have enough to keep them busy during the day. I shall have to remedy this oversight."
Phoenix laughed, his mirth traveling easily over the telephone line.
"I'm sure that they would be most appreciative of that, Miles," he said facetiously while I made a face at the window, "but, as you say, it would definitely cure them of their curiosity." He was silent for a moment before he spoke again and, when he did, his tone was enticing and sweet. "I've missed you these past few days, Miles. I really can't wait to see you again..."
I felt a thrill run through me from my head to my feet. "I've... missed you, too, Phoenix. And, speaking of which"-I looked at my watch- "do you have a few minutes free presently?"
He seemed surprised by the question. "Yes...I think I do. Let me check." I heard the sound of paper rustling for a few moments before he came back to the phone. "It looks like I do have about forty-five minutes free at the present. Why do you ask?"
I fidgeted slightly but inwardly urged myself to patience, trying to quell the excitement I could feel rising in me. "Well, I have some free time myself for the afternoon and I would love it if you could drop by so I can... see you." I wondered why I could feel my cheeks burning with embarrassment but quickly shuffled off the feeling as being irrelevant to the present situation and hoped that I didn't come off sounding like a lovestruck idiot.
Phoenix was silent for a few moments and, when he finally spoke again, his voice was liberally laced with happiness and longing. "I... would like to do so very much, Miles," he replied slowly and I could all but see his sweet face blushing with pleasure, "I'll be there in a few minutes." He stopped a moment, taking a deep breath, his voice sounding shy. "I'm-I'm really looking forward to seeing you, again, Miles... I.. I've... missed you..."
I felt my face burning but a pleased smile spread across my face just the same. "I... I've missed you, too, Phoenix..." I said quietly, "and I can't wait to see you."
"Me, either. See you soon, Miles! Love you!"
"See you soon, Phoenix and I love you, too."
The line went dead shortly after and I replaced the phone back in its cradle carefully, stood in silence for a few moments and then turned toward my desk looking down once more at the beautiful bouquet that lay on top of my desk.
He's going to love it!
"See you soon, Phoenix," I murmured quietly, my voice imbued with speechless wonder and respect, love surging in my heart as my fingertips slowly traveled over the neck of the telephone receiver, "see you soon..."