Title: In The End
Disclaimer: Hasn't changed in the past 3 chapters, I own nothing. If I did I'd be a millionaire.
Chapter 4: Tomorrows and Yesterdays

Lulu had to work at the diner the next day, but in her bag when times were slow she re-read both the cards and thought of the flowers that were sent to her. She also knew that she had to confront Dillon on his lie. The lie that Dillon had told had hurt her more than he would ever know and possibly more than he ever cared.

At that moment Dillon walked in carrying a rose. "Hey Lulu, how are you?" he grinned. Not knowing that at that moment Lulu was angrier than one could even contemplate.

"Not too good Dillon, what can I help you with?" Lulu said forcefully.

"You've changed your tune in the past couple of days." Dillon said taken back. He wasn't sure what to make of Lulu sudden change in attitude. Yes she was a Spencer, and a Spencer woman at that, so she could have a mean temper. "I got something for you." He said handing her the rose and card in the red envelope.

Her heart quickly melted when she seen it. At that exact moment a flower boy came in again with another box for Lulu. He seemed a bit lost for a moment but he waited patiently until Dillon and Lulu were done talking.

"Another rose? Oh, I can't believe I almost doubted you Dillon! Thank you so much!" She ran around the counter to hug Dillon.

x

Milo was watching from outside the diner and seen Lulu thank Dillon for the work and thought he put into those gifts. This guy was getting a little smarter, but he was still one step ahead. So only a slight frown marred his handsome face when she hugged him.

x

"Dillon, I would love to talk more but I can't. I have to work or this time Mike really will fire me." Lulu said. "By the way, did you get the gift I sent you?"

Caught off guard Dillon jumped "Huh, what?" then trying to think quickly, "Oh! I haven't picked it up yet! They called me yesterday and left a message on my voicemail. I was going to pick it up today. But thank you ahead of time." He went over and hugged her, leaving her with a kiss on the cheek.

With that Dillon left and she asked the flower shop boy how she could help. "Ms. Leslie Lu Spencer I presume?" he said with a smile. "You have quite the string of admirer's if I do say so myself."

"Dillon sent me more flower?!" She couldn't help but smile at this. "That was the guy that ordered them right?"

"Um… No ma'am that is not the guy that sent these flowers or the last order. I took both and have delivered both. I'm sorry to disappoint you." The man said kind of quietly.

"No! No, please don't get me wrong, you have not disappointed me in the least. I wish I could tip you but, I'm kind of broke. So, will you take a coffee and a piece of cake as a tip?" She asked timidly.

"Believe me that is better than any tip I have ever gotten." The man smiled again and took a seat at the counter placing the flower box next to the single rose from Dillon. Lulu served the man his coffee and his cake and chatted politely with him all the while staring that the card that Dillon had given her.

"If you'd like, you may open your gifts." The man named Mark smiled at her.

"Are you sure? I don't want to seem rude or anything." Lulu hesitated when the man nodded at her.

"If you don't mind I'd like to see if this fellow is as romantic as the other guy." Mark flashed a cheeky grin at Lulu and they both burst into a small fit of laughter.

"Okay the only way I will let you hear Dillon's card is if you give me a hint as to who this guy is." Lulu paused for a moment then quickly added "and it can't be that he dresses fancy."

"Okay a clue to your admirer, huh? Okay, you do know him and he is shy." Mark answered "Is that fair to you?"

Lulu thought for a minute and stated "Well, it is better than he dresses fancy." They both snickered at the clue that Spinelli had given to her a few days before. "Dillon wrote, oh hold on. Hey Milo what can I get for you?"

"Hey, I um… I was hoping to get a coffee, please?" He asked shyly.

Lulu smiled sweetly at him "Of course, it'll be right up alright?"

"Thanks Lulu."

Once Lulu had served him the coffee he had ordered he sat at the opposite end of the counter away from Mark so Lulu would never notice his new necklace that he was wearing.

"Anyways, Dillon wrote:

You're so adorable, Lulu.

"At least he was… kind?" Mark offered unsure of what to say. Adorable is a word usually associated with puppies and kittens and from what he could tell Ms. Leslie Lu Spencer was no puppy. "What about the box? What's in the box?" He asked egging her on to open the box he had initially come to deliver.

"You said it wasn't from Dillon right?" Lulu answered, her anger returning once more.

"If the guy that gave you that note and rose was Dillon then no, the man who gave neither this order nor the last was Dillon." Mark said.

"Okay. Note to self, punch Dillon." She said, fury etched through all syllables. She opened the box and whatever anger she had been harboring at that exact moment melted away into nothing at all. In the box she found at least two and half dozen gorgeous wild flowers mixed with Daisies, Lilies, and Roses which made for an extravagant bouquet. Among the roses was left a clue to her admirer, a gold chain that was obviously made for a male with a small charm on it. On the charm it said "Carpe Diem" and there was another card. It was in another red envelope and she couldn't help but smile because this was the real thing. This was someone that obviously liked her for her.

"Now that is a good package. I love seeing peoples faces when they see a design by a loved one, before you protest, even secret admirer's can be considered loved ones." Mark smiled at Lulu like he knew something she didn't, besides the identity of her secret admirer. "Now, the only thing that will be a surprise is the card."

"Little pushy there, don't ya think?" Lulu asked, but she couldn't help laughing after. Mark had become not just a kind delivery guy but he was becoming a good friend of Lulu's. "Okay, this card says:

'Without you
Tomorrow's wouldn't be worth the wait
And Yesterdays wouldn't be worth remembering.' "

Now that is what she had been looking for from Dillon because he claimed to have been her secret admirer.

"That is what I call a smart man." Mark said "I should probably be going. I will most defiantly have a lot more delivery's to do." With that he was off the stool and out the door.

x

At the opposite end of the counter Milo sat drinking his coffee looking at the paper. No he was concentrating too much on Lulu to actually be reading it. He glanced up at Lulu playing with the gold chain he had put in the box. It was a necklace that had been given to him by his grandfather.

"Is everything alright?" Milo asked putting on a concerned face.

"I think so… But I shouldn't bother you with my petty problems. You have bigger fish to fry, right?" Lulu said, tears forming in her eyes, although Milo could not tell for sure, he suspected they were tears of happiness.

"I'm always willing to end an ear to a friend, so if you'd like to talk, I'd be more than happy to listen and help anyway I can." Milo smiled softly at Lulu and softly touched her hand in kind and gentle gesture.

"Maybe you can help me with a couple things." Lulu said thoughtfully. "You see, I have received four notes and two bouquets of flowers. Three of the notes and all of the flowers were given by an unknown guy, well he's unknown to be but it seems the rest of the world knows him. And the fourth note was given by the guy who claimed it all was him."

"Well, it seems you have someone who is genuinely interested in you and would probably like to meet you, date you and treat you with respect. And this other guy sounds like a total creep." Milo said anger seeping into his voice as spoke of Dillon.

"That's the thing. He… well, he was the first guy to ever truly break my heart. I thought I loved him, let him in, did what I could to sleep with him, got pregnant, and had an abortion." Lulu spoke softly about all but Milo heard anyways. "Maybe I'm the creep and deserve Dillon lying to me and hurting me again." A single tear slid down her cheek and again Milo felt pure, unleashed rage towards Dillon.

"No, you're not the creep. You would never deserve the person you believe to be in love with lying to you. No one deserves that. As for the pregnancy and abortion, do you feel what you did was right?" Milo asked, wisdom echoing in his words.

"Who's to s—" Lulu started but Milo cut her off

"Yes or no, do you think that what you did was right?" He asked again, this time a little more firmly.

"Yes." Lulu said. It seemed that just like that, all the pain she had been holding on to because of the abortion and the pregnancy just disappeared. "Thank you Milo, you've really helped me."

"Now, What do you think of my secret admirer?" Lulu was starting to get her excitement back as she looked down at his notes and the one Dillon had tried to pass off as 'The Note'.

"I think that a guy with good taste has found you!" Milo laughed as did Lulu. She was still fiddling with the Necklace that he had given her with the flowers. "Do you know what 'Carpe Diem' means, Lulu?"

"Honestly, I have no idea. I was planning on going home tonight to look it up. It was so kind of him to offer me these words but… I don't have a clue what they mean." Lulu said, some confusion creeping in over her excitement.

"My grandfather once told me about Carpe Diem. It means 'Live life for today'. Which is an amazing philosophy if you ask me." Milo offered shyly.

Lulu seemed to have just realized something because slowly, at almost a crawling pace, a smile was sliding on mouth.

"Well then! Milo would you do me the honors?" she asked holding out the golden chain. Milo took it, she turned her back to him and moved her hair. Nervously, Milo fumbled with hooking the necklace around Lulu's neck. Once he managed to hook the clasp, he let his hands fall to her shoulders and slide down her arms. How many times had he imagined sliding his hands down her arms and turning to face him only to kiss her passionately.

Sadly that day was not today because Lulu then turned around and said she had to get back to work.

"Yea, thanks for the coffee." He said as he was pulling a twenty out of his jacket pocket.

"Thank you, and the coffee is on me." Lulu smiled at him and went to the register to ring up the coffee and put her money in the register. She waved at him as walked out the door, in turn receiving a huge smile.

"Well, well, if it isn't the whore Lulu, stealing from Mike. Maybe I should call Mac. Or better yet, I'll call Lucky and that'll knock you off your high horse now won't it?" Maxie Jones came in with snide remarks.

"Well, you can call them and say I just paid for a friend's coffee. Last I checked, that wasn't a crime." Lulu said, she was still smiling because she just had the sweetest run-in with Milo and she didn't think anything could ruin her day.

"We'll see about that. Oh, Hey Mike, you may want to check your register. I think I just seen Lulu stealing money." Maxie smiled wickedly.

"Lulu, I just paid you at the beginning of your shift. Tell me Maxie is misinterpreting something?" Mike said. He seemed tired and worn. After all, his grandchild had just been kidnapped by a psycho, so maybe he should seem that way.

"Yes Mike, she is reading something all wrong. In fact I was just paying for a friends coffee. He helped me out a lot and I told him I would cover it. If you don't believe, I'll empty my pockets and you can count my check again." Lulu offered.

"See Maxie, don't go making accusations without looking into them first." Mike reprimanded. "Lucky isn't here, but I don't think that he would appreciate you badgering his sister while she's working. Lulu, you're off in ten minutes, why don't you just leave now?"

With that Lulu gathered her cards, flowers and jacket, thanked Mike for letting her out and she headed home. She had a lot of thinking to do.

Kinda long, Hope you all enjoyed. Please comment and it was 3:30 in the am when this was written.