Tuesday, February 15, 2000; 2:58pm – Riverside Apartments; Hilo, Hawaii
It was just another, ordinary day for her. Wake up, go to class, deal with Travis, go to work, go to sleep, repeat. Mundane actives to rinse and repeat with. Things that she could perform without a lot of thought. She didn't even bother with surfing, or anything water-related for that matter.
And all of these things had worried Travis, which he was sure to verbally express.
But she quickly snapped out of it when something different entered her life again.
Spotting the vase full of flowers perched on her doorstep from her car wasn't a difficult feat. Imagining how they got there the entire way up the flight of stairs was.
She hesitated before scooping the vase up. Part of her was tempted to throw the gift over the balcony, let it crash on the cement below. Part of her wanted no further reminders of him, of all that he had done for her, of how he had changed her.
Yet, part of her wanted the reminder, for as long as it would live. Even though it wasn't really a reminder. She hated flowers. He knew that.
Finally, she scooped it up and turned—towards the balcony railing. And she even almost let go. But something caught her eye, something that didn't belong.
Hidden within the stems of the brightly colored petals, a brown bracelet stuck out from the mess of green. Her slender fingers plucked the piece of jewelry from the plant and she examined it with a sly grin. The words 'Hard Rock' circled the bracelet, hinting to its origin as well as the sender of the flowers. The tiny tag attached to its end twirled in the wind, and a nearly microscopic 'Happy Valentine's Day' was neatly printed in elegant cursive.
She released the vase, ignoring the glass shattering behind her as she strolled into her apartment, already trying to maneuver the reminder onto her wrist without much emotion.
Travis banging on her door less than an hour later with a copy of some cheesy tabloid in his hand, ranting on about how he finally knew someone famous, didn't even faze her mood, either.
I'll leave you with this: Alfred's a tricky old bastard.