The young Librarian carefully balanced one delicate china cup full of hot tea on its saucer in one hand and a plate of cookies in her other hand as she slowly carried them from the kitchen to the workroom. The dishes were from Jenkins's favorite set of blue willow-patterned china; she had hoped that using it would help ease the loneliness she felt, like she still had at least a tiny piece of him with her. But it actually had the opposite effect and only made her miss him even more.
Her husband was gone on a solo mission, a rarity for him. He'd had to leave very early this morning for a private auction in Paris that was selling some very rare—and very dangerous—Renaissance grimoires, and Jenkins, gentleman that he was, had been careful not to wake her when he got up. He'd only been gone a few hours now and wouldn't be back for at least a week, and she already missed him terribly. She hated to be separated from him for too long, and was especially sad about it now—it would've been their first Valentine's Day together as a married couple. But such was the life of a Librarian, she supposed, and the sacrifices that life required was something she would just have to get used to.
As she carried the tea and cookies to her desk, Cassandra was pleasantly surprised to see a tall, delicate vase on her desk, containing a single, absolutely flawless red rose. She smiled even as tears stung her eyes; it was just like her husband to leave her some small gift to console her. It was one of his most endearing qualities.
As Cassandra set down her tea, her nose caught the sweet, heavenly scent of the nearly full-blown bloom, its petals of such a rich, deep red that it looked like it was made of thick velvet. The Librarian buried her nose in the bloom and breathed deeply, the perfume heady and lush. She smiled again when she saw the small card propped at the base of the vase, her name inscribed on it in the familiar, flowing script of Jenkins's handwriting.
Her heart aching a little, she picked up the envelope and opened it, pulled out the small card inside. Tears blurred her vision and her heart nearly burst with love as she read her husband's words.
I left this beautiful rose to remind you of me while I'm gone, but now I fear it will instantly wilt in shame at the sight of your beauty! Until later, my love-Galahad