Chapter 2 : Flashback

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A.N: The image above does not belong to me. It belongs to the person who uploaded it on the internet.

Third Person POV

"Excuse me, sir," Frank called out to the young man who was walking out of Frank's mom's flower shop.

Frank's mom had opened a flower shop on the first floor of their hotel, seeing as how many hotel guests would request the staff to purchase flowers for them, so she decided to make it easy for both the guests and their staff by providing a flower shop within the premises.

The young man turned around to face Frank. Frank tried not to get distracted by how good looking the young man was.

"I'm afraid you picked up the wrong bouquet," Frank said.

The young man looked down on the bouquet that he was holding. 

"But these are the yellow Chicago roses that I had ordered," the young man protested, his eyebrows meeting in puzzlement.

"You ordered only a dozen of them," Frank clarified. "You are holding a bouquet of a double dozen."

"Oh, I'm so sorry," the young man was beside himself with apologies.

He quickly handed Frank the wrong bouquet while Frank's assistant handed the young man the bouquet with the correct number of yellow roses.

"Did you want a small card to go with your bouquet?" Frank asked.

"I thought there was a card already attached to this bouquet," the young man replied, twirling the bouquet around to look for the card. "I had instructed your staff to write a short note on it and to attach it to this bouquet."

"I'm so sorry," the flower shop staff quickly apologized. "I forgot to do so. I got distracted by all the orders coming in one after another."

The staff was about to walk over to one side of the shop where there was a cabinet with several drawers but Frank said, "It's okay, Priya, I'll take care of it. Finish up with the rest of the orders."

"Thank you, sir," Priya said, looking suitably mortified by her omission of her duty.

"What do you want me to write on the envelope?" Frank asked the young man.

"Grandma," the young man answered.

Frank did as requested.

"And what dedication do you want written inside the card?" Frank asked.

"Your one and only grandson orders you to get well soon or else ... " the young man instructed Frank.

"Or else, what?" Frank asked, his curiosity getting triggered.

"Just place three dots after the word 'else'," the young man did not elaborate any further.

"Very well," Frank said, not wanting to intrude into the young man's privacy.

After the young man left, Frank approached Priya and asked her to show him the roster of bouquet orders. He quickly found the details for the order for a dozen yellow Chicago roses. The client was a hotel guest who had just checked out this morning. Frank wondered if the grandmother was in a hospital in this city and if the young man lived in another city far away and therefore needed to book a hotel room due to the distance.

Just after lunch, the head of housekeeping gave a call to Frank.

A guest who had just checked out in the morning had left behind a brown leather satchel containing a small transparent bottle of oil with the figure of a cross printed on either side, a priest's purple embroidered stole and a Roman missal.

A guest who had just checked out in the morning had left behind a brown leather satchel containing a small transparent bottle of oil with the figure of a cross printed on either side, a priest's purple embroidered stole and a Roman missal

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A/N: The images above do not belong to me

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A/N: The images above do not belong to me. They belong to the person/s who uploaded them on the internet.

The room had just recently been vacated by someone named Drake Sattabut. The name immediately rang a bell in Frank's mind. It was the same name of the young man who had just purchased a dozen yellow roses just before lunch.

Frank wrote down the contact number of Drake and quickly tried to reach him. Drake did not take the call. Frank was directed to his voice mail. 

"Drake, this is Frank, the assistant manager of  the Hyacinth Tranquility Court. When you get this message please return my call. Our staff has found an item in the room you just vacated which could possibly belong to you. I'm looking forward to hearing from you soon. Thank you."

A/N: Hyacinth Tranquility Court is a fictitious name for the hotel. Author does not know if such a name exists.

It turned out that Drake did not return Frank's call. Instead he walked up to the lobby and told the receptionist about his predicament.

The receptionist immediately called Frank to let him know that the hotel guest who had left an item in his room had come to the lobby to claim it.

Frank immediately stepped out of his office to meet Drake. Frank immediately noticed that Drake's eyes were red and puffy.

"Would you please describe the item that you left behind in your room?" Frank asked Drake, trying hard not to notice the red and puffy eyes.

Drake described the item exactly as Frank expected.

"Please follow me to my office," Frank said. "Your missing satchel and its contents are in there."

"Can I sit on one of your chairs for a minute?" Drake asked while Frank retrieved the satchel from the cabinet in his office.

"Of course," Frank replied. "Sit for as long as you need to."

As soon as Drake settled into the chair, he covered his face with his hands and started to sob. He tried to sob quietly but some sounds came out.

Frank immediately came over to where Drake was sitting and placed his arms around him. Drake sobbed into Frank's chest. They stayed that way for a long time.


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