His Flower [DISCONTINUED]

28: Wrist

A couple of days had passed since the altercation at the movie theatre. My friend group was becoming more full-formed. Tabitha had taken to sitting with Lily and me during lunch every day, and as a result, so did Benny and Antonio.

Speaking of Antonio, we'd been seeing a lot more of each other. It became an unspoken rule for us to meet at the spot every day after school. We wouldn't do anything–just talk. It was hard to explain, but I felt like I wasn't being judged when I was with him.

As the days flew by and the weather got colder, things between Bob and Jo were getting more serious. In fact, he and Benny were over for dinner right now. While Jo had gone to fetch a bottle of wine, Bob looked at me from across the dining table.

He secretively whispered, "Rose, now that Jo's gone, I've been meaning to show you something."

I curiously looked at him. I also glanced at Benny for some sort of clue, but he only gave me an unhelpful blank look–rather typical of him.

"Sure," I finally replied Bob. "What is it?"

With a nervous though eager face, he pulled out a small, velvet box from his pocket. I gasped.

"Is that..."

I didn't even finish my sentence before he popped open the box and showed me the glistening diamond ring in it.

"Woah," I whispered. "You're thinking of proposing to Jo?"

Bob apprehensively nodded. "I'm asking for your blessing."

I gaped and glanced at Benny, who still had no expression. He must've already known about this.

Bob and Jo had only been dating for, what, three months? There was no denying their affection for each other, and frankly, Jo deserved to be happy after spending all of her adult years taking care of me. Thus, I recovered from my shock and began to smile.

"Of course, go for it!" I exclaimed.

Bob beamed at me. Just then, the resounding crash of a bottle breaking caused both of us to flinch.

"Somebody help me with these damn bottles!" Jo screeched from the kitchen.

Just as I got up, Bob kindly ushered me to sit back down.

"I'll get it."

I watched as he hurried out of the dining room and excitedly faced Benny.

"I guess that'll make us siblings," I teased.

"Step-siblings," he corrected me.

"I'm gonna be your sister."

"No you're not."

"And you're gonna be my brother," I said excitedly. "Brother Benny!"

"Not this again," he facepalmed.

I laughed at his chagrin. After a bit of harmless banter, Benny seriously asked me, "you think she'll say yes?"

"Jo?" I asked. After he nodded, I slowly answered. "There's honestly no way of knowing. She's never seemed like the type to be tied down to one specific thing, but Bob is good for her. I hope she says yes."

Benny's expression was unreadable. "I just hope she doesn't break his heart," he muttered.

I frowned and there was a small silence.

"I've been meaning to ask... what are things like with your mother?" I curiously looked at him. "I mean, did she and Bob divorce or something?"

"Bingo," Benny nodded, though he didn't look upset about it like most other people would when talking about the separation of their parents. "It happened when I was a kid. There's no complicated backstory to it—they simply weren't happy with each other. Dad's independent and all, but he's always wanted another shot at love. Maybe this is it."