Black Rose

Chapter 4

"Are you even listening to me?" Celia asked.

I shook my head, getting back to reality. "Sorry, what did you say?"

"Where is your head at today? Are you even ready to face the day?" she asked.

"I don't even know the answer to both your questions," I admitted.

"What's going on? Are you ok?" Talia questioned.

The truth was that I wasn't sure how I was feeling. The rest of my weekend didn't have any expensive gifts to it, but I was still unsettled by the ones I had received. It also turned out that there was no way of tracking this Myron guy.

Grace stayed the whole day before finally leaving with Fabio in the evening. She and Richard actually ended up bonding when he eventually woke up. It turns out they're into the same books and games, so they had the time of their lives with that.

Not that I was present in any case.

I was distracted, and I think that they could tell, hence finding solace in each other. Fabio ended up offering his services to me. He said he'd track this man down and give him back his gifts. I haven't heard anything from him since, which is what has me on edge.

"Rose!" my friends shouted.

"Huh?" I said, zoning back to them.

"You have a delivery," they said, pointing to the guy who was patiently waiting with a bunch of black roses.

"You are Rose Kidman, right?" he asked me.

"Yes I am," I replied.

"Great. Please sign here," he said, handing me the device.

"Where do these come from?" I asked as I signed.

"There's a card," was all he said before handing me the bouquet and leaving.

"Wow, black roses? These are expensive last I checked," Celia commented as I opened the envelope:

Thank you.

That's all the note said. The words were printed onto the note, and I was stunned to find that it said 'From the desk of Olivier Black'. I had no idea what he was thanking me for, but I was grateful for the flowers. I've never seen black roses before, but now that I have, I'm pretty sure they're my favourite.

"Who are they from?" Talia inquired.

"No one," I said, hiding the note from them.

"You've finally decided to start dating and you don't tell us anything?" Celia asked.

"There's nothing to tell because I'm not dating anyone. These are gratitude flowers. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to find a vase for these," I said before leaving the teacher's lounge.

I eventually found a vase and I put the flowers in it. By the time I placed it on my table, the bell for the first lesson rang throughout the school. My first class streamed into the room, curious about my flowers, but there was no sign of Grace.

The whole morning went by and she still hadn't come. I was getting worried, especially since when I tried calling her or Fabio, I wasn't getting through. For some reason, I was panicking. I was already thinking the worst, especially because of who she is.

"Rose, are you ok?" Gail asked me. She found me sitting in my class at lunch.

I didn't have an appetite with the knots in my stomach.

"I, I'm worried about Grace," I told her.

"That's actually why I'm here," she said.

"Is she ok?" I panicked.