Casual Layovers

Chapter Fifteen

Ryan strolls into the building on Thursday morning with a very large coffee in hand. Since she has returned from New York, there have been countless meetings about the company's upcoming merge and an overwhelming amount of paperwork and preventative maintenance. There have not been any official announcements made to the rest of the company as of yet, but her and the rest of upper management have been spending a lot of time preparing for when that time comes. Had it not been for the birthday wishes she received through text messages this morning, all from her family and a few close friends, the actual date would have slipped her mind completely.

Ryan walks straight towards her office, greeting a few people on her way there, but stops abruptly when she sees a very embarrassingly large bouquet of red roses on her assistant's desk. "Wow, Elise! These are beautiful. This new guy of yours has already outdone that last one. What's the occasion?" Ryan asks as she leans over to take in the scent of a few of the flowers closest to her.

Elise smiles brightly. "Well, I was hoping that you could tell me. They're for you."

"For me?" Ryan asks incredulously. She has never had anyone send her flowers before, let alone to the office.

"Yep." Elise says still smiling. "A courier just dropped them off not too long ago. I just haven't had the chance to bring them into your office. Here, I'll follow you in with them." She says as she walks around her desk and takes the arrangement with both hands.

"Oh...thank you." Ryan says walking slowly towards her personal work space, her mind still preoccupied with the thoughts of who the flowers might be from.

Elise places the vase on top of a large flat surface by where the windows are, and the sunlight from outside, a rarity this time of year in Seattle, makes the water and crystal glisten. She notes once again how pretty they look before turning her attention back towards Ryan. "So..." She starts, hoping that Ryan will tell her who the sender of the flowers is. "What's the occasion?" She asks with a smirk as she realizes she is only repeating what her boss has just asked her minutes ago.

"Oh, It's nothing special, really. It's my birthday today. They are probably from my family." Ryan says even though she is pretty sure they are not.

"OH, what?! Happy birthday, Ryan! And that is too special! I love birthdays." Elise says excitedly, clapping her hands together for emphasis.

"When you are my age, birthdays become less exciting, believe me." Ryan smiles thinking about how Elise had just turned 23 a few months ago. This is her first job since graduating university last June and her enthusiasm about most or all things is what really drew her towards the young woman. "But thank you. You're sweet."

Elise just laughs and shakes her head. "You're not even that old, boss. If I look half as good as you do at your age, I'd be very grateful. So, anyway, who are they from?" She asks with a nod of her head towards the roses, specifically at the small envelope that is propped up with a card holder in the middle of the bouquet.

Ryan sighs and reaches for the note. She does not realize until after she pulls the card out of its holder, that was holding her breath. When she reads the note on the card, she sighs. "All it says is 'Happy Birthday'." She says as she turns the card over to make sure she has not missed any other messages or the name of the sender. But, there is nothing there and the handwriting is not one that she recognizes.

Elise smirks again. "Well, that's strangely romantic. Maybe you have a secret admirer."

Ryan laughs. "Or it's incredibly creepy. You've obviously just been reading too many of those internet love stories that you love so much. Whatever you call them."

"It's called fanfiction, Boss! And it totally is romantic." Elise says as she rolls her eyes at Ryan. "I mean, you know that you're going to be thinking about it all day until you find out who it is. And who knows, maybe there will be some sort of follow up." She adds with a cute wiggle of her eyebrows.