Gone.

Chapter 10: Sunflower Vol. 6

I woke from a deep slumber, my limbs numb and my body heavy. My eyelids fluttered as my hand reached across the bed, the cool sheets like frost against my fingertips. I brought my other hand to my eyes, attempting to rub the exhaustion from them and failing miserably. I glanced at the alarm clock on the bedside table. 12:43 PM.

"Shit," I mumbled to myself, stretching my arms above my head, my muscles quivering as the blood flooded them. I pushed myself up, feeling the bed sag beneath my bottom, a yawn escaping my mouth. That's when I heard the knock on the door, my brain instantly on alert and my muscles tense, ready to spring into action.

I quickly jumped out of bed, my foot slipping on a sock beside the nightstand where I caught myself, throwing on a pair of jeans and a zip up sweatshirt. I quietly walked to the front door, avoiding each floor board that I had meticulously studied, knowing the exact tone of the creak when weight was applied to them. I heard my toes padding across the hardwood, gently stepping onto my tiptoes to look out the peep hole.

No one was there, the front porch empty as the wind blew the leaves of the surrounding trees. I felt my eyebrows furrow so hard it made the front of my head ache, muscles still tense and ready to flee. I slowly went to the side window, gingerly pushing the curtain to the side to get a view from a different angle, still no person in sight. Instead, there was a basket on the front mat, shiny plastic encasing it with a bright red bow attached to the top, holding it all together.

I took a deep breath, reaching my hand for the lock, twisting the deadbolt, and opening the door. I looked around as I cracked the door open, noticing the lack of human life anywhere near the condo, despite the bird's chirping their perfect melodies, the leaves from the breeze creating a symphony, just for me. I opened the door further, looking down at the massive basket at my feet, before carefully picking it up and placing it on the table inside the front door.

I quickly shut the door, pushing it in with my knee just far enough to lock the deadbolt once again, the safety of my home now enveloping me with the stranger sitting on the table, completely out of place. I ran to the bedroom, grabbing my phone off of the charger, fear still tingling in my chest as I came back to the same stranger sitting there, waiting for me.

I touched the edge of the plastic, smooth and crinkly as my fingertips ran over it, indents following their journey across the surface. I felt the bow, somehow rough and smooth all at once as I rubbed it between my thumb and forefinger, gently fraying at the edge where it had been cut. I gently pulled on the end, untying it from it's perfect position, the plastic crackling in complaint at being moved.

I threw the beautiful red ribbon to the side, almost feeling guilty for destroying something so perfect, before pushing the plastic to the bottom, like a moat around the woven basket. There was a bouquet of sunflowers, each petal perfectly yellow and intact, its beauty both shattering and distracting. Beside it lied a bottle of Dom Perignon Champagne, the badge shaped label and olive colored glass forcing my hands to touch it, running themselves around the edge of the label from beginning to end.

I gently lifted the flowers and the champagne out, placing them beside the basket before noticing a small envelope and a pack of dutch chocolates hidden in the shredded paper placed in the bottom. I grabbed the note, sliding my finger under the envelope tab that had been carefully sealed, plain, white card stock folded in half inside.

"Congratulations on the VMA performance and Jimmy Fallon! You're getting to be quite the artist. You should be proud of yourself. I know I am.

-H"

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"I got these for you," Kurtis said as he entered the door, a grin on his face while he cradled a bouquet of flowers in his arm like a newborn baby. I watched him slide off his shoes, walking over to the couch where I was sitting, plopping down beside me before handing them to me. A dozen red roses, strung together and set in place by the plastic shell they were in, the florists card stuck in the side.