Secret Admirer Revealed

Carrie Ryan rolled over in bed, her manicured hand reaching over and slapping at the snooze button on her alarm. Pulling her pillow over her head she let out a groan, she hated this day. A day filled with romance and love for those who had someone in their lives. She dreaded this day every year, having people from work tell her "Happy Valentine's Day." What was so happy about the day? Sure, if there was someone in your life then it was probably a great day, but Carrie really didn't think that her cat counted as that 'special' someone.

"Oh well," Carrie muttered, climbing out of bed and shutting the alarm off. "Guess I may as well get ready for work."

Carrie made her way into the kitchen after stopping in the bathroom, grabbing a cup out of the cupboard and pouring her morning cup of coffee before going to the front door for her newspaper. Carrying her coffee and newspaper to the kitchen table, Carrie pulled out a chair and sat down before pulling the elastic off the paper. As the newspaper fell open, Carrie was both surprised and shocked at what was laying there. Someone had obviously gotten to her newspaper before she did; lying in front of her was a bright red rose, its thorns meticulously removed.

"What the hell?" Carrie exclaimed, wondering who the hell would play this kind of prank on her. She bet that whoever it was was having a great laugh at her expense right about then. Standing up, Carrie walked over to the sink and opened the cupboard underneath it, pulling out a clear glass vase. Filling the vase with warm water, Carrie carried it back over to the table and placed the rose in it.

Carrie continued to wonder about the rose and it's sender as she flipped through the morning paper, scanning headlines. Turning the page of the first section, Carrie found yet another surprise, stuck to the newspaper was a heart shaped, pink sticky note that read: May this be the first of many surprises, Happy Valentine's Day. Carrie pulled the note off the paper and looked more closely at it, trying to figure out if she recognized the handwriting. She didn't. She flipped quickly through the rest of the newspaper, checking for other sticky notes but didn't find any. Still wondering who could be behind the rose and the note, Carrie set the paper aside and headed for the shower.

Ten minutes later, Carrie climbed out of the shower and wrapped a large, deep blue towel around her body before going over to the sink. Using a hand towel, Carrie wiped the moisture from the mirror and looked at her reflection. Bright blue eyes set into an oval face stared back at her. Her short wheat colored hair hung just below the bottom of her ears. Carrie's eyes moved over her face, studying the bright eyes, the pert nose, and the lush full lips. Shaking her head she turned the faucet on and grabbed her toothbrush and began her normal morning ritual. That morning was a bit rushed as Carrie wanted to get out of the apartment before she was met with any more surprises. After brushing her teeth and blow drying her hair, Carrie grabbed the now hot curling iron and slid it down each part of her hair, straightening the frizz out of it before curling the ends, adding a slightly flipped look to it. Quickly applying a light covering of make-up, Carrie padded back into her bedroom and worked on getting dressed in a pair of black slacks and an ivory button down blouse. Slipping into her nylons and shoes she headed out the door after turning the coffee pot off and grabbing her purse and keys.

Carrie was waiting at the elevator as one of her neighbors walked up to her. Brian Maxwell was new to the apartment complex and was probably a couple years older than Carrie's own twenty five years. He was a fairly good looking man with his deep green eyes and chiseled features. He had a nice strong, slightly elongated, nose set between high cheekbones. His deep red lips begged to be kissed.

Shaking herself out of her reverie, Carried smiled slightly at the man standing next to her. "Morning Brian," she said softly.

"Well good morning Carrie, how's the morning treating you?" Brian asked in his deep baritone voice.

"A little odd, but other than that it's going pretty good."

"Odd? How's that?" Brian asked.

"Oh, just some things that aren't all that normal," Carrie answered, glancing over at him to see his reaction. She didn't think that it was Brian that had sent the rose, but she figured it wouldn't hurt to sound him out. "Someone left me a present in my newspaper this morning," she said, waiting on his reaction.

"Oh? What was that?"

"A rose and a note."

"Well, it is Valentine's Day," Brian said a slight smile on his lips.

"That it is, just don't know who it could be. I don't have any admirers, well, at least that I knew about."

"Well, I'm sure that you'll figure it out by the end the day. I mean, why send someone stuff so that they know you're interested and then not reveal yourself?" Brian said laughing.

"Very very true, but I'm sure it's just a prank."

"You never know hon," Brian said, stepping aside so that Carrie could step into the elevator before following.

"Guess we'll see," Carrie said, not convinced that it wasn't Brian. Most of the people that lived in the apartment complex were a bit older and Carrie lived in an apartment complex that you had to be buzzed into, at least if you didn't have a key. The ride down in the elevator was silent as Carrie contemplated about the rose. The more she thought about it, the more she just wasn't sure who it could possibly be. As far as she could remember, she hadn't had anyone flirting with her for a while, for a long while at that. Shaking her head she stepped out of the elevator and after saying goodbye to Brian headed out the front door. Reaching her car she found yet another rose, this time the stem being held in place underneath the windshield wiper. There was another note wrapped around the stem, this time held on with a rubber band. Opening the note she shook her head in confusion, for all it said was: Surprise Number 2.

******

Brian smiled as he watched Carried walk to her car and then chuckled to himself as he saw her reaction when she noticed the second rose. He waited until she got in the car and drove away before turning and making his way back up to his third floor apartment. As he walked in he heard the phone ringing and scooped it up off the couch, knowing exactly who it was that was calling.

"Hey bud," Brian said, smiling.

"Hey, how's it going?" asked the voice on the other end.

"Good, she just left."

"Oh? And how is the Valentine's Day surprise going?"

"Oh man, she is so confused, she looked at me like she didn't know if it was me or not."

"Well," laughing came over the line, "gotta keep her guessing, right?"

"Yeah, I guess, but this is just, I dunno."

"You got the one to deliver when she gets home?"

"Yep, got it right here, note and all," Brian said laughing.

"Cool, well hey, after ya give it to her, give me a call and let me know how it goes, k?"

"Will do buddy, I'll talk to you later," Brian said before hanging up the phone. He couldn't wait to find out Carries reaction when she found out that the flowers were not just a prank. Glancing over at his kitchen table he chuckled as he saw the rose laying there, waiting to be delivered.

******

Pulling up to the office, Carrie grabbed her purse and the rose from the passenger seat of the car and headed up to her second floor office, unsure as to exactly what was going on. She returned the greetings that she received and returned the Valentine's Day wishes. So far it had been one of the strangest Valentine's Day's that she had ever had. Reaching the door to her office, she was almost relieved when she didn't see another rose. Her relief was short lived as she saw a vase with another note on it and a rose inside. Making her way over to the desk, she pulled the note off the vase and read it. Again, it didn't give any hint to who had sent it, it just said: Surprise Number 3.

Carrie placed the rose she was carrying into the vase with the other one and sat down at her desk, studying the two roses now sitting on her desk. Like the one in her newspaper this morning, the thorns had been removed. They were also all a deep red color and just barely starting to bloom. Sighing softly, Carrie turned and booted her computer up and had another shocker. Her desktop wasn't her normal blue screen; it was now a pink background with a giant red heart in the center of it with the words "WILL YOU BE MY VALENTINE" in pink letters. Carrie didn't know what to do as she looked at her monitor. Finally she got up and stormed out of her office, hollering at the staff, "Who has been messing with my computer?" Carrie's question was met with blank stares and she stormed back into her office. Within minutes, her phone buzzed at her and Carrie picked it up.

"Yes Mr. Roberts?"

"Carrie, can you come into my office for a few minutes?" Jordan Roberts's rich voice came over the phone.

"I'll be right there," Carrie said before hanging up. Standing up she smoothed her slacks out and worked on getting her composure back before heading across the hall to her boss's office. Rapping lightly on the door she waited to be told to enter. A moment later she walked in, surprised to see Matt Draper sitting in one the two chairs across from Jordan's desk.

"Morning Mr. Roberts," Carrie said before nodding at Matt, "Matt."

"Good morning Carrie," Jordan said, motioning to the empty seat.

Carrie sat down in the vacant seat, taking in the two men before her before turning her gaze back to her boss. "What did you need me for Mr. Roberts?"

"Matt? Can you please leave us alone please?"

"Sure thing boss man, I'll see ya later," Matt said before getting up and leaving.

"First off Carrie, how many times do I have to ask you to call me Jordan? Secondly, something was left here for you this morning," Jordan said, his eyes twinkling with mirth.

"Umm, yeah, I guess you could say that," Carrie said. "I'm sorry Jordan; I should have had my computer protected with a password."

"Oh, don't worry about that, I was there with the young man the entire time. You don't think I'd let someone be on any of the computers here without knowing exactly what they were doing, do you?"

"Of course not Jordan," Carrie said, trying to remember to use his first name. "So you know who left me the message?"

"Yes I do, and no, before you ask, I'm not going to tell you. As for what was left this morning for you, I wasn't talking about the message on your computer, I was talking about this," Jordan said.

Carrie watched as her boss opened a drawer in his desk and handed Carrie yet another rose. "Was there a message with it?" Carrie asked, noting that there was no message wrapped around the stem.

"The person who brought this simply told me to tell you that it's surprise number four," Jordan said grinning.

"Thank you Jordan," Carrie said, holding the thorn less rose lightly in her hand. Her gaze riveted to the bright red color. "Is that everything?" She asked, needing to get away and regain her composure.

"Actually, no, that's not everything. This year I have someone special in my life and want to be able to spend today with him," Jordan began. "The problem is, I refuse to do that unless I let everyone else have the day off, so, could you inform the staff that the rest of the day is a paid day off? Seeing as how I didn't tell anyone and they came in, I hate to just send them home without some kind of compensation."

"Thank you sir, I'll be sure to spread the word," Carrie said before leaving the office, closing the door softly behind her, the rose held in one hand. She quickly spread the word that everyone could go home before going back into her office. She placed the newest rose in with the other ones and sat back in her chair, trying to think of who could be behind this. It had to be more than just a foolish prank, otherwise why would the have involved her boss in it? Shaking her head she turned back to the computer, pulling up some of the office contracts that she had been working on for the past few days. She was still sitting there thirty minutes later when there was a knock on her office door. Looking up she seen Jordan standing in the doorway.

"What are you still doing here Carrie?" Jordan asked, taking a step into the room.

"Just finishing up some contracts that I started yesterday," Carrie said before turning back to the computer.

"Didn't I give all employees the day off?"

"Well yeah, but these really need to get done, so I figure as long as you're paying me I may as well stay and finish them up."

"No can do hon, I'm heading out now, everyone else is already gone and I'm locking the office up."

"I can lock the office up Jordan, it's not that big of deal," Carrie said, not really wanting to go home at the moment. She didn't know what other surprises could be waiting for her. "Jordan, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, ask me anything you want," Jordan said, coming further into the room. "What's on your mind?"

"Well, you know who it is that's doing the roses, right?"

"Yeah, but I'm not going to tell you."

"I already figured that," Carrie said with a smile. "What I want to ask you is, should I be worried about a stalker?"

"A stalker? Oh god no Carrie. I'll tell you this, the man sending you flowers is in no way a stalker. If you tell him no then he'll go away," Jordan said. "Now, save that file and shut down that computer. I'm going to walk you out to your car and then I'm going to head home myself."

"Yes Jordan," Carrie said, not doubting for a second that if she didn't save it and shut down that Jordan would do it for her. Moments later they were headed out the front door of the building and seconds later they were standing at Carrie's car where yet another rose was put under each of her windshield wipers. Attached to the first one was a note that simply said: Number 5 and the second one said: Number 6.

"I wonder how many he's planning on doing," Carrie said, forgetting about Jordan standing next to her.

"Well, I have it on good authority that by the end of the day you'll have a full dozen," Jordan said as he chuckled.

"So you know more about all this than you're letting on huh?"

"Maybe a little, but I'm not going to spoil it by telling you everything I know, so don't even try. Anyways," Jordan finished, "you have tons of fun tonight and I will see you tomorrow in the office."

"Well, since I'm not sure what's going on, all I can do is promise that Ill try," Carrie said, unlocking the car door and sliding behind the wheel. Starting the car and hitting the button for the windows, Carrie said to Jordan, "Hey Jordan, do you need a lift home?"

"Nah, it's cool, my ride is already on its way, go ahead and head home," Jordan said, waving before going and sitting on the stairs to the building.

Carrie put the car in gear and started driving off before having second thoughts. She was just getting ready to turn around when she saw a big green truck pull up and Jordan climb in. Letting out a sigh, Carrie turned the car towards home. Reaching the apartment complex, Carrie parked the car in her designated space before heading in the doors. Deciding to check her mail first, Carrie approached the apartment mailboxes. If Carrie hadn't known exactly which box was hers, it would have been given away by the red rose taped to the outside of it. Seeing that rose reminded Carrie that she had left the other roses in her car. Forgetting about the mail for the moment, Carrie pulled the rose off of the mailbox before hurrying out to the car and grabbed the vase, adding the new one to the other five. Carrie rode up the elevator to her third floor apartment and headed towards her door. As she got closer she noticed yet another rose taped to her front door.

"This makes three that have been left inside the complex," Carrie said out loud to herself, her mind immediately going back to Brian. He was the only one that she could think of that made any kind of sense. Carrie pulled the latest rose off her door and quickly unlocked it before going inside. Her gaze was drawn to the single rose that sat in a vase on her table. Walking over, she plucked the rose out of the vase, bringing it to her nose to inhale the sweet fragrance before placing it to join the other seven in the vase that had been left at her office. Removing the old vase and replacing it with the new, Carrie sat down on a kitchen chair, wondering just what was going on.

Carrie got up from the table and tried to concentrate on other things that she could be doing. She got up and washed the few dishes that were sitting in the sink before wiping down the counters, her gaze continually drawn to the roses that were like a beacon sitting on the table. Shaking her head she moved into the living room, straightening up the large coffee table and side tables. No matter how hard she tried to divert her attention, it kept coming back to those roses. Finally giving up, she grabbed the vase off the kitchen table and sat it on the coffee table before going to her bookcase and grabbing one of her many Stephen King books off the shelf and flopping down on the couch. She settled herself in for a long read and with a last glance at the roses, Carrie started re-reading the book for like the millionth time. She loved Stephen King and had most of the books that he'd written. She'd even read some of his short stories.

Carrie hadn't realized the passing of time until she heard a knock on the door. Carrie sat the book face down on the coffee table before going to the door. She didn't know who it could be, since she hadn't buzzed anyone up. Opening up the door, she was surprised to find one of the local food delivery boys standing at her door.

"Ms. Ryan?"

"Yes, that's me," Carrie replied, wondering what was going on.

Without saying another word, the young man handed her a hot to go box and two roses before turning to walk away.

"Excuse me, but do you know who sent this?" Carrie asked.

"No mam," the boy answered.

"Well here, let me get you a tip," Carrie said before starting to turn away from the door.

"No worries mam, it's already been taken care of," was the reply before the young man walked down the hallway. Carrie looked at the roses for a minute before closing the door of her apartment. She still didn't know who it was sending her flowers, but the best guess she had at the moment was Brian.

Carrie finally noticed the note wrapped around the two flowers and set the food on the counter. Pulling off the note, she read: Numbers 9 and 10... will deliver the last one in person. Completely puzzled, Carrie added the two newest roses to the vase. Looking over at the to go box, Carrie walked over and lifted the lid, smiling when she saw it was from a delivery teriyaki place not far from her apartment. Whoever it was that was doing the roses obviously knew what she liked. Grabbing a pair of chopsticks from the drawer, Carrie carried the box over to the table and sat down to eat. When she was done, Carrie decided that what she needed was a long relaxing bath. Grabbing her book off the table, Carrie made her way into the bathroom. Carrie started the water and added a lid full of her favorite bubble bath before stripping her clothes off and climbing in the water.

After about an hour, Carrie set her book aside and washed her hair and body before climbing out of the tub. She quickly dried off before grabbing her heavy terry cloth bath robe and slipping it on. Moving into the bedroom she tried to decide what she wanted to wear when she remembered what the last roses said. Apparently her mystery man was going to deliver the last rose in person. Jordan had said that there would be a dozen, so that left two roses that hadn't shown up yet. Carrie opened her closet door and started flipping through shirts. She finally settled on an ivory three quarter sleeve blouse and pulled it out of the closet, laying it out on the bed. Moving over to the dresser she started pulling open drawers, but was unable to find anything to go with the blouse. She knew that she had a Levi skirt somewhere that would go perfectly, but she wasn't sure where it was. Slipping out of her room, Carrie went over to the dryer in the laundry closet in the hallway and opened the door. After riffling through the contents she finally came up with what she was looking for, but found it was extremely wrinkled. Sighing in disgust, Carrie threw the skirt back in and started the dryer, hoping that she'd be able to get the wrinkles out with a minimum amount of fuss.