Valentine’s Candy
Melissa L. Webb
Smashwords Edition
Copyright 2010 Melissa L. Webb
Discover other titles by Melissa L. Webb:
Dark Flutters: Stories For A Moonless Night
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Candy Rogers put her key in the lock and turned it. Opening the door, she peered into the darkened mail compartment. A stack of envelopes greeted her in the dying sunlight. She slipped her hand in, grabbing the stack and then turned the key once more.
Glancing through the envelopes, she hurried back down the street to her house. Bill. Bill. Bill. A letter from her sister. More bills. A flier that announced tickets for the Policemen’s Ball were on sale.
She sighed at the flier. She wasn’t going. She had already made that clear. The last thing she wanted to do was to go stag and there was no way she going with someone either. She had finally just settled into being single, last thing she wanted was to have her heart broken all over again.
She hurried up her walkway and up onto her porch, slipping her key into the lock. She glanced down. A huge bouquet of flowers was sitting on her doorstep. Reds, pinks, and yellows splashed together to create a perfect wild flower arrangement.
Candy’s lips pulled into a grin despite herself. She had never gotten flowers before, especially not on Valentine’s Day.
She picked them up and took the small card out from between the leaves. Pretty flowers for a Beautiful Lady was printed elegantly on the white card stock.
Carrying them into the house, she headed towards the kitchen. She tossed the mail on the counter and grabbed a vase out of the cabinet. She ran some water in it and arranged the flowers carefully.
She leaned back against the counter admiring her work once she was done. She couldn’t help but smile once again. What a Valentine’s Day this turned out to be. She had a secret admirer and he had sent her flowers.
Candy might have to turn some guy down in the future but she could definitely enjoy the thrill of it tonight.
She turned and headed for the living room, pausing slightly as she inhaled the flowery sent now invading the kitchen.
Taking off her coat, she turned on the T.V., filling the room with voices as she left it turned to the news. Glancing at the headlines, she headed back into the kitchen to start dinner.
The food was almost ready, when she heard a knock on the door. Wiping her hands, she headed for the front door. “Hello?” she called, pulling the door open. The porch was devoid of human life. Glancing down, she looked into big plastic eyes staring up at her.
“Oh, look at you,” She cooed as she took the giant stuffed bear into her arms. “Aren’t you just adorable?”
Shutting the door behind her, Candy took the bear into the dinning room and sat it on the table.
The teddy bear sat there, staring back at her. Bright blue plastic eyes peering forth from its lush white hair.
“You have to be the cutest thing I’ve ever seen,” she muttered as she straightened its blue sequined bow-tie. “But who sent you?”
It couldn’t be someone from work. Everyone at the police station where she work as a dispatcher, knew how she felt. Maybe it was someone from the library where she volunteered her Saturday afternoons? Who was she kidding? It could be anybody.
Sighing, she headed back into the kitchen. She had other things to worry about right now.
Candy was sitting at the dining room table just finishing dinner, when she heard something outside. It sounded like someone sliding something against the side of the house. She froze, waiting for a knock on the door.
The noise stopped; replaced by nothing but silence.
“What is going on here?” she wondered out loud as she got up from the table and made her way to the front door. “Who’s out there?” she called.
The silence from outside continued on.
She opened the door and looked out into the night. “Hello?” she called into the emptiness.
Nothing answered her. Once again as she looked down at her door mat. “No way.”
Sitting in the porch light, sparkling for her attention was a diamond necklace. The diamonds formed a perfect heart, glistening against the black velvet background. A pink envelope leaned against the back of the box.
Candy reached down and snatched up the envelope. With shaky fingers, she slipped open the flap and pulled the card out.
It had a red heart on the cover under the words Happy Valentine’s Day.
She flipped the card open. It was blank inside except for someone’s elegant handwriting. The black ink stood out in perfect contrast against the white backdrop.
“For you: jewels that will never rival the sparkles in your eyes,” she read in shock. She shook her head. She couldn’t believe this. This was going too far.
She walked out along her porch and stared into the night. Who was doing this? This seemed like more than just a little Valentine’s Day crush. This was more then she wanted. It was just too much for her to handle right now.
She turned back around and grabbed the necklace box off her door mat. It clicked closed with a loud snap. Stepping inside, she closed and locked the door. She headed back into the kitchen, grabbing the bear as she went.
Enough was enough. She didn’t want this attention. She tossed the velvet box and teddy bear into the garbage can. The flowers were next.
One little present would have been fine, but to just keep coming? And a diamond necklace? This was turning obsessive. She had already done her time with an obsessive boyfriend. She wasn’t going back to that. Not now. Not ever.
Candy sighed as she cleared her dinner plates. This was why she avoided dating. Guys all turned psycho sooner or later.
She turned out the lights, heading through the living room and up the stairs. She was done for the night. She was going to take a long hot bath and then crawl into bed. There, she would pull the covers over her head and pretend this night had never happened.
She made her way into the bathroom at the end of the hall. She turned the water on, setting it to the perfect temperature. She stood there and watched as the water slowly started filling the bathtub.
She knew she would feel better once she settled into that water. The tension would slide off her shoulders and everything would be fine. She was focused on the water, trying to calm her racing heart, when the phone in her room rang.
She turned and hurried back down the hall to her room. Grabbing the cordless from the base, she pushed the answer button. “Hello?”
A dry crackling met her ears, like the rustle of leaves under foot on a crisp autumn day.
“Hello?” she repeated again. The connection was really bad. She vaguely wondered if there was a storm moving in from somewhere.
A faint breathing began to mix with the crackling on the phone. It seemed to rise and fall with anticipation. Anticipation of what she might do or say.
A metallic taste rose up in the back of Candy’s throat as she felt sweat bead up between the phone and her palm. She took a deep breath and tried to speak but her tongue suddenly seemed too large for her mouth. “What do you want?” she finally managed to speak in a half-croaked whisper.
The breathing deepened on the phone, turning into a harsh gasp. “I…want you,” a voice whispered back to her. “Won’t you be my Valentine?”
She moaned as she ripped the phone from her ear. “No,” she gasped as she pushed the end button and tossed the phone on the bed.