"Welcome back, Captain. How would you like to have dinner with me?" Emily ran her hands under the jacket and up the crisp pale yellow shirt Parker had on once her feet hit the ground and wished Parker would just carry her back to the city so she wouldn't have to pull her hands away.
"You think I'm one of those easy fly girls that'll be swayed by flowers and a handsome younger woman?" Her hands came out of the jacket and went up to Parker's neck.
"You're not?"
"What else you got to offer, tennis pro?" Emily laced her fingers behind Parker's head and pulled a little trying to get the long body to bend a little.
"All I have left is a limo and a reservation at the Four Seasons, but I could probably get you some tennis tickets too, if that isn't enough."
"I'm thinking that your just being here was enough." Emily pulled Parker's head down and kissed her. When someone cleared their throat close to them, Emily broke her lips away from Parker's and turned staying glued to the tall body that was holding her close.
"Emily?"
"Gail? What in the world are you doing here?" The question came out harsh and Emily saw a flash of anger and hurt cross her ex-lover's face. Despite the fact Emily wasn't in love with the woman any more, Gail had shared years of her life so Emily softened her tone. "I mean, how are you?"
Gail had been sitting far away enough from Parker that the tennis player hadn't noticed her. In the months they had been apart, Gail had become consumed with thoughts of getting Emily back but hadn't been able to find where she had been staying. They had talked on the phone a couple of times from Emily's work but Emily couldn't get over what had happened at the beach and had offered that as an explanation of why she couldn't be with Gail anymore. The conversations usually ended with Emily hanging up when Gail started screaming obscenities into the phone. Now Gail knew the truth.
After seeing her on television, by chance, sitting with Bobbie at the Open she had a good idea why Emily had left. Tonight one of the people she had met with Emily at the airline had been gracious enough to provide her ex-lover's schedule, but Parker's being there had not been in her plans. But then again, Parker was the reason Emily had left her. Gail had gone over it in her mind a million times, convinced that her actions and her drinking would have not mattered if Parker hadn't entered the picture.
"I miss you, Em, and I just wanted a chance to talk to you. This summer you left without even giving me a chance to make things right. I'd have come to see you earlier but I didn't know how to get in touch with you." Gail held her own flowers behind her back and hoped the simpler arrangement would be more to Emily's liking.
Seeking comfort, Emily leaned further into Parker hoping she didn't get disgusted and pull away. Not one to disappoint, Parker put her hand on Emily's hip. "I'm sorry you came all this way but I'm not ready to see you yet. We just didn't work out, Gail, and it wasn't the actions over a short vacation that made it that way. It's time for you to move on and accept that, and try to find someone or something to make you happy."
"How convenient for you. What's going to happen when you aren't the flavor of the week?" Gail spat out letting all the venom she felt toward Parker coming out. She and Emily had never had problems until the tennis pro had come into their lives Gail thought.
"Come on, Captain, this isn't worth you time. She just wants to goad you into a fight so you'll feel as bad as she does." Emily took her roses from Parker and turned away from Gail. But there was a little part of her brain that wanted to know the answer to Gail's question. What would happen when Parker moved on to the next conquest?
"Face it, Emily, you belong to me." Gail dropped the flowers and grabbed Emily's arm and tried to yank her away from Parker.
"If you don't want me to force feed you these roses, I suggest you let her go. Now!" yelled Parker. When Gail didn't immediately respond, Parker grabbed Gail's wrist and squeezed until she released her hold. "Unless she invites you to touch her again, don't or you'll have to deal with me."
"Take me home?" asked Emily when Parker turned around and faced her.
Parker put her arm around Emily's shoulder and walked her out to the waiting car. "Are you all right? You seem quiet tonight." Parker watched as Emily pulled one of the roses out of the bunch lying beside her on the car seat and bring it up to her nose.
"Did you know that pink roses are some of the only ones left that still have a fragrance of the ones sold in flower shops?" asked Emily.
"It's because red is more popular thus they are bred for bloom quality and lasting value, so something had to be sacrificed. The pink and yellow ones smell sweet but they die faster." Emily seemed surprised that Parker knew the answer to the question she had just asked, but then thought of all the time Parker spent reading at home and in hotel rooms. Reading in hotel rooms whenever she wasn't entertaining some adoring fan or other famous woman that wanted Parker's attention.
"Sometimes life's like that," said Emily. Parker took the rose in Emily's hand away from her and held it up to her nose before saying anything.
"That the best parts are sweet but fleeting? Is that what you mean?" asked Parker catching on to what Emily was trying to say.
"Maybe. The age old question should be whether to cut them and take possession of them to enjoy their beauty for that fleeting moment, or leave them and just admire them from afar." Emily looked up to Parker's face finally and into the eyes that looked light blue against the yellow of her shirt. The thought of not being able to be this close to look into Parker's eyes again sent a real pain through her chest.
"Stick to the ones that are bred to look good but hold no pleasure for you, huh?" The corners of Parker's eyes crinkled a bit when she added a smile to the end of her question. "They're more reliable for the long haul, but that's not what'll make you happy."
"Something like that."
"Why don't you look at it this way? The red ones have been cultivated for endurance, that's their fate so to speak, but these are complete," explained Parker holding up the pink bloom.
"What do you mean?" Emily asked wanting to be convinced by the earnest face looking so kindly at her.
"They, in their lifetime, can bring you all the happiness they can. A lifetime of caring went into the final product that's offered to you. The flower doesn't know what time it has before it withers and dies. All it wants is for you to be happy until that time comes." Parker handed the rose back to Emily with a smile. The experiences I've had up to now, Emily, are what made me the person I am. It is the only flawed flower I can give you.
"What happens when other people covet the same flower?" asked Emily as their hands met.
"You can't covet something that belongs to someone else, sweetheart. If you harvest it, it belongs to you. If you want it, that is." Emily looked at the long tapered fingers being offered to her. "Too much, too soon?" asked Parker.