Words from the heart.

Turns out I didn’t really need 10 minutes to do what I had in mind. I took the flower bouquets and the chocolate boxes and lined them up on the bar counter side by side and with the cards on top, the names facing up. Since I still had time left, I decided to give each message one more reread in case there was anything… particularly cringe-worthy in them.

To Mila, I wrote: Thank you for always worrying about us. Your love, your friendship and your support mean the world to me and I intend to repay it threefold for as long as you let me. Thank you for always being there for me. I hope you never lose that cheerful outlook of yours.

To Grace, I wrote: You never stop looking after us, do you? Know that we worry about you too and we don’t want you to carry every burden alone. I’ll be there to support you whenever you need me. Probably when you don’t need me, too.

To Sarah, I wrote: I wouldn’t be where I am if you didn’t challenge me to better myself each day. I admire your effort, your grit and your directness. If I can be just a little bit more like you, I’ll be closer to where I want to be. Is there any way I can help you, too? Please, call me whenever you need me and I’ll be there. I want to be there.

To Alice, I wrote: You think your car talk bores me, don’t you? It doesn’t. I love seeing the passion in your eyes and hearing it in your voice. I’m still baffled by how you balance your many responsibilities with your craft. Your dedication is what I admire most about you. I also love hearing you laugh at stupid jokes. Never stop laughing.

And finally, to Noelle, I wrote: Sometimes I chide myself for not talking to you when you first went to my house with Isabelle. Maybe our friendship, at least, could’ve started sooner. I was dumb not to realize that such an amazing, sweet and fun girl was coming over to my own house, but I’m happy we are here now. I’d like to continue making up for all that time we lost, if you’re willing.

All of those I signed with ‘Love, Oliver’ and… it felt embarrassing, yeah, but it was true. I don’t know what I could ever do to repay them for all they’ve done for me. Even coming to this hotel was their idea, not mine. I wanted to give them the world, but flowers and chocolates were all I could afford. Even those words felt lacking, like they didn’t convey the strength of my feelings anywhere near as well, but I’m no poet and not writing anything felt wrong.

Before I knew it, someone was knocking on the door. I went to answer it and saw my five girlfriends there, dressed in cute, casual outfits and each carrying a backpack.

“Sorry we’re late!” Mila said, coming and pecking me in the lips. “I was afraid they wouldn’t let us in, haha.”

“My fault. I’m sorry,” Sarah said, kissing me after Mila. “Actually, screw that. It’s my aunt’s fault.” I chuckled.

“We didn’t make you wait long, did we?” Noelle asked me after our kiss.

I shook my head. “I’ve been like 10 minutes.”

Alice kissed me, too, and added a bit of playful nose rubbing. “How’s the place? Do you like it?”

“It’s amazing, actually.”

“And it was stupidly cheap,” Grace said, smirking as she pecked my lips.

I blinked. “Was it?”

“Did you notice the place is fairly new?” Noelle asked. “They finished it like two weeks ago, but not all the facilities are open yet.”

“The restaurant, the bar, the spa and many others aren’t functioning,” Alice said. “Neither is room service.”

“On top of that they’re running a bit of a campaign, so reservations are cheaper now than they will be when they have everything running,” Grace said. “So a huge and luxurious room like this cost us only a bit more than the room for three would’ve cost us at the other hotel.”

“And that one wouldn’t let us go as a group of four, let alone six,” Mila said. “Maybe we should get the VIP membership.”

“Let’s see if the place is worth it first,” Sarah said, looking around. “We only saw the pictures. Let’s check it out.”

The girls began to look around, but before they could get very far, they noticed the flowers and chocolates on the bar counter.

“W-Wait…” Mila’s eyes went wide. “O-Oliver?”

The girls all looked at me expectantly. I smiled sheepishly. “Happy Valentine’s day.”

They all smiled excitedly. Mila, Noelle and Alice checked out the flowers first, smelling them. Grace opened the box of chocolates, took one of them and came up to me, putting it closer to my mouth.

“Hey, they’re yours,” I told her.

Grinning, Grace said, “Yes, and I want to share. Say ‘aaaah’”

I gave in and let her feed me a piece of chocolate. Of course, I made sure to also lick Grace’s fingers, just as she wanted. But then… there was something I didn’t expect.

We heard Sarah sniffing. When we looked at her, we noticed a few tears running down her cheeks as she held the card and read the message on the back.

“S-Sarah?” I muttered.

Oh fuck. Did I screw up? Was my message bad? Did I make it too much about myself? I was worried that could be the case! Was she mad?

…

No, she wasn’t. Sarah’s emotions were a whirlwind, but there was no anger, hate or disappointment in there. She turned to me with a smile and wet eyes and hugged me gently, burying her face in my shoulder.

“Idiot,” she muttered. “I haven’t done that much, yet you keep giving me more than I think I deserve. I’m… I’m not…” Sarah smiled weakly and pecked my lips over and over while caressing my cheek. “Thank you.”

I smiled at her. “I mean everything I said there. You should give yourself more credit.”

“Oh wow…” Mila swallowed. “When was the last time we saw Sarah cry?” She turned to look at her own card. “So these had messages written?”

Mila, Grace, Alice and Noelle took their cards and read them to themselves.

Mila got teary-eyed, too, but she was grinning and giggling. {And then I’ll pay it back fivefold and we’ll continue like that forever.}

Grace chuckled softly and shook her head. {Good. I want you here with me all the time. I’ll need to try not to worry them so much.}

Alice rubbed her eyes, stopping whatever tears might come out before they could and giggled softly. {I wasn’t prepared for that to hit me so hard, haha. God, he’s the sweetest.}

Noelle pursed her lips, closed her eyes and took her card to her chest. {No, I should’ve been the one to talk to you sooner. If I had only taken a moment to understand you.}

Short thoughts in words, but heavy with emotion. Appreciation, elation, gratefulness, surprise and more. I… just wanted to say a little something in writing since I’m so bad with spoken words. I didn’t expect this reaction, but… Well, I can understand that sometimes small gestures can mean a lot.

Sarah wiped her tears away and turned to look at her friends. “Alright, screw the coin. I want to go with option 1.”

Wait. What was that?

Grace took a deep breath. “Yes. How can we not after this?”

“Good. I wanted option 1 to win, anyway,” Noelle said, giggling and pocketing the card.

“I think option 2 could’ve been fun,” Alice said. “But now’s not the time. Option 1 it is.”

“Yes!” Mila fist pumped cutely. “I mean, he deserves it after the talent show, right?”

“Um… Excuse me? What’s option 1?” I asked cautiously.

“We had some ideas as to how we might spend this day,” Grace said. “We narrowed it down to two options and thought of offering you to flip a coin. Option 2 was ‘Oliver the Butler’, where you’d have to answer our every whim for as long as we’re here.”

“But that sounds fun,” I told them. And honestly, it seemed like a good way for me to pay them back a bit for everything. “And what’s option 1, then?”

Sarah smirked and traced a finger along my chin. “Can’t figure it out from that? Option one is ‘Oliver the King’.” She kissed me tongue first for a short moment before pulling away. “We’re at your service, my lord.”

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