White roses

Anna showed up at my office door, drinking what I assumed where these weird green smoothies she grew addicted too since the beginning of her pregnancy. She was in her third trimester now and if I thought her mood swings before she fell pregnant where uneven, she was ten times worse now because she would switch to a cry baby to a capable murderer quick.

"Your man is making some of us feel really single around here by sending you flowers every month, this is the second one this month alone", she placed the bouquet on my table, and I was surprised she was keeping count

"Thank you, Ann", I took the flowers into my hands and sniffed them, heavenly always. "-but you didn't have to walk all the way here though, I could have just fetched them at your table"

"I needed the walk", she pulled herself a seat and breathed out exaggeratedly as soon as she leaned back on the chair. "And you're welcome"

She started slurping on her drink on purpose. I wasn't going to say anything because I knew she was just trying to pick a fight with me, a fight I wasn't going to win because she would end up crying and suddenly I'm the bad person.

"Why are you looking at me like that?", she quizzed, and I shrugged my shoulders, staring half deadly at her

"You're really beautiful, that's all", I forced a smile and her lips turned into a surprised grin

"You really think so?", she questioned, voice breaking a little and I nodded my head

"At least one of us thinks I'm still beautiful even though I look like a gigantic whale", she stared lovingly at her baby bump and started rubbing it. "-but it's all worth it"

I was with her when she heard the baby's heartbeat for the first time. Ever since that day, I could say she fell in love with the life that was growing inside her instantly. We found out they were having a girl at the gender reveal party a few months back, and I couldn't tell who was more excited between her and Rick. Things between them haven't been sunshine and roses before, but they seemed to get along well now. Even though they still had disagreements, they just worked on reaching a compromise to suit the both of them. They were expecting a baby together so they least they could do is work on their differences and keep on moving forward because every relationship had its challenges.

"I can't believe you're going to maternity leave next week", I whined, and she lazily shrugged her shoulders

"If I wasn't showing the temp the ropes around here I would have been on maternity leave starting this week, like I'm so tired", she exhaled exasperatedly as she ran her hand through her hair

"Yeah I can imagine", I tilted my head to the side a little. "But now that you're still here, can I just like...", I dragged the word, swirling my chair side to side grinning widely at her while indicating a belly rub on my stomach.

"Yeah sure", she laid back on the chair again. "Come on here and rub this belly"

I scooted out my chair like a lighting bolt, knelling down in front of her to gently rub my hands on her baby bump. It was so addictive, and I loved feeling the baby move and kick underneath my hands.

"Can't believe in just like in a couple of weeks she'll be here"

"I know right?", she laughed, her hands joining in the rubbing. I gave the bump one last kiss before standing onto my feet took a very long deep breath while pointing at the door firmly.

"Okay now, I need you to kindly get out of my office because I'm experiencing extreme baby fever at the moment and I might end up asking Nathan to get me pregnant tonight"

She paused for a second, before a mischievous smile surfaced on her lips

"I mean you could though", she wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. "Then our babies will also be like best friends when they get older-"

"No", I interrupted her by helping her stand on her feet and she put up a little struggle, wanting to talk over me

"I mean like think about it, wisely", she laughed as I blocked my ears to not hear her planting ideas into my head

"No Ann", I shook my head as I helped her to her feet

"Fine", she rolled her eyes a little before she opened her arms wide from a hug and I wrapped my arms around her, bending a little because hugs were never the same anymore because I was now hugging two people at once

"I'm going to miss having you around here"

"I'll be back in three to four months though", she said as we broke away from the hug

"It won't be the same"

"I know", she boasted smugly. "Your life won't be the same without me, I know"

"Get out of here", we both laughed as she strolled towards the door.

"Later alligator"

"Later"

Sitting back down, I searched for my phone in my purse to call Nathan in order to thank him for the flowers he sent me because he just knew how to make my day

"Hey beautiful", I smiled from hearing the sound of his voice. "You miss me?"

"Always", I laughed softly. "Thank you for the flowers, they are really beautiful"

He went quiet for a second. "The ones I sent you last week? You've already thanked me for them babe"

"No, the ones you sent me today"

"I'd love to take the credit, but they're not from me hun"

"Oh", I frowned a little, not knowing what to say next, so I said the first thing that popped into my head. "Maybe they're from my Dad then"

......which was highly unlikely because my Dad always insisted delivering flowers himself to my apartment when he bought them for me as a form of a bribe

"Maybe"

This could only mean one person was responsible for this, Greg.

On my lunch break, I decided to pay him a visit so that I could give him a piece of my mind. I was completely infuriated with him. When I marched to his office, I bumped into Sheila on my way and her eyes widened greatly at the sight of me.

"I'm not here to steal your man away from you, instead I'm going to tighten the leash around his neck for you so that he can stop overstepping boundaries", I spat as I walked past her without even stopping. The second I reached his office, I didn't even waste time as I stormed inside, and he looked up from his laptop screen.

"Livy", he seemed surprised to see me. "What are you doing here?"

"Listen, I don't know what game you think you're playing here", I had to take a few breaths to steady my breathing a little before I tell him an earful of what I thought he deserved to know. "But it's not going to work"

"What game are you talking about?", he genuinely looked puzzled, oh he must be really good at playing dumb

"I know you sent the flowers okay?", I started fanning my face with my hand, suddenly feeling really hot and dizzy even though I could see the air con was on

"What flowers?", he laughed as he stood to his feet. "I don't remember sending you any flowers"

"Don't play dumb with me, I know it was you"

"I'm honored that you think it was me who sent them to you but I can't take the credit for something I didn't do", he said looking amused. "If I'm going to win you back, I'll do a lot more than just flowers"

"Can you j...just stop?", I stuttered, feeling a little light-headed and my vision started getting a little blur, and it felt like I was seeing four Greg's at the same time

"Livy, are you okay?", I heard Greg's voice disorienting around me and I could feel myself losing my balance as my legs suddenly felt the need to just give me, sending me collapsing right on the floor

"Help please, I need some help in here", Greg screamed as loud as he could as he knelt next to me, taking me into his arms

"Olivia?", his face was the last thing I saw before I finally lost consciousness

"Olivia?", I could feel my name being constantly called, pulling me out of a very deep slumber and I slowly opened my eyes, only to be greeted by the plain white ceiling above me. There was that nauseating smell of the medical facilities again.....where is it coming from?

"Liv?", I turned my head in the direction I heard my name being called in, blinking repeatedly so that my focal point could easily focus properly on the figure standing beside me and Nathan's beautiful face came into sight

"Hey", I croaked out while reaching up to touch his face gently, and he breathed a sigh of relief. I was still a little confused as I kept looking around and noticed I was in a ward, laying on a hospital bed.

"What the hell?", I quickly sat up, starting to panic a little. This was my least favorite place, I would do anything in my absolute power to avoid ever coming into contact with this building.

"Why am I here? What happened?", I pulled the light sheet covering me to my chest.

"You collapsed", he cleared his throat. "In Greg's office, so he bought you in"

My eyes widened in even more panic a little as they lurked around for a second before finding Nathan's again

"I just went over there to confront him about the flowers", I felt I should explain what I was doing there so that he didn't take things the wrong way

"Yeah, I figured", his voice was a lot heavier than usual as he dropped his face to stare down at his hands, making me feel bad about deciding to confront Greg in the first place. I didn't want to see the look he had on his face right now.

"Nathan, I-"

"It's okay Liv, you really don't have to explain anything. I get it", the fact that he was so calm about this worried me a little. "As long as you're okay, that's all that matters"

I kept quiet for a minute, just until he leaned on his seat, and we finally locked eyes again

"Do you perhaps know why I'm here?"

"You're burnout, plain exhausted", Tristan chipped in as he walked through the door holding two coffee cups in his hands while giving me a disapproving look

"Since when are you a doctor?", I asked sarcastically, and he narrowed his eyes at me while giving Nathan one of the coffees

"The doctor told us while you were still passed out", he replied sharply while taking an aggressive sip of his coffee. No wonder Nathan was so calm... Tristan was being mad for the both of them.

"Out of all the places you could collapse in, it had to be his office", Tristan was now whisper shouting at me, leaning closer and closer to my face that I was literally sinking into the many pillows that were supporting my back. My eyes followed the direction his finger was pointing in, and I saw Greg standing outside, looking in though the large glass window thingy.

"I had to confront him about something", I covered half of my face with the sheet like it was somehow going to protect me from his wrath

"You couldn't do that over the phone?"

"I no longer had his numbers", I said in my defense, but it was a little white lie, I still had his unsaved numbers from all those times he was trying to reach out to me

"That's good, that better stay that way", he said a while calmer than he was five seconds ago. "By the way I called your parents, they're on the way to pick you up"

"Noooooo", I whined, covering my face in my hands. "Tristan, you know how my mother is. She's not going to let me work at all"

"That's kinda the whole point", Nathan added. "The doctor gave you three weeks at home so that you can rest"

"Three?!", I nearly jumped from the bed. "Three weeks is a lot, even one week is enough, I'll rest I promise, but I really need to work on a pitch for next week"

"Doctors orders Liv. Three weeks", Tristan scowled at me. "And we'll all be making sure that there's no work in sight for you"

"You've successfully just killed me", I complained, plobbing back on the bed, and they exchanged looks

"Your life comes first though"

"I know, I know", I sulked, folding my hands in a protest. "I need to rest"

"Good", Tristan took another sip of his coffee. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go take out some trash"

By trash, he meant Greg, leaving me alone with Nathan and I heaved a sigh as he took my hands in his, lifting it up to his lips to gently kiss it

"When I got the call that you're here, I was so worried about you", he said, and I could tell that he was really concerned, but it looked like there was more to his worry that what he was leading on

"I'm going to be okay", I tilted his head up so that he looked at me. "Really"

He nodded his head a little and I could imagine what it must be like for him. Hospitals were also his least favorite place because of Kathy.

"I'm going to be okay, okay?"

"Yeah, I'm going to make sure of that"

"Uh Liv", Tristan appeared at the door again. "This douchebag outside says he's not leaving here without talking to you. I'm requesting authorized permission to beat his ass up"

Nathan and I both exchanged looks, on my side it was my way of asking what are his feelings about this...on his it was just a blank stare at first before he slowly nodded his head

"We'll wait outside", he was already on his feet, pushing Tristan out of the way discreetly so that Greg walked inside unharmed. If only looks could kill, he would have been 10 feet under due to Tristan's deadly eye.

"Livy"

"Hi", I kept myself occupied by folding and unfolding the sheet covering me to avoid making eye contact with him

"I'm not here to stir any trouble okay? I just wanted to see that you're okay"

"Thank you", I cleared my throat a little. "Greg, just want you to understand that you and I, will never get back together, ever"

"I understand that Liv", he cleared his throat. "I was standing outside while Nathan was in here and I saw how you looked at him. See I remember that because that's how you used to look at me while you and I were still dating"

"Greg please-"

"All I'm saying is that, I truly recognize that you love him and I honesty, truly respect that and from today onwards I'll never bother you again"

"I'd appreciate that"

"Alright", he heaved a sigh. "So I hope you'll be okay and yeah, I wish you all the best with everything"

"So do I"

"Do you want to shake on it?", he put out his hand and pulled it back playfully, and I rolled my eyes

"Please stop"

"Okay I'm serious now, let's shake on it", he firmly put his hand out, and I placed mine in his for a firm handshake, and he pocketed his hands as soon as we broke contact, and he looked like he wanted to say something else, but he kept opening and closing his mouth

"Just so you know, I'm really sorry for every thing I put you thorough, and I hope that someday you'll find it in your heart to forgive me"

"Okay", was all I could say because I really didn't know what to say to him besides that. It's not like I hated him, but it would take me a little while to forget what he did to me.

"Okay", he did that nodding with the face thing before he turned on his feet and walked to the door. "Take care of yourself, yeah?"

"You too"

"Cool", I put up a thumbs up, and he smiled a little before he disappeared from sight. All of this had me thinking, then if he wasn't the one who sent me flowers, neither did Nathan nor my Dad...

.......then who did?