This story is complete and utter fiction, made up by me and my imagination. Feel free to vote, comment, compliment or complain. I have the rest of the story planned out and written in rough over about four parts.
Onto the story.
I was a 'normal' guy living a 'normal' life, 36 years old, married to a great woman called Laura and had three gorgeous kids, Joe at 14, Darren at 13 and Hannah at 11. I lived in a four bed roomed detached house in a lovely housing estate, near to family and friends. I also owned my own advertising company which was doing well (Still do and is), with contracts and jobs coming in week by week which allowed us to have a comfortable life. I thought myself to be a kind and caring boss with all my staff and I hoped that they respected me more for it.
Ok, so my life and marriage wasn't exactly as brilliant as people thought it was. We had or ups and downs as with any couple, but the last few months we hadn't made love, or been intimate once. Marriage guidance had helped, but after 16 years, I think we both knew what was coming. Yeah, so I loved her and she loved me but something was missing for the both of us, especially me. My kids mean the world to me, so we stayed together. We remained good friends though and got along well.
Being bi-sexual, I'd experienced gay sex when I was younger and found to like it – a lot. Since I met Laura, I hadn't really thought about it, or another man in that way. I'd look and admire, but nothing would come of it and I wondered if maybe that was the problem, that maybe I needed to do something to get it out of my system. I never did though, and vowed to never cheat on Laura and we had both agreed on that. I would leave before going into another relationship and she said the same thing. She knew about my sexuality and at first it worried her, especially if a cute guy walked by and I would glance his way, but she trusted me to be faithful and I trusted her.
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It all happened so suddenly, the way I found out about my secret admirer. One minute I was just going about my day to day business, getting up, going to work, coming home and chatting with my wife and the kids over dinner, going to bed. You know same old thing every day. But then, out of nowhere, my life takes a dramatic turn in a way I never thought possible.
The week actually started off as normal. Monday morning I got up, showered, shaved, dressed and had breakfast. As I was about to leave the house, the post came so I picked it up. I decided to open my mail at work and leave Laura's for her to open at home. Sitting in my office, I opened up the bills and junk mail, arranging everything in order as I'm such a neat organized freak. I noticed that there was an envelope with just my name on, no address, just my name in handwriting. It looked like a birthday card type envelope, but it wasn't my birthday anytime in the near future. I guessed it must have been hand delivered sometime during the early morning. Inside was a plain card with a red heart on the front, and inside that, it read…
'Daniel You are the most wonderful person I've ever known and mean a lot to everyone, mean a lot to me. I love you with all my heart and soul. All my love, your secret admirer xxx'
I stared at the card for what must have been five minutes before my secretary walked in. I quickly came back to life and hid the card away. The look on my face must have been one of shock and surprise because she came rushing up to me like I'd just passed out.
"Are you okay hun, you look like you've seen a ghost." Mary asked as she made me drink my morning coffee.
"I'm fine thank you Mary; I've just read my home phone bill. It's come as a shock, the kids are growing up too fast, I think words will have to be said when I get home."
She smiled and talked about her children for a moment before walking away. I thanked her but I didn't want to mention the card, not yet anyway. She would only start to become detective and I wasn't sure what the whole thing meant anyway. The phone bill story wasn't a lie though; it did seem to be getting higher each time. Kids!
Once the door shut I looked at the card again. I didn't recognise the handwriting, but then again I was sure it would be disguised. I thought about who it could be; maybe it was Laura, maybe someone at work or various female friends/acquaintances, maybe one of the lads. Maybe it was just a simple prank, a joke to make me think someone actually fancied me. Yes that was it, a joke.
I took that as the obvious answer and swore to never give it another thought, but still put the card in the locked draw for future reference. I casually kept a closer eye on people as I walked around my building and offices during the day, watching people as they passed, the way they looked or talked to me. Did they laugh or snicker? Did they flirt or tease? I figured that someone would give something away somehow, but then I figured I was just wasting my time and left it alone.
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To be honest, I forgot about the whole thing until I was caught by surprise four days later on the Friday. As I walked to my car in the morning, there was a single red rose held down by the windscreen wipers. I picked it up and looked around me for any signs of unusual behavior. Nothing. I placed it on the passenger seat and drove to work, curios and confused. When I got there, in my parking space was another single red rose, taped next to my name on the brick wall. I quickly removed it, looked around me again and sighed. Grabbing both roses, I took them with me up to my office. I was seriously beginning to think someone was having me on.
I looked at everyone again as I walked through. Nobody seemed to be acting strange or unusual, but I guess they wouldn't want to be really obvious. Mary looked at me with a funny expression as I held the two roses and glanced around. I could see the questions forming in her mind. It was a damn shame that even I couldn't explain it myself. I shrugged my shoulders and walked into my office, slumped down in the cool relaxing leather chair and stared at the two roses that some unknown person had left for me. I thought about it for a while, a long while. So this person knew where I worked and where I lived. I suppose that narrowed it down a little, but still, most people at work knew where I lived.
Mary came in with a coffee. She smiled and said good morning as she normally did. Was it her? At 52 she was a little too old for me. Anyway I doubted it would be her, she was very happily married and had just renewed her wedding vows. But then again? Nah, stupid idea, she was more like my mother. Urrghh! I shivered at the thought.
"Roses?" She asked. I nodded. "From?" I shrugged. "Hmmm. Secret admirer huh?" She asked. I pulled the card out from my drawer and showed it to her. I didn't mind Mary seeing it. Mary was my lifeline at work. She'd been with me from the start, through thick and thin. She knew about my personal life and marriage problems. I could trust her with anything. My kids adore her.
"So what do you think?" I asked. I valued her opinion greatly.
"Oh Daniel, I'm not sure. I think this person is honest and true, but there isn't much you can do about it when you don't have a clue who it could be. Keep it safe. I'll put these in a vase for you. Try not to worry yourself over it for now. Let me know the next time you receive any contact. I'm just as intrigued." She patted my cheek and left with the roses, coming back a few minutes later to put them on my desk.
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