Seductive Ambiguity

Divine took the bouquet into her hands and smelled it. Hmm, wonderful! She saw a little note was tucked into the bouquet and read it.

“Someone once said that nothing, and no one, goes beyond the beauty and purity of the roses. Little did the person know that somewhere in this world, there is a rose even more beautiful and sweet…You, Divine. With love, Lucas.”

This note excited Divine greatly. She felt as though she wanted to scream out in joy; feeling very happy. Looking over the note again, she took the phone and dialed Lucas` number.

“Hello?” he answered.

“Hello, my darling. How are you?” Divine asked nervously.

“I`m very fine, princess, I’m enjoying your call, in fact. You’ve received the roses, I’m assuming?”

“Yes, they are right here in front of me,” said Divine. “They are very beautiful, Lucas, thank you for your gesture. I really appreciate it.”

“Someone once said that nothing, and no one, goes beyond the beauty and purity of the roses. Little did the person know that somewhere in this world, there is a rose even more beautiful and sweet…You, Divine. With love, Lucas.”

This note excited Divine greatly. She felt as though she wanted to scream out in joy; feeling very happy. Looking over the note again, she took the phone and dialed Lucas` number.

“Hello?” he answered.

“Hello, my darling. How are you?” Divine asked nervously.

“I`m very fine, princess, I’m enjoying your call, in fact. You’ve received the roses, I’m assuming?”

“Yes, they are right here in front of me,” said Divine. “They are very beautiful, Lucas, thank you for your gesture. I really appreciate it.”

“It`s nice to hear that.”

“May I invite you to lunch? A small reward for your noble gesture?” Divine smiled, though she knew Lucas would not be able to see her smile.

“It will be my utmost pleasure. Please come to my office at Brown`s Company, and from here, we could go to wherever you have in mind. Do you know where it is?”

“I think so; I will find it.”

“Okay. You go up to the thirty second floor, room three. Alright?”

“Alright, Lucas. See you then! Have a wonderful day!”

“Thank you, my love. Goodbye!”

“Bye,” Divine replied happily. She looked at the roses one more time before going to the bathroom, shortly returning with a half-filled vase and placed the bouquet in the water. After that, she started her work duties with incredible enthusiasm. As it was nearing the lunch hour, only the presence of Rachel made her realize that it was already noon.

“Hey, Divine, how`s going?”

“Hey, I`m working on some financial calculations. My God, I didn`t even noticed how fast the time passed.”

“Yes, I can imagine. You can go now and have lunch. I will replace you until you get back,” said Rachel.

“Okay, Rach. I`m not going alone to lunch,” said Divine, gushing to her friend.

“With who, then? Oh, don`t tell me, Lucas?”

“Exactly. He was the one who sent me the flowers, and as a small reward, I asked him out to lunch.”

“I`m so happy for you, Divine. Your happiness is my happiness,” Rachel said, excited for Divine.

“Thank you.”

“Okay, off you go now, you don`t want to make the man wait for you, do you?”

“Of course not,” said Divine grabbing her bag. “I`ll be back in an hour, okay?”

“Okay, have fun and send my best wishes to Lucas.”

“Alright, I will,” said Divine, going towards the exit. From there, she went to her car and left for Lucas`s company. Upon arriving, Divine stepped inside and went towards the elevator. She pressed the thirty-two button and to her destination. Exiting the elevator, Divine found Cecily at her desk.

“Hello, where can I find Mr. Brown?”

“He is in a meeting now, but it will be finishing soon,” said Cecily, looking intently at Divine.

“Is everything alright?” Divine asked, perplexed by Cecily`s long look at her.

“Yes…excuse me, please.”

“May I wait for him in his office?”

“Of course. You just have to enter through that door,” said the assistant, showing Divine the door of Lucas` office.

Smiling, she opened the door and entered his office. She was impressed by its design, but more so of its order.

Very disciplined, Lucas…she thought to herself. She went towards his library and browsed through his books where she discovered some really interesting titles. She then went towards the big window and looked out over the city. Marvelous! she thought as she took notice of her ability to see the resort, though it was far away, and much smaller in view. She returned to the desk and sat on Lucas` armchair. Suddenly, her smile disappeared when she saw a portrait on the desk on her right side. 

The portrait of Lucas with Evelyn. No, this couldn`t be true! She took it in her hands and looked at it, her eyes tearing without her realizing it. She turned it around and saw a little message written behind it. 

“For you Lucas, with all the love…your wife, Evelyn.’’

At that very moment, she felt her heart had frozen in her chest; out of breath from the shock of seeing the picture of Lucas and Evelyn on his desk. This was even bigger for Divine because it came with two revelations—one was finding out that Lucas was married, and two was that she shared a huge resemblance to his wife, Evelyn. 

Her balloon of happiness and joy was pricked. She needed to leave immediately; no longer able to stand remaining in Lucas’ office. Crying, she put the portrait back on the desk, grabbed her bag, and almost went running to the door. When she opened it, she ran into Lucas, and he was puzzled by the expression on Divine`s face.

“Divine, darling, what`s wrong?” he asked.

“You are a bastard!” she replied, as she passed next him to get out.

“Divine,” said Lucas, going after her, “what`s wrong?”

“Don`t you ever look for me again!” she answered furiously and left.

Still confused, Lucas returned to his office. He then noticed the position of Evelyn’s portrait on his desk had changed, immediately understanding Divine’s reaction.

“Damn it!” he shouted and slammed the door shut. 

This wasn`t true! It couldn`t be! Did Lucas replace Divine with his wife all this time? No, this was too much for her, she couldn`t take it. Divine was caught in a sea of thoughts by the time she reached the resort. How could she be that blind by love? She hated herself for not seeing through it before getting involved with Lucas. Finally, she entered the resort, trying hard to hide her face from everyone, desperate to not be obvious with the fact that she had been crying. She went straight to Rachel, who was immediately worried when she saw her friend in her distressed state.

“Divine, what`s wrong?” she asked.

“Lucas…Lucas lied to me, Rachel. He lied to me!” she replied, bursting into tears again.

“How did that happen, Divine?” Rachel asked, taking her friend into her arms.

“He’s a bastard, and I don`t want to ever see him again! Never!” Divine answered, still crying. “Rachel, please let me go home, will you sit in for me? I feel like I`m about to collapse and it`s horrible.”

“Of course, honey, sure you can go home,” said Rachel, looking at her friend. “I`ll come to see you later and talk about it, alright?”

“Yes, please do come,” said Divine. “I`ll wait for you.”

“Okay, I`ll be there. Please go home now and as soon the shift is over, I`ll come, alright?”

“Okay, Rachel. Thank you,” Divine said, leaving as fast as her legs could carry her.

Rachel was feeling really awful, although it wasn`t her that was caught in the situation. Nonetheless, she cared a great deal about Divine, and it hurt her to see her like this.

“Damn, these men!” she burst furiously.

“Rachel?” Marc asked as he came closer to her.

“Yes?”

“I just saw Divine leaving the resort, she was very upset. May I know why?”

“It`s involving the man she’s in love with, it seems that he lied to her about something.”

“What a pity!” Marc answered. “But maybe it`s just a misunderstanding.”

“We shall see.”

“Anyway, Divine is a strong girl, she will come out of it well.”

“I surely hope so,” Rachel answered with a thoughtful expression. “I sure do hope so.”