C9 Chapter 9

Rosa narrowed her eyes at Sophia as she playfully glared at her. “You have been seeing a guy without my knowledge, Sophia?”

Sophia opened her mouth to respond but just then the door swung open and Stella walked in about to say something but she stopped at the sight of the flowers. She looked between Rosa and Sophia.

“What is going on here? What are we celebrating?”

Rosa tilted her head discreetly at Sophia. Stella’s eyes widened.

“You got flowers?” She asked as she closed the door behind her and approached Rosa’s table. “From Nate?” But she didn’t need to wait too long for an answer. She picked the card from the table, read it and her eyes stretched wider. “Matt Wolffe?!” she turned slowly to face Sophia. “Matt Wolffe?” she repeated.

“Yes, Matt Wolffe…”

“How the fuck did you meet Matt Wolffe, Sophia? You’re a hermit, you don’t go anywhere besides the hospital and the club.” She read the card again to be sure she was seeing correctly. “Matt Wolffe is inviting to dinner? How did you meet him?”

Sophia shrugged and glanced at Rosa. “I met him at the club last Friday.”

Stella’s brows nearly disappeared to the roots of her hair. “You met Matt Wolffe at Ricky’s club? Okay, today is getting even better. You’re sure it was him you saw? What did he look like?”

Sophia shrugged. Oh, he was handsome but if she said that Stella would be leaping on her like a leech. “Tall, expensive suit,” she frowned slightly, “he wore a heavy coat, blue eyes, dark hair, solid...”

Stella let out a breath and looked bewildered at Rosa who was watching the exchange. “You met him, baby, you met Matt Wolffe. Oh my God, Sophia, you met the man, the myth, the legend. He is fucking rich, hot, sexy…And he’s inviting you for dinner? You are going aren’t you?”

“Uh…wait a minute,” Rosa finally said. “She met this guy once, he invites her to dinner and you want her to go? Stella, I think there’s a lot to be considered here.”

Stella rolled her eyes. “Always the voice of reason, aren’t you Rosa darling? Look,” she grabbed Rosa’s phone from the table, opened it and keyed some words into a search engine. Turning the phone to Rosa with a flourish she said, “ this is who asked her to dinner.”

Rosa collected the phone from her and looked at the picture of Matt displayed on her screen. A small smile appeared at the corner of her lips. “Ohhhh, that Matthew Wolffe?” she glanced up and Sophia who was now watching them both with her hands crossed on her chest. “Sophia…”

Sophia held up her hand but Stella interrupted whatever she was going to say when she lifted the velvet box and opened it to reveal a red gown with thin straps that crossed at the back. Every eye in the room fixated on the dress.

“What the actual fuck! No way!” Stella laughed. “This is sexy as hell, Sophia. You have to wear this!”

She pinched the soft material of the dress between her fingers and gave Rosa to feel it too. The gown was beautiful, Sophia agreed, but the thought of wearing it left a bad taste in her mouth. Matt Wolffe, who literally said a few words to her in the back room at the club was inviting her for dinner and even got a dress for her.

“I am not wearing that,” she declared.

Rosa and Stella turned to face her. “What?”

“I am not wearing it. This guy is a creep if he thinks I’ll accept his oh-so-thoughtful gifts and wear this dress just to please him like a…a whore!”

“You are overthinking this, honey.”

“I am not! Don’t you find it weird? This guy obviously wants something from me.” She grabbed the dress from Rosa and held it up. “Look at this. This gown says ‘I am a bitch, fuck me please'”

Both Stella and Rosa roared with laughter clutching their sides. Sophia dropped the gown and glared at both of them.

“I can’t believe you guys find this funny.”

“Sophia,” Rosa said in a chiding tone. She was almost like the mother hen of their friend group. “That’s going too far. It’s a nice gown and Matt seems like a nice man…”

“Right,” she replied with a roll of her eyes. “Who sends sexy dresses on the first date.”

Rosa heaved a sigh. “Look, it’s a…uh…an unusual gesture but you don’t know that he wants to have sex with you.” When Sophia rolled her eyes again Rosa approached her and held her arms. “You have rejected Nate and every other guy that asks you out, now this guy, a bit forward, to be honest, wants to take you out for dinner. You don’t have to be interested in him to go you know? Just…go and see what he’s like.” She winked at Stella. “Decide whether or not you like him and if you don’t you can come back and continue living your life of sworn nunnery.” When Sophia continued to stare at her while debating in her head how she ended up being friends with the both of them Rosa squeezed her shoulders. “He even sent flowers,” she said in a singsong tone. “That’s old-fashioned and I know you love old-fashioned.”

Sophia smiled. With Rosa giving her huge puppy eyes she found herself struggling to resist. Suddenly she threw her hands up. “Okay, okay. I’ll go. I’ll see what this guy wants, tell him off if he gets too forward give you guys the details you’re already dying to hear.”

Both Stella and Rosa squealed in excitement as they pulled her in for a hug.

Sophia stared at the roses. There had to be more than 4 dozens of them. Once Stella and Rosa left the office she picked them up, a plan already forming in her mind. The flowers were too beautiful to dump in the bin and she had better use for them. Ignoring the curious stares of the people passing the hall she made her way to Freddie’s ward. He was laying on his side, the IV tube in his hand was gone and he was asleep. He looked peaceful in his sleep but she knew how hard it was for him to finally fall asleep during the early hours of the morning. He was such a strong boy. Even though he felt more pain than he admitted, he didn’t want to see his mother worry too much about him so he told her he was feeling much better so she could go to work that morning. Walking quietly to the sink at the other end of the room she filled a large jar with water and dumped the roses in and arranged them. Then she placed it on Freddie’s bedside table which was painted white and had several drawers. Stepping back she smiled at her handiwork. That would cheer him up when he wakes up.

Sucking in a deep breath she left the room. “Now it’s time to teach Mr. Wolffe how to ask a lady to dinner.”