After He Gave His Assistant Gardenias, I Left Him

My husband couldn't stand the smell of gardenias.

Six years married, and there wasn't a single potted plant in our house.

Until my birthday.

That was the day I saw him buy out an entire flower shop, picking out ninety-nine gardenias for his new female assistant.

He said she'd just been dumped and needed comforting.

I didn't make a scene.

I just told the clerk to wrap up every last gardenia in the shop.

"Since you love them so much, take them home."

The assistant hid behind him, eyes red.

"Ma'am, please don't misunderstand. Mr. James only feels bad that no one loves me."

He tried to explain too.

"There's nothing between me and Sarah Fox."

I laughed.

"Nothing, except you forgot my birthday but remembered to buy her flowers."

"Nothing, except I sent you twenty messages and you didn't answer one, but the second she cries you buy out a flower shop."

"Humphrey James, that clean conscience of yours is worth a fortune."

1.

"Aren't you the one who can't breathe when you smell gardenias?"

The bouquet froze in Humphrey's hand, halfway raised.

The white petals crushed together, sweet enough to give you a headache.

The girl behind him blinked, eyes reddening, as if I were the one who'd been caught red-handed, not them.

"Ma'am, please don't get the wrong idea."

Her voice was thin and soft.

"Mr. James only came out to buy flowers with me because I was in a bad mood today."

I glanced at the electronic screen on the wall.

Ninety-nine gardenias, wrapping charged separately.

Some bad mood.

Bad enough that my husband had to swipe his card to cheer her up.

Humphrey frowned. "Elisa Winfield, what are you doing here?"

"It's my birthday," I reminded him. "Half an hour ago you said you had a meeting and couldn't make it home for dinner."

The clerk stood off to the side, so awkward he didn't know what to do with his hands.

Humphrey's throat worked.

"Sarah just got dumped by her boyfriend. She's a young girl, she was crying hard, so I stopped by to check on her."

Sarah lowered her head at once.

"Mr. James, this is all my fault."

"I shouldn't have bothered you."

"Ma'am must think I'm a terrible woman, but I really wasn't trying to take anything."

Listen to that.

Like green tea left to steep three days. Sour and overpowering.

I walked over and reached out to touch the bouquet.

"Not trying to take anything?"

"Then what are you doing holding flowers my husband bought?"

Sarah bit her lip.

The tears hung there, refusing to fall.

"Ma'am, Mr. James insisted on giving them to me."

"He said a girl should get flowers when she's sad."

I nodded.

"He's good at this, then."

"I've been married to him six years. Allergic rhinitis, asthma, can't stand the smell of flowers, no scents allowed in the house."

"Forget gardenias, even the detergent has to be fragrance-free."

"So it turns out it isn't that he can't stand the smell."

"It's that it depends on the person."

Humphrey's face darkened.

"Elisa, quit the barbed remarks."

I laughed.

Sarah's shoulders trembled.

"Ma'am, please don't talk about Mr. James like that."

"He works so hard, and you're at home full-time, so maybe you don't know how much pressure he's under."

"I only wanted to make things a little easier for him."

I raised my eyes to her.

"You, make things easier for him?"

"Using what?"

The shop went dead silent.

The clerk sucked in a breath.

Sarah's face flushed scarlet in an instant.

Humphrey slapped the flowers down on the counter and grabbed at me.

"Elisa, that's enough."

"She's only twenty-three. Do you have to humiliate her like this?"

I shook his hand off.

"What's twenty-three supposed to mean?"

"Twenty-three is old enough to have her eye on a married man?"

"You feel sorry she's so young. Why don't you feel sorry for your daughter, still at home waiting for her dad to cut the cake?"

Something impatient flickered in Humphrey's eyes.

"Lola has you with her."

"Sarah has no family, no one in this whole city."

I actually laughed, that furious.

He really had the nerve to say it.

I turned to the clerk.

"How many gardenias are left in this shop?"

The clerk froze. "Sorry?"

"All of them."

I took out my card.

"Including the ones in his hands."

Humphrey's brow twitched.

"Elisa, what kind of fit are you throwing now?"

I slapped the card down on the counter.

"Buy them and take them home."

"You like giving flowers, don't you?"

"Today I'm going to watch you give them."

Sarah panicked and grabbed at Humphrey's sleeve.

"Mr. James, I don't want them, I really don't want them."

"If Ma'am doesn't like it, I can leave."

"No one's ever protected me, since I was little. I can take being treated unfairly."

I nearly applauded.

She had the lines down cold.

And sure enough, Humphrey's face softened.

"Sarah, don't cry."

Then he looked at me.

"Elisa, have you made enough of a scene?"

"Today's your birthday. I'll make it up to you when we get home."

I stared at him.

"Make up what?"

"Make up a birthday you forgot, or make up the flowers you bought for another woman?"

He said nothing.

Sarah sniffled.

"Ma'am, Mr. James only pities me."

"You have a home, a child, the status of Mrs. James that Mr. James gave you. Why fight with me over a single bouquet?"

I walked up to her.

She instinctively shrank behind Humphrey.

I grabbed the flowers out of her arms in one motion.

The thorns dug into my palm.

The pain was very clear.

"Because these flowers were bought by my husband."

"Because my daughter asked three times tonight when her dad is coming home."

"Because I don't like people holding my things and playing the victim."

I shoved the flowers back into Humphrey's arms.

"Hold them."

Humphrey's face went ashen.

"Elisa."

I lifted my phone and took a picture of the two of them.

"Don't move."

"You're both so clean. What's there to be afraid of?"

Sarah burst into sobs.

Humphrey finally lost his temper.

"Delete that picture."

I waved the phone.

"I can delete it."

"You carry these flowers and come home with me."

"And you tell Lola, to her face, why her dad didn't come home to celebrate Mom's birthday with her."

His lips pressed into a thin line.

A few seconds passed, and he lowered his voice.

"Elisa, don't drag the kid into this."

I looked at him.

"So you do remember you have a kid."

The clerk carried out all the remaining gardenias.

Armful after armful, piled up like a funeral wake.

Humphrey's face drained of color, bit by bit.

I stuffed the receipt into his suit pocket.

"Let's go."

He stared at the flowers and didn't move.

Sarah cried harder.

"Mr. James, don't worry about me."

"I'll just leave."

"Someone like me was never worth being firmly chosen anyway."

Humphrey's fingers tightened.

The next second, he threw the flowers back onto the counter.

"Elisa, let me take her home first."

I blocked the doorway.

"You walk out and see what happens."

His eyes went cold.

"You really have to make this ugly?"

I stared into his eyes and said it word by word:

"Humphrey, you walk out that door today, and we're getting divorced."

He left anyway.

Sarah walked out behind him and glanced back at me once.

There were no tears in that look.

Only the smugness of someone who had won.

I stood there in a shop full of gardenias, the thorns pressing blood out of my palm.

The clerk asked me carefully.

"Ma'am, do you still want these flowers?"

I nodded.

"Yes."

"Send them to James Group."

"Leave them at the front desk."

"On the card, write: a birthday surprise from Mr. James to his female assistant."

The clerk's mouth opened.

"This..."

I sent over the address.

"Write it exactly."

By the time I got home, one corner of the cake had already caved in.

My daughter Lola James had fallen asleep at the dining table, still clutching the card she'd drawn for Humphrey.

On it, in wobbly letters:

Mommy and Daddy love each other forever.

I looked at it for a long time, something jammed tight in my chest.

Janet Chavez the nanny came out of the kitchen.

"Ma'am, isn't Mr. James back yet?"

I shook my head.

"Did Lola eat?"

"A few bites. She said she wanted to wait for her daddy."

I bent down and lifted my daughter into my arms.

She opened her eyes, half asleep.

"Mommy, where's Daddy?"

I stroked her cheek.

"Daddy's busy."

She tucked the card against her chest.

"Then I'll give it to him tomorrow."

I made a small sound.

"Tomorrow."

At midnight, Humphrey came home.

He carried the scent of gardenias.

And the sweet trace of a strange woman.

He softened his steps as he came in.

As if afraid of waking me.

I sat on the couch and watched him change out of his shoes.

"Where did you drop her off?"

His hands stopped.

"You're still up?"

"I asked you a question."

He tugged at his tie, his face all exhaustion.

"Sarah was upset. I sat with her for a while."

I laughed.

"Sat with her, in her lap?"

Humphrey's head snapped up.

"Elisa!"

"Did I get it wrong?"

I tossed my phone onto the coffee table.

"See for yourself."

On the screen was the post Sarah had put up half an hour ago.

A photo taken inside the car.

She was leaning back in the passenger seat, holding the gardenias he'd bought again.

The caption:

Someone told me I deserve to be loved properly.

Under it, someone had commented.

New boyfriend?

She'd replied.

Not yet, but soon.

Humphrey's face turned ugly.

"She's just a kid. She posts things without thinking."

"Twenty-three and still a kid."

I nodded.

"Then what does that make you, at thirty-two?"

"An overgrown baby?"

He choked on that.

After a moment he sat down beside me, his voice going gentle.

"Elisa, today was my fault."

"I forgot your birthday, and I shouldn't have given her flowers."

"But believe me, there's really nothing between us."

I stared at him.

Six years ago his business failed, and he was buried in debt.

I sold the little apartment I'd bought before we married and gave him the money to get through it.

Later, when James Group moved into skincare, the scent formula for their first hit product was one I spent three months perfecting.

He knelt in front of me and said.

"Elisa, from now on, half of James Group is yours."

Then, later still, Lola was born.

She was severely allergic to pollen, so there could be no fresh flowers in the house.

I quit my job and stayed home to raise our child.

Humphrey started saying.

"Don't worry. I'll earn the money and take care of you."

Now he'd taken care of one Sarah Fox.

A spoiled one, too.

I held out my hand.

"Give me the phone."

He was instantly wary.

"What are you going to do?"

"Unfriend her."

He frowned.

"Elisa, don't take this to the company."

"She's a new hire in the new-media department. She runs a few accounts that are doing pretty well."

I looked at him.

"Are you unfriending her or not?"

He said nothing.

Silence was the answer.

I stood up.

"Then there's nothing to talk about."

He grabbed my arm.

"You're going to freeze me out over one employee?"

I shook him off.

"It's not about her."

"It's about you."

"Humphrey, I don't like filth."

His expression changed.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

I didn't answer.

My phone chimed once.

It was a photo from the company front desk.

Dozens of bundles of gardenias piled in the James Group lobby, the card photographed clear as day.

Humphrey saw it too.

He shot to his feet.

"Elisa, have you lost your mind?"

"Tomorrow the whole company will be laughing at me!"

I lifted my head to look at him.

"So you do know it's embarrassing?"

He couldn't hold back the anger.

"Get someone to clear them out right now."

"Too late."

I locked my phone.

"The flowers have already been delivered."

"Here's to Mr. James and his female assistant, and all their sweet-smelling flowers."

His chest heaved with rage.

"Elisa, you never used to be like this."

I gave a faint smile.

"You never used to pick up trash, either."

He raised his hand.

The slap never landed.

Because Lola was standing at the top of the stairs, hugging her little bear, her face white.

"Daddy."

Humphrey froze.

Lola asked softly.

"Are you going to hit Mommy?"

Humphrey's hand dropped.

He crossed the room fast, wanting to pick Lola up.

"Daddy didn't."

Lola took a step back.

"You were mean just now."

Some of the anger left Humphrey's face.

"Daddy just talked too loud with Mommy."

Lola looked at me.

"Mommy, does it hurt?"

I went over and lifted her into my arms.

"It doesn't hurt."

She buried her face in my shoulder.

"I don't like Daddy like this."

Humphrey stayed where he was, a flicker of panic in his eyes.

"Lola, Daddy will take you to the amusement park tomorrow, okay?"

Lola ignored him.

I carried her up the stairs.

Behind me came Humphrey's voice, holding down the fire.

"Elisa, don't let our problems affect our daughter."

My steps didn't slow.

"That line's for you."

The next day James Group was in an uproar, just as I'd expected.

I'd barely finished making Lola's breakfast when Humphrey's call came through.

The moment I picked up, there was a low, furious growl.

"Happy now?"

"The whole company is talking about me and Sarah."

"Several partners have called to ask if I'm switching out Mrs. James."

I cut the eggs into small pieces.

"So are you?"

His breath caught.

"Don't get snide with me."

"Come to the company right now and get those flowers cleared out."

I glanced at Lola.

She was picking out the carrots.

I put the piece she didn't like back on her plate.

"No time."

"Elisa."

"I'm taking our daughter to the hospital for a follow-up."

There was a beat of silence on the line.

Lola's allergies had always been a serious matter in our house.

No matter how busy Humphrey was before, he'd always ask how it went.

This time he said,

"Have Janet take you for the follow-up."

"Sarah's crying at the company because of you, and she's new. You come here and clear this up."

The hand holding my chopsticks stopped.

"Clear up what?"

"That you sent those flowers on your own and it has nothing to do with me."

I laughed.

"Humphrey, you really are opening my eyes."

"You coaxed her into wanting flowers, I paid for them and had them delivered to the company, and now I'm supposed to wipe up after her."

"What, doesn't she have hands of her own?"

His patience ran out.

"Elisa, don't push me."

"I'll have finance cancel your supplementary card right now."

"Cancel it."

I switched the phone to speaker and held it up in front of Lola.

"Your daddy says he's going to cancel Mommy's card."

Humphrey panicked.

"Why are you letting the kid hear this?"

Lola looked up and asked, very seriously,

"Daddy, does Mommy have no money?"

"No, that's not what Daddy meant."

I took the phone back.

"Go on and be busy, Mr. James."

"I have my own money."

After I hung up, Lola sat in her chair, her little face pulled tight.

"Mommy, does Daddy not like us anymore?"

My throat went dry.

"No."

"Then why is he always with other people?"

I had no answer.

The children's hospital was crowded.

While we waited in line, Lola gripped the hem of my clothes.

"Mommy, I don't want flowers anymore."

"Okay."

"And I don't want Daddy giving flowers to other people either."

I crouched down.

"Lola, some things don't stop happening just because we don't want them to."

She half understood.

The follow-up results weren't good.

The doctor told me again and again,

"Keep allergens strictly controlled right now, especially pollen. Nuts too, don't let her near them."

I nodded.

"We've always been very careful at home."

I'd barely stepped out of the exam room when Humphrey's mother called.

"Elisa, what exactly are you throwing a fit about?"

"A man goes out for business, he looks after a young girl, so what?"

"Sending those flowers to the company, are you trying to embarrass Humphrey, or embarrass the James family?"

I walked toward the exit with Lola.

"Mom, if you like that girl so much, I'll have Humphrey bring her home to be your daughter."

"Don't you smart-mouth me."

She let out a cold snort.

"I've met Sarah. Sweet-tongued, hardworking, better than you sitting home spending money all day."

"Don't put on airs just because you had a daughter."

"The James family isn't short on granddaughters."

I stopped walking.

"Say that again."

Her voice rose.

"Did I say something wrong?"

"Back then, if you hadn't married Humphrey, could you live in a mansion, drive a luxury car?"

"Now your wings are strong, so you dare pick a fight about divorce?"

I looked at the people coming and going down the hospital corridor and suddenly it all felt pointless.

"Mom."

"Don't call me Mom."

"Fine. Ma'am."

She choked on that.

I went on.

"Don't worry. I won't cling to your son."

"When he has time, we'll go and finish the paperwork."

The line was quiet for two seconds.

Then quickly she laughed again.

"Who are you trying to scare?"

"You leave Humphrey, what will you raise the kid on?"

I looked down at Lola.

She was tilting her face up at me.

I fixed her hat properly.

"On my own skills."

Before the call had even ended, a familiar voice came from behind me.

"Elisa?"

I turned around.

A man in a white coat, his name tag reading

Jayden Henson.

My upperclassman from college.

Also, back then, the youngest head of the fragrance lab.

He glanced at the checkup sheet in my hand.

"The child has allergies?"

Before I could speak,

Humphrey's mother's sharp voice carried out of the phone.

"Elisa, do you have a man on the side?"

Jayden raised an eyebrow.

I hung up on the spot.

He looked at me and asked one thing.

"Has Humphrey been mistreating you?"

I didn't say anything.

Jayden didn't push.

He took the test results and looked them over.

"It's not mild."

"No flowers for a while, and stay away from anywhere with strong scents."

Lola looked up at him.

"Uncle, my daddy sends other people lots of flowers."

Jayden's hand stopped mid-page.

I wanted to clap a hand over my daughter's mouth.

He crouched down, level with her.

"That's your daddy being foolish."

Lola was completely serious.

"Can grown-ups be foolish too?"

"They can."

Jayden handed the results back to me.

"Some grown-ups stay foolish their whole lives."

I tried to hold it in, but the laugh got out anyway.

He stood.

"I'm consulting here today. I've got the afternoon free."

"If you're willing, I can redo a full allergy assessment for her."

The words were like a lifeline.

I nodded.

"Thank you."

He looked at me.

"Elisa, you don't have to be so formal with me."

I was about to say something when my phone rang again.

Humphrey.

I didn't want to answer.

But Lola said, quietly, "Mommy, answer it."

I hit accept.

Humphrey's voice was cold.

"Where are you right now?"

"The hospital."

"My mother says you're with some man."

I glanced at Jayden.

He'd turned to the nurses' station to get a form.

"Your mother also says I can't survive without you."

My tone was flat.

"Which one do you believe?"

Humphrey ground his teeth.

"Elisa, don't make me look into you."

"Go ahead."

I said it plainly.

"And while you're at it, pull up Sarah's hotel records too."

He went silent.

I'd only said it to needle him.

But his silence turned my stomach over.

"Humphrey."

"Did you two actually get a room?"

He denied it at once.

"No."

"Then why the pause?"

"I was thinking how bitter you've gotten."

I laughed out loud.

"You're carrying on with your assistant, your mother curses me for having a daughter, and your first thought is that I'm bitter."

His voice went ragged.

"I told you, I'll handle it."

"Handle what?"

"Handle me out of the picture?"

He didn't answer.

On the other end, Sarah started crying.

"Mr. James, please don't fight with your wife over me."

"Should I just quit?"

"Someone like me is in the way wherever I go anyway."

Humphrey went soft instantly.

"Don't talk nonsense."

I listened to the two of them play their little duet and hung up.

Jayden came back with the form.

"Do you want to sit down for a bit first?"

I shook my head.

"No need."

The assessment took three hours.

"The report will be ready tomorrow. I'll send it to you."

"Thank you."

"Elisa."

He stopped me.

"If you're going to divorce, I know a lawyer you can trust."

I froze for a second.

His expression didn't change.

"A few of James Group's early scent patents, I remember your name is on them."

"Don't let anyone get them out of you for nothing."

That line snapped me awake.

The Dylan Payne soothing-serum line, the one making James Group the most money right now, the core formula really was mine.

Back then, to make the company's funding easier, I'd licensed the patent to James Group.

The term was almost up.

Humphrey might have forgotten.

I hadn't.

On the way home, Humphrey sent a message.

Mom's birthday tonight. Bring Lola to the old house.

Don't embarrass everyone.

I stared at those few words for a couple of seconds.

Embarrass?

I'd love to see exactly who ends up embarrassed.

The old James residence was lit up bright.

When I walked in holding Lola's hand, the living room was full of relatives.

Sarah, in a pink dress, was clinging to Renata's arm and playing coy.

On her head she wore a pearl hair clip.

I recognized it.

It was the first gift Humphrey ever gave me, back when we got married.

Not especially expensive.

But the meaning was different.

Renata was grinning ear to ear.

"It looks lovely on Sarah."

"Young girls, they make anything look fresh."

Humphrey saw me and his face changed.

"Why are you only getting here now?"

I ignored him.

My eyes landed on the clip in Sarah's hair.

"Take it off."

Sarah touched the clip, and her eyes rimmed red on the spot.

"But this was a gift from your mother-in-law."

Renata smacked her chopsticks down.

"It's just a cheap little clip. Do you really have to?"

"All these years you've eaten off the James family, lived off the James family. What of it wasn't given to you by Humphrey?"

"I give Sarah one old thing and you have to snatch it back?"

The relatives' looks at me soured.

Humphrey came over and lowered his voice.

"Elisa, it's Mom's birthday today."

"Don't make a scene."

I raised my hand and pulled the clip straight out of Sarah's hair.

She cried out from the pain.

Humphrey grabbed my wrist.

"What are you doing?"

I dropped the clip into the soup bowl beside me.

"It's dirty now."

"I don't want it."

Sarah clutched her head, tears spilling down.

"Ma'am, why do you always have to humiliate me like this?"

"I only wanted to make your mother-in-law happy."

"Mr. James said you don't like coming to the old house, so I came to keep her company in your place."

I looked at her.

"In my place?"

"Then do you want to sleep in the master bedroom in my place, have my children in my place, get divorced in my place?"

The whole table went silent.

Renata shot to her feet, furious.

"Elisa, have you lost your mind!"

"I'd say the ones who've lost it are all of you."

I took the documents out of my bag and slapped them on the table.

"This is the notice that the patent license has expired."

"Starting next month, that soothing-serum line of James Group's can't use my formula anymore."