Chapter 8

Early in the morning, the doorbell rang several times. I stretched lazily. Another enormous bouquet of roses, ninety-nine of them, piled up outside my door. I sighed and called Luke. "Please stop sending these. It's wasteful, and I don't like them anyway. Luke, I want you to spend your time on worthwhile things, not on me." "Nora, I truly like you." "I appreciate your affection, but affection is worthless to me now. I believe you like me, but I believe even more that true feelings can change in an instant." "I hope we can remain friends. But if you keep doing this, we can't even be that." I spoke very seriously, leaving no room for ambiguity. There was a long, long silence on the other end. I knew Luke understood. I truly believed Luke liked me. Otherwise, he wouldn't have broken ties with his lifelong friend for my sake. But how much love is there? In the end, it all comes down to conscience. I hung up and started clearing away the flowers. I made the roses into small bouquets to give