I felt weary when I walked into work that day. I knew that another present was waiting for me and I didn’t want it. I needed to get him out of my mind but he wasn’t going to let it be, so I did the right thing and sent them back. Every single parcel had been returned.

The first gift had come as a surprise. This large, ostentatious display of flowers. There were several roses of exotic colors, and other flowers I didn’t even recognize. The humiliating part was receiving it in front of the staff lounge, so plenty of people got to see.

No name came with the gifts, but I knew who they were from. There was only one person I’d been with who had the kind of money to keep buying me things like this.

Mason.

He probably kept his name hidden so the others wouldn’t talk. The problem was while they weren’t talking about Mason, they sure talked plenty about me and how lucky I was to have seduced some rich guy.

As if!

I didn’t know why he was so interested in me. I’d figured the one night between us would have been enough. He didn’t seek me out for a while, and I assumed everything was okay, but then the gifts started, and I wondered if avoiding him pushed him to try this.

After the initial surprise of the gifts and me sending them back, I hadn’t known how to feel. There was anger, resentment, all sorts of negative emotions whirling in my chest once I realized that this was his new tactic to try and get me to see him. Above everything else was a disappointment. One minute I felt as if I was getting to know him and that the relationship I’d never envisaged having was slowly becoming my reality.

There was one question that kept entering my mind, how did Mason see me?

It had plagued my mind, almost become an obsession like Mason sending the gifts. It shouldn’t matter, considering we were nothing to each other anymore. I couldn’t help letting it get to me. It had taken some time for me to work through my feelings after that first gift, and in the end, I’d locked myself up in a bathroom and cried my eyes out for half an hour before going back to work.

Ever since that first time, every single darn time I received one of those gifts, I would break down and cry again.

It had been a week and I was tired of crying. I was also getting sick of the rumors flying around. I didn’t snag some rich guy. It was just a spoiled child who probably saw me as one of his toys that wanted to get away, and he was doing this to try and stop that from happening. If anything, it just cemented the fact we really couldn’t be in a relationship together. I wouldn’t accept even a fling. Because that just wasn’t me.

Not that I would ever let the bastard know just to what extent he could affect me, that he could bring me to tears with an expensive gift.

I’d never asked him for one anyway, so why was he sending them? It was a poor choice if he thought it would change my mind. If he’d clued into the fact I was avoiding him, he could have just respected that.

He probably didn’t even know how his treatment seemed to outsiders. I mean, I was a maid, and I’d always grown up not having much. What did he expect, that I would wear designer clothes as I walked down the street? I wasn’t nearly so ashamed of myself that I thought I needed a wardrobe change. I couldn’t wear the expensive jewelry he sent me while working. That would only lead to stares and questions I’d rather avoid. And the candy… for the sake of my health, I couldn’t eat it. And just seeing them so intricately packaged, I could only guess at the price and the lavish tastes, they didn’t suit me even if I did eat them.

Mason was treating me like his mistress. I wasn’t some man’s trinket. I was a human being, with thoughts and emotions; not someone who’d fall all over a man for expensive gifts. I was pretty minimalistic. I’d always lived on a budget and I didn’t see any shame in it. It was my life, after all.

I didn’t wear a lot of jewelry to begin with, not unless I had a date, and then it would be a simple pair of earrings and a necklace, maybe a bracelet and some rings. I had quite a few, and all of them had been left to me by my mother. I was lucky enough not to have lost them with all the foster houses I’d been through, and I treasured them too much to replace them with anything else, even if that ‘anything else’ probably cost way more than my entire jewelry collection.

I didn’t collect trinkets like the starlets he was probably used to having on his arm and inviting to his parties. They might appreciate receiving something from him, but if it wasn’t something I could reciprocate, then it was going to make me feel uncomfortable. No matter how young, good-looking and rich he was, I wasn’t going to stand for being treated like one of his conquests either.

Thankfully, when I made it into the staff room, there wasn’t anyone waiting for me to come in to deliver some new gift. There were plenty of staff milling around just watching the door like they wanted to check out what else was coming, as if it was any of their business. I understood how sensational it was for them though. Nothing like this ever happened in the time since I’d worked at the hotel. I wanted to crawl under the table just to escape their stares, but then I saw an inviting face and immediately felt some relief.

“Jessi!” I hurried to join her on the seat, sticking close to her side for moral support.

“Hey, Laura,” she said, keeping her voice casual, and even throwing an arm around my shoulders to pull me closer. I shot my friend a grateful smile. “Thank goodness you came early. I was worried you’d get here late and your drink would already have cooled down by then.”

I looked at the table in front of us, and for the first time noticed that there were two mugs on it and a plate of pastries. I reached for one, feeling grateful my friend was a really good pastry chef. We dug in, and I felt just a little lighter because of it.

“Do you mind telling me what’s going on?” she asked, keeping her voice low.

Thankfully, there hadn't been any gifts coming in, and before it got too late to clock into work, other staff started disappearing and going to their jobs. I still had some time left, and I couldn’t help but sigh as I noticed the room was nearly empty.

“I want to, but I’m not sure if I should,” I said honestly, hesitating to open up but feeling the need to confide in Jessi. She was my best friend. She was the right person to talk to, especially because I hadn’t been honest with her about Mason.

She arched an eyebrow. “You’ve got a man...” She paused waiting for a reaction from me. “Someone that keeps sending you these gifts…”

“There wasn’t one today,” I said, feeling hopeful. “I just hope he finally got the message,” I said with relief and disappointment at the same time.

She nodded with a quirk of the lips. “Yeah. Only during the holidays or your birthday, and only if you get to respond in kind. You refused some of my presents when I gave them to you. Do you remember?”

“You give me treats plenty of times and I eat those,” I pointed out. “So what exactly are you upset about?”

“I'm not upset about anything. Just I know I kept things from you when I was having issues with Trent, and I will respect your decision if you decide to do the same, but…”

“I know,” I said, bumping my shoulder against hers lightly. “You’re here to listen to me if I want to talk about it. I offered you the same thing, remember? I just… don’t think I want to.”

“Because you can't talk about it?” she asked.

I shook my head. “Because I just want to forget it. It… was a moment of weakness for me. While I couldn’t call it a mistake, it’s not something I plan on repeating, either.”

She nodded in understanding. “Whoever it is, they seem pretty determined to get you back.”

I snorted and rolled my eyes. “That bastard can just go and throw himself off a cliff if he thinks this is the way to go about it. Expensive candy and delicate gold bracelets… I’m not the kind of woman to be bought by that kind of stuff.”

“I know you’re not,” she said, soothing, patting a hand down my back. “Here, why don’t you finish up and we can both get to work before we’re late, hmm?”

I did as she asked, picking up another pastry and biting into it, then bringing the sweet mocha drink to my lips for a sip. It was a little too much sweets, but I figured I deserved something like this. Besides, while Jessi didn’t know about the whole cancer thing, she knew how careful I was about my health and my diet. She was doing this as a pick me up, and she hadn’t tried to get me to test taste anything for her for a few days.

“We better head out,” she said once we had everything done. We took the dishes to the kitchen, where she caught me by surprise as she pulled me into a quick hug. “Hang in there, okay? I’ll talk to you again after work.”

“Thanks for being such a good friend, Jessi,” I said simply.

She smiled at me, then went off. I did the same before changing in the nearly empty lockers. Nothing else had come, and I hoped it was the end of those presents and Mason seeking me out. If he’d kept it up, I would have gone to look for him myself just to get him to stop, because I wouldn’t have him thinking any of this would win me over.

I managed to get through work without any incidents, and at the end of the day, I felt relieved when I got home. For the first time in a while, I thought I could relax, and went to get out my knitting. I hadn’t sat down for long, though, when there was a knock on my door.

Putting my knitting aside, I went to see who it was. I didn’t usually get visitors, so I was curious. I opened the door, and my jaw dropped.

Mason was standing at my doorstep. Great, he didn’t send a gift this time, just himself. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. I’d missed him, but I had to think of myself and that meant keeping him as far away from me as possible, It was going to be hard.