Picking Daisies on Sundays

by Liana Cincotti

I would’ve believed him too from the way his eyes darkened, and voice softened. It felt romantic and intimate, as if we shared secrets before getting ready for bed together and knew what each other’s lips tasted like.

It was like looking into a picture frame from the outside. His love for his family was so abundant that I wished I could bottle it.

Levi had a sharp angle in the curve of his jaw, charm in his smile, and a way with words that made him different than everyone else.

I remembered the years when his mother struggled to make ends meet and he would tense every time she opened a bill. That fear didn’t just go away.

I suppressed a laugh, but I couldn’t suppress my smile. ‘I can’t, I’m supposed to have a meeting with Ethan.’ ‘Screw Ethan! We don’t need him.’ I laughed. ‘Maybe I could move the meeting.’

Could I live like that forever? Waiting for my heart to catch up with reality?

everyone; I couldn’t let him kiss me when he didn’t even have feelings for me. That was the equivalent of getting addicted to a drug that wasn’t prescribed to you in the first place.

‘Levi,’ I said in surprise, a familiar pang hitting my heart that only happened with him in the room.

‘She’s with me,’ Levi interjected. Suddenly, a hand was on my exposed back, and I was being guided by Levi through the crowd. His breath hovered over my ear as he said, ‘I’m not with you for one second and men are already throwing themselves at you.’

They’d paint roses around us on the border. My ankles and knees would be pricked by thorns while he remained in the bed of the flowers. The Lover and the Archer, they’d call it. The girl who kept falling in love, and the boy who received love from whomever he aimed his heart at.

‘Everywhere we go, people are infatuated by you, looking at you and yearning to talk to you. I…’ He paused for a long moment. ‘I am infatuated by you.’

So, I hope it helped when I said, ‘I think that makes you the most compassionate man on the planet.’

I’m so worried about them every second of the day. I’m so worried something’s going to happen to them.’ Like it did to my dad were the words left unsaid. That’s what grief did to you, right? It never let you live in peace.

For a man who had trouble saying no, he was a hard person to say no to.

You look at life sometimes as if your only result will be failure.

I was so tired of taking things personally, so I tried to keep my thoughts on the side as she spoke.

I’d rather live through romance movies and be single than have a bunch of average dates.’

I had only kissed him once before, but it was enough to know I never wanted to kiss another man again. No one else had compared.

‘I’m so grateful for everything I have in life, I am. But when I see you, all I can think about is how much better life would be if you were mine. I’m so infatuated with everything you do, from the color of your lips to the way you slide your hips back and forth when you dance to the way you twist your earrings when you’re upset or how you blush when I touch you and how you breathe when I say Daisy.’

‘Because when you find out the person you’ve been in love with for your entire life loves you back, you’ll spend the rest of your life making up for lost time.’

I’d get on my knees and worship her if I could have this every day. Her hips my altar and her lips my religion.