123 Red roses - red-roses

Now it’s October. Will visits his gran, but he does not see Anna. He walks along the corridor, but he does not hear a guitar.

‘Where is she?’ he thinks.

Anna visits her family for a week, then she comes back to her apartment. She looks for Will, but she does not see him.

‘There are lots of men!’ says Vicki, but Anna cannot forget Will.

Then Gran goes to hospital for two weeks. One day Will visits her there.

‘How are you today, Gran?’ he asks.

‘Very well thank you, dear. I’m going home on Friday.’ 

‘That’s good,’ says Will. ‘Perhaps I can get some things 

for you on Thursday and take them to the apartment.’ 

‘That’s very nice of you, Will,’ says Gran.

After work on Thursday Will goes to the shops and gets some things for Gran. He gets some roses, too, and he puts everything in his car.

Suddenly it begins to rain. Will is getting into his car when he sees his friend Tom.

‘Where are you going, Tom?’ says Will.

‘Home — to Eastfield.’

‘I’m going to my gran’s apartment in Charlton, so I can take you to Eastfield first.’

‘Can you take my friend Anna, too? She’s going to Charlton.’

‘Yes of course,’ says Will.

Tom and Anna get into Will’s car.

‘Thanks, Will,’ says Tom. ‘It’s not a very nice night!’

‘That’s all right, Tom,’ says Will. He drives Tom home, and then he says to Anna, ‘Where are you going, Anna?’

‘I’m going to Grandview Apartments. It’s on Park Road.’

‘That’s funny,’ says Will. ‘I’m going to Grandview Apartments.’

‘Is it her?’ he thinks. ‘The girl with the guitar?’ He looks in the mirror, but he can’t see her face very well.

‘Can I smell roses?’ thinks Anna. ‘Is it him - the man with the roses?’

Then they are outside the apartment building. They get out of the car, and then they begin to talk at the same time.

‘Oh! It’s you!’

‘You play the guitar!’

‘And you come here with roses!’

‘Yes — I always bring roses to my gran.’

‘His gran!’ thinks Anna. ‘Not his wife, not his girlfriend.’

‘She’s coming home from hospital tomorrow, so I’m taking some things to her apartment,’ says Will.

‘Can I . . . would you like some help?’ says Anna.

‘Yes please!’ says Will.

They go up to Gran’s apartment. Will puts things away, and Anna puts the roses in a vase.

‘There — aren’t they lovely!’ she says. ‘I like roses. They smell wonderful.’

‘Thank you for your help, Anna,’ says Will.

‘That’s all right,’ Anna says. ‘Look - would you like to come up to my apartment for coffee?’

‘I’d like to very much,’ says Will.

He smiles, and she smiles. They go upstairs.

On Friday Gran comes home. Will goes to see her. He is carrying a bunch of red roses.

‘That’s a big smile, Will!’ says Gran. ‘Red roses - don’t they say “Red roses for love”?’

‘Well, Gran . . .’ says Will.

Ten minutes later, Will comes out of Gran’s apartment and goes upstairs. He’s carrying a bunch of red roses.

Gran goes out onto the balcony and sits down in the sun. 

She can hear a guitar. Then it stops.

Gran hears Will’s voice, and Anna’s voice. Then Anna laughs.

Gran smiles. She can smell roses - beautiful red roses, in the sun, outside on a balcony.