Rose Marie Sanders was not someone who you could easily pick out of a crowd. A wallflower in every sense of the word, she never did anything to make herself known or to stand out in any situation. She was terrified of being noticed or drawing attention to herself and so she stayed in the background or shadows at all costs.

Rose was raised in a very strict conservative house. Her father was a hard preaching minister who believed women should be seen and not heard and ruled his family with an iron fist. In his house, women served the men - period. At mealtime, they fed the men first, eating after they were done. All other times, they waited on them hand and foot. When they wanted something, it was the woman's job to bring it to them whether it was a glass of water, the paper, or the TV remote. Women didn't speak unless spoken to and all discussions were finalized by his word on the matter.

The last of the five kids and the only girl, Rose was the last one considered in all family matters. Not only was she a woman, but she was a woman-child. She only had her mother to really talk to about anything - the "menfolk" didn't pay her much mind. And since her Mother didn't carry a lot of weight in the house either, Rose learned it was better to just keep quiet and move with the flow rather than try to have an opinion on anything.

This upbringing transferred to her young adult life as well. She had moved out and now had her own small, basement apartment and a job working in a big office mail room. She sorted the mail coming into the building into its various offices. It was the perfect job for her because she worked in the back and only saw a limited number of people, usually just the other two mail sorters that worked with her. On occasion, there would be a package delivery man dropping something off, but they were always in a hurry and didn't engage in a lot of conversation either.

Rose didn't have much of a life even without the social aspect. She had no family and no friends - she basically went to work during the day and went straight home after work to her basement apartment. The only break in that routine was when she went out to go to the store.

One day at work she was sorting the day's mail as usual. It was a routine day; nothing out of the ordinary. That is until he came in…

Michael was a new delivery driver for the local courier service. She had never met him before as he had only been on the job for a couple weeks. It just so happened that the other woman working with Rose in the mail room that day was on her lunch break when Michael came to drop off a package he was carrying.

"Well, hi there! I don't think I've seen you here before! My name is Michael. And who might you be?" he said in his usual bright, cheery voice.

This totally threw Rose off balance. She was used to the other delivery people just coming there handing her the package and the electronic signature machine and that was it. Maybe a "Sign here, please." but no real conversation.

Michael was different. He asked her her name and introduced himself. She had seen the other drivers for months and never knew their names.

"I-I'm Rose," she stammered, looking down shyly.

"That's a pretty name and it suits you… you know with your red hair and all. How long have you worked here?" he asked.

"About three years," she said.

"Well, I just started with Apex Courier a couple weeks ago so I'm still learning who is who. But I'll remember you that's for sure!" he said.

Rose gave him a shy smile and he was on his way. Rose thought about him and their first meeting for the rest of the day, smiling a bit when she recalled him.

Over the next few weeks, Michael delivered various packages to Rose's mail room several times and each time, he was his same charming self. He would engage her in friendly conversation and get her to tell him a little tidbit about herself each time. Rose was still very shy and hesitant, but Michael was not the type to be ignored and slowly she began to peel the first few outer layers away.

Slowly Rose began to find herself looking forward to his visits. He didn't come by every day, of course, but on those days he did, it turned out to be a good day for her. He somehow brightened her day whenever he stopped in.

It took about two months of his working on her before he got up the nerve to ask her out. One day on one of his regular deliveries to her mail room, he called her aside. She thought he had a package she needed to sign for or something but instead, once they were out of earshot of the other girls he turned to her.

"Rose I have been coming here now for a couple months and we have talked and gotten to know each other a little each time. How would you like to go out to dinner or something and that way we can really talk and really get to know each other, instead of this just a few sentences at a time thing?" he asked.

"When?" she asked.

"How about this Saturday?" he said.

"Oh, I can't this Saturday. I have already made plans," she said. She hated to lie to him, but her shyness and timidity made it hard to say yes to a date with him.

"Okay, no problem. Maybe some other time?" he asked.

"Yes, some other time maybe," she said, trying to end this conversation quickly before she committed to something firmer. Michael left to finish his deliveries and Rose kept doing her job as well. Although she kept thinking about his offer to take her out. She hated to turn him down like that - he seemed like a nice guy and she did like him. But dating was a huge step for a timid girl like her.

A couple weeks later, on another of his deliveries, he asked her again. "Hi, Rose! How's your day going?" he asked.

Pretty good Mike, how's your day been?" she replied.

"Not too bad. We've been a little busy, but nothing I can't handle," he said.

"Well, better to be a little busy than not busy at all and bored senseless!" Rose commented.

"True enough. Say while I got you here, how about going out this weekend? There's a great movie out now at the theater, and I found a great little restaurant we could go to as well or if you don't want to go to the movies," he suggested.

"I'm sorry Mike, but I'm going out of town this weekend to go visit my grandma. I haven't seen her for a long time and she has asked me to come see her," Rose said. Again she hated lying to this man who was so nice and gentlemanly to her, but Rose wasn't ready just yet. She had been thinking about him and trying really hard to work up the nerve to accept. She thought she was ready and had said to herself the next time he asked she would accept his offer, but when it came down to it, her history prevailed once more.

After Mike left this time, Rose went into the bathroom and had a good cry. She hoped he wouldn't give up on asking her… she really did want to go out with him. But her past was just too strong in her yet. It was hard for Rose to think of herself as date-able when she had always been put down and told she was ugly, unlovable, and that no one would want her.

But Michael wasn't one to give up easily, especially on something he wanted. And he wanted to go out with Rose. He saw something in her he really liked and he wanted to get to know her and see if they could make something out of their brief friendship. So even though she had turned him down twice now, his friendship and his cheerful attitude didn't lessen for her. He was still every bit as happy to see her as always and he made a point to stop by her office when he was in the area.

Then about a month later, he had to make a delivery to her mail room. By now they had gotten even more friendly and Rose was happy that they still could talk and that he didn't hold her refusals against her. Mike really was a good guy and he had helped to make her day more tolerable on several occasions when her boss was being a pain.

"Hi, Rose, I got a delivery for you here," he said, with his usual smile. He was carrying a box in his hands and set it down on the table right in front of her desk. Her co-worker was working alongside her at that moment sorting the mail.

"But Mike, this box doesn't have a label on it," she noticed.

"That's okay, it doesn't need one," he said as he lifted the top of the box up. It was a vase with flowers in it. "I know who this box goes to. These are for you," he said with a big grin. Rose looked at the flowers and then at her co-worker who had her hands over her mouth in surprise.

"Now Rose, I've asked you a couple times before but, would you please go out with me?" he said. Rose looked at him speechless. She looks at the flowers and at her co-worker again.

"Say yes, dummy! Any guy who asks you out and brings you beautiful flowers like this, you say yes to!" she said, elbowing Rose to get her to speak up.

"Okay, Mike, I'll go out with you," she finally said. "When?"

"Saturday night. I will pick you up at 7:00 and we will go out to dinner. Do you like Mexican food?" he asked.

"I love Mexican food! That sounds fine," she said.

"Good. I know a nice restaurant where it's not too loud and we can have a nice conversation, a good meal, and get to know each other better," he said.

"Okay, Mike. Saturday night then," she said, smiling shyly.

"Yes, Saturday night. Now what's your address and phone number?" he asked. She gave him her address and phone number.

"Now what's yours?" she asked.

"Oh no, young lady! You're not getting my number until after the date - I'm not giving you a chance to call me up and cancel at the last minute!" he said, chuckling.

With that, he left to continue his deliveries. Rose took the flowers and put them on her desk and fielded a dozen or so questions about her "new beau" from her co-worker!

Saturday came sooner than Rose would have preferred. With every day that passed, she got more and more nervous about being alone with Mike. He was a nice guy and she wasn't afraid of him; he wasn't the problem, she was. Rose was afraid to be alone with him for fear of what she might do. She was awkward and didn't know how to converse with other people. She had never really had to. She didn't know what to talk about or what to say when she did. She had those "first date jitters" but on a colossal scale. And now that Saturday was here, she had to get ready for her date.

Rose had looked through her closet the day Mike had asked her out. She knew she didn't have anything suitable to wear on her date, so she had stopped by a small boutique to get something to wear. She showered and got ready to go out. She was puttering around the house picking things up and trying to stay busy, so she wouldn't be too nervous about tonight.

Promptly at 7:00, Rose heard a knock on her door. She walked up and took a deep breath "Calm down, Rose, it's just a date. People do this all the time," she said aloud to herself. She opened the door and saw Michael standing in the hallway with a big smile on his face.

"Hi Rose, I remembered how much you liked the flowers I brought the other day to your work, so I thought you might like some for your apartment too," he said, handing her the flowers.

"You are so sweet! Thank you, Michael," she said. "Let me put these in some water then we can go. Make yourself at home, I won't be a minute," she said. She walked into the kitchen to get something to put the flowers in.

You've been watching way too many of those late night romance movies Rose! she thought to herself while she filled the vase with water. People don't really talk that way anymore!

She came into the living room and he was sitting on the sofa. "Okay, I'm ready to go, Michael," she said.

"Well, we have a few minutes before we need to leave. Our reservation isn't until 7:30, but I told you 7:00 because I didn't want you to feel you had to rush. So we can talk a little if you want," he said.

"Oh, I see," she said. Rose sat down next to him on the sofa, but with space between them… she was still very nervous.

"So what made you come to Los Angeles?" Rose asked, after an uncomfortable silence.

"Well, I decided I needed a change. You see, my fiance and I decided to call it quits before we made a mistake and got married. She lives in Boston and is very close to her family. I was living in Boston as well, but I got a job transfer to Los Angeles that nearly doubled what I was making there.

We had talked about getting married and then moving out here after the wedding. But when it came down to it, Debbie - that's my ex-fiance's name - would have missed her family too much. So we both decided to call it off. I came out here for the job and for a fresh start," he explained.

"Oh, I'm sorry Michael," she said.

"Oh, it's okay, Rose, it was for the best really. At least we avoided the whole nasty divorce business. Besides, that was almost six months ago now. We have both moved on and are happy," he said.

"How about you? How did you come to live in ‘Lost Angeles'? What brings a pretty, sweet thing like you to this land of sin and debauchery?" he said, grinning.

"I used to live in Muncie, Indiana. My father was a preacher at our church. I went to business college in Indianapolis and when I graduated, I went back home to Muncie. I lived there for awhile until both my parents died. I decided I needed to get out of there, too many bad memories. I had watched all the old movies about California and Los Angeles. It looked so wonderful… warm and sunny and everyone was always happy here.

So I thought I would give it a try. Of course, it isn't anything like the movies makes it seem," she said. Then quietly - almost to herself - she added, "But it is a good place to live if you want to get lost in the crowds."

Michael had heard that last part but decided to put it away and ask her another time about it. "Well, it's about time we headed to the restaurant, Rose. You might want to bring an umbrella, it looks like it might rain before we get back. That's another lie they tell you about this place - it does so rain in Southern California!" he chuckled.

"Okay, thank you," Rose said. She rummaged through her closet until she found an old worn umbrella and she put on her raincoat.

"It isn't much but hopefully it will help," she said when he opened it. The umbrella wasn't torn, but it was worn so much it was close to it.

"I'll try to park as close to the front door as I can," he said. Rose smiled at him then took his arm and they left for the restaurant. They walked out to his car and he opened the passenger door for her. Once she was seated, he went around and got in the driver's side himself and they headed for the restaurant.

"So where are we headed?" Rose asked once they got on the freeway.

"There's a new Mexican restaurant called El Sombrero in Santa Ana that I hear tell has pretty good food. Of course, finding a Mexican restaurant in Los Angeles is pretty hard I know," he laughed.

They headed south on the Santa Monica Freeway until they hit the Santa Ana Freeway and turned south on it, heading for Santa Ana. Once they got into Santa Ana, Michael began looking for the N. Main St. exit and, finding it, he got off the freeway. From there, it was only a few blocks to the restaurant. But by the time they got there, it had started raining a little.

Michael pulled into the parking lot and found it was pretty full. He couldn't park close to the front of the place like he'd hoped, even though they had a reservation. "I can't get close to the front door but I don't want you to get too wet so I will pull up to the door and get you inside then go park the car and meet you inside, okay?" he said.

"Okay, thank you, Michael," she said, smiling at his chivalry. He pulled out and came around to help her out of the car. She opened her umbrella and he helped her to the front door which had an entrance canopy to keep the rain off the patrons. Once she was out of the rain, he went back and moved the car to the closest parking spot, still some distance from the door.

By the time Michael got back to Rose, he was quite wet. "Oh, Michael! Poor baby, look at you - you're soaked!" she said.

"That's okay, I won't melt!" he said, "Let's go in and find out table." They went inside and the hostess took them to their table. Fortunately, it was close to the fireplace, so he could dry off a bit while they ate.

They placed their order and as they waited for their food the two talked more. Rose was beginning to really enjoy herself and Michael was excellent company. He listened intently to everything she said, seeming to hang on her every word. He didn't brush anything she said off or make any indication that what she said wasn't that important. Just the opposite; he seemed to eat up every word she said like it was food and he was starving.

Rose was getting surprisingly comfortable with him as well. This wasn't anything like she had built it up to be and she was finally feeling like she could talk to him and that she didn't have to watch every word she said. She began to be more at ease around him.

Dinner was wonderful; Rose hadn't tasted anything that delicious since coming out to Los Angeles. She was mostly eating frozen dinners or soup or something. There was no sense in making big fancy dinners when you eat by yourself all the time! And she never went out to dinner - first because she really couldn't afford it, but also because she didn't own a car. And she would have been too shy and timid to go out by herself anyway.

After they finished dinner, he paid the check and then went to get the car while she waited by the door for him to pull up. He pulled up and got out of the car to help her in. He folded up her umbrella and then closed her door. "The rain seems to have picked up some," he said once he was inside the car.

"Yes, it has. I hope it's not too bad back at home!" Rose said.

They headed back home to Rose's apartment in East Los Angeles. By the time they had gotten to the Santa Monica/Santa Ana interchange, the rain was really coming down. "Oh dear!" Rose said, "It's raining cats and dogs out there!"

He pulled up to her apartment and parked in the visitor parking spot. He got out and opened the door for her setting up her umbrella for her so she wouldn't get any wetter than she had to. He walked her to her door, "Would you like to come in and wait; maybe the rain will let up soon," she said, not wanting Michael to get any wetter than he was already.

"Sure," he said and they went inside.

She stopped him just inside the door. "Wait here I'll get you a towel," she said and she went into the bathroom coming back with a towel. "Here you go," she said. He dried his hair while she went to get him a robe to put on.

"Here, Michael, get out of those wet clothes before you catch your death!" she said. She turned around while he took off his shirt and pants. "Um… Rose, how far do you want me to take this?" he asked.

"Well if you are soaked to the skin I suppose you'll have to take your undies off too. I will throw everything in the dryer and you'll have dry clothes in a little bit," she said.

When he was undressed and had the robe nice and secure, he said "Okay, Rose, it's safe to turn around now."

Rose turned around and couldn't help but giggle at him, "Oh you look so cute! That pink robe and the floral embroidery just sets off your eyes!" she said, poking fun at him.

"Do you really think so, I wasn't sure if it was too much!" he said, playing along.

"Give me your clothes, stud, and I will toss them in the dryer for you," Rose said. He handed her the wet clothes and she took them to the dryer and tossed them in setting the dial and starting the machine. She came back into the living room. "Would you like a cup of coffee or something while we are waiting for your clothes?" she asked.

"Yeah, a cup of coffee sounds good thanks," he said.

"It will have to be instant; I don't drink a lot of coffee here at home. Is that okay?" she asked.

"Instant is fine," he said. "I'm not a coffee connoisseur by any stretch of the imagination. So long as it's hot, black, and strong it works for me"

"Well would you settle for kinda hot, black, and mid-strength?" she said.

"That'll work too! I'm sure the company will more than make up for what the coffee lacks," he said.

Rose blushed, "Okay, I'll be right back. Don't go anywhere!" she said.

He looked down at his robe, "I don't think you have to worry about that too much!" he said. Rose giggled again.

Rose came back a minute later with two steaming cups of coffee. She handed him one and she took one. Then she sat down on the sofa next to him but still keeping a space between them. Michael took a sip of his coffee then set it on the end table next to him.

"Rose, you can come closer… I haven't bit anyone for a long time now," he said. Rose smiled and moved a little closer. He reached out and put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her even closer. She sat there with him, but he could sense a nervousness… an uncertain uneasiness about her.

"Rose, did you have a good time tonight?" he asked her.

"Yes, I did. I had a very good time. Thank you for dinner," she said.

"Good, I'm glad, because I had a really good time too. Can I ask you a question then?" he asked.

Rose didn't know where he was going with this but it made her a little more nervous knowing he was asking if he could ask her something.

"W-what is it?" she asked, cringing inside. Oh please don't ask to spend the night! she thought.

"Well, you and I have known each other now for awhile and we have talked and seemed to get along. I finally was able to get you to go out with me, but you still seem… I don't know… cautious and hesitant with me. What's wrong Rose? It's the robe isn't it - you don't like men who wear pink!" he said, trying to get her to relax and open up to him.

"No, Michael, it's not the robe and it's not you. It's me," she said. Then Rose began to tell him about her past. About her family and how life in the Sanders household was for a young girl growing up. Michael listened carefully as he always did when she talked. He was amazed at what she told him about her early life and how deeply it affected her. He couldn't believe anyone could have been so repressed and so subjugated… how her parents could have crushed her spirit like this.

"Oh, Rose… I had no idea!" he said. "I mean I knew you were quiet and shy, but… damn!" he said, shaking his head. Then he took her hands in his. "Rose look at me," he said. She raised her head and looked at him. "Rose, honey, I like you… a lot. And I would like to continue seeing you and dating.

I promise you that I will never belittle you, talk down to you, or make you feel you aren't worthwhile when you are with me. What happened in your childhood was so wrong. It's a terrible thing to happen to anyone, much less a sweet girl like you. It will not happen anymore if I have anything to say about it," he told her. "And I will do my very best to make you forget about your past by giving you the best present and, if you are willing, future that I can."

Rose looked into Michael's face, her eyes darting back and forth as she processed what he told her. Then her eyes started filling with tears until they overflowed and began running down her cheeks. She didn't cry, but he knew he had reached her. When he saw the tears he wiped them away with his finger.

"Those are the last tears you will cry with me," he said. Then he pulled her close to him and this time she didn't resist. She put her arms around his neck and they kissed… the kiss that Rose had been waiting a whole lifetime for.