I never once during college had a boyfriend on Valentine's Day. My roommate, ditto. Somehow, no matter how good things were going the rest of the year, there was never a man around to send us flowers and give us chocolate and wear red teddies for. My roommate dubbed it "VD Day" out of sheer spite.

VD Day sucks if you are single on the big day. My saddest, most bedraggled VD Day ever was the one the year after I graduated from college. I didn't even have my old roommate to commiserate with, or anyone else for that matter, because I had just moved to DC to start my new fabulous career and didn't know a soul. Oh yeah, I also didn't have a fabulous career, just a temp job.

I had temped at this particular gig for a couple of months when VD Day hit. Being new to office work, I was unfamiliar with the rule that a man in a relationship is required to send flowers to his woman's office on Valentine's Day. The mandatory flower delivery doesn't even count as a present— that's just what a guy has to do to get to VD Day baseline.

So many flowers arrived at our office that Valentine's Day that soon it looked like a florist's shop. By the end of the day, floral arrangments adorned every woman's desk but mine.  I didn't know most of these people very well. With each arrival, I felt more and more alienated because I knew no bouquet was going to be arriving for me, so I couldn't play in this little office game of oneupmanship. In fact, it was quite obvious that I was at the bottom of this game in which I was an unwilling participant. I felt my color slowly going out of me as I endured what felt to me like a series of insults.

One of the project managers was a vivacious, pale-skinned redhead. She had hit the triple jackpot of personality, looks, and smarts. I'll just call her "Lucy," since I don't remember her real name.

Around 9:30 a.m. Lucy received a bouquet of two dozen long stemmed coral roses. Sure, we had a few roses already around the office by this time, but these were a cut above, obviously expensive and impressively arranged.

 A couple of hours later, the receptionist was seen carrying another bouquet to Lucy's desk: multi-colored tulips in a tall, sleek vase.

Last, but not least, Lucy gets a gynormous confection, a concoction of what appears to be every flower that grows on the face of the earth, plus probably a few that were hybridized and named just for her

After the third delivery, I felt I had become actually invisible.

As I'm walking out of the building, I stop to gaze in wonderment at the  floral extravaganza that is Lucy's desk. Looking down on the front of her desk, two pieces of construction paper caught my eye. The one on the left read, "The Doctor is In." The one on the right: "Love Advice 5 Cents."

With that I had to admit that Lucy was one seriously cool chick. Lucy then spent a few minutes with me, explaining how she ended up with so many flowers. The roses were from her mother. The tulips were from an admirer she had met the other day on the plane. The gargantuan creation from her boyfriend. Her charm was considerable and her attention made me feel like I existed again. I walked out of the office with a smile on my face.

Happy VD Day everyone!!