The Photographer and The Florist: A PerayaAU COMPLETE

The Photographer and The Florist: Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Singto stepped into the bright fluorescent lights of the display room of The Language of Flowers from the dim sidewalk and had to let his eyes adjust. Color was everywhere and his nose detected both sweet and pungent aromas that belonged uniquely to a floral shop. Several display tables were set with sample floral arrangements ranging from casket sprays to vinery on trellises. It was a typical florist shop with a variety of flowers and knickknacks on display, but the sign on the back wall is what caught his attention. The top slogan read, "When words fail, say what you mean with flowers," followed by a list of common flowers and their meanings. Day lillies represented the beloved mother, peony was for bashfulness, sunflowers for adoration. Of course, roses had their own meaning by color, red for I love you, pink for happiness, yellow for jealousy, etc. There were even a few herbal plants that had specific meanings like thyme and rosemary, and even a few nonflowering plants like oak and ivy. You could customize your arrangements to have quite the conversation and never say a word.

Krist was nowhere in sight, but Singto could hear sounds coming from the back area through another door behind the counter. He assumed that was the direction to the coolers where the flowers were kept. He nearly came face to face with Krist when he suddenly appeared in the doorway from the back room. Myrtle and lavender, if Singto remembered correctly from the wall plaque. Marriage and devotion. How fitting.

"Oof! Sorry! Didn't know you had actually come in. Here, can you put this in the truck? It's unlocked. I will get another one. Just put it in the back seat, but leave room. There's 6 more big vases, and the smaller bouquets I will put into a couple of boxes that can go in the back end. The wind won't affect them like it would the bigger ones. I will bring the vases out and set them on the counter here, and then find the boxes for the others. " Singto took the vase and Krist disappeared again into the back. What flashed through his head was, "So much for having time to converse, Macy."

It took less than 15 minutes, and all the flowers were in the truck. It had taken some doing to make sure they were not crushing against one another, and despite his earlier thought, they did manage to have a working conversation over the floral arrangements. Singto did manage to satisfy one curiosity –Krist did have experience in floral design and he was the one that made the vased arrangements, while his aunt made the bouquets.

"Whew! Thank you for helping. Now I have to get these across town to the venue and set up before first light." Krist shook his head. "That is going to be a pain." He bit his lip and unconsciously raked his fingers through his hair with a sigh, before glancing at Singto, who was shutting the tailgate on the truck after loading the boxes into the back. "Hey, do you want to go to the venue with me and help set up? It's still early for you, right? You can ride with me, and I can bring you back here before your shop is to open. It's not that far from here."

Singto's mind raced. On one hand, he wanted to get back to the studio and start working on those photos he took this morning. Other the other hand, he could actually spend some time with the beauty, and if he took his camera with him...a good photog never missed an opportunity.

"Umm, sure. Just let me go tell Macy so she knows where I went."

"Thanks! How about meet back here in about ten minutes? That will give me time to put a sign on the door and lock up."

Singto hurried across the street. The morning traffic was starting to pick up to include more than just the random stray car. He had to knock on the door because Macy had locked it behind her and his keys were in his camera bag.

Macy opened the door. "Sorry. I locked it because it's still early and I didn't want to be startled because I was in the back with the chemicals. All of the cameras are back in place and Baby is on your desk."

Singto headed to his office and grabbed his camera. "I'm going to help him set up the flowers at the venue. He is running out of time and won't be able to do it alone. Have you put the chemicals in the trays yet in the dark room?"

"No, I was going to do that as you knocked."

"Then wait for that until I get back. It shouldn't be long. Download the images to the software and back them up on the external terabyte. Pick about 10 pictures at random from any of our Overlooked Project, some of mine, some of yours. Get them ready as digital print SOOCs. If you decide to edit any with the software, just save the jpeg as a copy, don't destroy the original. We will use those first as testers before we mess with this morning's images. That should keep you busy."

"Care if I play music?"

Singto shook his head as he made sure his keys were in the camera case before slinging it over his shoulder. "I don't care, just don't be obnoxiously loud about it because of the other businesses and it is early. Just keep the door locked until opening time. I should be back by then. Oh, and here." He reached for his wallet and handed her some money. "Go get something from the Café, my treat. But wait until it gets lighter so you are not walking the dark street alone and make sure you have your phone on you."

Macy smiled. "Such a gentleman to worry about me. Aww. Oh, you better hurry. I think P'Krist just came out of the shop. I will be fine."

"I haven't forgotten your meddling. Behave. Or I will ban the TLR use."

Macy gasped in horror clutching her chest dramatically, before smirking slightly as she watched her boss hurry back across the street to Krist who just motioned for him to get in the truck as he slid into the driver's seat. She locked the door as Krist merged into traffic. "Oh P'Sing. You are head over heels. You just don't know it yet. But you wait. You will thank me for meddling." She turned and rubbed her hands together. The studio was hers for at least an hour, possibly two.