The oleander is a beautiful flower that represents love, destiny, and understanding. However, when consumed, this flower is incredibly toxic; even deadly.
Dahlia Davies is a college drop-out, struggling to run her father's flower shop. The bills ar...
Dahlia sighs. If she hired Kate right now, it would mean she could start next week and they'd have more than enough time to get everything ready for the fundraiser. James said he would give them more money to hire a fourth person if they needed to. He wants this to be perfect, and Dahlia is feeling the pressure already. He hasn't asked for a lot of centrepieces - just 15, but that's still a lot of work in between running the shop and having a life.
"I've gotta be honest with you, I'm drowning in emails and applications from actors already asking for days off. I need someone who can work solidly for the next two weeks, and probably beyond that. I'm looking at two more fundraisers in Barnes Towers and a birthday party."
"Barnes Towers? The hot hotel guy?" Kate asks.
"She's dating him," Wanda says with a smile.
Dahlia rolls her eyes, her cheeks turning pink. This feels like a conflict of interest, even though James has insisted that it's anything but.
"Wanda shut up."
"Are you serious?" Kate asks. "He was on the cover of Forbes last month."
"He was?" Dahlia asks.
"Yeah." Kate pulls out her phone and googles something. She hands it to Dahlia. Sure enough, there's a cover photo of James with a pair of sunglasses on. He looks fucking gorgeous.
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The headline is: "IT TAKES GUTS TO SAVE AN EMPIRE": Up Close and Personal with James Buchanan Barnes.
Dahlia swallows hard.
"Holy shit."
"Yeah. You're dating one of the most powerful men on the West Coast," Kate tells her. "Congratulations, girl."
"He's so hot in this picture," Wanda whispers, grabbing the phone. "Like, it's honestly offensive. Dahlia, you have to tell him to cut this shit out. There are women on the internet who can see this."
"Men too," Kate informs her.
"Yeah!" Wanda yelps. "He's out here making everyone horny! Son of a bitch..."
"Wands," Dahlia chuckles as she and Kate collapse into giggles.
She likes Kate's energy. It feels like she's worked here forever and she just walked in five minutes ago. Dahlia sighs. She'll ask James about the article, or look it up herself before he picks her up. She's got more important things to worry about right now, like trashing the rest of these emails that are still coming in.
"Well, if you're willing to start on Monday, I can pretend I never got all of these other emails," she says.
"Are you serious?"
"Yep. I can give you a pretty substantial wage for helping out, and if you want to stay on afterward, we can talk about it. I'm sure we'll need help."
