Her Inked Scars

confusion

"Nyoka, Izzy is unwell today so I'm going to need you and Grace to separate out her tasks evenly between you. I'll be in my office if there's anything you require me for, have a good day." She doesn't even wait for either of us to agree before disappearing into her office, her door slamming behind her making me flinch.

"So what jobs do you want?"

Grace quickly decides, leaving me with most of the shop front duties. With what she's left me with it also means that I have to miss my lunch break. She disappears off quickly as well before I can refute or get her to cover just enough time in the shop front to let me have my lunch.

I groan to myself as I return to the room of vibrant flowers and potted plants, flipping the closed sign to open and stepping behind the till. Celeste trails behind two customers, two takeaway cups in hand. She smiles and weaves around the customers, slipping the small steaming cup onto the counter along with a thin paper bag, the top folded over and taped.

"What's this?" I ask, shuffling the package closer, trying to see through the paper.

"A cookie. White chocolate chip," she smiles.

"Thank you, they're my favourite," I exclaim. She smiles and claps her hands excitedly like a seal as she places her own cup down. She leans over the counter, staring at me as I shrink back behind the counter.

"Sorry, suppose I should get back to work, right?"

"I don't know. It's your business and your schedule, and I don't know it. You do," I respond sarcastically.

Her expression contorts to an unimpressed smirk as she scoffs. She reluctantly gets off the counter as I tap her arms to free space for the tip jar I'm required to put out and hide away each day. Celeste steps away from the till, examining flowers around the shop, sniffing our bouquets of roses as I serve the customers she had followed in.

Once they've left, Celeste saunters up to the counter, gently placing down a fresh bouquet of red roses. My eyebrows raise at her, wondering if she's serious but she keeps a straight face as she pulls out her wallet from the back pocket of her trousers, her dark brown eyes locking with mine.

"Are you going to ring it up then?" She asks as I continue to wonder if she's actually buying one of our most pricey bouquets.

"Cash or card?" I ask, trying to treat her like a regular customer but with her sly behaviour it is quite the struggle. She waves her card and taps it against the card machine that pumps out a roll of wax paper. I tear it off and hand it to her. As she takes the bouquet she slips out a single rose, passing it to me with a shallow bow.

"See you around, Nyoka," she waves, the bell above the door jingling behind her.

I shake and smile to myself as I twist the flower in my fingers, being careful not to catch my skin on any of the thorns. I wince as a slip of paper tied to the end of the stalk slices my finger. I suck at the small drop of blood seeping out from the shallow cut as I unravel the paper from the trimmed green stem.

A short message is scrawled on the white scroll requesting me to visit Celeste later today, after my shift is done. Why tie it around a rose stem?

I have all day to think and decide if I'll actually visit her. For now I have to get the extra work that's been piled on me done while tending to the shop and the customers that flow through at a steady pace throughout the whole day until the sun is almost ready to start setting.

As I flip the sign to close and glance again at the note from Celeste that I'd tucked into the pocket of my apron, finally making up my mind to see what she wants. I barely know the woman, we spent only last night together, but she doesn't seem to have any bad intentions and she is much less creepy than I first found her. Plus she didn't reek of tobacco and smoke today.