Purplephone One Shots

"Flower Shop" AU #1

Vincent sat behind a counter, brushing dirt off his apron. He smiled and waved to the old lady walking out with a cane in one hand and a bouquet of pink roses in the other.

"So long, Mrs. Jones!"

"See you later, Vincent!" The door to the shop closed, the faint tinkling of the bell signaling that the last customer of the day had left. Vincent walked over and turned his sign to 'Closed', calmly sighing. He dimmed the lights and attended to the nightly work.

A flower shop wasn't extremely profitable, but it was very rewarding. Vincent could only imagine the looks on lover's faces as they received the bouquets he'd picked for their partners. And soft, pastel petals gently swaying against the breeze as they sat in remembrance of a loved one. He picked and cared for every flower carefully. Every one was special. Every one would tell a story.

"Drink up now." He misted the roses with a hose. "Not too much."

The hose leapt from his hand when he heard banging on his shop window. He gasped and looked over, seeing a distressed-looking man knocking on the display window with his fists, money grasped in one hand. He went over to the door, trying to catch his distempered breath as he swung the door open.

"I'm sorry, sir, b-but we aren't open right now..."

"Yeah, but... it's an emergency." The man walked in, running a hand through his light brown hair. "Okay, look, my boyfriend's been cheating on me... the Ashley Madison kinda thing, you know. And basically, I'm looking for the best way to passive-aggressively dump him, and you look like the guy. What I'm asking is... how do you say 'screw you' in flower?"

Once Vincent could get a word in edgewise, he spoke up. "Dang. That guy sure seems like plant food to me... you know what? This seems serious. I'll do it." It was time to put his more obscure knowledge of flowers to good use. Daisies meant innocence, geraniums meant comfort... but he'd never tested out the more... negative meanings in bouquets before. "Alright... you're gonna need geraniums, first and foremost. And orange lilies." He plucked them both up, tucking them neatly into a large rubber band. "'Stupidity' and 'hatred'. Some foxglove, for his insincerity, and yellow carnations to say 'You have disappointed me'. It's quite striking!" He filled up the band with all the flowers and wrapped the whole thing in tissue paper. "He's gonna loathe it."

"That's the plan, bud." He held out a crisp Benjamin... a whopping hundred dollars, more than the place had ever seen in a single order. "I'm sure this'll cover it, and the inconvenience..."

"... woah. Y-yeah, sir, it will, uh..." Vincent took it tenderly in his hands. "Thank you..."

"Thank you." And with that, the mysterious man walked out.

The next day, Vincent was planting new seeds for geraniums, lilies, carnations, and foxglove to grow again, when the bell on his door rang its tiny melody, signaling another customer had entered.

"Hi, how can I--" The man from last night stood before him, grinning.

"It worked. He got the message." He laughed. "One more request for you... how do you say 'My name's Scott, and I'm sorry for barging into your store after hours but I'd like to get to know you' in flower?"

Vincent chuckled, pushing dirt over the seeds and misting them with the hose. "I'm sure whoever you plan on giving them to wouldn't mind pink roses. 'Sweetness and appreciation'. And this time, it's on the house."