Something That Glitters

Prologue

I am in the densely populated borough of NYC that is Manhattan. Everywhere you look there are people, most are on a hustle and some are at their leisure.

The sun was just right above us. Taxis were dropping corporate people to places and onboarding passengers one after the other, but mostly they're just honking at the lousy street with heavy foot traffic.

No one's stopping on the sidewalk for nothing. Either go further in the sidewalk if really needed or be the New Yorkers' pin in a nonstop game of pinball.

At a nearby coffee shop, may mga businesswomen na nagkukwentuhan habang umiinom ng kape at kumakain ng croissant sa enclosed sidewalk table. Naka-sunglasses iyong mga babae dahil walang malaking payong sa inuupuan nila. Hindi tulad doon sa tabing lamesa na isang matandang lalaki naman ang nagbabasa ng dyaryo kasama ang kape niya.

I'm usually up by six in the morning so I could head to work on my trusty bike. No money for taxi. Bikes are awesome! No carbon footprints, no fuel, no nothing. In conclusion, bikes are heroes! Also, uhm, skateboards, too. Except when people on it bumps into you then I guess they're as bad.

Our flower shop opens up at eight a.m. At habang walang bisita ay kumakain ako ng pandesal na gawa ni Tonette, my boss florist slash my landlady.

Well, it's nine in the morning now and New Yorkers are out and about. And me, I am tending to the flowers displayed right outside our store. Okay, so here we have, uhm, I'm not really good with flowers so I'm just gonna read their names or whatever.

Here we have Peonies, Gerbera Daisies, perennial Dahlias, Forget Me Not (wow Philippines represent! Jk touch me not pala iyong kay Rizal), and okay napapahiya na ako rito.

Meron din kaming potted plants sa sahig. I'm reading here a Pansy, a Creeping Jenny (woah easy there, Jenny!), a succulent that is Echeveria, an aloe vera, and an I'm-tired-of-reading-I'll-continue-next-time.

Naglipat ako ng potted plants sa kabilang side ng entrance ng shop. Pagkatayo ko ay pumeywang ako dahil sa bigat. Sa kabilang street ay may humiyaw na lalaking naka-beanie at tumuro sa akin.

"Good morning there, beautiful florist!"

Aww. It made me smile. While my hands were clasped on my chest, I mouthed to myself, nodding, "Thank you. That is me."

Dahil malayo na ang nalalakad noong lalaki ay binigyan ko na lang siya ng thumbs up. He just grinned and put his sunglasses on.

I continued to do my job. Baka mapagalitan na naman ako ni Auntie Tonette. We're not blood-related, but we connect, you know? She'll say no if someone asks about that, but I know her heart. I feel like we could like things similarly, see the world in one pair of eyes, agree that a straw has two holes. Things like that. Except that I'm young and she's old—matandang-dalaga kaya masungit. Don't come after me for that hasty generalization, I said what I said, okay? Change my mind.

Tumingala ako para masinagan ang mukha ko ng mabait na araw. I smiled and exhaled, my shouldered bounced.

Inayos ko ang ponytail ko habang nagmamasid pa rin. I've only been here for, what, three weeks? Not sure about the time and day now, it's crazy. It's like Monday all week.

Oh, across our flower shop, there's Jerry~ who's all things but a cherry~ and whose lifetime goal was nothing but to frown. He's on his lounger, reading his daily news as well. At midday till dawn, he ran a little tavern called Jovial Tavern, which obviously was not named after him.

He hissed at m—hissed! At! Me! And I wasn't doing anything than look at him. I feel offended? Did he feel offended that my precious eyes were taking glorious reckon at his being?

Oh, Jerry~

I still smiled at him, pero mga one second lang. He's still old. Need to respect the elderly like how I respect my grandparents.

While I was behind the cash register, my favorite human came in. My crushie, Archer. I beamed at him but he wasn't friendly much to beam back. Maliit na ngiti lang ang binigay niya. Okay lang sa 'kin, sus! Who knows kung ano ang iaalay niya sa akin kapag napa-ibig ko na siya?

"Hi, do you like me?" I asked him, rektahan na 'to boy!

Three weeks na ako rito wala pa ring nangyayari!

Dapat meron na. Like? Maganda naman ako. The beanie guy could attest to this! Yes, I do wear black clothes often for someone who works at a lovely flower shop, but no one cares! Only Tonette.

"Hello?" I called when he didn't answer.

"I'm sorry. What?" Naningkit nang bahagya ang mata niya at kumunot ang noo.

Naka-fitted long-sleeved shirt siya at maong ang pang-ibaba. Nakita ko rin sa ibaba na naka-Oxford shoes siya na kulay khaki.

"Ah, tanong ko lang kung gusto mo ba ako," I repeated.

Nagtataka pa rin ang mukha ni Archer. What a dreamy boy, only he's that clueless of his own true feelings.

"Uh, no?" hindi niya siguradong sagot.

I nodded to myself. He so likes me! That's the conclusion.

I grinned. Oh, I'm definitely going to enjoy New York City!