"Alright, and I'll have that ready for you on Thursday." I smile, placing the order slip into the pile.
"Thank you, sweetheart. I'm sorry it's a bit last minute." Mr. Garcia apologized.
"Don't worry about it! You've been coming here since I opened, Mr. Garcia. It's the least I can do." I beamed. It's not last minute, but to him it is. I've known him long enough to know there is no point in arguing with him.
"You're a dear, you know that?"
I chuckle and walk outside with him, he gives me a quick side hug before we exchange 'good-byes' and he starts down the sidewalk, giving me one last little wave. With a smile on my face, I walk back into the shop. Sliding onto one of the stools behind the check-out counter, I open my laptop and start working on the schedule for next week.
I'm focused heavily on the screen before me, until I hear the door chime, which causes me to lift my head. There is a tall man dressed in all black with a large bird tattoo on his neck. I give him a smile as I slip off the stool, "Hi there! How are you?"
Without taking his eyes off the organized flowers on the wall he answers, "Fine, you?"
"I'm good! Is there anything I can help you with today?" I ask, walking around the check-out area to stand near him.
"I'm looking to send some flowers to someone, is this like a make-your-own?" he asked as he gestured to the wall.
"It can be if that's what you want to do. I like giving people the option to make their own, but I can always make it, if you want." I give a little shrug.
"This is your place?"
"Yep, I opened it about five years ago." I gleamed.
"Business good?" he asks, looking around the empty shop.
"Uh, yeah, I would say so. Luckily, there's always a reason to buy flowers." I chuckle.
He gave me a light chuckle in response before returning his attention back to the wall. "What's your name, mama?"
"Citrine."
"Like the rock?" he asks.
I chuckle and nod "It's a long story."
"Maybe I'll hear it sometime. I'm Rio." he smiled.
"Nice to meet you. So, what's the occasion?" I asked, stepping closer to him. I'm not going to lie, this man is very attractive, but I've never been the best at flirting.
"Let's say it's a... 'thinking of you' occasion. Is there a flower that says that?" His voice travels throughout the shop and it's so beautiful and deep but not too deep and I could listen to it for hours.
"Well, um I don't think so, I mean you can put whatever you want on the card so they know you're thinking of them. But, I don't think there should be rules for flowers. However, certain rose colors mean certain things, like yellow is friendship, and red is love." I ramble.
"Good thing I got you, huh? Definitely don't want to say love." he laughs. I chuckle along with him.
"Alright, did you want this for delivery or did you want to take them today?"
"Today."
"Alright, no problem. So usually we start with a vase-" I started, but was cut off by him asking "Don't they just come in plastic?"
"In some places they do, usually bigger corporation stores, but I try to lean away from plastic as much as I can, but if you don't want a vase then I'll happily wrap them up with some newspapers."
He chuckles a little to himself before replying with "Nah, a vase sounds good, mama."
Ugh, he can call me 'mama' as much as he wants.
I show him the selection of vases we have in stock, he asks which is my favorite, which I point out and he agrees on that one. I place the vase on the counter before returning to him at one of the walls of flowers. We went over the different kinds and he chuckles when I begin to over explain. I feel my cheeks heat up each time. They heat up even more when he makes the comment "It's alright, darlin'. It's good that you're passionate about something."
Once we finish picking the flowers out we head back over to the counter and I begin to arrange them.
"You work here alone?" he asks.
"Oh, no I don't. I have a few employees, but during this time of day it's usually not too busy and one of them is actually on lunch right now."
He gives me a smile and nod before watching me arrange the flowers once again. I grab one of the shipping boxes under the counter and begin folding it up for the journey. I place the vase delicately inside. The box is made so that the vase has a better chance to stay upright during the trip.
"Alright, there you go!" I beamed.
"They look great." he smiles. I can feel my cheeks heating up again as he complimented me. He notices and his smile turns into a slight smirk.
"Would you like to add a card? They come with it, but sometimes people don't want them."
"Do you think you could write it out for me?"
"Sure!" I reach back under the counter, grabbing a card and pen. I lean on the counter and prepare myself. Normally, I wouldn't write the cards unless they want it to look fancier, but Sarah's handwriting was better for that than mine. "Whenever you're ready." I state, looking up at him.
"Can you just put 'Thinking about our last encounter.' and then an R?" he instructed. I quickly wrote it down and showed it to him. He gave me a nod and I stuck it into the bouquet.
I began typing into the register, which is just a laptop on top of a money drawer, "Alright, that'll be $43.27." I say.
"Really? After all you just did for me?" he smiles.
My cheeks are heating up again "No, it's fine, really. I like helping people."
He reached into his wallet and handed me a fifty, and insisted I keep the change. We went back and forth before I gave him a small eye roll and finally gave in. He grabbed the flowers and began heading to the exit. I rushed up to him to hold the door open. He looks at me and chuckles once again before thanking me. And just like that he was gone.
I sigh before letting the door shut and start to head back to my laptop. I made it ten feet before the door chimed once and I turned around and Sarah was huffing and puffing like she just ran a marathon.
"Are you okay?" I ask.
"There was a shooting, not far from here!" she screams.
"What?" I exclaimed.
"It was a bunch of federal agents that got shot, can you believe that? And like literally not too far from here!" she huffed. I rushed back behind the counter to grab her water bottle as she sat on the ground of the shop. I gave her the bottle and she chugs half of it before speaking again.
"It was crazy! Like cop cars and news people everywhere and like no one saw anything." she continued.
"What should we do? Do we close shop for the day? Do you feel safe here? I don't know what to do." I began to feel anxious, I don't want Sarah to feel unsafe. I don't want to feel unsafe.
"I say we close before the sun sets so we can be out of here before it gets dark." she recommends. I nodded in agreement and made her stay in the office with me while I finished the schedule. When the door chimed we both went out to greet the customers. But for the majority of the day we both sat in the office, talking.
After locking the front door and checking it Sarah and I began walking to my parking spot. It was closer than her's so I told her I would drop her off at her car. She said "It's just around the block, I'll be fine." but I insisted. After today, I'm not taking any risks.
She climbs into my car and I head down to the next intersection, opposite of the way to her car so I can circle around the block to get her right beside her car. When we pulled up I insisted she check her backseat before she entered the car, and I made sure her car started before I headed off.
Ugh, home. My little apartment is small, but nice. I don't need too much space, considering it's only me living here. I've thought about getting a dog or cat, but I would feel bad leaving them alone all day. I could always bring it to the shop, but a cat might not like traveling in a car all the time... ugh, decisions.
I wash my face and take a long shower, changing into some old pajamas, that have definitely seen better days, making myself some dinner and plopping down on the couch to watch tv. I watched for a while before washing the few dishes I have and I falling asleep on the couch.