Flowers from 1970 - DNF

You were my flower

The flowers were fine, George thought.

He had gone outside and noticed the Calendulas slowly blooming, and a sense of relief took over his body knowing he wasn't a complete screw up at gardening. He made a mental note to tell Dream about it later tonight.

Then he remembered: Dream had not called in the past week.

The first night he was worried but understood sometimes Dream got caught up in things, and he'd apologize for forgetting to call the next day, but that was not the case. It happened two, then three more times until George was starting to get worried.

His mind filled with things that could have happened, all negative. The worst scenario being that the reason Dream had not visited him in 2020 was because he had lost his life before then, maybe in 1970. He shook these thoughts from his head and tried to think of the positive, like the flowers finally growing.

He walked back into his house and bedroom, trying not to meet eyes with the telephone because he'd only get worried again. Instead, he reached for his cellphone charging on the desk and saw he had missed texts. He unlocked his phone to read them, they were from Wilbur.

Wilbur: George, good morning. Don't worry, I'm not asking you to babysit Tommy again, haha. I actually wanted to see if you'd like to come to dinner tonight? The last seat was actually reserved for my father, but you know he's at the hospital nonetheless he insisted someone fill his seat as he didn't want it to go to waste.

George had not been out to a proper dinner since he lived with his family in England. The ones he had been to had been strictly business related with colleagues, with the talk being mainly about work, so he didn't count those.

George: Are you sure your father doesn't mind?

Wilbur's typing bubble appeared right away.

Wilbur: Well, he insisted lol, so I'd assume not.

George: I'd like that, then. When and where?

Wilbur: 6:30 at the Minx, better go get there at 6.

George's eyes widened, The Minx had been the priciest restaurant in town. Even the wealthiest of people George knew lived here couldn't afford eating there more than once or twice a year.

George: I'll be there.

Wilbur: FYI, there's a dress code. If you need a suit or anything, let me know.

George: I'm pretty sure I could dig one up out of my closet. Thank you again, Wilbur.

Wilbur: Don't sweat it, mate. See you there.

George locked his phone and started to overthink. He calculated how long it would probably take to eat dinner there if it started at 6:30, maybe even later if it included waiting for the food. He definitely would not make it back to his house by eight o" clock when Dream would call.

As much as it hurt him, he hoped Dream wouldn't call. At least not on the one night that George wasn't at home awaiting it.

He couldn't bring himself to decline Wilbur's offer. Reserving a seat at The Minx required a payment itself, and Wilbur's father himself (who was horribly sick) had said he did not want his seat going to waste. There was no way to say no to Wilbur without it paining him.

So, he threw clothes out of his closet one by one until he found a suit that was in tact enough to wear. He ironed it out until not a fold could be seen, and dug into his drawer for a tie that went with it.

It was a black suit, with a small chain hanging from the front pocket. He paired it with a white collared button up and trousers with a belt. He had been too scared to wear it until the very last minute he had to go, as he was clumsy and just knew he'd spill something on it or damage it any other way.

Once it had hit 5:30, George had put on the suit. He took a look at himself in his full length mirror he had never bothered looking at himself in, and not to seem full of himself but he thought he looked quite dapper and handsome.

Thoughts then consumed his brain. He would have loved to have Dream see him in something like this, especially since all the outfits he had described himself wearing to Dream had been casual and not that interesting. He took one last look at the phone, praying again that he wouldn't miss a phone call, and then once more that Dream was okay.

He made his way to the car and drove over to The Minx which was perched on top of a small hill and (to his dismay) had paid valet parking.

He chose to park his car himself near the front, so it was faster to get to and he didn't have to pay anything. He must have been early because he had not seen any of the Soot family anywhere, so he sat down on one of the benches to wait for them.