Don't Touch Her

Chapter Nine

I had insisted on Clara taking me up town to find a job. We had argued about this, and Clara had finally given in, taking me up town to put in job applications.

A grocery store, a restaurant, even a gas station.

We had passed by a florist, the building covered in roses. Pink, white, and red climbed up the wall. It was beautiful. I asked Clara to stop.

I had always loved flowers, and being a Florist, owning my own shop, was always my dream job.

She parked her car on the side of the road while I went inside.

It smelled sweet, earthy with fresh flowers. Thick with the scent of blooming plants from roses to lilies to daises, like walking through a garden. It was calming and inviting, enticing you to walk in.

Above me, a little bell rang, and I had looked up to see a flower shaped bell, like a tulip, attached to the door.

"Hello! What can I get for you today?" A sweet old woman stood behind a small wooden counter, surrounded by flowers, some in pots, some in bouquets, others in jars or little glass cases.

"... Hi.... I was wondering if you were hiring by chance?"

The old woman had smiled and walked around the counter, "of course. It's just me and my daughter. We could always use the extra help. If you want, you could start... Monday, if that's alright with you?" She asked, talking slowly.

I smiled, so, so big, and nodded, "that'd be perfect."

"Wonderful... Now, I assume you're still in school?"

I nodded.
"Well, could you be here by 4:30?" She asked.

"Yes, I can do that."

"Well, good," she smiled. She had kind eyes, brown like hot chocolate, and smiled at you like you were her very own.

She turned around then, asking, "can I get you anything, dear? A rose or a daisy, perhaps?"

"... I don't have any money on me, I'm sorry. Thank you, though."

"Oh no, no dear, this is for free. Now, what can I get you?"

I had stared at her and almost smiled, "um, a rose, please."

She smiled, reached into a vase, pulled out a rose, and handed it to me, "here you are, Miss?"

"Violet," I supplied her.

"Ohh, no, no, now wait here," she took back the rose and traded it for a Violet. "Now... this will suit you better, dear."

I smiled, staring at the purple flower she had just given me, "thank you..." I looked down and smiled, tears filling my eyes. I pushed them away. "You're very kind."

"You must be kind to one another, as our Lord says."

I nodded, smiled, and thanked her again before I left. Then I had told Clara I had a job, and she had reached across the car and squeezed my hand, our alternative of a hug.

"I'm proud of you, Violet," she said. "Now, what do you say we do something. We have extra cash. Let's get dinner, yes?"

Clara and I both knew we should save the money for something else, not to spend it on a dinner that would cost us twenty dollars, but we could splurge, just this once, one more time.

A toast to better things, a better life, new friends, new identities.

We could leave our past behind and never look back again.