Fly with Me

Chapter 1

Three years later...

Christen has been in depression ever since Derek's death and isolated herself from everyone except her daughter. Crystal was now five-years-old and tried her best to take care of both herself and her mother. Crystal would constantly remind her mother to remain happy, but Christen had a hard time trying to be happy. She would take Crystal to the beach, playground, anywhere she wanted to go, but she would always wish that Derek was still here.

One day, Christen was reading the newspaper and noticed that there was a job opening at Palos Verdes Flower Shop, which was thirty minutes away from their home. She loved flowers and thought that working at a flower shop would help lift her spirits. She decided to apply for the job, hoping that this was the first step in overcoming her depression.

A few days later, Christen received a voicemail from the manager of Palos Verdes Flower Shop saying that they would love for her to call back and have a conversation. Christen called the manager back, excited to hear what they would say.

"Hi Christen, I'm glad you got my voicemail. My name is Ali, Ali Krieger-Harris, and I am the manager of Palos Verdes Flower Shop. How are you doing?"

Christen was not doing well and every time someone would ask her that question, she would shut down and want to isolate herself. She took a deep breath and lied because she did not want to show her depression.

"Hi Ali, I'm doing fine. How are you?"

"I am as dandy as a dandelion, thank you for asking. Anyways, I reviewed your application and I was hooked right when I saw that you attended Stanford. I'm assuming you are smart and I need smart people to work at my flower shop. Palos Verdes Flower Shop is a very popular place that people, even celebrities, come to get flowers. I only have two people work for me, my wife, Ashlyn, and an employer. I handle the orders and catering, my wife handles all the shipments of flowers, and I need someone who will manage the cash register and be an assistant to me. Do you think you can handle doing that?"

It took a while for Christen to process everything Ali had said. She snapped back to reality and responded, "Yes, I can absolutely handle doing anything you want me to do."

"Of course you can, you're a Stanford alumna!" Christen laughed, something she has not been doing as much now. "Now, before I make the decision to give you the job or not, tell me about yourself. You did not put much in that section of the application."

There was a reason why Christen did not write much in the "tell me about yourself" section of the application. She took a deep breath, "Um, I'm 28 years old, single mother, my daughter is five-years-old and her name is Crystal."

There was a brief silence, "That's it? Were you married before becoming single or was it like a one-night stand, you know what I mean?"

Christen sighed, "I was married at 22, but three years later, my husband was diagnosed with leukemia and passed away. Now, I'm trying to live life without him, something he wanted me to do. I'm trying to overcome my depression and finding a job is my first step, but I might be three years too late."

"Oh, honey, I'm so sorry. You are such a strong woman, taking care of both yourself and your daughter. I want to give you the job, help you overcome that depression, would you take it?"

Christen smiled, something great was finally happening in her life. "Yes, I would love to take the job."

"Awesome! You are going to love working here, especially with me! So, I'll give you a little break before you have to come in and start working. Next week Monday will be your first day and you will only have to work on weekdays, your hours will be from 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM. Will that work for you?" Ali asked excitedly.