Early Bird | ✓

28 | hawk

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LIZZY lined up the ruddy pots of flourishing peonies and tulips, humming cheerily to herself as she worked. She considered last evening a nightmare, the owl simply a figment of her overly excited imagination. After getting a good night's sleep, she felt refreshed and ready to tackle what the day thrust her way—specifically, the conversation she was bound to have with JJ. Unfortunately, he wasn't responding to her texts which asked him outright what exactly occurred last night, but she didn't let that dampen her spirits.

           After Lizzy finished arranging the flowers, she slid out her cell phone just to make sure she hadn't missed the familiar buzz that signaled an incoming text. JJ's name remained absent of her lock screen that featured a picture of her thriving garden from last year. Colors of peach, gold, lavender, cobalt decorated her beloved plants, their green leaves resting upon each other amiably like a group of friends. She couldn't wait for her garden this year to grow into a glorious rainbow, delighting not only her craving eyes but also her yearning nose.

           "You almost done over there, Lizzy?" Naomi called from the other end of the shop, a watering can dangling from her fingers.

           Lizzy quickly pocketed her cell phone, validating that she had finished her task with the peonies and tulips. "All good over here!" Lizzy responded, wiping the dirt from her hands on her jeans.

           "Can you man the counter for a few minutes while I get us some water bottles from the back?"

           Lizzy nodded, meandering around overflowing greenery and narrowly dodging flower pots that hung near her head, their vines tickling her face like seaweed brushing her toes. She positioned herself behind the counter, leaning forward with her palms on the counter as she peeked at the busy street just outside Once and Floral's window. Naomi soon returned accompanied by two bottles drenched in watery sweat, and she handed one to Lizzy who immediately took a refreshing swig.

           Naomi and Lizzy stood next to each other, drinking in silence, until Naomi declared aloud, "Good work today, Lizzy. I'm proud of you. Why don't you take some lilies home with you?"

           Naomi's young employee brightened at the mention of the pure and sweet flowers and Lizzy began bouncing on her toes with elation. "Really?"

           "Hey now, don't get too excited," Naomi warned with a smile, ambling over to the box teeming with multicolored bouquets. "I know that whenever I usually treat you like this I give you something that you can plant in your garden, but I figured I'd change it up this time. Especially since it's such a busy gardening season right now and I want to make sure I have an overabundance of flowers on hand for it. Here, a bouquet of lilies, a little reward for your hard work—of which I'm very appreciative, mind you." Naomi selected a bouquet of lilies with petals made of snow, handing them to Lizzy who gently stroked the soft flowers.

            "Thank you, Naomi. They're beautiful. It is a very busy time of year and I completely understand. Really, any flower brings me happiness, whether it be a seed or picked or planted in dirt."

           "And this is why I hired you." Naomi winked, the lines around her eyes creasing as she smiled. "Are you feeling bouquet about your bouquet?" she joked as she watched Lizzy admire the lilies.

           "Did you give me this just to say that pun?" Lizzy laughed, cradling the bouquet in her arms.

           "Maybe," Naomi chuckled, throwing their water bottles in the trash before squinting outside the shop's window. "I think your friend is waiting for you out there. Spring formal shopping—that's what you told me, right?"