Relative Fiction | ✓

09

If I could just huddle in the cold storage room of the flower shop for the rest of my life, I would. Keeping flowers cold minimized deterioration and water loss, slowing down the dying process and keeping them fresher longer. Coincidentally, it did the same exact thing for me as I teetered on the edge of what felt like death after last night at Sage's.

Despite the fact that I slipped away from Sage's early, I still spitefully stuffed my backpack full of stolen beer and drank myself to sleep. It was a horrible idea in hindsight, since I had to be at the Ordinary for a shipment at the ass crack of dawn.

Even though my head pounded with every step I took, and my stomach was in knots, I felt a weird sense of contentment as I sorted through the flowers. I ordered a ton of Caladium because they were in season, but mostly because they looked like prehistoric dinosaur leaves and I liked to put them in the front window.

Somehow it was easy to let time slip by me when I was there. I moved the newer roses and orchids to the front table by the door and sketched out the flowers on the stained wood with a black marker. All the smells and all the colors made it easy to lose myself. The bell on the door must have jingled at some point, but I didn't hear it.

"Even your doodles are impressive."

A voice behind me made me jump, and when I spun around, I came face to face with a pair of bright blue eyes, and a smile that rivaled the sun.

"Jesus fucking Christ," I breathed out, putting my hand on my chest and feeling my hear thump against my ribcage. At that point I couldn't figure out if it was beating so fast because I was startled, or because it was her.

"I'm sorry," AJ said, her smile only faltering slightly. "I didn't mean to scare you."

I let out a sharp sigh and leaned back against the table. "What are you doing here? Did your eucalyptus die already?"

She met my attitude with a chuckle. "Surprisingly no, not yet."

Even though I wanted to be pissed about the way she tried to pick me apart and analyze me and my shortcomings yesterday, I couldn't. She was like a little ball of warmth that my frigid body so desperately needed to cling to. I was so fixated on her and the way her freckles created little constellations on her cheeks that I hadn't noticed the cup of coffee she had in her hand, extended out to me.

"What's this?" I asked.

"It's coffee, duh." She scoffed and cracked a grin, but I just wrinkled my brow. She rolled her eyes. "I'm just messing with you, it's a peace offering from yesterday."

"A peace offering?" The cup was still warm as I took it from her hands, our fingers brushing against one another's ever so slightly. I felt my face flush.

"Yeah," she sighed out. "I didn't mean to be so harsh with you yesterday."

"No," I shook my head. "I uh...I definitely deserved it."

"See," she clicked her tongue. "There's your problem, right from the get-go. How do you expect any of this to work if you just think the worst of yourself all the time?"

I reached to the side and pulled a fresh rose from the bucket on the front table. "If I give you a flower, will you stop psychoanalyzing me?"

She smirked and took it from me as I twirled it between my fingers, and when our hands touched again it felt like I had been set on fire.

"I'm not trying to psychoanalyze you," she said softly. "I just...I want to help you."

I tried to hold back a scoff as I turned away from her and made my way back to the bar/cash register. I heaved myself onto the wooden bar and took a sip of the coffee she brought me. Strong but sweet, just like she was. "Why?"