An Eye For An Eye

Vingt-Sept

“I'm going to find a florist,” I said as I grabbed my jacket. Deuc’s eyebrows raised as I zipped the jacket up.
“A florist?” he asked.
“Yes” I said. “I'm going to send Dr. Deaton some flowers, as a thank you.”
“Is it really necessary?”
“No,” I replied. Or maybe it was, I had no idea. “But I want to give him flowers anyway. You're welcome to come with me if you want.”
He hummed again before responding, “Yes, I think I will.”

I handed him his jacket once he stood up and then headed over to the elevator and pressed the button. We waited for it to reach the top and we stepped in after the doors opened.

It was warm and the air seemed stagnant as we walked. I regretted wearing a jacket, the hot rays of the sun beamed down on us. There was a florist not too far away and with any luck, they would deliver to the animal clinic. I hadn't brought too much money with me so I hoped the flowers weren't too expensive. Though, there was no doubt Deucalion would offer to pay if I didn't have enough.

While holding his hand, I focused on the trees and hedges along the edge of the paths. The houses we passed were large with fancy lawns and expensive cars parked outside and on driveways.

“I’m hoping they have the flowers I want to send him,” I said before telling him to stop since there was a car driving far too fast.
“What flowers?”
“I was thinking maybe Canterbury bells, dark pink roses and maybe white hydrangeas,” I said. “Though hydrangeas usually means gratitude for being understood.”

After informing him it was safe to cross, we walked to the other side of the road.
“That’s oddly specific.”
“Mom used to have a book on flowers and what they meant. I used to keep reading it when I was a kid,” I said, smiling to myself. It all sounded ridiculous out loud. It was from the Victorian era, I doubted anyone cared about the meanings now.
“That’s interesting,” he said with a smile on his face. “Perhaps I should order a bouquet for you.”
“We’ll have to see what they have in the store then.”

Heading into the flower shop on the corner of the next street, the scent of pollen and flowers assaulted me. Squeezing my eyes shut, I took a moment to try to ignore the overwhelming amount of smells. They never usually bothered me this much. After a few moments, I managed to ignore enough of the smells to walk around the shop.

Deucalion held onto my elbow as I walked around and looked at the flowers.
“Do you think they could make a thank you bouquet?” I asked.
“You’d have to ask, I think.”

The person at the till had short, bright pink hair and was arranging some flowers in a vase.
“Excuse me,” I said as I walked over. “Do you deliver thank you bouquets?”
They looked up from the flowers in the vase and nodded. “Um, yes we do. Is there one in store you want us to deliver or do you want us to make a new bouquet?”

Smiling, I explained that I wanted to send a thank you bouquet to the animal clinic. They smiled back and said it wasn’t the first time someone had sent flowers there. I discovered that Ash, the person currently running the store, had taken their cat to Dr. Deaton several times.

“You don’t by any chance happen to have bouquets of flowers for a beautiful lady, do you?” asked Deucalion. Ash glanced at me and I could tell my cheeks were bright red without needing a mirror.
“We do, I can take you to them, if you’d like?” she offered. Deucalion nodded and thanked them as he took their elbow and let them guide them to the flowers.

I waited by the counter and watched as his fingertips felt the petals and leaves of the flowers in the bouquets. It looked as though she was telling him the flowers and their colours and I smiled.
“I was thinking that maybe you could change the pink roses for something like white carnations,” he said. “They tend to represent purity and things that are sweet and lovely. I do like the orange tulips though.”

Did he know the meanings that I knew?

Deciding I’d wait to ask him, I watched as Ash tried to sneakily bring the flowers to the till while I walked over to Deucalion and took his hand.
“I think you’ll like the flowers I’ve picked,” he said. I knew he was distracting me from what Ash was doing at the counter and I was happy to play along.
“I’m sure I will.” He smiled.

Ash called us to the counter when we needed to pay. Deucalion paid but I insisted I give him the money for the thank you flowers for Dr. Deaton. He was reluctant to accept.

After getting a receipt for the flowers, we headed outside.
“Who are the flowers for then?” I asked with a grin on my face.
“I believe they're for a beautiful lady,” he said as he held the flowers out to me. Laughing, I took them and kissed his cheek.
“I’m glad you can’t see me blushing,” I told him as I looked at the flowers.

Red roses, orange tulips and white carnations. True love; appreciation and truest love; sweet, lovely and pure love. I had the feeling he knew those meanings.
“You don’t happen to know what these flowers mean, according to that book I practically memorised as a child, do you?” I asked as we started walking back to the penthouse. He smiled and I raised my eyebrows.
“Do I really need to answer that, my love?”

It seemed he was getting better at making me speechless.

I was definitely glad he couldn’t see how much I was blushing. What was I supposed to respond to that with? I had to stop walking just to process what he had called me. His hand moved upwards and his thumb ran along my jawline.

“Oh, sweet Liza, you have no idea,” he whispered. There was an urge to kiss him but instead I just held his hand and clutched the flowers in the other.
“I want to kiss you but I think we should go home first.”