Chapter 20
Anne almost walked by the shop. She didn’t recognize it now that the parchment paper had been removed from the windows, which were now crowded with floor-to-ceiling flowers.
The explosion of pinks and greens and blues, each petal overlapping the other, was so overwhelming that Anne almost missed the sign above the entrance.
It looked to be one long piece of wood, polished to a high sheen, with Eufloria written across it in bold, black print.
It took a moment for Anne’s brain to register it. Her gaze traced each letter, sure that she had misread them, that she was dreaming, or that there had been a mistake. But no, the name was there, so beautiful and perfect that Anne couldn’t help the smile that spread across her face.
“Ta-da!” Sophie sang out, stepping out of the front door with a flourish. “Welcome to Eufloria!”
“Sophie,” Anne said, shaking her head. “Are you sure? You could pick any name; it’s your shop.”
“And I did. Eufloria is genius.”
A sense of pride tugged at Anne’s chest. “Well, it’s incredible.”
“Wait until you see inside!”
The scent of fresh lilacs and roses consumed Anne the moment she walked across the threshold.
The store was still in a state of disarray, but the dust that had blanketed the floor and walls during her last visit was replaced with fresh shavings from workmen framing the drywall partitions exactly as Sophie had described.
“It’s a mess, but it will all be set by Tuesday night. I’m really good under a deadline. One of the pluses of having ADHD,” Sophie said, then she looked at Anne again and frowned. “Are you okay?”
Anne finally pulled her attention from the array of flowers to turn to her friend. “Yeah. I’m great. Why?”
“You look flustered. Like you have a fever or were just ravaged or something.”
Anne forced out a laugh, even as she felt her cheeks redden more. “No. No no. I’m just cold. It’s cold. Outside. There’s wind picking up and… the temperature fell. I think.” She cleared her throat. “So, are you ready to go over everything?”
They set themselves up on one of the new work surfaces Sophie had installed in the front room.
Anne presented her carefully organized slideshow on her entire vision for the shop’s future.
There were budgets she created against projected sales over five years, to illustrate the shop’s potential trajectory, along with hard copies of all proposed vendor contracts and workflows.
After an hour, Sophie looked as impressed as she was overwhelmed.
“Wow,” Sophie said. “Now I know why Jimmy spent so much time in his office.”
Anne smiled. She hadn’t been as nervous as the first time she presented to Sophie. In fact, she was fairly proud of herself. She had worked out how to build something from the ground up, and even she had to admit she’d done an amazing job.
“Oh!” Sophie exclaimed suddenly. “I almost forgot.” She turned and leaned over the front desk, grabbing a piece of paper stuffed under the register. “I still owe you money for getting this place off the ground. I know we didn’t discuss compensation, but hopefully this is fair.”
Sophie held out the paper with a smile and it was only then that Anne realized it was a check. She slowly took it, feeling the smooth paper under her fingers, not even sure what to say.
Then she saw the amount.
“Sophie.” Anne gaped at the number. “This is too much. I can’t accept this.”
“Why not?” Sophie looked genuinely confused. “You earned it.”
“But… I don’t…” Anne didn’t even know what she was going to say, only that the moment required something. But the words weren’t forming properly in her mind, so all that came out was: “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me. This place is as much yours as it is mine. Which very conveniently brings me to my next question.” Sophie cleared her throat and smoothed down her messy pink hair. Then she took Anne’s hand and slowly went down on one knee. “Anne Elliot, will you be my business partner?”
A laugh erupted out of Anne before she was even aware that it was there. “What are you talking about?”
“You and me, running Eufloria together! Sure, I can create utter masterpieces with a few petals and stems,” Sophie said, flipping her pink hair dramatically. “But you know how to actually run things.”
Anne’s smile faltered. “Does Freddie… I mean, what does he think—”
“My brother doesn’t know anything about this.
It’s none of his business, so don’t let that factor into your decision.
” Sophie’s smile broadened as she jumped back up to her feet.
“We could set it up to be a fifty-fifty partnership, so there wouldn’t be any weird power dynamics.
I think it could be great! What do you say? ”
Yes, Anne wanted to say. At that moment, she couldn’t think of a professional move she had ever wanted more.
But then a familiar anxiety rose up in Anne’s chest, forming a litany of questions that needed to be answered: the whats and the hows and the whys.
Yes, it might be what she wanted to do, but was it the most practical choice?
Was it irresponsible to start an entirely new career in an unfamiliar industry, especially when Theo was still hinting that he wanted to partner with her on his new show? And then there was Freddie…
No spiraling, she thought.
“That’s an incredibly generous offer, Sophie,” she finally said.
Sophie’s smile faltered. “Why do I feel a ‘but’ coming on?”
“No, no but,” Anne said, shaking her head. “I just need to think about it. There are a lot of details to work out, and I want to make sure I’ve considered everything.”
Sophie nodded. “Of course. But whatever you decide, you’re still coming to the launch party on Tuesday, right?”
“I’ll be there.” Anne smiled. “And Sophie?”
Her friend looked up, waiting.
Anne leaned in and gave her a hug, big and all-encompassing.
“Thank you,” she whispered into Sophie’s pink hair.
And her friend hugged her right back.