Chapter 7
SEVEN
Saturn
“Sapphire, you think you can handle the floor for a little while? I’ll be in my office if you need anything, but I have a meeting.”
“Of course. There aren’t any deliveries until around four. So far, there are only three and I’ve already finished the first two,” she explained.
Sapphire had only been here a few days, but she lightened my load a ton.
From running the register to making sure arrangements were ready, she was a blessing.
I’d been able to focus on inventory and making sure everything on the backend was good.
Today, Mccoy would be letting me know his professional opinion on the future of May’s Flowers and I was nervous.
I wanted so badly to keep my grandmother’s dream alive, but it was difficult.
“Okay, good. I shouldn’t be too long.”
“Even if you are, I’m good. I got you, Saturn,” Sapphire countered with a smile.
She was walking around and spraying the plants with the pink water bottle she’d seen me use on several occasions.
Sapphire opened up more every day and it was interesting getting to know her.
Although I still didn’t know much about her personal life, I knew enough to know that she loved her daughter.
Little Kylie was all she talked about and I adored that about her.
One thing I noticed was that Sapphire never wore a wedding ring.
I assumed she was married since she had a little one, but she never even mentioned a man’s name.
“Thank you. What candle are you burning? It smells good. Like some kind of berry.”
I sold a few candles at the shop, but the one I was smelling wasn’t a scent from me. The smell was strong, but not overpowering. The scent seemed to linger in the air and it was calming.
“You’re good. It’s strawberry mixed with a few other things, but I wanted the strawberry so subtle that you barely know it’s there. I made it myself.”
“You know how to make candles?”
“From scratch,” she answered.
“Really? Do you have a few that I can buy?”
“I do. You don’t have to buy them. It’s something I love to do, so I make them just because.”
“It’s still a product. I’d love some for my personal use.”
“Okay, I’ll bring you a few tomorrow.”
A few customers came in that Sapphire took care of while I finished the last arrangement for delivery. I was putting the blue ribbon around the vase when the bell went off and Mccoy walked in. I was all smiles until I noticed Sparky wasn’t trailing him.
“Don’t look so disappointed. Justin kept Sparky while I was gone. He’s bringing him here in a few minutes,” he explained as he walked in.
“I’m not disappointed. I was just expecting to see him too.”
“He’ll be here soon. How’s your day going so far?”
“It’s good. Just now starting, but it’s been smooth so far. How was the drive?” I asked.
For Mccoy to have been out and moving around all morning, his appearance was still intact. The jogging suit he had on was clean and I could smell his cologne the closer he walked to me.
“It wasn’t bad at all. It was for sure Pleasant Springs 2.0. I thought you were exaggerating, but no.”
“I told you. It’s like twin cities,” I said as I took my apron off.
After introducing Mccoy to Sapphire, I made sure she was good before leading Mccoy to my office. I was already prepared with my pen and notepad sitting in front of my computer. When he told me how he conducted business, I made sure to take every part of this meeting seriously.
“Do you have any social media pages for the shop? I’ve been looking and I don’t see anything for May’s Flowers anywhere,” he started.
“I haven’t made any. I’ve thought about it, but that’s another task that would be on me to keep up with. I’m already barely keeping up with inventory.” I shook my head.
“I know a lot is on you, but that’s what comes with it.
People need to know your business exists to spend money.
I did a little research last night and Pleasant Springs has about ten festivals a year.
Half of them are in the summer. That’s your time to shine.
Your location is perfect. You’re right in the mix of everything.
The problem is people only see the shop if they happen to walk past it.
Have you been doing events? Funeral? Weddings? ”
“Not right now. I’ve thought about offering those services, but again, I’m a one-man band.”
As our conversation continued, Mccoy helped me with a list of short-term goals to hit before the year was up. They’d be obtainable now that I had Sapphire here. By the time we were wrapping up, I had a grocery list of recommendations to consider.
“Just remember, everything is a process. If you put everything into motion, I can almost guarantee that by this time next year, you’ll see the shop doing better than ever. Plus you can be back in school.”
The mention of going back to school had me perking up in my chair.
The idea of going back always felt so far away.
After seeing everything on paper, knowing it could be possible within the next year excited me.
Living out both of my dreams seemed unreal, but here Mccoy was like a genie in the bottle.
“One more thing before I take my business hat off. I saw this flyer in front of the shop’s door. Looks like there’s an event going on for local vendors. There are six categories and a cash prize of ten thousand dollars for the winners.”
He handed me a black flyer with white writing. I looked it over and slouched back into my seat.
“I’ve entered this contest a few years back and lost. There’s another flower shop on the west side of town and she always wins. Garden Of She is the name of her shop,” I said with disgust.
“Why the attitude? Did she cheat or something?”
“No, but I don’t think it was fair how they judged us. Her shop is filled with those forever roses or whatever they’re called.”
“What is a forever rose?” Mccoy questioned.
“You know, those roses that are supposed to last for more than a year.”
“I know what you’re talking about. I don’t think the judges weren’t being fair though.
I think ol’ girl is just keeping up with the times.
A few of my homies back home buy those roses all the time.
I know your thing is more natural, but adding things like that will help expand your business.
Some people don’t have time to water plants or change water every day. Just something for you to think about.”
I wouldn’t admit it, but he was right. Business was all about expansion and I hadn’t done anything to expand.
A part of me felt like keeping things the same was keeping the values of the shop.
My grandmother never sold a fake plant and honoring her name was big for me.
On the other hand, Mccoy was right. I needed to keep up with the times and offer other services.
When I went to speak, a light knock on the door cut my words short.
“Come in,” I called out as I stood from my chair.
“Sorry, Saturn, but someone named Justin is looking for the two of you,” Sapphire said, looking between Mccoy and me.
“Okay, we’ll be right out,” I responded.
When Sapphire left, Mccoy told me one last time to look into the contest. Once I agreed, we left my office and headed back to the front. In many of our conversations, Mccoy often mentioned his friend Justin. This would be my first time meeting him but his presence felt familiar.
“What’s up, man? Thanks for keeping him for me,” Mccoy said as he slapped hands with Justin.
Just as introductions were being made, Sparky ran past Justin and right into me.
“It’s nice to meet you, Saturn.”
“Nice to meet you as well.”
Like Mccoy, Justin had chocolate skin and stood tall. His head full of long, thick locs gave his features just the right amount of pop. From the way Sapphire stared at him with stars in her eyes, I could only assume she felt the same way.
“It’s about time for you to close for lunch. Can I take you somewhere?” Mccoy asked when Justin walked off.
“Yes. Is this place pet friendly?”
“It is. The only thing is, I’ll need Sparky to stay here while I go get the food. Is that okay?”
“He’s fine. He hardly barks so he can sit behind the counter,” I expressed.
“Cool. I’ll only be down the street. Everything is within walking distance, so I’ll keep my truck where it is.”
Since there were no customers, I told Sapphire she was good to go.
She told me that she was going down to the daycare and checking on her daughter since she hadn’t been feeling well this morning.
I was about to take Sparky on a walk around the block when my phone rang with a call from Mccoy.
His instructions were for me and Sparky to meet him down the street at Katie Park.
During the short walk, I prayed Sparky behaved since I didn’t have a leash to tame him.
There weren’t many people out, but I was still nervous.
Relief set in when we made it to the entrance of the park.
The smile that crept across my face couldn’t be helped when I spotted Mccoy. When he told me to meet him here, I assumed it was so we could walk Sparky around. A brown blanket lay spread across the green grass with a pizza box and a two liter of Sprite on top.
“Mccoy, this is?—”
“I know it’s not much, but it was the only thing I could come up with on short notice. It may be simple, but I wanted to do something nice for you,” he stated with a hand on the back of his neck.
“No, no…I love it. The fact that you even thought to do something like this for me is mind blowing. Even if I didn’t like it, I’d never be rude and display that.”
Getting down on the blanket, I crawled over to Mccoy, wrapped my arms around his solid frame, and squeezed him. After placing a kiss to his cheek, I let him loose and focused my attention back on the box of pizza.
“I got half cheese and half pepperoni and sausage. But before you eat, I have a question to ask.”
Lifting the lid off the box, I nodded as I looked between Mccoy and the pizza. My eyes closed when I took the first bite and the flavor took over my senses. Divino’s had the best pizza in town and was the only Italian place that still used brick ovens.
“I know we both agreed that we’d take things slow, but I wanna speed them up just a little bit. I’d like for us to only date each other. Meaning, we’re dating with a purpose. I don’t mean to be so straightforward, but I’m trying to see where this can go.”
“I’m okay with that. All I ask is that you be honest with me and keep the lines of communication open.
There hasn’t been another man in my life for a while now.
I guess my concern with you is your past. You were with your ex for years and wanted to marry her.
How do I know you won’t change your mind and wanna work things out with her? ” I questioned seriously.
The night Mccoy came over to install the cameras, we had a conversation about our past relationships. From what he said, it sounded like the relationship was over on his part, but not so much for his ex. All I knew was she wasn’t ready to take the next step in their relationship.
“When it comes to that, all I can give you is my word. I don’t have a desire to go back.
If I did, I would’ve already gone back. If marriage and starting a family wasn’t going to happen, then what’s the point of staying together?
I won’t lie and say I wasn’t hurt, but I’m not hung up on it.
I still want those things, but I want them with the right person,” Mccoy explained.
“Okay. I’ll hold you to that. Just tell me if anything changes.”
That was the only comeback I had for his explanation.
Only time would tell if he was being honest or not.
I hated that love always came with a risk, but if Mccoy was the man I thought he was, we’d be fine.
When I went for another slice of pizza, my reach was cut short by a bouquet of yellow and orange roses.
“You’re the queen of roses, so tell me what the colors signify.” He smirked.
“Yellow is the color of friendship. You’ll have to tell me what orange means because they have several different meanings,” I admitted.
“According to the internet, orange can represent wanting to take friendship to the next level.”
When Mccoy did things like this, it sent me head over heels. I wasn’t the kind of woman who needed thousands of dollars in material things to be happy. Money couldn’t buy genuine interest and Mccoy showed me that. He’d been raising the bar since our first date and didn’t even know it.
“Thank you. Where did you get these from? I know they aren’t from my shop because I don’t have orange flowers,” I stated as I inhaled the fresh smell.
“There’s a small floral area in the front of the grocery store down the street. I saw them and thought of you. I was a little skeptical about buying them since you see roses every day.”
“Roses are my love language. I’ll never get tired of them.”
“That’s good to know. I’ll be sure to stay fluent in all things Saturn if you allow me to. Plus, I think Sparky would disown me if you stopped coming around,” he joked.
The rest of our date was spent with us making plans for the weekend.
He had a car to work on, so I agreed to keep Sparky until he was done.
We normally spent time at my place, but since Mccoy’s home was intact, he suggested we meet there.
Hopefully, I’d be just as comfortable at his place as I was at mine.