Chapter 17 #3
Denny giggled in agreement. “That’s why I added the daisies.
They symbolise loyalty and devotion. The passion of roses alone isn’t good enough to celebrate an anniversary.
Romantic love needs more than passion, so we weave in flowers that are less popular but carry deeper meanings, like daisies, camellias, carnations…
Lilies, too! But not orange ones, because they convey contempt.
No yellow roses, either. Those are for jealousy.
You don’t—” Denny trailed off and fell silent, suddenly bashful.
“Go on,” said Eris. “I was trying to learn.”
Something funny happened on Denny’s face: after a moment of bewilderment, her features painted a moved expression that made Eris want to kiss her again.
The only reason she didn’t was that the phone on the counter pinged with a text notification.
Denny stubbornly squinted at the screen until Eris put her glasses into her hand and she could finally read.
“Rocco says we can close without him.” She frowned, eyes climbing up the screen. “It’s later than I thought. I still have to pop a couple of orders into Mira for pickup. I’d better—”
The door bell chimed. A short and very handsome guy trudged in, shivering, and dunked an umbrella into the stand by the entrance.
“Julio!” Denny exclaimed. “It’s been a while!”
The young man smiled goofily. “Yeah, I went through a rough breakup with Miriam.”
“Oh. Uhm…”
Julio amiably cut her off: “You don’t have to pretend to be sorry. I’m glad it’s over, and it’s thanks to your advice.” A timid smile bloomed across Denny’s face. “I’m actually here to get flowers for this new girl I’m seeing.”
“Of course! We’re going to get her something super special!”
Eris did her best to make herself inconspicuous. She would’ve been happy to stay unacknowledged, but Julio gave her a polite nod and she had to return it.
“Oh, yeah.” Denny grinned at them both. “Julio, this is Eris, my girlfriend.”
Julio gave Eris an impressed once-over. “Blimey, Denny, didn’t see that one coming!” Eris cocked an eyebrow at him. “Ah. Nice to meet you.” He held a hand out, but Eris kept hers in her pockets and gave him another nod instead.
“She’s not a people person,” Denny informed him.
“Neither is mine.” Without any grudge, Julio reached into his jacket and pulled out a small, flat parcel, which he handed to Denny. “I brought you a gift from her shop. She’s an artist.”
Denny immediately started tearing at the wrapping paper.
“Counter, Sunshine,” Eris warned, just in case it was something fragile. The chances that it got accidentally dropped were high, given who was handling it.
Aware of the risk, Denny moved to the counter and finished unwrapping the gift. It was something fragile: two stained glass mosaics, a sunflower and a lily of the valley, shaped by solder outlines.
“Oh, I love these!”
Eris wasn’t sure what she was looking at. “What are they?”
“Suncatchers!”
“No idea what that is.”
“When the sunlight shines through them, they fill the room with beautiful colours.” Denny picked them up by the thin chains attached to them, but the dull weather outside wasn’t ideal to back up her explanation. Regardless, Eris didn’t get the hype.
“So they’re useless on rainy days.”
“They’re not useless!”
“They’re called suncatchers. We live in a virtually sunless country.”
Denny clutched the gifts to her chest. “The sun will come out at some point! And its light can’t make rainbows going through just any glass! They sort of… need each other to show their best side. We’ll hang these on the window with Julio’s girlfriend’s business card.”
“You’re the best, Denny.”
“Now, what are we aiming for with the flowers? Passion, devotion, loyalty…?”
Julio sheepishly scratched his nose. “We’ve only been dating a couple of weeks.”
While Denny waxed about the beautiful message of budding feelings conveyed by tulips and baby’s breath, whatever the latter was, Eris observed in fascination how her face lit up at every comment Julio made about other flowers he remembered purchasing in the past.
Unlike with the previous customer, it was a quick, painless choice, mostly because it was evident that Julio trusted Denny implicitly.
He even left a big tip, which Denny chucked into the Happy Whiskers charity box by the register as soon as he was gone.
She looked radiant, bright pink cheeks highlighting the green in her irises that the rain had brought out.
In spite of the occasional struggles, it was blatant that Denny loved her job and wouldn’t change it for any other occupation in the world, even though the degree on display behind the counter could have led her to a scientific career.
But Denny wouldn’t have been happy in a lab: she was too dynamic, too creative for that.
She belonged in Tansy’s Garden as if it’d been moulded around her.
“Alright, better feed Mira before someone else shows up.” Denny opened the vending machine app, connected each order to a locker, then went to the refrigerated display. As she got out the bouquets awaiting pickup, she cast Eris a glance. “Can you get lunch started in the meantime?”
Eris’ look darted to the door. Denny left the bouquets to come and place a soothing hand on her chest. “I’ll be upstairs in ten,” she promised, pressing a kiss to her cheek. “Okay?”
Not wanting to pass as paranoid, Eris gulped down her concern and forced herself to nod.
“Okay.”
Ten minutes.
She could resist ten minutes without freaking out.