He does, of course, see right through it, but he doesn’t respond, looking at me with his eyebrows furrowed. He glances at the empty trays in the waste bag beside me, his eyes trailing over all the seedlings I’ve repotted. Sam is the one who taught me a lot of what I know here at work. He’s been here longer than me.
Long enough that most things I knew about the job I’d learned by watching him.
“I got a head start on potting so I can get back to fixing that stupid wall,” I say, turning back to the tray of plants, hoping he doesn’t give me his usual lecture on working overtime for free.
“Still working on that wall, huh?” he asks instead, before moving closer to the seedlings. “These look great, El,” he trails his hand down the small leaves. “Whoever taught you to do that must be great at their job,” he gives me a wink.
“Yeah, well, could the person who taught me also explain why they’re a nightmare to cultivate? Mark wanted these out in the main glasshouse by the end of the season. I am losing hope.” Sam tilts his head at me, a knowing smile broadening on his face.
“You know what I always say, El…” Shaking my head, I refuse to give in to his stupid inspirational quotes every day. “The best plants always bloom after a tragedy.” I roll my eyes at him. He always seems to find the most random things to say about plants.
Like an old soul trapped in a youthful body.
“Well, I repotted them today with no warning… nothing screams tragedy more than being yanked from your home and shoved somewhere new, right?” Sam’s expression falters before he lets out a small laugh.
“We’re talking about plants here, not unresolved trauma,” he says.
“I could whisper a few threats about snow coming?”
“You are ridiculous. Seriously, you need to get out more. Converse with something less… green.” He smirks at me as I sweep the loose dirt from the workbench.
“Why would I do that when I have you? You are annoying enough to count as having multiple friends in one.” Smiling to myself, I glance at my friend who is now sprinkling dirt back over the area I just cleaned.
Seriously.
I miss the days when I worked closer to him. I only really see him during our lunch breaks now. And our lunch breaks are dedicated to our daily game of chess, not that I’m complaining about that. I love anytime I can spend with him.
He’s family now.
He takes a sip from his mug, then gives me a wink.
“Well, I hate to ruin the mood, but Mark wants to see you in his office.” He scrunches his nose at me, wincing.
I go still. “Oh. Okay.”
Sam watches me for a second, as if he’s thinking too carefully about his next choice of words.
“You can say no, you know. You don’t have to keep doing whatever he asks you to do.”
His words catch me off guard. I laugh softly. A reflex.
“Say no to what?”
He shrugs, moving back towards the door. “Whatever it is.”
I look back down at the seedlings, pressing into the soil a little more firmly than necessary.
“It’s fine.”
Sam doesn’t argue this time, just nods once before giving me a smile. He hesitates again, then straightens, tapping the table and spinning on his heel.
“Anyway, I’ll see you later. Chess?” he asks, heading towards the door.
“Definitely,” I respond, giving him a small wave over my shoulder. He salutes me goodbye before the door swings shut with a loud clang behind him.
“Elodie, come on in,” Mark calls through the glass window to his office, waving his hand at me with that customer service smile he loves to flash around this place.
