“Good afternoon. Thank you for visiting Dove’s Floral Bliss,” I greeted the young cocoa-brown woman with hazel eyes.
“Hi. I’m looking for flowers to gift my boyfriend. What do you suggest?”
“Is there a special occasion?”
“No. I just wanted to show him how much I appreciate him. I often buy him gifts, but I wanted to do something a little different this time, just to say thank you, I see you, and I love you.”
“Aww, that’s sweet. Here’s what I suggest. The more masculine flowers would be roses, orchids, sunflowers, birds of paradise, or anything that has a more bolder color palette with sharper angles. Placing a lot of greenery inside of the arrangement also makes it more masculine. You could just give him a bouquet of orchids, roses, or sunflowers, but I suggest mixing various flowers to make it as aesthetically pleasing to the eye as it would be if he were to gift you some.”
The young lady’s face lit up, and twin dimples creased her cheeks. “Girl, that’s a good idea. How long will it take for you to arrange it if I placed the order now?”
I glanced at the clock on the wall. “I actually have some time to do it now. I can have it ready in about five to ten minutes.”
“I’ll run to the coffee shop across the street and grab something. I’ll be right back. Is that okay?”
“That’s perfectly fine.” I busied myself with prepping the flowers and making the bouquet as my phone rang.
“Hello. Thank you for calling Dove’s Floral Bliss.”
“Hey, Dove. You good, girl?”Myracle asked.
“As good as I can be. I guess you saw the posts?”
“Yeah. People are just bored. I tried calling your phone, but you didn’t answer.”
“My phone is on do not disturb. I was sick of all the notifications going off.” I sighed.
“You could’ve shut off the notifications on your social media.”
“I did, but everyone in town who knows me are calling me to check on me.”
“Damn. I’m sorry, bestie. Do you want to hook up with KG and me later for some drinks?”Myracle asked.
“I need to do something, girl. Two of my staff are on their way in for their shifts. I should be finished in the next half an hour. Gimme a couple of hours to meet you all at Black Diamonds.”
“Sounds good,”Myracle replied.
“All right. See you soon.” I ended the call just as the woman returned to pick up her bouquet.
“This is gorgeous. Thank you so much. I know that he’s going to be surprised,” she stated, sliding her card into the card reader.
“I hope that he enjoys them. I love to see men receiving flowers, because they deserve them too.” I tucked a signature card inside of the bouquet.
“Girl, I’m glad I’m not the only one who feels that way. Thank you so much,” she repeated, accepting the bouquet from me.
“You’re welcome. Enjoy.”
“I will.”
I had just turned my back to head to the rear of the shop when the door chimes tinkled again. I turned around to issue my standard greeting, when the oxygen was sucked from my lungs.
“Hey, beautiful. How are you?”
“Neal. What are you doing here?”
“I was in town for my niece’s graduation, and I wanted to see how you were doing. You haven’t been taking my calls. It’s been a year.”
“Neal, please leave.” My fingernails dug into the palms of my hands, and my body trembled slightly. I just knew he had not brought his ass up in my flower shop acting like we were about to reminisce.
