Flower Shop Girl

Alternate Ending 2

For those who didn't read alternate ending #1, you will need to know that it stays the same until the bolded text part way down. Skip to there if you don't want to reread the whole thing again.

Enjoy!

For Caitlyn

He walks into her life on a cheery Saturday morning, and the instant she sees him her heart skips a beat.

Windswept, dark brown hair, thick eyebrows over bright blue eyes, a long torso and legs wrapped in dark-washed jeans, he waltzes into the shop, the little bell over the door tinkling gaily as he enters.

Walking over to where she stands, awestruck, behind the counter, he asks, "Hello there! I'm looking for a blue rose. Do you have any?" and his voice makes her swoon even more than she already was. Slow and deep, it makes him sound intelligent and yet mysterious. She falls in love with it instantly.

"Excuse me? Miss? Are you alright?"

The same voice that she had been fantasizing about snaps her out of her daydream.

"Oh, I am so sorry," she stammers, blushing profusely, "A blue rose, was it? How many?"

He laughs, a rich sound that makes her want to curl up in a ball of absolute bliss. "Yes, and only one, please."

Nodding, still flustered, she walks to the back of the shop and grabs the nicest of all the blue roses they have in stock. Returning to the counter and forcing her voice not to shake, she asks, "Would you like it wrapped at all? Can I get you a card?"

"No thank-you," he replies, "Like this is fine."

Nodding, she rings up his order. He pays her in exact change.

As he's walking out the door she calls after him, "Have a nice day!"

He smiles, eyes twinkling and replies, "You too."

~o0O0o~

She doesn't see him again until a week later, and it's almost hell.

She's not really sure why. She doesn't even know his name, and there's really no reason for it, but she's fallen completely and utterly in love with him.

And it's so stupid, but she can't help it and she's been mopey and desolate all week, until he walks into the shop on Saturday morning, grins at her and says, "One blue rose, please."

~o0O0o~

It becomes sort of a ritual. Every Saturday, no matter the weather, at 11:30 a.m. approximately, he comes in, says hello, purchases a single blue rose, pays her in exact change, and goes on his merry way.

She lives for these five minute encounters.

She's never felt anything like this before, not even for her ex-boyfriend of two years, who left her on good terms so that he could travel to Europe for University.

It scares her a bit really, how much she cares for the boy whose name she doesn't know and who she's spent perhaps an hour with in total.

But she never, ever wants to stop.

~o0O0o~

"Who are these for?" she asks him one day, after she's spent weeks wondering and working up the courage to finally ask him.

"My girlfriend," he replies, eyes growing distant, and she feels her heart crack. Girlfriend. He has a girlfriend.

Yet the thought also gives her hope. People break up all the time. Maybe she still has a chance….