Lilly's Garden

V. Hyacinth

The man stood in the doorway of Lilly's Garden. He appeared as befuddled as he had during his first visit, but he mustered enough courage to examine the colorful display of pansies.

Zin watched him with absolute panic. No, she silently insisted, returning customers were a good sign. All kinds of couples returned to Lilly's Garden, dreamy eyed and giggling.

This man was not dreamy eyed. In fact, he glared at the flowers as if they had insulted his mother and stolen his dog. Or caused his girlfriend to dump him.

"Should it still be circling like that?"

Zin's attention snapped back to the customer she currently assisted. "Oh! Sorry about that. It's a new system. Let me just..."

The woman frowned while Zin restarted the transaction. By the time the woman left with her vase of petunias, the man patiently waited in line. He delicately placed a bundle of pansies on the counter. "Can I just get these?"

Zin nodded. "Of course!"

He frowned at the flowers and nodded as if to assure himself it was a sound purchase. Zin bit the inside of her cheek and tapped the screen on the register. Money was awkwardly exchanged, and Zin quickly wrapped the bouquet in plastic. It wasn't until she handed over the bouquet that he spoke again. "You lied."

Zin's gut plummeted. "I didn't—"

"This was not any easier than the first time."

The man shot her a quick grin. A strained laugh escaped her. "Oh, that. Yeah. Third time's a charm?"

He released a low chuckle and gave her a half wave with the bouquet as he left. Zin waved after him. She was overthinking things. Couples exchanged flowers all the time. Nothing wrong about a returning customer.

He certainly wasn't cursed because curses didn't exist.