COSMOS | E. SMITH ROWE

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dog lover Emile

Hey Emile
I want to thank you again for the help yesterday 😊

No problem Lily
I had a great time

How about I take you out for a coffee as a thank you?

That'd be nice 😊

Okay you have time now?
We can meet at that place next to the shop

I'm free rn
See you there!

See you Emile! 😚

•••

"Hey Lily," Emile greets Lily, who's sitting at the table outside of the coffee, they agreed to meet up at.

Lily gets up from the chair and pulls Emile in a hug. "Hey Emile," she presses her lips to his cheeks in a friendly manner.

Emile can feels his cheecks burning up when he feels her lips against him. The girl notices the blush on the boys cheeks, but doesn't mention it. She thinks it's quite adorable to see him get so flustered.

They take a seat on a chair and a waiter comes to take their order. While they wait for the order to arrive, they make some light small talk.

"So thanks again for helping me," Lily says. "I'd probably hadn't seen my bed at all last night if it wasn't for you."

Emile smiles. "Glad to help you get some sleep. Do you have to work so late a lot?"

"No most of time I'm home by 8, but my mum hasn't been feeling great the last few days, so I had to do everything on my own not just the last minute order," she explains.

"Oh I hope your mum gets better soon."

"I hope so too, she's actually seeing a doctor right now," Lily tells while forcing a smile on her face.

The waiter brings them their coffee and the cake that Lily ordered. Emile didn't order anything other than a coffee, because of his strict diet.

When Lily brings her cup up to take a sip, Emile notices a small drawing on the inside of her arm. It's the first time he notices it, because she normally wears a light sweater in the shop.

"You have a tattoo?" He asks surprised.

Lily puts down her cup. "This one?" She turns her arm towards him so he can see it cleared. It's a combination of a few flowers. What else could it have been, the girl breathes flowers.

"I got this one for my grandparents. The daisy is for my nan on my father's side, because that's her name. The cosmos is for my other nan. That's her favourite flower and why we named the shop like that. The forget-me-nots are for both my grandfathers. They both died when I was younger," the girl explains while showing him the flowers one by one.

"It's beautiful," Emile whispers while taking in  the intricate design.

"I have an other one on my ankle for my dad. Got it last year when he almost died because of covid," she tells. "It's a buttercup, because he always calls me buttercup."

"You're dad almost died?" Emile looks absolutely shocked when he hears this.

"Yeah they had to keep him on oxygen for 3 months. He's still recovering from all of it," Lily has to bite back her tears, when she thinks back to when she almost lost her father and couldn't even see him. "I'm so happy he survived. He's my favourite person in the world."

Emile puts a hand on hers. "That must have been a rough time back then," he says. "But I'm happy for you, he's still with you."

Lily puts a small smile on her face and takes a look at the hand still holding hers. "Thank you Emile, but we're not here to hear my sob story, innit?" she pulls her hand away to take a bite of her cake.