The Flower Shop

Chapter Four

"Goodmorning." Nadia heard Jalil's deep voice call out to her as she bought in another shipment of flowers from the truck.
           Nadia smiled widely. "Goodmorning."
           She walked over to the shipment of flowers that had just come in. March had come and with it, the preparations for Spring. While Spring wasn't official until the end of the month, Nadia liked to have her customers prepared. And to do this, Nadia filled her shop with tulips, irises, various hyacinths, lilies, and many more. An abundance of colors overflowed in her shop, and she loved it. Spring was her favorite time of the year because it seemed as if those things that were dead- were coming back into bloom.
           And so, things were. Not only were days getting longer and temperatures warming, but her newfound relationship with Jalil was starting to bloom. Ever since Valentine's Day, their relationship had grown in the most wonderful of ways. They saw one another everyday at work. But it was what happened at night that meant the most to Nadia.
           Jalil called her every night. And for at least two hours, he had her giggling on the phone and being completely entranced into whatever he was saying. Their relationship started easy and so far- all Nadia saw and felt were green flags.
           "How'd you sleep?"  He asked as he watched her graceful movements around the back of the shop. Even as she was directing the truck driver, she still was able to cut the stem from one of the flowers perfectly.
           "I slept ok. To be honest, I'm still kinda sleepy." Nadia said with the shake of her head. She felt that she was about to tip over. Yet, she knew that her store needed to run and customers needed tending to.
           "I'm sorry." Jalil apologized, knowing that he was the reason for her being up.
           Nadia smiled at him, glancing at the carton of pink azaleas the truck driver bought in. She looked back at Jalil. "Jalil, it's fine. I enjoy our conversations."
           Jalil nodded, silently agreeing with her. He enjoyed their conversations too. He loved hearing her college stories and how she felt about certain topics. He knew that when they got on the phone, they would have good conversations.
           Jalil's thoughts were interrupted as the truck driver sat down a crate full of pink flowers that Jalil couldn't remember the name of and watched as he looked at Nadia.
           "Alright Ms. Nadia." The man smiled at her, leaning on the wooden pole. He took of his dingy work gloves before speaking again. "I'm done with everything. You need anything else for me?"
           "Ummm, Jalil can you hand him the sheet with my requests for next time?" Nadia asked as she looked at Jalil. Looking back at the man she smiled. "Thanks for everything, Joe. You drive safe."
           Joe gave Nadia a tip of his hat as he placed his work gloves in the back pockets of his overalls. He waved goodbye and Nadia heard the door slam behind him as he left.
           Nadia turned to face her flowers. She had twelve arrangements of azaleas going out today and she twisted her lip to the side as she thought about how to arrange them in the vase. Should I add some greenery to them?, Nadia thought as she wrote down her plans for the arrangement. She was so focused on her flowers that she didn't see Jalil walk behind her until he pressed his body to hers. She gasped a little and then smiled, feeling butterflies in her stomach.
           "What are you doing?" Nadia said as she attempted to grab a flower. Jalil stopped her by grabbing her hands and kissing them lightly.
           "Nothing. Just doing what I do. Are you comfortable with this?" Jalil asked. He promised himself that he would honor his commitment to taking things slow and he didn't want to scare her or make her uncomfortable in anyway.
           Nadia nodded, but Jalil wanted her to be vocal.
           "Talk to me, baby." Jalil said.
           "Yes, I'm ok. Just nervous." Nadia admitted. She was glad that Jalil couldn't see her face because it had heated up and she wasn't prepared for him to be that close to her. While she wasn't unfamiliar with the touch of a man, Jalil wasn't just any man. She truly did like Jalil and her nervousness showed more often than she would like.  Especially in moments like this.
           Jalil held her waist and turned her around so that she was facing him. "Don't be nervous." He kissed her hand.
           The pair heard the bell ding, and they knew that it was time for them to resume their professional roles.
           Jalil winked at her before going to the front, leaving Nadia flustered...in a good way.