Vows of Misfortune

35.

A/N: soooo sorry for the late update, guys! The weekend was hectic but I'm back again. Hope you enjoy this and the next chapter!

***

Things change? What was that supposed to mean?

I couldn't get that question out of my head even when I awoke in the morning. I hadn't taken down the pillow barrier and he hadn't bothered, too, either.

I was so confused.

Fixing my ratty hair that had come out of the messy bun, I was about to head into the kitchen to make myself some tea when I spotted something strange.

There, on my quaint, mostly unused, dining table was a teacup. Freshly brewed green tea sat filled in it. It was fresh because steam rose up from it. I looked around. Had Romir made this for himself? Did he forget to drink it before heading off to work?

I remembered dad used to do that whenever he had work. He'd make oats and coffee but in the haste of getting ready, forget to eat either of those.

I didn't touch the cup but as I walked past it to make my own, and even as I got ready for work, I wondered when Romir started liking tea and not coffee.

***

I parked outside the shop and opened it, flipped the 'Closed' sign to 'Open' before getting everything ready.

"I was wondering where you were," Amber, my manager, said, emerging from the back.

"I'm only two minutes late."

"Two minutes too late. Get started. People should be coming in soon."

Soon came around in two hours. An elderly lady with thick grey hair bounded in with a pink raincoat. "I ordered a petunia bouquet on your website."

"Your name?" I asked, ready to type it into the system; I needed to make sure she was telling the truth.

"Meredith Bowen."

I typed it in but it came up with 0 results. "Oh, I'm sorry but your name isn't in the system."

"Isn't it in the system?"

"Yeah, uh—" I looked around, trying to find the manager. I'd never had this issue before.

"This is ridiculous," the lady began, tremors in her voice. "I paid fifty-five dollars for it!"

"I'm so sorry, ma'am. Let me try again." But it came up with another error. Shit. "You said you wanted—" My phone began to ring, an unknown number and I clenched my jaw. Perfect timing. "S-Sorry about that." My hands were shaking now. "Well, um, let me give you a petunia bouquet free of charge, on my behalf."

The lady began to relax. "Alright. I suppose that will do." I didn't breathe a sigh of relief until she was satisfied and gone.

I rested my now-flushed face against the marble table of the counter.

"You dealt with that well," Amber said from behind.

"Thank you. I tried."

"Keep trying and you'll do well."

I really thought I was going to fail, but hey, apparently not.

Thank you, God!

I blew out my cheeks and was busy wrapping some flowers for the display when my phone rang with that same unknown number again. I ignored it. My manager walked away and when it called again, I gave in.

"Hello?" I had a feeling it was a scam or one of those annoying telemarketers that frequently change numbers.

"Are you free to talk?"