Flowers of Florence

...for a garden

A bouquet of Aloe, Arborvitae, Dahlia, and Geranium for a garden.

...

"Follow me." Michael said. William simply did as he was told. The place holding the galla was enormous. The last time William had been to a place like that was when his father took him to an uncle's soire. They passed a few men in dark tailcoats that contrasted Michael's light colored coat.

"Mr. Eaton, we're glad you could make it." A man said. Michael shook the man's hand and gave him a small nod and a smile. "This is my friend William Dalton, he's a writer in search of 'inspiration'." He placed his hand on William's back and nudged him forward.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Dalton." A slim man with a long white beard admitted. "Likewise, but please, call me William." He said. The others gave him an approving nod. "Why don't you come with us to see the clothes?" Michael smirked. "You brought the clothes! Did you also bring the models?" Hel asked. One of the men's wives gave him a playful yet slightly offended look. Everyone simply laughed it off.

"Yes, the models have arrived and have all been measured. We have a large variety of women." They all walked towards a large group of women in fancy dresses. Michael's eyes lit up. "That sounds marvelous. I'd love to meet them." Michael said before joining the group. William felt chills run down his spine as Michael placed a hand on his nape. He fought to hide his discomfort.

Michael gave him a quick and polite smile before he walked ahead towards the models to introduce himself. William stopped and watched as Michael spoke to models and designers. Everything seemed to fit, in a rather disgusting way, but it all fit.

Everything was as it usually was, Michael being a social butterfly while William watched from the sidelines. He didn't belong in the posh world of designers and he didn't want to. He felt much more comfortable in the company of strangers rather than these people.

He went to grab a glass of wine but he remembered the headache he had the morning after drinking, so he took sparkling water instead. Glancing over at Michael, he made sure he wasn't seen as he walked out into the garden of the grounds. Outside, the air was calm and the noise inside was slightly muted.

He walked around, taking in the sights. The plants had pungent and beautiful aromas and the wind sang. The calm he felt was sublime. Inside he might have felt suffocated around all of those people, but out in the garden his worries and fears were washed away.

Everything was so new to him, except a particular head of hair amongst the flowers. He stalked towards the short ginger who seemed to be concentrating on something else. Once he was only a few feet away from the girl, he noticed she was wearing several layers of clothing. She wore a long grayish-blue dress with an even longer white underdress. On top of it all was a brown apron, dirty with mud and grass clippings.

"Buona sera, signorina." William spoke softly, trying but failing not to startle the young woman, but failing. She spun around to face William and stood up. She patted the dust of her apron before hyper analyzing William. She seemed extremely on edge and slightly offended. (Good evening, young lady.)

"Tu sei l'amico di Giuseppe! Che ci fai qui?" She spat out before William could respond "Sei qui con tutti quegli anziani decrepiti a guardare le giovani ragazze?" Her voice was sharp and accusatory. All William did was put his hands up as a sign of inoffensiveness. (You're Giuseppe's friend! What are you doing here?) (Are you here with all of those decrepit old men to look at young girls?)

"E' un malinteso. Sono qui perché il mio amico mi ha costretto." William explained. The young woman seemed to relax a bit, yet she maintained her judging stare. "Il tuo nome è Saveria, giusto?" He tried to redirect the conversation. The young lady, Saveria, nodded. "E il tuo nome è William." She replied defiantly. (This must be a misunderstanding. I'm here because my friend forced me to be here.) (Your name is Saveria, correct?) (And your name is William.)