Anthomania

Anthomania (One Shot)

It was late in the afternoon when Camila was sitting behind the counter with a dozen of red roses. She was carefully stripping the leaves off of each rose, before putting them one by one in a blue vase, half filled with warm water, that would help the tightly closed flowers open fully. She let the vase with the crimson flowers stay on the counter as she waited for costumers to come in. Her lips curved up in a small smile as she leaned in, closer to the bouquet of roses she arranged and breathed in the soft smell, her eyes closing almost reflexively.

"How much does it cost?"

A voice from the other end of the rather small flower shop made Camila open her eyes and lean back in her chair behind the counter, distancing her face from the vase of roses. She raised her gaze to meet a girl with very noticeable green eyes, that captured Camila's attention despite her usual habit of avoiding eye contact. The chocolate eyed didn't really expect any costumers at that time of the day, but there were always exceptions. "The bouquet of roses?" She ensured, pointing her finger at the dozen of roses that were sitting nicely in the blue vase.

"Yes." The costumer replied simply with a single nod, tucking a hand in the back pocket of her black jeans and pulling out a handful of coins. The girl looked at them closely, seemingly calculating their value.

"The bouquet costs thirty dollars." Camila answered, looking down rather proudly at the very nicely arranged bouquet of beautiful roses. The costumer didn't seem too pleased with the answer, the girl's jaw dropped slightly.

"Thirty dollars? Are you serious? That's super expensive, this is an outrage, I'm telling you." The green eyed stranger mumbled, looking down at the coins she was holding.

"Well, roses are expensive, and there are twelve of them here." Camila explained the troubled girl, offering her a polite smile. The last thing she needed was arguing with costumers over prices, she wasn't the one to determine them and costumers seemed to forget that easily. 'Don't kill the deliver' has quickly became a saying she could identify with.

"I only have like.. One dollar." The costumer said with a small shrug, bringing her look back up from the bronze coins in her hand to the florist.

"I guess I can't help you, then. Unless you want something else."

The green eyed frowned slightly, bringing her gaze down to her feet before her face lit up once again. "How much is a single rose?" She asked hopefully.

Camila bit her lip and released a quiet chuckle at the girl's stubbornness, before replying. "Two dollars."

"You have got to be kidding me. I can't even afford a single flower?" The green eyed stranger threw her hands in the air in frustration. "How about this," The costumer began, putting the good amount of bronze coins on the counter. "I'll give you a dollar for it today, because that's all I have, and tomorrow I'll be back to give you the rest of the money." The girl offered.

Camila lowered her gaze to the money that's been put on the counter and released a sigh. "Fine." She surrendered and witnessed the other girl's wide smile, struggling to keep herself from smiling back. She pulled out the nicest rose that sat in the blue vase, feeling a sense of sadness for ruining the bouquet, but the uncomfortable feeling quickly vanished at the sight of the pleased costumer in front of her. She handed the crimson flower to the green eyed and sorted the coins into the register. Camila's eyebrow raised slightly as she felt a pair of eyes still watching her. She looked up at the stubborn costumer that was still there, with a timid smile plastered over her features. "You can go now, you said you'll be back tomorrow with the rest of the money."

"I'll definitely be back tomorrow, so I'll be leaving in a second. Just wanted to give you this, first." The emerald eyed said and extended her hand with the rose she bought a short moment ago.