The Flower Shop

Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO

A silence finally washed over, the once heavy rain coming to a halt as the rain clouds dissipated to reveal the light rays of the afternoon sun. The mist had gradually vanished, bringing about a sense of brightness both outside as well as the inside of my shop. Although the rain had stopped, everything was still slightly wet and gleaming with beads of moisture from the prior cascading downpour.

I let out a sigh, my eyes scanning over the several puddles of water that had been left behind by drenched shoes just a few moments earlier. The floor itself was still clean, but the spots of wet ground could have had someone falling if left undried- a risk I wasn't willing to take. With much carefulness, I held the mop in my hand and stepped over the hazardous area before motioning it back and forth to soak up the dampness.

I had almost completely rid the floor of all the residual water, when suddenly the ground had escaped from beneath my feet and my body went flailing toward the floor, the mop stick practically hurdled across the room. My hands reacted instinctively, arms folding ahead of my torso to catch myself before what would have been an agonisingly painful impact with the hard tiles.

"Hngh" Was all I could let out, my voice caught in my throat from momentarily shock.

It took a moment before I could gather myself from the fall, sitting upwards with my legs sprawled out beside me. The palm of my hands stung from the impact, but I was glad that had been the only consequence. I turned around hazily, in search of the dubious puddle of water that had managed to linger behind despite my thorough mopping. Instead, my eyes fell upon a small rectangular piece of plastic, lying flat where my foot had landed earlier.

I picked up the shiny card, a scarce water droplet rolling down my finger as I flipped it over. Before I had a chance to even glance at the front of the card, a large gust of cool air swarmed the room as the door suddenly swung open, the bell jingling in unison. Sarah strode inside, carefully dropping her damp umbrella into the holder as her gaze fell onto my disheveled figure before her.

"Dahlia?! Oh my goodness! Are you alright?" She had appeared by my side in less than a second, her brows furrowed in concern as she loomed over me.

Although comparatively much smaller than me, she pulled me off the ground effortlessly, the card slipping from my grasp, before guiding me to the nearest chair. I thanked her, assuring her that I was unharmed.

"Really, there's no need to worry. I just slipped. It wasn't as bad as it looked." The dull pulse in my lower back disagreed though.

She gave me another once over before she was seemingly convinced by my dismissal. "You really ought to be more careful. You could've broken a bone!"

Although I appreciated her concerns, I couldn't help but let out a small laugh in response to her over-exaggeration.

I had known Sarah for almost as long as I'd moved to Milton Keynes three years ago. After I had invested practically all of my savings into opening this flower shop, I decided that perhaps sharing an apartment with another person would help lighten my financial load for a while. During that time, she had revealed her refreshingly lively nature and a friendship had developed amidst our rental agreement.

It wasn't long before she lost her job as a bartender at the crappy pub a few blocks away from our own place. She'd mentioned something about a groping incident involving one of the customers, to which her boss had implied was "well-deserved". Fortunately, my own business had began blooming and I offered her my sympathies along with an invitation to work as my assistant.

Admittedly, I was worried about becoming someone's boss at first, which was only amplified by her flatmate status. If it hadn't worked out, it could have potentially created a personal rift between us. But just as good a co-habitant as she was, she was equally an exceptional partner to work with. Just like that, everything had seemed to work out for the both of us.

"By the way, have today's deliveries arrived yet? I saw some heavy flooding on the over way here, I fear it might cause some delay."  Picking up the mop I'd dropped just moments earlier, she motioned it across the floor for a final swish.

The card.

I kneeled, my skirt sprawling around me as I unbound it from the floor once again to examine its contents. "Um yes, they came by earlier. The rain hadn't gotten quite so bad yet."

She replied incoherently, my focus now pinned onto the familiar image on the right corner of the card. I furrowed my brows, my eyes squinting ever so slightly as recognition soon followed.

The man from earlier, I had no doubt about it.

It must've dropped from his wallet as he was paying for the flowers. He'd been in such a hurry that he hadn't even notice its absence.

"What's that?" Sarah propped the mop against the counter, leaning in to get a closer look at the object in my hand.

I gestured it towards her for better inspection. "An ID card. I think a customer might have dropped it earlier."

Apart from a few cases of forgotten credit or debit cards, we'd surprisingly never had any incidents of dropped IDs. At least, none that we had found anyways.

She hummed in response, taking in the man's appearance in the photo. "Well bloody hell-he's handsome."

I chuckled at Sarah's bluntness, despite how similar my initial thought had also been.

"He came by just a bit before you arrived. Hmm-although he did look a ways bit different than in this photo." I admitted.

She shook her head, flicking her hand dismissively. "I doubt anything could make that man look any less good."

Although silently, I agreed. As different as he had looked, the man had still managed to have me awe stricken for a moment. "Anyways, I'm not quite sure what we're supposed to do. You reckon he'll come back for it?"

She pondered for a moment, whipping out her phone as she tapped away on the screen. Finally she glanced at the card, lightly nodding her head as if in agreement "He doesn't seem to have any socials but his address is just near Hollerith. You can drop it on the way back later."

"What? How did you-" I stuttered, completely baffled by how easily she'd figured out where this total stranger lived.

"It beats having to stop by the police station." My shock hadn't phased her in the least.

"I suppose you're right. Only since it's on the way." I agreed, ignoring the spark of excitement that seemed to ignite within my chest.