Seasons of love - Freenbecky ☆𝆬

Chapter 4: Gardenia

It takes a weeks' worth of lunch hours to figure it out, and half a dozen attempts to recreate the drawing using new mediums, but Freen finally puts her finger on what the piece is missing.

She wanders over to the flower shop and stops just outside the door. She can see Flower Shop Girl at the counter, and she wipes her palms nervously against her jeans before pushing the door open.

A bell tinkles overhead as she walks in, and the noise causes Flower Shop Girl to look up from where she's rearranging one of the many flower displays on the counter.

"How can I help you, mysterious tattoo artist from the parlour next door?" Flower Shop Girl asks, finishing her duty with a flourish and then directing a smile towards Freen.

Freen flushes, goddammit it, she didn't even do anything and it was really freakin' cute and she says, "It's Freen, actually."

"Sorry, let me try that one again," Flower Shop Girl says apologetically. She clears her throat and repeats the question, "How can I help you, Freen actually?"

Freen wrinkles her nose at the silly joke, and Flower Shop Girl giggles cutely.

When her laughter dies down, Freen says, "I'm looking for a flower."

"Well then, you've definitely come to the right place," Flower Shop Girl says with a teasing grin. Freen's blush intensifies, because duh, what else was she hoping to find in a flower shop? The girl saves Freen from mentally cursing herself and asks, "What kind of flower are you looking for?"

Something as pretty as your smile is Freen's immediate thought, but she bites her tongue because she's already embarrassed as it is – she doesn't want to add cheesy flirting to the mix.

Instead, she admits, "I'm not sure, to be honest. What's your favourite flower?"

Flower Shop Girl doesn't seem surprised by the question. Freen surmises that people must ask her all the time. She steps out from behind the counter and gestures for Freen to follow her into the maze of shelves teeming with flowers.

"I like gardenias the most," Flower Shop Girl says, leading Freen towards a row of elegant white blooms. She runs a finger across the petals of the closest flower and smiles softly. "They aren't particularly rare or special, but they're said to symbolise a secret or newly blooming love. Aside from being a beautiful flower, their meaning is the ultimate draw for a hopeless romantic like myself – roses are the go-to flower for declarations of love, but giving someone a gardenia sounds so much more classy to me."

Freen smiles at Flower Shop Girl. Like a child overcome by their first ever crush (and definitely not the twenty-three year old adult she is supposed to be), she gets lost in her eyes, so soft and lovely and warm. Then she remembers what she came to the flower shop for.

"Can I have a gardenia then, please?" She blurts out, hoping that the girl didn't think anything of her love-struck staring.

"Just the one?" Flower girl asks, reaching to take one off the shelf.

Freen pauses. She deliberates for a moment before deciding to buy two. Flower Shop Girl brings the flowers back to the counter and begins to wrap the both of them in paper while Freen digs into her pockets to find the right amount of cash.

The transaction ends with a shared smile and a thank you, and Freen heads toward the door. As she's leaving the store, she gets a sudden burst of confidence (or stupidity; she can't tell which) and calls out over her shoulder.

"Thanks, Flower Shop Girl!"

The response is immediate. Freen stops halfway out the door.

"It's Rebecca, actually. But you can call me Becky"

She turns on her heel then, and eyes Flower Girl with a cheeky grin.

"Thanks, Becky actually."

Becky's answering groan is belied by the twinkle of amusement in her eyes.

"I walked right into that one, didn't I?"

Freen winks, and just like that, Becky is the one left blushing and Freen finally emerges from an interaction with the Flower Shop Girl as the victor.

_____

Freen returns to the flower shop only seconds later. She takes one of her recently purchased gardenias from the wrapping and hands the one still in the paper back to Becky, who accepts it with a questioning look.

"I actually only needed one flower; I bought that one just for you."

Becky's blush deepens then, since it hasn't really had time to fade, and Freen walks out of the shop again with an even bigger bounce in her step.