A Bouquet For The Lady

Flowers between us.

She watched the back of the retreating customer, head shaking and migraine pounding behind her temple. She sighed, hopping off the counter and walking across the floor to the beautiful 2 foot orchids. She'd been trying to admire the pink and cream petals and ignore it but it was getting painful now and it was sending customers away. She had worked far too hard to set up this quaint flower shop and she wouldn't let her little but lively business run to ruin because  of a new tattoo parlour and its ear-splitting, high-decibel club music. It had to stop. She straightened her flower crown, smoothed down the folds of her light blue dress and turned the closed sign around on the door. She took a deep breath and her light pink ballet  pumps tapped across the road and in front of her, a tattoo parlour loomed. Dark on the outside and dark on the inside-probably. Well, it's not like she's ever been inside before.
She approached it with tiny steps, timid, like approaching the mouth of a sleeping dragon. She took a deep breath and pushed at the door. She squinted as her eyes adjusted to the dark and winced as the thumping music poured into her petite ears.
You can do this. Say something.
The young woman so small but with fire in her eyes said in a quiet voice: "Excuse me"
No one heard her.
"Excuse me!"
Shocked eyes turned to her, she looked so out of place in here, like a snowy white polar bear in a coal pile. The girl shivered, never before being the subject of such scrutiny.
They're going to kill me. She thought.
The music suddenly stopped. She sighed.
"Thank goodness, finally." She said and closed her eyes.
She didn't realise how loud her voice had been until she heard a small chuckle and then another and another. Everyone rejoicing in the fact that this tiny girl had come in here and shouted at them.
"Girl's got some guts to come in here." Said one. "Who'd had thought such a big voice could've come from such a little'un?" said another.
"What's going on in here?" A voice boomed.
The laughter stopped.
A young man strode into the middle of the room.
He had dark hair and dark eyes and was one of the scariest but most handsome men she had ever seen and he looked ready to kill.
Then he stopped and stared at her.
"And who are you?"
Said the dark clad man.
He yelled to the rest of the room,
"Carry on!"
The music resumed.
People looked worried for the tiny girl.
He grabbed the girl firmly by the shoulder and dragged her into his office.
"Apparently, no one comes out of there alive." Whispered one.

The brave girl felt not so brave anymore.
"Sit down."
She perched on a rickety looking chair.
"Aren't you a bit young to come barging into a tattoo shop and like some sort of queen, demand that my workers stop business?"
He thought she was too young. Joke's on him. She would unleash her fury. He wouldn't know what hit him.

"I'll have you know, I'm 22 years old, how dare you assume that I am 'a bit young' and since this abomination of a business took up residence in this perfectly quiet street, the levels of noise pollution is way over the legal limit and has been stopping business for not just my shop but for several others."

"Well I couldn't help assuming you were young, you look it with all that blonde hair and doe eyes and stupid clothes."

He was in for it and big time. No one insults her clothing. Pastel clothes looked great on her. He was just jealous because he was wearing so many different shades of the same black.

"Several other shops down the street have decided that enough is enough and that we WILL get you evicted from this property and we WILL have the law on our side."

"Ah, you don't threaten me Fairy, a stiff breeze would knock you down"
Fairy? What a demeaning nickname. Her little shop had been on this road for 3 years and this tattoo parlour for what?-3 months? No way José.
"Well a government approved wrecking ball will knock this parlour down if you say so wish so unless you keep your stupid music to a level that humans can actually function at then you can kiss this grotty little place goodbye."

"Ooh. The fairy is a big talker."

This little girl was becoming more and more interesting with every quick-witted comeback she handed to him. He gave her a once over. Her caramel eyes full of fire and her round cheeks, pink in anger and her flower crown slipping sideways on her head.

He's looking at her weird. He's trying to size up which part of her to chop off first. She readjusted her skewed crown and composed herself.
"You have until Monday before I'm filing an official complaint for intentionally ruining someone else's business. Pleasure doing pleasure with you."

And with that she turned on her heel to leave.
"NOT SO FAST!" He bellowed slamming his tanned hands onto the table. And to his surprise she didn't jump but slam her hands opposite him on the table.
"Has all that loud music made you deaf? Monday. Start making some changes around here."
And then she looked up from her hands on the table. And directly into the man's face. Their faces were inches apart, both breathing heavily from their anger. He saw her face. A light dusting of freckles graced her regal face which he didn't see before.
She saw his face. A small piercing in his and another in his nose that she hadn't seen before. Both had seen the others lips. He thought:
Screw it.
And leaned in.

She leaned away.
And went to leave. And anger flared in him like a match being lit. The door opened.

"Wait! We'll turn it down. It's not even good music anyway."
She smirked.
"Well thank you. I have better things to do on my Monday than write angry letters."

She walked back to the door in a hurry, trying to leave this hovel as quick as was humanely possible.
She was stopped at the door.

"Fairy-wait! Let's start again."

He held out his hand. She took it. His palms were clammy but hers weren't.
"Hi, I run the tattoo parlour on 5th street."

"Hello. I run the florist's across the road"

"That explains the flower crown."

She smiled and he was proud he caused it.

He opened the door like a gentleman and ushered her through.

He shouted to the worried onlookers:
"You idiots keep the noise down. You don't want this one to terrorise you."

Everyone laughed but only because they were glad she survived, that would become a story of legends in that little parlour.
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

"A bouquet for the lady?"
A man with flowers walked in with the tingle of the bell above the door.
She smiled and thanked the man.
She walked to the window, carrying the bouquet.
He waved and blew a kiss to his fairy.
And from across the road, the fairy did the same.

A/N: Edits to main story have been done! Sorry if you read it and the plot has changed a little, in my opinion, it's better! (I'm biased though!)