through the window // larry stylinson

chapter four

chapter four

 

I stopped by the florist’s about a block from my house. The sign read “Gwen’s Flowers.” Gwen. It had a nice ring to it. Why hadn’t I noticed this place before?

As I opened the door, a bell chimed lightly. There was a girl at the counter, who I guessed was Gwen.

If I had seen her on the street, I would never have guessed that she would own a flower shop. A tattoo parlor, maybe. Her body was covered with them. She had black gauges in her ears, too, and a beanie on her head with long chocolate colored hair flowing out of it. *a/n side picture > sorry, the 'click here for full resolution' thing won't go away, but you get the idea*

“Hi.” She said, and grinned. I could instantly tell she was American.

“Erm… hello. I was wondering if you do deliveries at all?” I said tentatively. Why was I nervous about this?

Hey. You finally admitted you like him, don’t go back now! Mini-Harry was obviously upset.

“Oh, yeah of course!” She pulled a notebook out of her apron pocket. “Is this just a one-time thing, or did you want a daily delivery?”

I blushed. “Daily is fine.”

She laughed, her nose wrinkling. “You must really like this girl, huh?”

Before I could stop myself, I said “Not exactly a girl.”

“Oh, so it’s a guy? How cute! What’s his name?”

“Erm…” Wow, I barely knew her and she was already asking about my love life? Not that it really mattered.

Her smile dropped in an instant. “Sorry. It’s none of my business.”

“No, it’s fine. His name’s Louis.”

The smile was back. It was really lovely, to be honest. If I swung that way, maybe I would be attracted to her.

“Awesome.” She wrote something down. “So what kind of flowers did you want? Roses? Daisies?”

“I guess I hadn’t thought about it…” I said, feeling stupid.

“That’s okay. I can show you some stuff, if you want?” She asked.

“Sure.”

She came around the counter and took my hand, leading me into the room behind the shop, through double doors that swung open with just a push.

I gasped. The room was chalk-full of so many completely gorgeous flowers. Like a rainbow of petals and leaves.

She didn’t notice my gasp, and started walking around to various bouquets. “Of course, roses are always classic. Anemones are really pretty too… Or if you’re looking for something a little different, you could go with a dianthus. And I love sunflowers, too, very innocent. Mmm… but lotuses have always been my favorite.”

Gwen turned around to look at me. “So, what do you think?”

A particularly pretty bouquet to my left caught my eye. I pointed to it. “What about those?”

“Ooo! Good choice! Yeah that’s a mix of sweet pea blossoms and anemones. I made that one this morning. Not to toot my own horn, but I think it looks pretty good.”

She picked it up and wrapped it in paper and a plastic bouquet cover and walked back into the front room, motioning for me to follow her.

Once we were back at the counter, she pulled out the notebook she had been writing in. “Okay, so what’s his address? Or maybe you wanted the delivery guy to bring it to him at work?” She got starry-eyed. “How romantic!”