Growing Season (MxM) Complete

Ch. 21 Detained

CH 21

Work was trying. Phillip wasn't late when he arrived, but he was still a bit shaken by the kids' attentions on Gareth's day--not his--he wasn't a father, and Phillip needed a distraction. He quickly started at trimming the overgrown foliage on the viburnum, a flowering shrub that needs shocking with pruning to produce a second round of blooms. So many leaves when still in the pot did not make for healthy plants and the next round of flowers would help them sell better. The methodical and precise work helped ease some of his tension as he clipped the too-leafy shrubs into an appealing shape that would bring new buds, and he started to feel better. At least he was getting better, until Brian arrived.

Brian strolled into the store with a strut to his step like he was the ruler of all he surveyed in his navy three piece power suit and dress shoes. As it was still first thing in the morning, he wasn't a sweaty mess yet, but mid June in a greenhouse pretty much guaranteed that soon enough he'd be way too hot. Sadly, his eyes immediately fell on Phillip. And the trimmings on the ground around him.

"Who told you to do that to those...those..." Not able to tell what kind of plant Phillip was working with, Brian just moved on to his point. "Making the stock smaller doesn't make it sell better. Look at how many leaves you've cut. You're willfully destroying stock."

"Many flowering shrubs, including viburnum, require shaping and pruning to grow in a healthy way," Phillip explained. He resisted rolling his eyes, just barely.

"No, that's for the customers to decide, not you. They decide what shape they want. And they want to buy bigger plants with lots of leaves. Not something that looks scraggly because you've over trimmed it. You'd think someone like you would understand that," his ornery boss spat. Brian didn't restrain himself in the same way, and the jerk's eyes rolled all the way to the ceiling.

"Brian, my degree is in botany, I know when and how to prune a bush," Phillip was confounded by the man's ignorance, shaking his head slightly. Shouldn't he educate himself on his products or at the very least trust those with the education and experience to steer him correctly?

"No, I'm pretty sure your area of expertise lays in poles, not bushes," Brian muttered, confusing Phillip. Speaking louder and officiously he ordered, "Now go work checkout since I can't trust you to handle the stock properly. I'll have someone competent come and clean this mess up. If any of these plants are damaged, it's coming out of your pay."

Phillip shrugged, but complied. If Brian wanted to remain ignorant, then that was his business. Besides working checkout was better than tying bows.

........................................................

Phillip hadn't exactly understood the meaning in Brian's words, but Mel could, and she took no time in explaining it to him during his lunch break.

"He was making a crack about your sexuality. You know, poles?" Mel explained with inappropriate hand gestures, her eyes wide and disbelieving at Phillip's naivety as she bopped around the institutional room waiting for the microwave to finish. Her neon pink sequined headband was a jarringly bright contrast to the deep blue and green striped jumpsuit atrocity she was wearing under her Bentman's smock.

Phillip's face flushed at her comment and went back to the problem at hand, "That's just ridiculous. I was pruning, it's a requirement for healthy plants. Brian is ignorant."

Mel decided changing the subject from their idiot of a boss was probably a good idea for everyone's sanity. "How are the Lewises doing this fine Father's Day?"

"The children gave me drawings and a present. They bought it themselves," Phillip informed her.

"Really? But Phillip, that's fantastic!" Mel enthused, giving him a big hug, her spiky hair poking him in the cheek. "What was it? Some sort of cheesy themed tie?"