Roses and Ink|Cricky

2|Flowers

Chris' POV:

I chuckled softly as I watched Ricky walk down the sidewalk, shaking my head. There was something about him, something that made me intrigued to know more. Although we haven't talked much really at all, he still interests me. He's like a flower, delicate and beautiful.

I went back to arranging my display of roses, humming softly to myself as I did so. The black of the wood basket I sat the flowers in complemented the red color of the roses' petals, their green stems being mostly hidden. Out front, I typically set individual flowers in baskets just in case someone wanted to pick one up. Roses are a symbol of love, and I think the world needs more love right now.

Once I finished arranging the baskets to my liking, I crouched down and grabbed a small sign. I stepped inside and secured it to the front window. 'Single roses-$1.50', the sign read. I stepped back outside and looked at my work, then nodded. My store looked nice.

The outside was painted black, my front door a dark red. A small bell hung inside, which rang each time the door opened. The walls inside were painted a dark shade of grey, the tables and counters black. It was pretty big inside, with lots of room to walk and look at my flowers. Things were gothic, yet pretty. My own version of heaven.

Gardening had been something I was interested in since as long as I can remember. I would always be so interested by my mother's rosebush that she kept in the backyard, and also by the sunflower patch she took care of. I remember following her outside every morning to water all of the flowers, and always begging her to let me use the watering can. Later on, we bought a sprinkler, and my fun with watering the plants ended. That didn't stop me from buying my first flower pot when I was fifteen.

The only reason I'd bought the flower at the time was because they were on sale at the local hardware store. They were yellow daffodils, and I kept them on a desk in front of my window in my bedroom. I continued to water it with the watering can in retaliation to the sprinklers outside. My dad was never a fan of me growing flowers. He wanted me to be "manly", and do things a "normal" teenage boy would do.

I was never girly, as my dad called me. I loved hockey, and I wanted to play professionally when I went to college. One of those things happened. College was short for me. Studied agriculture, then dropped out after the first semester. It wasn't for me. I missed being at home, I missed being myself.

Scratch that thing I said about not being girly. I love makeup. I don't like to do super feminine stuff, but I love playing around. Usually I just keep my eyeshadow dark, along with my brows. If I'm going out, I might do something more extravagant, but dark makeup is typically my go-to look.

I've only been in the store for less than two hours, and I still have a lot of shit to do. I checked the time on my phone, reading 11:47AM. It'll take me about twenty minutes to water the plants, then I could probably head out for lunch. Lunch sounds good right about now. I'm a big dude, I gotta eat.

I walked behind the store counter and grabbed my spray bottle, making sure it was full before stepping to my little collection of daffodils. I sprayed their soil with water, making sure each pot got plenty, before moving onto the next. I kept small flower species inside, and typically had my larger ones outside. Hydrangeas sat in their pots, their bright colors looking gorgeous against the grey walls. Although they would eventually grow to be bigger than a foot, I still kept them inside until they grew to be too big.

Whenever flowers didn't get sold, I'd take them home. When I didn't take them home, I would take them down to either the nursing home to my grandmother, and pass them around to the elderly people living there. I'm not a hero, but I do try to make the world a bit of a better place using nature.

Once I finished up watering the plants, I set the spray bottle back behind the counter and grabbed my phone. I plugged in my headphones, blasted some Slipknot, then made my way out to the diner. I wasn't up for a drive today.