greenhouse ✕ l.h.

chapter four

It's nothing much; pretty huge, I guess. A large conservatory building up front with old, cloudy glass windows for walls and the roof. Colorful and bright and tons of flowers outside. I can't see much past the lattice gates beside the building, but I'm pretty sure those back there are the kinda greenhouse rows you find at farms." Luke's voice was insouciant as he described his new workplace. He balanced his cell between his shoulder and ear as he swung his legs off of his motorcycle, unsnapping his helmet and tying it to the handlebars of the bike.

"Farms?" Hayley replied on the other end of the phone line. "I thought you guys were gonna grow, like, flowers and stuff?"

Luke shrugged even though Hayley couldn't see him. "Looks like they have enough 'flowers and stuff'. I dunno, maybe there's potatoes and carrots and things too. Aren't greenhouses supposed to have more than flowers?"

"Hell if I know."

Luke unzipped his jacket and retrieved a packet of folded papers from the inner pocket. "Well, look, I've got to turn in these papers so I'll get back to you."

"Alright, baby. Catch ya later."

Luke hummed absently in response and ended the call. Running his fingers through his hair, he made up the stone stepping path that led to the front entrance. The front lawn was planted skillfully with yellow and red flowers that had black spots in the middle of them. Luke frowned at how he couldn't put a name to the flower even though Hannah had the same ones on the windowsills in their home. Garden gnomes, flowerpots, and fairy sculptures littered the lawn. There was even a birdbath near the lattice gate. The decorations radiated a bright vibe that reminded Luke of a home. Not exactly his home, but those dream homes you see in the movies. The ones where the kids live happily with their parents and have weekly barbecues.

Kind of like Michael's place, he thought.

Luke felt almost alien walking into such a vivid, homely place. Everything was so bright and beautiful, yet here he was, invading the colorful environment. He was in black skinnies, black vans - well, basically all of the colors were stripped from his outfit today. He was almost ashamed of the Sex Pistols sleeveless he was wearing that Michael had bought him for Christmas. Scratch that - he was ashamed. He was such a dark aura in a place full of life and color and beauty.

Upon entering through the glass doors, Luke was greeted by the mellifluous songs of numerous wind chimes. Green was the first thing that came to mind when he set his focus forward. It was all he could see. Innumerable amounts of plants cluttered on stands, shelves, hanging baskets, and everything in between. Vines climbed pots everywhere, leaves and petals fell from the tall trees or high-hung plants, trails of soil and broken terracotta were scattered about the floor. Luke ventured deeper into the warehouse until he came upon a sorry excuse for a front desk. It was littered with documents of plants and diagrams of flower beds and whatnot.

"Hello...?" Luke called loud enough to bounce between the glass walls. He looked around uneasily, pondering over just how many bugs this room contained.

"Over here, honey!" A woman's orotund, disembodied voice replied back. "Come on back here!"

Luke's lips set into a pout and he widened his eyes, searching around with a troubled look. Where exactly was 'back here'?

He stepped timidly through the maze of plants, pushing back giant leaves and maneuvering around stacks of pots, still heading deeper into the heart of the greenhouse. Rounding a plant-stand, Luke was met with the back end of a round woman attempting to reach a pot on a shelf way too high.