"Tae! Where's the roses?!"
Tae's hands paused and his shoulders slumped, pushing out a heavy sigh as they did so. His table was covered in clipped stems, plucked leaf stems, and bruised petals. He looked at the doorway and clenched his teeth.
The woman behind him at the other work station giggled and patted his arm. "Shh. It's fine." She walked to the doorway and stuck her head out. "Which ones are you missing, Chy?"
Cheyenne stood staring at the back of the van, clipboard in hand, a deep frown etched on her face.
"Yah, no frowning. My woman can't have wrinkles before her time," said a warm voice, pressing a long slender finger between her eyebrows. "We're missing a dozen white ones," he called back.
"Alright! I'm on it." The curly headed woman disappeared back into the shop and Hoseok crossed his arms and leaned against the side of the van. "You know, when I offered you a job here, I didn't realize you would be more uptight about schedules and deliveries than I could ever dream of being." His smirk was playful and teasing.
Cheyenne dropped the clipboard down to her side, blushing slightly. "Hey, someone had to whip you guys into shape." She squinted one eye as the bright morning sun shone. However, with the one open eye she could see the handsome face of her boyfriend mocking her from his casual position against the van. "And look who's being lazy," she mumbled, clicking her tongue and crossing her arms.
"Me? No, I'm never lazy. It's hard work keeping an eye on you." He winked and giggled, standing up straight. He placed both hands on her shoulders and pressed a tender kiss to her forehead. "Stop pestering Tae so much. He's been here since five this morning and he was here late last night. He has his hands full today and he always comes through, hm?" Hoseok smiled and poked her nose
"Yeah, I know. Sorry. I just don't want your shop to get a bad name," she murmured, now sulking at being quietly reprimanded.
"No pouting," he giggled, pulling her into a hug. "Okay! Here she comes with our order! Let's go, baby!" Hoseok released his girl and took the vase of roses from the smiling woman.
"Tae sends his apologies at being late," she said, smiling. She nudged Cheyenne with her arm and flashed her a warm smile.
Cheyenne rolled her eyes and grinned. "Yeah, I'm sure he did. You made them didn't you," she said, nudging the woman back.
The woman just grinned and shrugged, quickly returning to her work table.
Cheyenne watched as Hoseok slammed the van doors shut then they quickly hopped in, ready to go make smiles happen.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A sulky face greeted the woman as she walked back into the shop. "Why the long face," she said smiling brightly. "I took care of it for you. You did well, babe." She poked Tae's nose and giggled.
"I swear, she's so demanding. It's going to drive me insane. Why did she have to come work here?" He looked like a child that had just been told his trip to the circus had been cancelled.
A soft laugh reached his ear, making him smile and cast a side glance at the back of the woman near him. He watched her pull stems of greenery from a black bucket and hold them up alongside long stems of bright sunflowers, orange lilies, hot pink roses, lavender, and some green Athos poms. His sour face relaxed into a soft smile as he watched her work. Since Cheyenne had come and taken over more of the front room duties, it left Tae with a much needed partner and helper. He loved working beside her, and had taught her much of everything he had learned about flower arranging. She had gotten pretty good at it and after a few months of standing over her shoulder, guiding her every step of the way, he now felt comfortable letting her work on her own. But he would be lying if he said he didn't miss being elbow-to-elbow with her. He grabbed a small purple tulip from a nearby bundle of flowers and silently walked up behind her. He quickly slipped the tulip around her and held it still.
