It was a beautiful day. The air was cool, the bright blue sky was dotted with large, fluffy, white clouds. A warm breeze blew at her back, and she sighed at the thought of having to get a comb through it later.
Thanks, Mom, for the curls!
She smiled warmly and kept walking till she reached her destination. She pushed through the door and listened to the tinkle of the bell above it. The smell inside invigorated her. Flowers, greenery, plants both large and small were everywhere inside.
"Hope! How was class?"
"Hey, Aunt Chey! They were good. Nothing too hard. Not like being a florist isn't second nature to me already."
"Well, you do have creative genetics for one, and great examples make great teachers. Why aren't Ellie and Erin with you?" Chey looked a little concerned at the absence of her and Hoseok's twin girls.
"Ah," Hope clenched her fists and giggle. "I sorry, I was supposed to give you their message. They went on ahead to their dance class at Uncle Jimin's studio."
"Ohhh. Yeah, I forgot that was tonight. That means Hoseok will be there as well. May as well see if Marcella wants to have a girl's night! Want to come along?"
"No, thanks. I have plans." Hope smiled and pointed to the back room. "Is Dad back there?"
"He's out for a few moments. He hadn't had his lunch break yet. As you can see, he's been busy today." Cheyenne smiled fondly around the sales room. "He'll be back soon. You can go back there and wait for him if you want or stay up here and keep me company."
Hope looked around at all the tulip arrangements placed around the shop. A soft smile perked up her lips and she nodded to Cheyenne. "I'll keep you company."
"Perfect! Since the girls aren't here, fill me in on any juicy gossip."
"Aunt Chey!" Hope giggled and shook her head. "Snitches get stitches!"
"Oh, come on, Hope! My girls won't tell me anything! They walk around with their dad like they have this huge secret and I'm being purposely kept in the dark!" Cheyenne whined and tried to play to Hope's sympathies. "You don't want me to be kept out of their lives do you?"
Hope knew her aunt. She knew the how the woman would try to weasel information out of her if she thought something was going on under her nose. This time was different though and Hope knew better than to ruin the twins' plans. "Nope! My lips are zipped!" She pulled an imaginary zipper across her lips and smirked as Cheyenne stomped her feet softly.
"Yeah, keep this up and I'll make sure you have an actual zipper there, young lady!" Cheyenne grinned, proud of Hope for sticking up for the twins. The three girls were all about the same age and had entered the same community college together. Hope was studying to be a florist, with a minor in floral language, and the twins were both studying nursing.
"Are you threatening my daughter?" A low voice echoed from the back room.
"Of course not! At least, not seriously," teased Cheyenne. "We'll talk about this later," she whispered, nudging her head towards the backroom. Hope laughed quietly, giving her aunt a fist bump before hurrying back to see her father.
As she entered the back room, she saw her father putting on his apron. She rushed to take the strings from his hands and tied a neat little bow. "Hi, Appa." She reached around and laid a soft kiss on his cheek, admiring the gray that was starting to show at his temples.
"How's my girl," Tae said, turning around to hug her tightly.
"Good!"
"How were classes?"
