Lavender & Lemons

chapter three.

I explained to Vee what happened between Vaughn and I, and she wasn't surprised.

Vee had known Vaughn the same amount of time as I did. The only difference being that she didn't put up with him the way I did. Since I wanted him to be comfortable around me, I never criticized his "bachelor" lifestyle. Instead of trying to pick and choose the things I dealt with, I simply went with the flow, even when it came to his recent habit of constant drinking and coming home late. One night too long ago, I even brought him home from the club and didn't freak out when he vomited on me because he couldn't hold his liquor. Vee, on the other hand liked to tell him the raw, uncut truth about his behavior. She told him often that he was a dog for playing with the emotions of so many women and by the time he was thirty he'd have ten baby mamas. Vee also got angry with Vaughn about him being overprotective of me when it came to my love life. Vaughn was known for getting bent out of shape if I went on a date or got someone's number, but always went out with multiple girls and I never even batted an eye. The day before Vee left for Malaysia she got into it with Vaughn about trying to have us hang out with whatever girl he wanted to sleep with next to lead her to him. In conclusion, their goodbyes to each other weren't positive ones. I could already envision what it would look like when they saw each other later today.

"So, a lot must've changed while I was gone. There's a flower shop next door I've never seen before. When did that open up?" Vee questioned, bending down to tie one of her shoe laces.

"Today, actually. The guy who runs it just moved into my building and his name is Earn. He seems really nice." I took out a wooden bowl and masher from under the counter and began to crush some Valerian roots to blend into a tea later. I sold them separately as well, but most people preferred to drink it as a hot beverage to help them with sleep.

"Maybe you should invite him to the party I'm having later on tonight."

I raised an eyebrow. "You're having a party? Since when?"

"Since now. I think I ought to throw a kickback or something because I haven't seen everyone in about a thousand years. So I'm doing what I do best and I'm throwing everything together at the last minute. And you're going to help me," she stated.

"And there goes my evening," I answered sarcastically.

Vee told me that all I really needed to help her do was clean up her apartment and redecorate since she hadn't been in there in forever. We chatted it up a bit more and I tended to some customers by ringing them up before closing the store up for the day. Although only about ten customers came in today, I wasn't worried about not making any money because it was only Monday and the most people usually came in on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. I wasn't sure why but I had been keeping track of the numbers and apparently on those days I made the most money. Vee and I hopped in her car and drove to her apartment, which was only down the street from where Vaughn and I lived. She explained that there were boxes that still needed to be unpacked and things that had to be put in their proper place. Once we got to her place and she turned the lights on, I saw that she had a whole lot more things to do besides unpacking boxes and moving stuff around. For one, the place was dusty and needed serious sweeping: I even saw a few cobwebs that I knew I'd have to get rid of before other people got here. I went to her kitchen and grabbed a dustpan and broom, cleaning up and making everything look neater. Vee told me some more about her trip as we got the place spiffed up: she wouldn't go a single day without eating fruit and doing a session of meditation. Her whole body, mind, and soul had healed in Malaysia. She said explained how she learned to control her anger and wanted to remain like that in her transition to living back here in the states.