Mallflower

Chapter 4

It was a rough time for Megan since the disastrous lunch date. The mere fact that it went so bad so fast made it worse. Megan did try to put up a brave face so customers won't be put off by her emotional turmoil.

The door chime went off as someone entered the shop. Megan didn't bother to look up or even turn around, her heart wasn't in it.

"Can I have a rose, please," came a familiar voice that sounded flat.

Megan doesn't answer, she just moves swiftly to the flower counter to retrieve the requested flower. Lisa puts the money on the counter, Megan ignores it. Megan half-heartedly hands the rose to Lisa without making eye contact.

Lisa takes the rose and just looks at it with a morose look. It looks like it felt like an alien object in her hands.

"Megan, can we talk in private, please?" Lisa quietly asks.

Nancy looks at her wrist which has no watch, "Oh look at the time! I'm going for donuts, you want any? I'll get you some anyhow."

Megan shows Lisa a seat near a desk at the back of the store.

"Megan, I'm sorry I reacted the way I did," Lisa began.

"It's my fault, I should not have put my nose in your business, what happens in your relationship is not my concern," Megan quickly interrupted.

Lisa looks at Megan, "But it shows that you care about me, and for that, I'm touched."

Megan hands Lisa the money she paid for the rose.

"What's this?" asks Lisa.

Megan smiles slightly, "We are having a special today, a free rose if you bought two earlier this month, for the last fifteen minutes only, So it's on the house for you, today only."

Lisa smiles as she holds up the rose to her nose. This time she makes eye contact with Megan as she did so. Megan was transfixed by Lisa's bright blue eyes as Lisa smells the flower.

Megan's shoulders drop, "Hey Lisa, I am really sorry about that lunch.."

Lisa waves her hand, "Hey let's not dwell on that ok? I'll see you at lunch ok?"

Megan looks over at Lisa with a surprised look,"You still want to have lunch with me? Even after that lunch debacle?"

Lisa suddenly puts her arm around Megan, much to the brunette's surprise, "Of course, you're my friend, who cares for me!"

Megan was glad, even though her heart sank at the word "friend". She stands up as Lisa does, both walk to the front of the shop. Lisa smiles as she hugs a surprised Megan. Megan starts to blush a little as Lisa presses her cheek against hers. Lisa parts from Megan with a smile.

"I'll see you at lunch ok?" Lisa cheerfully says as she turns toward the food court.

Lunch finds the duo sitting in the center of the food court with trays in front of them. Megan wasn't really hungry, she just mostly looks down to her meal. Lisa, with a burger in her grasp, looks at her friend with a puzzled look.

"Hey, you ok over there?" asks Lisa.

Megan looks up at Lisa, she wants to tell her how she feels about her. She wants to hold her, protect her, and maybe even love her? Megan racked her mind to say something to Lisa, grasping at anything.

"Um, I'm sorry I have to ask Lisa, What do you mean by saying that you're stuck where you're at? That is what you said right?" Megan slowly asks, preparing for Lisa's perfect storm.

Lisa puts down her burger and stares at Megan for a moment, "You really want to know huh?"

Megan nodded.

Lisa sighs heavily, "I have no family Megan, so I have nowhere to go back to, I also have some family heirlooms, rings, and other things, that are locked away in storage, and he jealously guards the keys even though he doesn't know that they are in there, so I can't go forward without them, they are just too important to me."

Megan prepared herself for her next question.

"Do you love him?" she asks.

Lisa looks away while drinking through a straw," You know, I did when I first came here to live with him."

"And now?"

Lisa leans forward with her elbows on the table, "Now... I don't know Megan, I just don't know."

Lisa sits silently as if lost in thought. Both women jumped as Lisa's cell phone rings, snapping them out of the quiet reflection.

"Hello, Hey, You're going with your buddies on an outdoor excursion huh? Well if you gonna do that, is it ok that I spend the weekend with a friend from the mall, No my friend is a woman," Lisa rolls her eyes, "She is a woman, you can see her when you pick me up ok?"

Lisa turns off the cell phone and looks at Megan, " I'm sorry Megan that I put on the spot like that, It's just that I need to get away from him, the apartment, and everything, Is it ok we spend the weekend together?"

Megan pondered the question. The prospect of Lisa in her apartment did have a certain appeal to it. Now all she had to do is meet the boyfriend to prove that she is a woman.

"Ok sure, why not, been needing a weekend off for a while now," Megan confessed, "It may even be fun!"

"Great! I'll see you out front when my boyfriend picks me up so he knows that I'm with a woman and not some guy, He is so suspicious of people," Lisa says.

Megan started, " Why do you put up with..."

"I'm going to stop you there Megan, I know you mean well, But I don't want to start our weekend thinking about that jerk!" says Lisa

Lisa suddenly locked eyes with Megan, "You know Megan, now that I'm thinking about it, I don't love him, but I'm still trapped with him."

"Well that was out of the blue, don't you think?" Megan asks surprisingly.

"Yeah well I've been feeling this way for a while now, and I need some time to think away from him and see what I can come up with some type of solution," says Lisa

Lisa gets up to leave, "I'll see you at the front of the mall, Megan,"

Megan waves at Lisa,"Ok, then on to our weekend!"

The end of the workday finds Lisa and Megan waiting again for Lisa's boyfriend. His red car pulls up in front of them. A large frame of a man gets out of the driver side of the vehicle. He walks up to the pair of women.
He had black hair that was closely cut to the scalp and dark eyes that made lesser people feel inadequate about themselves.

"Jason, this is Megan, my friend from the mall," Lisa introduced.

Jason put forth his hand. To Megan, it seems that he could crush her hand if he wished to. The couple enters the car and drives off.

But for the first time in a long time, Lisa was smiling at her from the car. She wondered if it was because of their plans.

After all, she did say "our weekend."