She Will Be Loved (GirlxGirl)

21. Macy VII

"Wow." Ellen tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear as her swift eyes scanned me wholly, before locking her intense brown gaze with mine. "You look beautiful."

I mumbled a quick thanks, my cheecks flushing hot as a gentle smile spread across my lips. I focused on adjusting the pleats of my teal floral skirt, the hem resting midway on my lower legs. I had paired it with a tucked in yellow t-shirt and brown ankle boots, while my hair was tied in a high ponytail. A tote bag hung snugly around my right shoulder, which held my smartphone, a notebook, a pen and my purse.

I released a short breath and with new found confidence fixed my amber eyes on Ellen's face. She was clothed in a burgundy cropped top with long sleeves and black ripped jeans, cuffed at the bottom, along with black Doc Martens.

"So do u." She fidgeted under my focus as she beamed at my compliment, her face blushing in a shimmery tint of pink.

We were standing in front of the diner where Ellen worked. It was closed now, though, so its shutter was down. The area was empty at this hour and not even a car had passed by since I was here. Which wasn't long, actually. Ellen hadn't made me wait.

Crossing the paved street, Ellen called out after her, "Shall we go?" I nodded and followed along.

She led the way and took us into an alley, only two blocks away. At the end of it, stood a two storey house and in its front yard, was a moderate sized shop that displayed numerous collections of different plants - herbs and shrubs of all sizes and most of them blooming with colourful flowers. The shop didn't have any walls, it was more of a temporary gazebo, a tent-style structure of four poles with a stretched, waterproof fabric acting as the roof. A man was just leaving the shop, carrying with him a huge pot of some decorative plant.

"How is it?" Ellen asked as she turned to face me.

"Perfect! It's exactly what I was looking for." My reply made Ellen grin proudly.

A middle aged woman walked over to us from the back of the shop. Her curly black hair, styled in an afro, rested on her shoulders and her dark brown skin glistened under the sunlight. I recognized her from somewhere but couldn't quite place it. On seeing Ellen, her lips broke into a huge smile and they both hugged each other tightly.

"This is Rhonda." Ellen introduced. "She works here and also in the diner so she might seem familiar to you." Her face registered in my mind and we exchanged hugs as well.

"Hello, nice to meet you! My name is Macy."

"No need to tell me. Ellen has already talked about you plenty." Rhonda elbowed Ellen and her face turned red in embarrassment.

"Oh. Good to know." I teased.

"Well, she also told me that you wanted to click some photos of plants. So, go on. Help yourself as much as you want. The owners of this place have a diverse selection."

"I think I'll start with the herb section." I proposed.

"It's in the back." Rhonda pointed. "I'll stay here in the front if any customer shows up."

"Yeah, yeah. No problem. If we have any trouble finding something, we'll let you know." Ellen promised Rhonda and both of us proceeded to the rear end of the shop.

On our way, we passed the cactus and flower sections, amongst several others, and I made a mental note of their locations so that we didn't have to bother Rhonda after all.

The herb section had rows upon rows of small and medium terracotta pots, each hosting an individual plant. I spotted coriander, parsely, mint, thyme, dill, tarragon, sage, oregano - the common ones that I used in everyday cooking, but there were many others that I was seeing for the first time.