Sprout

Chapter 3

     I paced back and forth from wall to wall. My hands felt moist. All of the calm and collected left my brain. In came the hectic craziness and worrying. It was opening day. The shop was literally opening in an hour. 

     All morning I had been in the shop prepping. Yesterday, once training was complete, I stayed to clean the whole store. This morning had been dedicated to making sure the last minute details were ready. All of the plants are labeled with a price. Check. The register is up and running. Check. The sign with the hours are on the door, Check.

     "What else, what else," I mumbled to myself.

     I grabbed my coffee cup that said 'you grow girl' and took a sip. The warm liquid ran down my throat. I walked over to the front of the store and carefully looked at the plants. 

     "Hopefully some of you will be sold today," I grinned while touching a vining Hoya Crimson Queen leaf. It is a thick and wax-like leaf. It is stunning. On the outside of the leaf it shows a saint like white, but on the inside has a rich green. 

     "and now I'm ready to start my first day at Sprout! It is a plant store here in Middletown," Lauren exclaimed to her iPhone as she walked through the store doors.

     I took another sip of my coffee and eyed the energetic girl. She noticed me watching her and put her phone down. She wore her hair in a braid that went across her shoulder and sported her Sprout shirt. I was pretty proud of how clean and professional the shirts looked.

     "Just making a TikTok, I'm not crazy," she defended herself.

     "Interesting. I only know of Vine, so I'm not up on the latest trends," I laughed.

     Lauren raised her eyebrow as I mentioned the unfamiliar app to her. It caused me to laugh more, which felt good. Having her here now made me feel a bit more calm. I needed to be professional and ready to go. Lauren needed to see me as a hardworking boss, not one who is afraid and worried.

     I walked Lauren back to the office and showed her where to place her items. While she got ready for her shift, I walked back out to the front of the store. I took one more glance around and decided I was satisfied. There was nothing more I could do and no more time to prepare. Sprout is ready to open to the public.

                                                                              *                  *                 *

     "Hi, welcome to Sprout," I grinned from behind the register as another customer walked into the store. The store opened at 9:00 am, it was already 11:00 am and we have had a steady flow of customers.

    The couple who walked in flashed a smile and walked around the store eyeing different plants. Lauren was organizing the back stock of pots, while I manned the register. I had to admit, she was very organized for a girl in high school. Because of that, I trusted her enough to organize the pots in the back for me however she wanted.

     "We have a quick question," the woman in the store asked, "We have a bathroom that doesn't have a window. . .what plant can we put in there?"

     Internally I cringed at the question but kept a smile on my face. Inside all I could think was, you answered your own question lady! No window equals no plant!

     "Well, plants need light in order to survive. The only way you could potentially have a plant survive in your bathroom is if you decided to keep the lights on most of the day," I explained.

     "Oh," the lady said sounding slightly disgusted. She then whispered to her husband and turned around. 

     I sighed and rubbed the bridge of my nose. I guess this is how owning a business works. You make people mad about things that are the truth. As my head was face down, I heard the door chime as the couple left.