shawn and mila oneshots

blooming and blossoming

With crates overflowing flowers and a mass of greenery taking over the small store, it's the perfect place to zone out. Or even procrastinate doing homework, which is what Camila is currently doing.

Working at a flower shop was exactly what she had envisioned since she was a child. Now that she's living her dreams her love for all things flowers is the same, if not grown larger now that she is actually getting her hands dirty with experience. While all her friends groan about working at fast food joints or Starbucks, she just smiles when she thinks of the florist only down the street from her house. It's a small shop but what it lacks in size is made up for in charm. Every day she looks up at the green banner overhead of the shop emblazoned with Bonita Blooms in gold lettering and every day she remarks about how cute it all is. From where she is currently sitting, the sun from the large window next to her glares into her eyes which is so not cute but in the context of where she works, it's excusable. There is no escaping the blazing sun when you work in a flower shop with windows at every angle.

She hadn't even considered the small business as an employment option but when her friend, Mariana, mentioned that her tia was hiring at the local florist shop combined with the severe drought her wallet was in, Camila didn't have to think twice. The owner, Rosa (yes, it is her real name and no, you better not bring attention to the pun because she may be even tinier than Camila but she can break your kneecaps), was a stickler for self-sufficiency and consistency so the hiring sign dangling next to the floral wreath was surprising. Rosa explained that she had a steady, small staff that stuck with her for years but she had come to realize that she was aging- just now had she realized because before she had no room to age. Floristry is a vigorous job that requires more activity than one might think. That took a toll on her "vieja bones" as Rosa had so delicately worded it.

Rosa was the one to interview her. Only 4'11 with warm brown skin that lightly sagged and black hair loosely braided, her presence wasn't intimidating at first glance. She greeted Camila warmly, the skirt of her madras patterned dress swishing as she embraced the hopeful applicant. Rosa's arms were weathered with age to make them soft to the touch and her hands hardened with callouses from handing the rough stems. They sat down at the small table at the corner of the room and Rosa's soothing voice asked questions. Camila wasn't too worried, she had spent most of her life with a huge admiration for flowers and everything in connection. She distinctly remembers each bouquet her father gave to her mother and marveling at the beautiful arrangement. Plus she had an in.

Or so she thought.

See, Rosa was a lot sterner than Mariana had described. She came in with the confidence of someone with a bright smile etched on her face and a twinkle in her eye and left wilted with her head drooping low and her steps heavy. She knew she had no experience but she was positive that her enthusiasm would be a perfect substitute. Camila should have seen how naive that thought was. Once it became apparent that Rosa seemed to think the same, there was a noticeable shift. She felt stilted and awkward and that left her feeling uneasy about her chances of getting the job.

As she walked home that day, her feet dragged and she was persistently fighting the blurry vision of fat tears threatening to stain the makeup that she had so carefully applied with butterflies in her tummy just an hour ago. The logical side of her knew that she was only a teenager and there were so many opportunities to come but that was lost in translation as she cried her eyes out in her pillow that evening. A week later she sat with her sketchbook in her lap while trying to balance herself on the railing that overlooked her garden when Mariana's name flashed on her phone with an incoming call. Or bitch ass 💓 if you want to get technical. Her immediate squeal when she answered the call made Camila's head throb and her regret levels rise. "Okay, now that you're gonna be getting that coin you are going to have to go to the mall with me!"