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Chapter 1

"Thank you, ma'am. Please come again. Have a nice day." Khaiser hands over a bouquet of flowers to his customer with a sweet smile. The woman returns his smile, taking the bouquet from his hands.

"Thank you. You too." The woman replies politely before stepping to the door and leaving the flower shop. Khaiser watches his customer from behind the counter until she disappears into the crowd before leaving his spot. A list of tasks that have not yet been fulfilled pops out of his mind. He steps to the room behind the shop that is a bit hidden from the retail display area.

"Oh, you're done. Can you bring me those baskets?" Aika points her finger to the baskets on top of the box next to Khaiser. Khaiser complies. He grabs all of them by the handle and approaches his co-worker before putting them on the table in front of her.

"Thanks." A quick smile forms on Aika's face as she reaches for one of the baskets and begins her work. Khaiser takes his seat, becoming an audience to his co-worker's performance. Aika's hands are moving swiftly, putting and arranging flowers and greeneries in the basket. The movement is quite fast, yet calm and gentle. A soft humming sound escapes from her mouth. The atmosphere in the room is almost resembling the same thing. Plus, the soft instrumental music coming out from the speakers certainly encourages a sense of sleepiness. Khaiser brings his sight to the bouquets around the room.

"You made all these by yourself?" Khaiser's sight returns to his co-worker who is still busy decorating the bouquet.

"Uh-huh." Aika nods. Her focus is firm and unshackled, displaying her loyalty to her passion.

"I guess you don't need help then. I thought there is something that I can help you with." Khaiser voices his intention as he gets up from his seat and stretches out. He opens his steps to leave the room, moving on to the next task.

"Where are you going?" Her focus finally shatters. Aika stops her work and gazes at her co-worker. Upon hearing her voice, Khaiser breaks his steps and turns around.

"I want to check the garden." Khaiser points to his back with his left thumb.

"Oh, great. Can you hang these wreaths and put these bouquets on the shelves?" Aika points to a few wreaths and bouquets resting on the left side of the table. No words come out of Khaiser's mouth. Instead, he approaches them as a sign that he is compliant and willing to help. "Thanks." A word of appreciation from Aika as she smiles before proceeding with her half-finished work.

Khaiser stands motionlessly in front of the table and stares at each of the decorations one by one. He picks up one of the wreaths and walks away to the door.

"Oh yeah, before I forgot." Aika lifts her face. "You already finished with Mrs Elise, Mrs Sandra and Mr Evans's orders, right? They will take them tomorrow."

"Yup. I already finished them. They are on that shelf over there." Aika points to the shelf on her right side, next to the window. "But there's still four more orders yet to finish."

"Oh, that's fine. The others will take them the day after tomorrow." A relieved smile is displayed on Khaiser's face as he walks away with the wreath to finish his task.

***

Khaiser carefully lifts the bouquet and places it at the top of the shelf. He adjusts its position a little to make sure it is symmetrical and neat before stepping back from the shelf to examine his work. A smile of satisfaction is carved on his face. He rubs his palms against each other before bringing them to each side of his waist. He takes a deep breath and releases a sigh, inviting a sense of relaxation into his muscles. He expresses his gratitude in his heart as it is another not-so-busy day and everything went smoothly. Otherwise, he is pretty sure he could not do his job very well.