Love Bites

My friend Tika is a bad driver. She cusses way too much and she'll eat anything with maple syrup on top. On Fridays, Tika turns into a bad girl. You can catch her netflix and chillin' on any given Saturday. She's a Cancer, born the year of the goat but I swear she acts more like a Gemini to me. And Tika is a flower child too, her mind runs far and her thoughts drift away sporadically. She lives in the moment. Rarely will you find us on the same page. The few things we do have in common is a love for books, flowers, and sushi. Tika likes spicy tuna but I prefer California rolls. Tika has a fondness for classic literature like Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and essays by Henry David Thoreau. As for me, I like more modern stuff by Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Edwidge Danticat, and Eric Jerome Dickey (just to name a few).

Tika hosts a weekly book club on Sundays after taking her elderly neighbor, Tiffany, to bingo. I joined her and some of her snobby book club friends for one of their meetings two full moons ago and never went back. And I will never go back. Tika reads way too fast and can throw shade in the desert sun. She's quick to put anyone who hasn't read the Bright Minds Book Club's recommended readings on blast instead of pulling you aside and have a private conversation with you. It would have been nice to know Tika hands out the book club's newsletter 10 minutes before the meeting starts. I might have figured out how to lie my way out of the hot seat because that night Tika was on fire. Marsha Krump chose the novel they're reading at this week's meeting and I will not be joining them anytime soon.

Tika and I own a small flower shop in the milk district in Orlando called Sunflower babez. It's 'babes' but spelled with a 'z' because shit, we're 90s babies and that's just how we roll. Today I've been going on and on about Calla Lilies for Yohan and TiMamoun's wedding reception, and I didn't realize I lost Tika again. Our friends, Yohan Valesquez and Manoushka 'TiMamoun' Cassagnol are getting married in Kissimmee on June 11th. TiMamoun requested fresh flowers and succulents for the bridal party and table decorations. We're known for being the top succulent retailer in the Sunshine state. The happy couple chose us because Sunflower Babez is the only flower shop in central Florida that can handle TiMamoun's succulent order in such short notice. Even though she can be an airhead sometimes, Tika is a great businesswoman.

Tika had a goofy smile on her face as she drifted away to LaLa land again. "Tika?!" I said and waved a hand in front of her face to get her attention. "Are you still thinkin' about your date with Lala?" I asked. She was grinning now. Tika flashed her thousand-watt smile and practically floated to a cooler full of roses. How she managed to glide across the sticky carpet is a mystery to me.

She has been seeing Lala on and off since college. This time around, she ran into Lala on accident while getting a bite to eat at Sushi pop & Sake bar, a funky Japanese restaurant in Winter Park. Her ex, Lala is a bartender at Sushi pop & Sake bar. Tika noticed Lala immediately when she walked over to the bar. Lala looked the same since she last saw her, it's been almost seven years. Sushi pop & Sake bar is only 20 minutes away from our flower shop and the best part is Tika can take her bike to Sushi pop & Sake bar on days she's feeling hangery. Tika greeted her with a warm hug from over the bar counter. They laughed and joked about Tika's height and Lala's new hair color. Lala introduced Tika to some of her co-workers and Peter, the events coordinator at Sushi pop & Sake bar.

Peter complained to Lala that they're short 20 centerpieces for the private Mother's Day party on Sunday. Tika called my cellphone at least four or five times but I had the ringer off and slept right through her calls. When she couldn't get a hold of me, they took a cab uptown to our shop to play with Tika's succulent arrangements. Tika didn't hesitate to take on the job after all Mother's Day was only a couple of days away and we could use the money for the shop's building fund. Peter helped as Lala and Tika trimmed roses and placed them in buckets of water to hydrate and open up the petals. Tika's favorite flowers are a combination of white carnations and purple succulents. Peter had Tika wrap a special boutique for some of the moms. Then she used the remaining floral wire to create a bell shape, hearts, and a rosebud.

They made a few simple centerpieces for the Mother's Day brunch before Peter had to go and he grabbed a plastic cooler from the shop's small kitchen and placed the finished pieces in the container. The rest of the flowers would be delivered to Peter in the morning. Once Peter left Lala and Tika started grooving. Tika put on her thumbs-up radio on the Bluetooth speakers. Lala danced and mixed them a drink from what she found in the dorm size refrigerator in Tika's office. As the night went on, they fell back to old habits. Holding hands and caressing each other. Tika was reluctant at first, in fear she would be leading Lala on and opening up old wounds. She hated reminiscing on the old days. Lala found old candid shots of the two of them on her Facebook page from before Tika made a mess of their relationship. Tika raided my office fridge and found two slices of pecan pies in the freezer. She warmed them up for 30 seconds in the microwave and brought Lala her piece.

When Tika returned back to the workstation, Lala was gone. She searched in my office and went back to her small dusty office but no Lala. Tika never uses her office, she keeps spare clothes and a kimono in her closet just in case she needs to work late and sleep at the shop. Tika placed the slices of pecan pie down on the table and grabbed her car keys, and stepped outside into the warm evening air. It was pitch black outside and she couldn't make out anything in the parking lot. She assumed Lala took off after getting emotional from their trip down memory lane.

She started to turn around and go inside when she felt Lala's warm breath on her neck. Lala licked and kissed Tika on her neck. She started caressing her and massaging her shoulders. Lala smelled like maple syrup and was wearing a silk kimono. She took Tika by the hand and led her back to the workstation where they had been working earlier. Lala managed to quietly arrange a bed of roses on the table while Tika was working on her flowers. She laid her on the table and poured maple syrup on her body.

Tika dusted off a bottle of a Ravage, a red wine blend I keep stored away in a hollowed out "cookbook" on my bookshelf. They licked and sucked all the syrup off each other's bodies all night. The two of them made love on that table. They left sticky maple syrup fingerprints in every inch of my flower shop. In the morning Lala fandangled a breakfast casserole of leftovers from the fridge. I walked in on her pulling the sticky buns out of the toaster oven with maple syrup dripping off her body and onto my shaggy rug. Luckily, Tika brought out the kaboom spray and went to work on the carpet before I could complain.