Xeranthemum

Prologue: An Unexpected Meeting

She was walking down the street, her heels clicking on the pavement as she made her way to her house. It was a cold and rainy night, the drops large as if they were bullets coming from the sky. Her umbrella, which was gray, was protecting her from the wrath of the sky above.

A few moments later, she stood in front of the doorway to her home, her key already out. The door opened. There was nothing unusual in that evening, in a house where she lived alone save for a cute little Corgi who came running up to her as soon as the door opened.

"Hey, buddy," the woman greeted, putting away her coat to the rack and her bag on the table. She knelt down to take the dog into her arms, kissing its head. "Did you miss me?"

The dog barked in response.

A faint smile came across her lips. "Missed you too, Duke."

She then stood to her full height, which was about five feet and seven inches, and went on to make her way deeper into the house. It had always been just her and her dog, two lone souls depending on each other for comfort and survival. So, as it was, the house was fairly clean.

She went on with her routine for the night: cooked herself a homemade meal, fed Duke, then went to bed. It was always like that. Each single day was made with routine things, but she'll shake it up a little every now and then when she decides to go to parties, to read a new book, to go to the movies. But it was normally like that.

She would wake up the next day and head to the flower shop where she worked, welcomed into the open arms of her colleagues once again. She had asked a neighbor to take care of Duke when she wasn't home, and it was easy enough to leave him with them. After all, there would be a just compensation after.

"Good morning, Agatha!" chirped a redhead with a slender form and glasses to help her see.

Agatha looked at her with a soft smile. "Good morning, Hannah."

Hannah stopped arranging the bouquets in the vases and smiled up at her. "How was your night?"

"Oh, you know, the usual. Good," she said, going to the back of the shop to drop her things and get to work. After all, there wasn't really a uniform that was required of them. They just had to be presentable and clean, which meant that their hair had to be tied. And with what Agatha was wearing - a pastel blue blouse and some pants, her brown hair in a braid - she was pretty sure that she was more than ready to face the customers.

She came out to the front, working the counter as she should. As she smiled at the customers, she was almost admirable. Even to the trained eye, it would really look as if she was doing a job that fulfilled her to her very core. Her smiles were genuine... or at least, genuine enough to fool everyone.

Time was a blur whenever Agatha worked. There were times when she would forget it's near lunchtime and had to be reminded by Hannah and their other colleagues, including Liam - who was a burly man in his late 40s who also happened to own the shop. Then there was Kent and Dinah, Liam's children. There are others, but they usually don't come in on Saturdays. Her friends would tell her to have lunch with them, and they would either get something to eat from the fast food place or the restaurant down the street. And when all was said and done, they'd all have lunch in the back of the shop like a family.

Agatha liked to think that they were.

It had been too long since she had one.

"Hey, Ryland," Dinah called, which made the blonde look away from her gaze out the window. "You gonna come eat with us?"

"Is that even a question to ask?" Agatha shot back, chuckling as she moved to join them, but the door chimed at the arrival of a new customer. She sighed and then smiled at her friend. "You guys go on. I'll catch up."