Chapter Text
Flowers were beautiful, they would go through a cycle of death and rebirth, wilting and reblooming when the right time came. Ashlyn Harris could relate to that, she had been a phenomenal soccer player in high school, but after tearing her ACL for the second time her senior year she had lost her chance of ever turning pro. That didn't mean she had given up on the game though, the sophomore at Penn State had decided to play for a recreational team, and for her college when they did intramural sports. She always tried to participate and keep active, she didn't want to give up soccer completely.
However school was expensive and that was why she had agreed to work at a family friend's flower shop about a mile from the campus. She loved the smell of the flowers, and seeing regular customers come in always brought a smile to her face. Sometimes it was hard balancing the work schedule with her school work, but she always managed.
Today was a slow day for the twenty year old. She was just working on some English homework when she heard the bell chime as somebody entered the flower shop. Ashlyn looked up, a fake smile plastered to her face.
"Hello welcome to the Mayflower florist shop. How can I assist you today?" The words were out of Ashlyn's mouth, before she had even really gotten a look at the person who entered the shop. The blonde worker's eyes landed on a brunette girl who looked to be about her age.
The brunette was looking slightly uncomfortable, and chewing on her bottom lip as she looked around at all the flowers. At the sound of Ashlyn's voice, the girl's eyes snapped to her.
"I...I need some help. I am trying to find some flowers for my coach. He's retiring from coaching the children's summer program and I want to send him and his wife off with a bouquet." The girl shifted slightly from where she stood awkwardly by some flowers. Ashlyn thought it was kind of cute, she was used to fumbling fuck boys trying to buy flowers for their girlfriends, so this was a nice break from the typical monotony of the day.
Ashlyn moved from behind the counter and gathered a cheap little vase so she could help her pick out some flowers. She began looking through her massive array of flowers before she smiled, picking up a few different yellow colored flowers. "How about a few of these? This one is a chrysanthemum, it means many things but among them is joy and a long life." She held out the flower to the other woman and smiled.
The girl's nose crinkled lightly as she smiled, taking the flower. Ashlyn felt her heart flutter almost painfully in her chest. Pretty girls were her weakness and the girl was certainly gorgeous. "I'm Ashlyn."
"Oh um, I'm Ali. Ali Krieger." Ali gave a soft little smile, and then gestured to the other flowers in Ashlyn's hand. "What about those, they are pretty. What do they mean?"
"Well Ms. Krieger, this other yellow one is a daffodil, it symbolizes regard and chivalry which if your coach was important to you then this is a perfect one. It also is rumored to stand for rebirth, new beginnings and eternal life." Ashlyn had read up a lot on her flowers, mostly because working in a flower shop required some knowledge about the products she was selling.
Pursing her lips, Ali stared at the flowers before nodding. "Alright I will take a couple of each. I like those, could you maybe write down the meanings too. I think my coach would get a kick out of it."
Giving a tiny nod Ashlyn began to ring up the flowers and the little vase for Ali. "You did want the vase right?" Ash asked, realizing she hadn't asked the brunette.
"Oh yeah, I'd probably need it." Ali mumbled shyly. The girl wasn't sure why the florist was being so kind, she knew it was probably to do with good customer service, but Ashlyn hadn't really broken eye contact since noticing her.
Ashlyn then wrote down the flowers' meanings on a piece of paper. She hesitated and then scribbled her number down as well. "In case you have any questions or anything." She added, as Ali paid for the flowers.
Ali blushed and took the flowers and Ashlyn's number. "Oh um, thank you. I will message you if I do have any questions." She looked a tad nervous, but then without a second thought she turned on her heels and left the flower shop.
Ashlyn sat back down on her chair, and sighed. At least she had got to see a cute girl, she had a feeling however that maybe if she was lucky she would see the brunette again someday. There was a vibe about Ali, and while Ashlyn couldn't place it, she felt drawn to her.
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Ali was almost late getting back to the stadium, which was such a rare occurrence for her. She was always on time, always early when she could help it. She was a perfectionist and she wanted to do the best that she could to be a leader for her team. She was carrying in the vase full of flowers toward the locker room when she almost bumped into her friend Sydney Leroux.
Sydney glanced at the flowers and then smirked a little. "Are those for me, or are you asking somebody else out Princess?" Syd joked, the darker skin girl giving her thousand watt smile.
Flushing a little Ali shook her head. "Nah these are for coach and his wife. I wanted to tell him thank you for teaching us for so long. I'm really going to miss him." Ali admitted, giving a tiny bit of a frown.
Syd shrugged and then looked to the card that was attached to the flowers. "Looks like the florist gave you their number, were they cute?"
Ali felt like all the air had been knocked out of her, and offered up an attempt at a shrug. "The girl was kind of cute, but you and me both know that my focus is on soccer right now." She mumbled, trying to think of a way to get the conversation off of herself. Ali could be outgoing, but she did like to keep some things private including who she was really into.
"Well you could always use more friends Princess." Syd gave her a little nudge and then stepped aside to let Ali go into the locker room and change for practice.
Ali changed into her soccer jersey and shorts, but her mind drifted to the blonde florist. The florist had seemed to be kind, and had really beautiful eyes. Ali knew that maybe Syd was right and it would pay off to have some other friends that weren't just at school or on the soccer team.
---
It was a few hours later that Ashlyn was closing up the shop. She was tired and kind of dirty since a bag of fertilizer had ripped opened and spilled on her. She wanted to go home and clean herself off in her apartment that she shared with a few friends. She knew Whitney and Crystal would get a big kick out of her being all dirty, or they'd at least make her clean herself off before she touched anything. She was just about to lock up for the night when she felt her phone buzz.
She wasn't expecting any messages and she almost ignored it, but at the last second she figured it could be one of her friends asking her to pick up some milk or something. She checked her phone and realized she didn't know the phone number. Looking confused she opened it and then gave a tiny smile as she saw a picture of the girl that had come in earlier with an older couple.
'Hey thank you for helping me with the flowers, my coach and his wife appreciated them. - Ali.'
Ashlyn smiled softly to herself, her eyes carefully roaming over the details of the picture. Even sweaty the girl looked beautiful, and seeing her in a soccer uniform only made Ashlyn crush a little harder.
'I am glad they liked your gift. If you need any more flowers, just let me know. I'm always happy to help – Ashlyn'
Satisfied with her message and realizing that she would probably never really see the girl again, Ashlyn pocketed her phone. It would be a nice story to at least tell her roommates. She had a feeling however that they would probably just tease her about it, and then the story would fall to the wayside. Closing up the shop Ashlyn headed home, and showered. Her mind drifting to the cute brunette named Ali. Ash hoped to see her again, at least some day in the future.