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The first crop of sunflowers waves gently in the morning breeze, beckoning passersby to stop and admire their fleeting midsummer glory. It's only eight and heat steams through the thin layer of clouds covering the city and in through the open door of Falcon Floral Supplies. Rey wipes her brow as she finishes wrapping a bundle of the sunflowers in thick brown butcher paper, handing it over to the tall purple-haired woman in front of the counter.
"See you next week, Amilyn!"
Satisfied, the woman leaves and Rey returns to her computer, scrolling through this week's orders. Two funeral sprays, a birthday arrangement to be delivered on the east side of town…
A cough, and Rey looks up from the computer to find a businessman staring her down. His pale blue eyes narrow. "I was wondering when you'd notice me," he says.
Rey smiles, ignoring his frosty tone, and points to the door. "The bell doesn't ring when the door is open. What can I do for you?"
"Red roses, a dozen." The man reeks of order, from his clipped words to his combed red hair and perfectly manicured nails.
Pulling the roses from a fridge in the corner of the shop, Rey lays them onto the counter and rips off a square of butcher paper to wrap them in.
"No," the man commands. "A vase." He tacks on a "please" seconds later after Rey has already disappeared into the stockroom. She returns with a tall glass cylinder.
"It's not particularly fancy, but it has a sturdy base," she explains, arranging the roses. "Harder to knock over that way."
The man nods thoughtfully. If his thanks sounds unpracticed tripping off his tongue, Rey doesn't mention it. She just beams in response, pushing the vase towards him.
"How much?"
"Thirty."
"Including the vase?"
"It's no problem," she says. His blue eyes widen suspiciously. "Really, I have too many of these cluttering up the back. Thank you for taking one off my hands."
The businessman inclines his head, shoving a fold of bills at her. A briefcase in one hand and the flowers in another, he cuts an odd figure as he marches off to work. Rey shrugs and returns to her inventory.
June wilts into July, and the red-headed businessman returns early one humid morning. The grey starched suit, the stiff shirt color, the polished leather briefcase—all the same as the last time he visited the store. Rey recognizes him the second she looks up from a series of corsages she's assembling.
"Hello!" Rey manages around the ribbon clenched in her teeth. "One second, and I'll be right with you."
"I'm—" His jaw twitches. "I'm running late to work. My boss will—I need to get there on time. Could you…?" He trails off, flushing a deep poppy red.
"Of course." She hadn't expected to see him return, and clearly he's nervous today in a way he wasn't last time. So she drops the ribbon and turns her full attention to him. "A dozen roses today?"
He shakes his head, holding up a picture on his phone. "Some of these. If you have them."
Rey squints, reaching out to steady the phone thrust at her. "Peonies, it looks like. We've got them." She pulls out a vase before picking out the flowers, sliding it towards the man. "Can you tie a bow?"
"Yes," he says, although doubt colors his voice. She hands him a thick blue ribbon yanked from the stash next to her register.
"Tie this around the vase while I trim the stems." Her knife flies over the stalks, and before long, she's placing the white blooms in the vase with practiced ease. Once the arrangement is complete with some sage, she surveys the bow: lopsided and droopy. A few tugs on the ribbon, and it perks back up like the flowers it guards. "Perfect."
Another fold of bills, and he's out the door, his measured march replaced by a dash.
The redheaded man catches Rey just as she's about to close the shop for her lunch break one muggy August afternoon. "What'll it be today?" she asks, shoving aside her paper lunch sack to make room for a fluted vase on the counter.
"Perhaps something pink?"
Rey grins. "I know just the flower." She had picked up a large assortment of dahlias at the flower market before the sun rose today. So she plucks the best from her morning haul, adding a few roses ("Juliet garden roses—perfect for summer") and dusty miller ("to add a pop of green").
By the looks of it, the flowers are all the same to him, so Rey shifts to a more conversational topic as she threads the greenery through the blossoms. "I believe I haven't caught your name yet."
He stiffens, but inclines his head, an echo of a bow. "Armitage Hux. And you're Rey."
"Well, Hux," she says, cutting a length of lace to wrap around the flowers. "Who's the lucky lady?"
The glower he gives her does more to make her laugh than fear because of the blush that accompanies it. "These are not for a-a girl!"
Rey only cocks her head knowingly. "I sell flowers for a living."
Hux huffs, straightening the grey hat he's added to his suit ensemble today. "Fine. Maybe they are for a girl. But that's none of your business!"
The lace secured, Rey fills the vase. "Must be special, this woman. You order her flowers every month, but you're not willing to talk about her?"
She studies the arrangement, but out of the corner of her eye, catches Hux's lips disappearing into a tight line.
"Could it be that she's got a secret admirer?" Rey grins.
Hux sighs, a protracted affair meant to demonstrate how dull he finds the subject. But it only confirms Rey's suspicions. "Just take my money and let me go, florist," he says, but he's not truly agitated. He even offers a hint of a smile as he walks out.
"Hope she enjoys the dahlias!" Rey calls to his retreating back.
September almost ends before Rey sees Hux again. When he enters Falcon Floral Supplies one morning and finds Rey helping Amilyn pick out some late sunflowers, Hux almost backs out of the shop. But Rey looks up at the familiar jingle, and makes eye contact just as he reaches for the door again.
"Hux!" She greets him with a wave. His eyes shoot to Amilyn, a baleful frown twisting his mouth.
At the name, Holdo turns and as she notices Hux, she also waves. "Hello, Hux."
"Holdo," he snaps nervously. "What are you doing here?"
"Picking up flowers to brighten that ghastly desk of mine," she says, ignoring the pinched look on Hux's face. Rey wonders if she's oblivious to the man's discomfort. "You know how it is with a corner desk."
Hux's discomfort gives way to downright irritation. "Oh, I do."
"Would it kill him to turn on the A/C?" Amilyn moans. "We're going to roast alive in our offices."
"The best offices can just open their windows," Hux agrees. "But I doubt you and I will ever see one of those."
Above the crinkle of the butcher paper, Rey interrupts, "How do you know each other?"
Hux looks at Amilyn, then back at Rey. "We work at the same firm."
"With the same boss from hell," Amilyn adds.
Rey has to suppress a chuckle. "Oh." Looking at Hux, she would've thought they had once dated and suffered a terrible breakup. Then Rey remembers the flowers that Hux has been picking up before work every month and it clicks: Hux doesn't want Amilyn to connect him to the mystery girl.
Once the conversation dies down and Hux's panicked look returns, Rey presents Amilyn with her sunflowers before turning to the man. "I'll have your mother's birthday bouquet delivered tomorrow. I think we agreed upon roses?"
Relieved, Hux nods. "Excellent. Leave out the birthday balloon, will you? Mother won't appreciate such a maudlin touch."
"Of course," Rey says. "Thank you for reminding me."
When Hux leaves, Amilyn shoots Rey a knowing look. "I've seen him leaving bouquets on Kaydel's desk."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Rey retorts, turning to the sink behind the counter.
"I'm not exaggerating, by the way." Amilyn studies Rey's face as she washes her shears. "About our boss. He's becoming more abrasive every day. He yelled at me for humming as I worked, he lectured Hux about bringing flowers to the workplace— 'This is a law firm, not a garden.' Yesterday, he fired Ackbar in accounting for returning from lunch three minutes late!" Amilyn surveys the little shop, sunlight streaming through the large windows and igniting her purple braid. "Be glad you work here."
Rey just smiles, drying the shears on her apron. "I am."
"Just look at Hux's polished shoes, his crisp suits. He's the type of man who craves authority. Respects it, too. If someone like Hux hates our boss, you know it's bad."
"He sounds like a real monster," Rey says.
"He's a partner in the firm, though. He's not going anywhere. Oh, and get this: he's married."
"Really?"
"Comes to work every day with a gold ring on his finger. I can't believe someone actually married him."
Rey leans on the counter, smiling. "Well, as I say, there's a flower for everyone."
"And I say assholes attract assholes. I'd hate to see what Mrs. Solo is like."
Less than a week later, and Hux sweeps into Rey's shop, bringing with him a brisk gust of October air. "Thank you for covering for me in front of Holdo," he says by way of greeting.
Rey smiles, peeking up from a floristry magazine. "No problem. What do you have in mind for today?"
"Maybe red roses again?"
"Would you let me try out a new arrangement today?" She flips to a dogeared page in the magazine sprawled on the counter and turns it towards him. Bright yellows and oranges leap off the page.
Hux agrees, and soon Rey is washing a Mason jar and matching greenery with her refrigerated tins of chrysanthemums.
"How's work going?" she asks, holding up tiny green poms to the window.
"It's hard."
"How so?"
On the counter, the loose mums waver in the wake of his sigh. "Never have I worked under the command of someone so… temperamental. I would look for employment elsewhere if it wasn't for…"
He trails off, but Rey's curiosity has been stoked. Keeping her eyes on the stems she's snipping, she casually asks, "What's her name?"
The sharp lines of his face soften marginally. "Kaydel Ko Connix."
"What a lovely name."
"Seeing Kaydel each day almost makes it tolerable to work under Ben Solo."
Rey hums sympathetically. "Amilyn told me about him. A real piece of work, he sounds like."
"Indeed. He… doesn't much care for the flowers that crop up on Kaydel's desk every once in a while. Solo glowers at her whenever they show up, but the last few times, he's also been frowning at me. I think he knows where they're coming from, and he doesn't like it."
This time, Hux reaches for the ribbon lying on the counter (green today) and ties it neatly around the jar. Rey notes his handiwork has improved somewhat, the bow's ends looking rather even.
"Well, I'll have you know that sometimes my husband complains about the flowers I bring home. Too many vases ready to knock over, too many scents cloying the apartment. But I bring them anyway, because I like them." She beams, shaving off the leaves of the last chrysanthemum. "I bet Kaydel likes your flowers even if Mr. Solo doesn't."
Hux straightens, trading Rey money for the Mason jar. "I think you're right," he allows, and Rey watches him head to work, a barely-detectible spring lightening his step.
In November, Rey is surprised to see Hux turn up with Holdo, clutching paper cups of coffee and chatting animatedly. The unease from their previous meeting at the shop disappeared, replaced by an easy camaraderie that Rey enjoys observing.
"Good morning!" she says, brushing back the loose hairs escaping from her buns.
"Give me your most colorful flowers," Amilyn says as she slumps down onto the bench running under the windows. "Force give me strength to survive this month."
"It's busy season for us," Hux explains, "and Solo's fuse is shorter than ever."
"I can only imagine," Rey mutters.
When Hux sees the daffodils Rey draws out of the fridge for Amilyn, he almost smiles. "A bouquet of those for me, too, please."
"For Kaydel," Amilyn corrects gently. To his credit, Hux doesn't flinch. He raises his chin, squaring his shoulders, as if to ask what of it. "Rey, I caught the two of them talking in the copy room this week."
"And then Solo ruined it," Hux groans, following Rey's deft hands as she trims the stems and fills a vase.
"He stormed in and told Hux and Kaydel if they had time to talk, they had time to submit their briefs before lunch."
Rey winces sympathetically. "I imagine that was the end of your conversation."
"We both had to stay late to catch up on the rest of our work," Hux says. He doesn't look remotely upset about it.
"Another chance to talk to her!" Rey says, slicing a length of twine. "Brilliant move, Hux."
"It wasn't half-bad," he agrees. "I told her about my favorite Indian place, just around the corner from here actually. We may order out today."
"Bring me back a curry," Amilyn says. "Solo's on the warpath and I'm behind on this contract. Better get it done before he explodes."
Daffodils peer up from a newly-assembled arrangement, waiting for Hux to scoop them up and journey onto the law firm, but he and Amilyn make no move to head out. Rey turns back to the wreath she had been twisting together before her favorite customers entered, and lets her fingers weave as she listens.
"Working under Ben Solo for too long will put me in an early grave," Hux says.
"You know what baffles me?" Amilyn asks. "Somebody chose to live with that man!"
Hux shakes his head in wonderment, earning a laugh from Rey. "The two of you are terrible! He can't be that bad."
"My boyfriend said that, too," Amilyn says, "and then he dropped me off at work one week. Ran into Solo and hasn't stopped running since."
Hux scoffs. "She isn't lying." Then he glances at his watch, mouth wrinkling in disgust. "We should get going, or we'll have to face the wrath of the most evil employer in the galaxy."
Rey rolls her eyes, but Hux and Amilyn are already out the door, the bell jingling merrily in their wake.
The streetlights have already turned on, snowflakes swimming leisurely in their beams, when Hux paces into Falcon Floral Supplies in December. He never stops by this late; Rey's only seen him with the sun streaming at his back.
"Hux!" she exclaims, setting aside her broom. His cheeks is pinched and pale, nose red under his grey scarf. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," he says, words clipped. The wild sea look in his eyes worries Rey, so she brandishes the broom like a staff, herding him in the direction of the bench. He looks from the broom to the florist, and sits down. Gone is his ramrod posture, his polished look. His hair disheveled, his overcoat unbuttoned, he looks like a whole new man.
"Stay," Rey orders, and then she's ankle deep in snow, walking two doors down to the nearest coffee shop. When she returns with two cups of peppermint tea, Hux hasn't moved. "Drink this," she says, handing him a cup and sliding on the bench beside him. "How did your day go?"
"Today was the firm holiday party." He sips at the tea.
"You and Amilyn had been looking forward to it."
He huffs a bit. "Of course. Getting a free meal instead of drafting contracts all afternoon? It's the best thing to happen to the workday since the invention of the vacation."
This is the Hux Rey knows. The tea must be working its magic. "What happened?" Rey prompts.
"Amilyn brought Kaydel over to eat with us," he begins. "It was going really well at first. When Amilyn mentioned a movie she's been wanting to see, Kaydel suggested we three go to see it over our holiday break."
"So far, so good."
"And then Ben Solo struck." Clenching the cardboard cup in his hands, Hux is surprised when the lid pops off and rolls across the floor. He watches it tumble to a halt before continuing. "He walked up to our table, glass of wine in hand, and asked how we were planning to spend our breaks. We made small talk for a few minutes. Then he asked me if I was planning to shop for flowers over Christmas even though I wouldn't have anyone to give them to away from work."
Rey freezes. "Oh no."
"Amilyn said something, but I don't remember. Solo just got up and walked away, and Kaydel followed soon after. She made some excuse about needing to head home before the storm picked up, but…"
"She didn't look like she was ready to leave before Solo had sat down?" Rey finishes. Hux nods, shoulders sinking. "I'm sorry."
"She couldn't look me in the eyes. It was humiliating."
"Your boss really is a monster."
"You're telling me." But this admission from Rey breaks the tension in Hux somehow. Drinking his tea, he idly scans the walls, pausing when he reaches the handwritten sign posted near the door. "Your shop will be open on Christmas Eve?"
"Everyone needs flowers for the holiday."
"I'm surprised that we're getting a week off," he says bitterly. "If Solo had his way, we'd cram our Christmas celebration in during the lunch hour."
Rey swallows the last of her tea. "I'm glad that isn't the case."
"I apologize for interrupting you," he says, collecting their cups and placing them in the small trash can at the floral counter.
Rey doesn't tell him that she had been hoping to close ten minutes ago. She just reaches for him, pulling him into a hug. "Merry Christmas!"
"Thank you, Rey. And Merry Christmas to you, too."
By the time Rey finishes wiping down the sink and taking out the trash, Hux's footprints on the sidewalk have disappeared under a thick layer of snow.
In the floral industry, January means placing orders for flowers to arrive in February. None of this picking and choosing from the best at the morning markets before sunrise. Rey will be lucky to find enough carnations to meet the local senior center's annual order for a reasonable price. She's double checking her order forms when Hux enters, shaking snow from his boots.
One bundle of irises later, and still Hux lingers over the counter. "I'm thinking of asking Kaydel to join me on a date."
Rey raises her eyebrows. "I thought you were avoiding her. Amilyn said you sprinted down the hall in the opposite direction when you saw Kaydel near the restrooms."
"Thanks to Mr. Solo" —he spits the name, a curse that darkens his eyes— "Kaydel suspects the flowers are from me. Maybe I should just tell her that I… fancy her."
Tapping her pen against the counter, Rey sighs. "Amilyn will get all the fun watching this."
"Will you deliver a bouquet to the office on Valentine's Day?"
"I wouldn't miss it for the world." They spend the rest of the afternoon picking out flowers to order the arrangement, and Hux only tries to back out of his plan twice.
Snoke and Solo, LLC, located on the ninth and tenth floors of a converted brewery building in the Jakku District, looms above Rey. Not far from her shop, she knows the walk by heart and enjoys the chance to venture out of her shop on Valentine's. The shops leading to the law firm are decked out in pink hearts and paper trim, brightening the bleak February day.
Even the elevator in the brewery building is decorated with a gaudy Cupid cutout plastered against the far wall. Rey fights the urge to straighten it, hands full with the bouquet, until she reaches the tenth floor. The receptionist at the front desk of the firm waves her through.
Boots squeaking against the marble floors, Rey examines each silver plate on the door of each office as she balances the elaborate arrangement in her arms. Roses and Peruvian lilies, carnations and pittosporum, tied with a white ribbon and delivered in a thin ceramic vase Hux had picked out himself. A lovely bouquet, but heavy. Rey's arms ache under the weight.
She approaches a group of employees huddled around the coffee machine, digging into a platter of cupcakes. "Thank you for bringing these, Amilyn!" a tall woman in a chrome-sequined blazer says. "Without these, you'd hardly know we were celebrating Valentine's today."
"Someone has to do something fun around here," a familiar voice replies. Rey recognizes Amilyn immediately, her purple hair poking up from the crowd. "Force knows Solo won't."
Next to Amilyn, Rey spots Hux. He bites into a cupcake absently, his mind clearly elsewhere, probably wondering where his delivery was at the moment.
"Excuse me!" Rey waves before hoisting the arrangement against her hip and approaching the crowd. "Is there a Kaydel Ko Connix here?"
A short woman with blond buns picks her way out of the group, a pink frosted cupcake in her hands. "That's me." When she spots the flowers in Rey's hands, a goofy grin creeps across her face.
"Happy Valentine's Day!" Rey exclaims, handing over the vase. "Careful, they're heavy." Hux sidles up to Kaydel as she holds the flowers.
"Would you care to join me for dinner one evening?" Rey's sure he's sweating under his wool suit, but Hux manages to keep his composure.
"How about tonight?" Kaydel says, attempting to hug Hux around the bouquet. Water splashes down the front of her dress, but the two of them laugh and their coworkers cheer.
"Why aren't you working?" A somber tone cuts through the celebration as a tall figure in black strides down the hall. The couple blanches, Amilyn crosses her arms, and the rest of the employees draw together, a faceless pack hoping to avoid incurring the wrath of their boss. Rey has to hold back a giggle.
"Valentine's Day is not an excuse to avoid work," Ben Solo says as he halts in front of the group, eyes falling on the roses in Kaydel's arms. "And why are there flowers again? I thought I made myself clear last time. If I—"
"Ben!"
For a second, no one moves. Slowly, Ben's head swings in the direction of the interruption. When he meets Rey's eyes, he pauses and then there it is: the small smile she prides herself on drawing from him time and time again.
In two steps, he closes the distance between them, tucking the stray hairs squirming out of her buns behind her ears before bending down to kiss her.
"Happy Valentine's," she says when he finally pulls away.
"Happy Valentine's, my ray of light," he murmurs, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.
It's Hux who breaks the moment, a gaping sound emerging from his open mouth. If Rey couldn't see him, she'd assume he was choking on a cupcake. Amilyn looks equal parts disgusted and baffled. Mutters from their coworkers surround Rey and Ben, but he keeps his hands slung around her waist.
"That's his wife?" the woman in chrome whispers loudly, any pretext of digression long disappeared.
Hux manages to shut his jaw, scrutinizing Rey the way one examines a sarlacc at the zoo. "You're his wife?"
She turns in Ben's embrace to grin at her friend. "I told you my husband didn't like flowers."
"You didn't tell me he was…"
"Our boss?" Amilyn interrupts, glancing sidelong at her superior. Somehow Rey suspects that those were not the words her friend would choose to use if Ben was in a different room.
"You said you'd hate to see what Mrs. Solo looks like," Rey says. Amilyn surveys her skeptically, but amusement twinkles in her eyes.
Rey turns back to the man tugging on her hips. "I like seeing you here," Ben says.
She fits her head in the hollow between his chest and chin, reluctant to leave. "I should probably head back. I have another order to deliver by noon."
"I'll see you soon?" he breathes, lips brushing against her ear.
"Hurry," Rey whispers, before leaning in to kiss him again. "I've been looking forward to tonight all week." Pulling away, she realizes that the entire office has gathered around the spectacle. When she pats his backside, the lawyers are reduced to middle schoolers hooting in the halls.
Rey just nods in Kaydel's direction. "Enjoy those flowers." To Hux and Amilyn, she says, "See you later." After one more kiss with Ben, she walks out of the firm, leaving her husband to deal with his gawking employees.