Chapter Text
There were no words to describe Zed’s feelings as he walked into the quaint little flower shop he could now call his own. He could already envision it; tulips and daisies would soon take the place of moving boxes and he would bring the pastel aesthetic to life with refined and elegant details.
He had gotten lucky, the space he was currently renting was a little bit pricey for a young professional to maintain, but with his suave charm and sharp wit, he managed to convince the landlord to lower the prices with his classic pre rehearsed monologue.
“The people of this area need a bit of what a flower shop can offer.” He had said to the stern woman who owned the strip mall. “Flowers are for the holidays, for the bad days, for the sick, for the thriving, for the new, for the old. Flowers remind us to celebrate, even the tiniest of good that exists for even a fleeting moment. And I think that that’s very important.” He then faintly smiled at the older women with the innocence of a freesia, his fourth favorite flower.
If you were to ask Zed, that speech was definitely the thing that won her over, not the fact that she was an old buddy of his fathers who owed him good. Either way, Zed had the place!
As he stood admiring the blank walls of the soon to be flower shop, Zoey, his little sister, entered behind him. She had a bounce to her step and two bright pigtails that swung ask she skipped in.
“Wow, this space is HUGE!” Said Zoey enthusiastically.
“It’s perfect isn’t it. What do you think about painting a giant Peony right here?” Zed stepped forward, gesturing to a spot on the wall behind the soon to be register.
“I love it!” Zoey shouted, very excited to spend a day painting with her older brother whom she admired very much.
“Before we start unpacking any boxes, I think we should put together some little bouquets to greet the neighbors. It’s very important to make a good first impression.” Zed uttered, most likely trying to put off unpacking for another couple hours, as he always did. He had always had a problem with procrastination, and being his own boss didn’t help that.
Zed and Zoey spent the next hour arranging simple yet tasteful bouquets for the neighboring stores in the small strip mall, which included a bakery, tattoo parlor, and a tech repair store. Zed wondered if having flowers in a tech store would be weird. Hopefully they’d at least appreciate the thought.
When Zed was satisfied with the modest arrangements, the pair bumbled down the short sidewalk and went to the tattoo parlor next door. As they opened the door, a bell sounded, signaling the presence of workers to help the customers. The two stumbled in, clearly intimidated by the edgy aura.
“Gosh, I feel like a sunflower standing in a field of rhododendrons’ he exclaimed under his breath.
Reclinable chairs along with tables and stools were set up in multiple stations throughout the parlor. Picture frames with detailed art were scattered across the walls. Suddenly, Zed locked eyes with the girl at the front counter.
Her bright white hair was stunning against the dark line work of her tattoo sleeves. She wore a gray shirt that had multiple large holes ripped into it that made Zed worry about what could’ve possibly happened to leave her shirt is so bad of a state. Could she not afford a shirt that didn’t have three gaping holes near her chest?
“What happened to your shirt?” Zed asked with genuine concern, a question he apparently thought was a good substitute for hello.
“What do you mean?” The girl questioned, checking to see if there was anything wrong with her shirt that he might be referring to.
“What’s up with all of the holes?” He continued.
“Oooooh!” She laughed, the kind of laugh that made Zed think of Honeysuckles, his third favorite flower. “The shirt is ripped on purpose, it’s part of the look I’m going for. Edgy tattoo artist, right?” She said, gesturing to her appearance.
“A shirt ripped on purpose?” He muttered to himself in disbelief.
“Well hey, you’re one to talk Mr. Head-to-toe Pastel Pink Suit” She retaliated.
“Soft flower salesman is just the look I’m going for!” He defended himself, now feeling slightly self conscious.
“So, you own a flower shop”, she said with an adorable look of sarcasm and flirtation. “How cliche”. She then couldn’t help but smile, the sides of her lips curled upwards as she leaned her head down and brushed her hand through her hair. She tried her hardest not to look into his eyes, but it was impossible. It was as if his eyes were metal and she was a magnet.
His cheeks blushed, he wasn’t used to girls flirting with him. In fact he hadn't thought about dating much since his last girlfriend, Andrea, slaughtered his heart with the poison of pesticides. It had only been a year ago, yet it felt like just yesterday. But each second he looked into the mysterious girls eyes, he felt years farther away from his last heartbreak.
Zoey decided to ruin the moment by tugging on Zed’s sleeve. “What about the bouquet Zeddy Bear” she said, gesturing to one of the little bouquets she was carrying in her green wagon.
“Oh, right ” Zed mumbled, snapping out of his romantic trance. “ My shop is opening up soon next door and we thought we’d greet the neighbors with a bouquet” he said, handing her the bouquet.
“Why thank you” she said to Zoey, “and of course an extra special thank you to Zeddy Bear.”
“Oh… um… well… my name is Zed, by the way, not Zeddy Bear, that’s just a nickname” he quickly said with a nervous and embarrassed composure. “Does the mysterious tattoo artist have a name?”, He mumbled in an attempt to flirt.
“Addison, but everyone cool calls me Addy.” She responded, mildly amused.
“Well it was nice to meet you Addy.” Zed said, with the confidence that he was, in fact, someone cool.
Zoey left him no more time to chat as she was already skipping on her way to their next stop, tech store. Sadly, he didn’t think that giving them the bouquet would be nearly as fun.