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“Thank you for coming. Have a happy Valentine’s Day.” Chase said for the hundredth time this week.
This was real nightmare. Valentine’s Day was the worst time of year as far as he was concerned. Ever since his Mom had cut his Dad loose three years ago and started a new life by buying this flower shop not only had Valentine’s Day been ruined for him but he had to deal with idiot customers.
Not that Chase was really complaining about the fact that his parents were divorced, not if it meant he didn’t have to see his abusive/dickhead of a Dad every day of his life anymore. But his Mom’s new career had come with new responsibilities for him too, like working in the shop to help her during one of busiest times of the year for flower shops.
Valentine’s Day was next week, but there were already hundreds of customers coming to put in an order for the big day. It was exhausting, but also excruciating. When you have to create three different bouquets, all with different names on their cards and all for the same customer, all you want is to scream and pull your hair out.
And sometimes it made him want to vomit, like the most recent dude wasn’t buy a bouquet for his mom, his wife or his sister. He was proudly stating that he was cheating on his wife and his mistress with one of his college students, winking at Chase like they were on the same wavelength of douchebagery with women.
It took all Chase’s restraint to not make him eat a cactus.
So yeah, after working in his Mom’s flower shop for the last three years, every day after his class and on the week-ends and holidays, Chase was starting to lose his faith in humanity. And he could tell you that, indeed, men are trash. Or at least, sixty someodd percent of them. Maybe seventy. Some of his customers were great and not assholes to women, like the old man who came in here every Thursday to buy a rose for wife. That was cute.
Anyway, working in the flower shop had made him realize that love was just a concept Hollywood was using to create the worst rom-coms ever and nothing more. He was practically sure he was gonna end up alone and he was completely (mostly) okay with that. He was too disappointed by human beings to believe in love anymore.
Not that he was complaining about working here. Well, to be honest, at first he did. Like, Chase Stein, lacrosse player and engineering student, working part-time in his Mom flower shop? He got nothing against flower, but he didn’t know shit about them either. However, his Mom was happy to teach him, just like she did with the constellations when he was little, and Chase was a fast learner in both subjects apparently. Because now he could tell you the meaning of every flower and every colors of them.
Damn, if the douchebags he hung out with in high school could seem him now they’d probably give him unending grief for the rest of his life. Although, if they were here it’d probably be to buy a bouquet for their wife to apologizes for cheating on her with their secretary, so…
Fuck, Chase was so happy his Mom had dumped his Dad and he didn’t have to hang out with all those jackasses just to stay with the popular jock cliché and see himself as the jackass leader, just like his Dad wanted him to be.
“Chase, honey.” his Mom called him, cutting off his morbid train of thought. “I’m out of ribbon. Can you bring me more from the reserve, please?”
“Sure Mom.” he called back, smiling.
For all that he hated this job he loved his mother to pieces. He passed behind her, kissing the top of her head as he passed, and she smiled brightly at him. He was so happy his Mom was happy now. She wasn’t that trembling women, huddled silently in a corner, waiting for her husband to finish beating the shit out of their son.
Chase knew his Mom wasn’t perfect, that all those years she should have done something. But she was just waiting for Chase to come of age so his Dad couldn’t lay claim on keeping Chase with him. Maybe she could have done better, but now it was all behind them, and he knew she’d made a real effort for them to have a better life without his Dad’s money.
Because, of course, Victor Stein didn’t give a penny to his ex-wife or his son. Everything was on frozen accounts in the Caiman islands. But Chase didn’t mind really coming in the flower shop every day, working like a dog to help his Mom because she couldn’t afford any other employees, as long as he could stay away from his asshole of a sperm doner.
Even if he had to deal with some truly horrid times of year like the Valentine’s Day one.
“Thanks, sweetheart.” said her Mom, as Chase handed her the ribbon. “I think we’re gonna be able to close up early. Can you go start on the inventory, please? I’ll finish with the customers and I’ll meet you in the back.”
“No problem.” he replied.
Chase put himself behind the checkout counter, starting to check the backlog of orders to see how many flowers they’d have to order to their supplier. He was deep in calculations when a purple tornado erupted into the shop, making him focus all his attention on it.
He’d never seen this girl in here before, he would have remembered. The purple hair, the combat boots, the oversized jacket… There was no way he could have seen her before and not remembered.
She looked more than a little angry, biting on her lower lip and clenching her jaw muscles, but Chase couldn’t not find her pretty. She looked around the place, her eyes finally landing on him, making his heart actually skip a beat. He automatically put a hand to his hair to comb it, watching her coming to meet him at the checkout counter.
“Hi.” she blurted, shoving 20 bucks on the counter angrily. “How do I passive-aggressively say ‘fuck you’ in flowers?”
Chase looked at her astonished.
“Uh…” he stammered, opening and closing his mouth for at least a full minute. “What?”
“Look, I know it’s dumb and if you don’t want to do it…” she started, biting her lips nervously.
“No!” he rushed to say. “I mean, I’ve never heard that one before but, honestly, that’s probably the best thing someone’s ask me to help them with all day.”
“Really?” she looked at him surprised.
“Yeah.” Chase nodded vigorously. “Trust me, if I have to do another bouquet of red roses in a shape of a heart I might throw myself off a building…”
The girl giggled, and Chase felt his heart melt at the sound of her beautiful laugh, and the sight of her gorgeous smile.
“Well, you probably chose the wrong job if you’re allergic to Valentine’s Day…” she teased.
Chase chuckled.
“To be honest, working in a flower shop wasn’t my idea, but my Mom’s, so…” he replied, gesturing with his head to his Mom, finishing a composition for a customer at the other side of the shop.
“Oh. So, you’re in here because of string-pulling, huh?” she grinned.
“Guilty.” he smiled, looking at her with bright eyes. “So… For your ‘Fuck You’ flowers, mind telling me a little more about this?” he asked.
“Oh, uh sure. What do you want to know?”
“What kind of ‘fuck you’ do you want to say? Is it a ‘fuck you’ like ‘you’re nice but I just want us to stay friends’? Or more or a ‘fuck you’ like ‘mother-in-law, I’m tired of having to see you every week because you can’t cut the cord with your son’?” Chase asked. “I kind of already have to do that last one so I could make you that one no problem …” he said with a gulped, watching the girl frowning a little. “A customer ordered me a bouquet of hyacinths for her mother-in-law.” he explained.
“It’s not that bad, right? I mean, I know nothing about flowers, but hyacinths are pretty, so…” the girl shrugged.
“It is when it’s the only flowers her mother-in-law is allergic to…” he grimaced.
“Oh.” she bit her lip.
“Yeah.” he said, flinching internally at the memory.
“Did you do it?” she asked, amusement dancing in her eyes.
“Only because she threatened to put a bad comment on Google if I didn’t… Never felt guiltier in my entire life…” he confessed. “I checked the local’s news for a week to make sure no one died because of a hyacinths allergy…”
And she laughed. Loudly and sincerely, and damn, it was like fucking music. The best sound he’d ever heard in his entire life. He knew he was smiling goofily at her, staring her face as she laughed, looking so bright and happy, making sure to memorize every seconds of that beautiful vision.
“You’re really not made for this job. You realize that, right?” she said once she calmed down.
“Totally.” he agreed. “I carry so many guilt since I started working here… I don’t know how I can still hold on.”
“Well…” she smiled playfully. “Don’t worry, I won’t ask you to poison someone with a bouquet. I just want something that would say ‘fuck you’ to my dumbass of coworker who’s decided we needed to celebrate this consumer-driven and trivial interpretation of love day by doing a huge Valentine’s Day party at work. My boss was so thrilled by the idea, I couldn’t even tell my coworker to fuck off with his patriarchal idea and worst part, we all have to bring something on theme with it.” she explained with her voice growing more and more bitter.
“Oh… Really?” he asked, feeling her pain. After all, Chase wasn’t exactly a fan of this holiday either…
“Yep! I can’t even skip this stupid thing because everyone will be there and my boss already thinks I showed bad ‘team spirit’ when I threw the Valentine’s Day cards we got yesterday into the shredder…” she pouted.
Chase chuckled, amused by the image.
“Well, I can understand you there… You have no idea how much time I’ve spent this past few days, showing Valentine’s Day cards to customers so they could pick one to go with their bouquet.” he sighed.
“Let me guess, they were stuck between the classical ‘roses are red’ speech and funny puns with food like ‘Let’s avocuddle’ or ‘I love you a latte’?” she grimaced.
“Yep.” Chase nodded with a hopeless sigh at the memory. “My favorite so far was ‘You’ve stolen a pizza of my heart’…” he added with sarcasm.
“Oh God…” she shook her head defeated, giggling at the same time at the silliness of the line.
Chase smiled goofily again and she was looking at him back, and for a moment, he forgot about everything but her. He must have stared for too long because she cleared her throat, looking embarrassed.
“Um… Anyway, about my flowers?” she asked with a blush.
“Right! Well, I already have some ideas for it.” he said, giving his head a small shake.
“Really?” she asked with hopeful yet skeptical eyes.
And God, Chase could do anything for those eyes.
“Ye-yeah…” he stammered. “I thought of something with a base of Geraniums because they represent stupidity. And we could add Meadowsweet for uselessness and/or Candytuft for indifference. Also, I highly recommended orange Lilies which mean hatred.”
The girl was looking at him with a surprised expression, like he had a bug on him or something.
“D-do I have something on my face?” he questioned, a little worried.
“What? Oh no! Just… I wasn’t expecting you to be such a flower expert.” she confessed.
“Well, all the credit goes to my Mom. She taught me everything about them.” he replied.
Chase chuckled, remembering all the time he spent with his Mom when she started the shop, learning about flowers. It was like when he was little, going on comping trips with her and she taught him about the constellations. He found the constellations more interesting to learn, though. And he was pretty sure his Mom always preferred Astronomy to flowers too, but she needed a fresh start after twenty years married to Victor Stein. And Astronomy reminded her too much of her old life, so flowers it was. And as long as she was happy, he was too.
“Clearly she did a good job with you.” the girl whispered, making his heart skip a beat again. And she realized the double meaning of her words. “I mean, with the flowers teaching…” she blushed, embarrassed. “Anyway… Can I get the bouquet for the 14th? I’ll come pick it up around noon, before the stupid party…” she said to change the subject.
“Of course.” Chase smiled. “Can I have your name?” he asked shyly. “For the order.” he added, blushing a little too.
It wasn’t a lie, he needed her name for the order. But also, he really wanted to know her name
“Sure. It’s Gert Yorkes.” she replied.
“OK, Gert Yorkes…” he repeated as he wrote the name down on his backlog of order in front of him. “Do you want to add a beautiful Valentine’s Day card to your order?” he asked in his most grandiose voice.
“No thanks.” she laughed. “Thanks, for your help.” she added softly.
“My pleasure.” he replied without thinking. “Uh… I mean, thank you for your order.” he said to be more professional.
“Well, then I guess I’ll see you the 14th?” he asked dumbly.
“Can’t wait.” she replied, turning his cheeks redder. “See you later, Chase.”
“How…” he frowned.
“I’m a mind reader.” she bit her lip, watching him amused for a good minute. “Or, maybe I just read it on your name tag…” she explained, ending his trouble.
“Right.” he face-palmed mentally; he could be so stupid sometimes. “See you later, Gert. Have a nice day and I guess I’ll do us both a favor by not wishing you a happy Valentine’s Day?” he tried carefully.
She giggled. “You have a nice day too, and I don’t wish you a happy Valentine’s Day either.” she winked.
He smiled widely, and after a few more seconds of staring into eachother’s the eyes, she left the. And Chase watched her until she was out of sight, enjoying every single seconds of it, and feeling completely empty once she was gone.
“She was very pretty. Did you ask for her number?”
Chase jumped, turning around to see his Mom looking at him with a teasing smile.
“Mom!” he blushed. “I… It’s… I’m…” he stammered and she laughed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about…” he pouted.
“Sure.” she shook her head. “You absolutely didn’t spend the last ten minutes flirting with that girl.”
“Nope.” he lied, blushing mad. “That would be super unprofessional from me.”
Janet snorted and he decided to get back to wrapping up and ignore the teasing grin his Mom was giving him.
When his eyes landed on the last name writing on his backlog of orders, he felt his chest warm again.
Gert Yorkes
He read the name over and over again, grinning like an idiot.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chase was a pathetic lovesick teenage girl.
He’d spent a full hour getting ready this morning, knowing that Gert would be coming into the shop today to grab her order.
When he actually saw her from across the street, his heart near about jumped out of his chest, and he rushed to get behind the counter.
“Chase? What are you doing?” Janet frowned.
There was the one thing he hadn’t thought through. His Mom always took the counter on Valentines Day. How was he gonna explain this?
“Uh… I thought you could use a break from taking care of giving people their order. I can take it from here.” he said, trying to make his Mom moving away.
“Really? I thought you always hated doing that on Valentine’s Day.” she argued. “That’s why I asked you to take care of the restock of the shop instead.”
“Yeah, but I don’t want you to get bored like I used to get by doing this all day, so let’s switch for a little while…” he insisted, hearing the bell jingle as Gert entered the shop, his voice dying at the end of his sentence as it became hard to focus on something besides her.
His Mom saw where his attention was and she smirked teasingly.
“Oh… I see.” she bit her lips.
“No, you don’t.” he hissed, pushing her away.
“Fine, fine! I’ll move.” she surrendered. “I don’t want you saying I ruined your love life in ten years when I ask for grandchildren and you’re still single, pinning desperately over her.”
“Mom!” he exclaimed, blushing madly as Gert appeared right in front of them and he was pretty sure she’d heard everything.
Janet simply laughed loudly, passing next to Gert and reaching her hand out to shake.
“Hi, I’m Janet.”
“Hi Janet, I’m Gert.” she replied, shaking her hand with a smile. “This is your shop, right?”
“Yes, it is. But I think I’m gonna let my son take care of you for today. Otherwise I’ll have to hear him complain about it for the rest of my life…” his Mom winked.
“Mom! Please, just go!” he complained, now red as a tomato.
“Sure. It was nice meeting you, Gert.” she smiled. “If you need anything, just ask my son, he’ll be more than happy to help…” she teased one last time.
“Um… Thanks, it was nice meeting you too.” Gert replied politely.
Janet smiled brightly before finally leaving the two of them alone, but Chase know she wasn’t far away, keeping an eye on them to see how it goes.
“Sorry… She can be a little… Invasive sometimes.” he apologized to Gert.
“It’s fine.” she reassured him. “Don’t worry, she can’t be worse than my parents…”
“I won’t be so certain of that…” he grimaced.
“Does she ever come to pick you up at school dressed as a dinosaur because she decided it was cooler to do a presentation about them at work?” she asked.
“What? Your Mom did that?” Chase questioned, surprised and amused.
“Not my Mom. My parents. Both of them.” she explained, hopelessly.
“Oh God.” he bit his lip.
“But wait, there’s more…” she added. “It was when I was in high school. And the whole school saw them.”
“Holy shit.” he exclaimed.
“Yep, like I said. I was called ‘dino girl’ for the rest of the year.” she sighed. “And that is just one example of them being embarrassing in a thousand…” she grimaced.
“OK, your parents win the contest of embarrassing their children.” he stated.
“Thanks, at least I have that.” she giggled.
They looked at each other silently, just enjoying each other presence, until Chase noticed from the corner of his eyes that there was a line of customer starting to form behind Gert.
“I’ll go grab your flowers.” he said, going into the reserve to take Gert’s bouquet and coming back to her quickly.
“Here you go.” he handed her the bouquet with shaking hands. “One personalized ‘Fuck You’ bouquet.”
The fact that her own fingers brushed his when she took the flowers didn’t help to calm his nervs. He was apprehensive about her reaction. He’d made the bouquet himself, his Mom teasing him about it when he asked her at least ten times if it was good.
“Wow. It’s really pretty.” she said.
“Really? You like it?” he asked with a hopeful voice.
“Yeah. It’s so sad I have to bring it to this Valentine’s Day party bullshit at work… This bouquet is too pretty for that.” she joked.
“Thanks.” he chuckled.
“Did you make it yourself?” she asked, surprised.
“Yes.” he blushed.
“You’re really good at it!” she smiled. “I really misjudged you…”
“I thought we’ve get past the part where you thought I was just here because of my Mom and couldn’t actually be good with flowers…” he smirked teasingly.
“Well, to be honest, part of me still believed you’re only here to flirt with old ladies and attract more customers by cleaning the store front shirtless…” she biting her lip again.
Chase’s heart skipped a beat. She was flirting with him, right?
“What can I say, we have to do something to encourage customer loyalty…” he replied with what he hoped was a flirty tone. “Plus, old ladies always give the best tips.”
Gert laughed, and he realized how much he missed hearing that beautiful sound this past few days.
“Ahem…” complained one of the customers behind Gert.
Shit. They couldn’t have one moment, could they?
Chase smiled apologetically, and Gert nodded, understanding it was time for her to go. She’d already paid for her order the first time she came into the shop, shoving 20 bucks on the counter. So, Chase couldn’t even take his time to box her, and spent every extra seconds he could with her…
“Well, I guess I should go…” she said with a sad tone.
“Yeah…” he replied, as unhappy about it as her.
“Thanks for your help, Chase. It was nice meeting you…” she whispered.
“Trust me, it was my pleasure.” he confessed with bright eyes.
Their eyes stayed locked for a long minute, enjoying the presence of the other for the just a little longer. Until they heard another groan and Gert grimaced, realizing she had to go.
“Goodbye, Chase.” she said, starting to move.
“Goodbye, Gert.” he replied, sadly.
And with one last eye contact and a shared sad smile, she was heading out of the shop. Chase watched her for as long as he could, not caring about the other customer coming to the counter. She opened the door, turning around to look at him one last time, making his heart beat faster. He waved at her, trying to give her a smile, but he knew it wasn’t as bright as the ones he’d shared with her when she was around before. She waved back, looking at him for a few seconds. And then she was gone. And Chase felt an emptiness inside his chest at the thought that it was probably the last time he’d ever see her…
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chase had a real nightmare of a time for the rest of the week.
Working into a flower shop where he had to see people coming in to buy “proof” of their love while he was desperately pinning over a girl he’ll never see again was a bad combination.
His Mom had teased at first, but she was tired of his bad mood, and had tried everything to bring her son out of his misery, but it was pointless. All Chase wanted to do was mourn the absence of Gert in his life, listening to his sad songs playlist and picturing the future he’d never get with her.
He knew that he was acting like an idiot. He’d had all of two conversations with the girl. But he couldn’t help it.
He liked how funny she was, always coming up with a sarcastic come-back. He adored how passionate she was, not caring about what people thought and always having her own so clever opinions. He loved the sound of her laugh, and how she brightened the place when she was smiling. Gosh, he was so in love with her…
And don’t get him start on how beautiful and gorgeous she was, with her purple hair, her cute little nose, her tiny hands that were opening the front door of the shop right now…
Wait. What?!
Chase shook his head, snapping back to reality and pinching himself to make sure he wasn’t dreaming.
Nope, he wasn’t. Gert was really here, entering the shop again, her eyes scanning the room until they stopped on him. She smiled shyly and Chase’s heart was dancing the Macarena in his chest. He knew he was smiling back dumbly to her and not caring at all. He was so happy to see her again.
“Hey.” said Gert softly, once she was next to him.
“H-hey.” he managed to stammer, clearing his throat. “You’re back.”
Really Chase? That’s all you got? You’re back? No shit Sherlock, of course she’s back, she’s right in front of you! Put your dumb brain back into work for God sake! Otherwise, she’ll never find you interesting enough to be with an incredible woman like her.
“Yep, I’m back.” she giggled, not looking to be too annoyed by his stupidity. “I… Uh… First, I wanted to thank you again for the bouquet.” she said. “My boss was trilled and I was dying knowing what the flowers really meant.”
“Well, as long as you liked them, I’m happy.” he replied with a grin.
She chuckled softly, her cheeks turning a little red.
“And second…” she continued with bright eyes. “I need your help with another order…”
“Really?”
“Yeah. My little sister is visiting me for the holidays and I wanted to surprise her with a bouquet at the airport. She’s coming back from her dance school in New York and I thought it’d be nice.” Gert explained.
“Oh wow, that’s a great idea!” he said and it was way too much enthusiasm about something that really didn’t have a whole lot to do with him. “Uh… I mean, you’re a great sister.”
“Thanks.” she smiled. “I try my best. And to be honest, Molly is the best sister I could ask for, so it’s not hard to be nice to her. She deserved the world.”
Chase smiled, happy that she felt close enough to him to tell him about her family.
“So, for the bouquet, tell me more about her. What does she like?” he asked.
And Gert started to talk about Molly for at least ten minutes. About how the day her parent told Gert they were adopting their goddaughter Molly after the tragic car accident of Molly parents. About how Molly was going to be a star one day, going on tour for Beyoncé. And about how she teamed up with her against their embarrassing parents and their crazy ideas sometimes.
Without realizing it, the conversation drifted to eachother. Gert worked for an advocacy group across the street helping runaway kids. Chase told her that when he wasn’t just helping his Mom in the shop, he was taking engineering classes at the University. He was in last year and couldn’t wait to start working in what he really likes.
“I don’t know… I’m pretty sure you have a great carrier waiting for you in the flower industry…” she teased.
They kept talking and flirting while Chase put together the bouquet for Molly. She was watching him with fascination, clearly still stunned that a dude knew so much about flowers. He deftly picked a bouquet of Gerbera for purity, innocence, and beauty. For color he chose yellow, orange and pink, because those bright radiant colors were representing the energy.
“It’s beautiful…” Gert exhaled, staring at the bouquet.
“It’s nothing...” he blushed.
“I’m serious, Chase. I’m happy to be here, ordering flowers for someone I love, and not just for dealing with my boss. It’s doing much more justice to your talent.” she said with sincerity.
“Thanks. I’m glad that you’re back too.” he replied without thinking.
Chase mentally cursed himself when he realized what he just said. Gert looked a little surprised by the confession, but she smiled anyway, making his heart beating faster. He grinned like an idiot, and he totally forget about everything else, staring at her dumbly.
“So… How much for the bouquet?” she asked, bringing him out of his fantasy.
“Oh… Uh, this one is on the house.” he replied.
“What? No, I can’t accept…” she started to complain.
“Please.” he insisted. “It’s for your sister and I’m just trying to be nice with her. So she can get me some VIP pass for Beyoncé once she’s working with her.” he joked.
“You’ll probably have to wait a couple of years before you get your investment back.” she giggled.
“I don’t mind.” he replied.
As long as I can get to see you all that time…
“Thanks Chase, it’s really nice.” she whispered, blushing a little.
“My pleasure.” he smiled.
“But next time, I’ll pay for my order.” she stated firmly.
“Does that mean… That you’ll come back again?” he questioned shyly, trying to not sound too eager about it.
“Y-yeah!” she stammered. “I mean, you agreed to help me with my weird order for Valentine’s Day and now you give a bouquet for my sister. If I go to another flower shop in town, I’ll be the worst person on Earth.”
“Right.” he chuckled. “So, I guess I can tell you, see you soon?”
“Yes, you can. See you soon, Chase.” she smiled.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Hey.” said a voice behind Chase. Chase jumped and turned around to see a head of hair in his new favorite color.
“Gert! Hi!” Chase exclaimed happily, putting down the watering can he was using to water their flowers.
“See? I told you I was coming back.” she giggled.
“Yeah, you did.” he grinned widely. “So, I guess that Molly liked the flowers?”
“Yep. And so did my parents. My Dad said that the colors were perfect together and my Mom said that the flowers were so pretty she was jealous…”
“And you’re here to buy them some because you’re such a good daughter?” he guessed.
“Exactly, they’re so lucky to have me.” she said with faux pride and he laughed.
“Of course, they are…” he agreed, only half joking. “Follow me.”
She nodded and they both went inside, Chase started asking questions about her parents. And not because he was taking mental notes in case one day he’d get to meet them, as his in-laws.
Apparently, Stacey and Dale were super open-minded and loving parents, but also the weirdest and most embarrassing humans being of all time.
“What about your parents?” she asked after a good twenty minutes of talking about hers.
“Oh… Uh… I’m sure you don’t want to hear about it…” he said, hoping desperately she’d let the subject lie.
“Come on! I told you about the day my parents sit me down and talk to me about birds and bees, and you think I can’t hear what you have to say? Whatever you’ve embarrassed about can’t possibly be worse be worse, unless your parents are serial killers?” Gert insisted.
“Oh, you might be surprised.” Chase laughed, only half joking. He was pretty sure his Dad hand never killed anyone, but that wasn’t completely off the table.
“I don’t think so. I met your Mom and she doesn’t seem the type.” she chuckled.
Chase smiled and started telling Gert about his Mom. After some more gentle prodding from Gert he drifted to the subject he liked less: his Dad. Afterwards he still wasn’t sure why, but he told her everything.
Everything.
“Sorry to say this, but your Dad is a piece of shit.” Gert said flatly when he was done.
“It’s fine, don’t worry about it.” he reassured her, barely restraining laughter.
They kept talking for a while, Chase putting together a bouquet of Columbines for folly with some Gerbera because it seemed that they liked them on Molly’s bouquet. Gert complimented his creation and this time she didn’t let him just give it to her, making him pout. But, like the last time, she promised to come back, so Chase definitely felt that he’d gotten the better end of the deal.
Chase watched her leaving the shop, waving dumbly through the window and smiling goofily knowing he’d get lucky enough to see her again.
“You really like her, don’t you?”
Chase jumped, turning around to see his Mom looking at him.
“Yeah, I do.” he replied, knowing it was pointless to lie to his Mom.
“Me too.” Janet said. “I heard what she said about your Dad before. This girl is great. You should ask her out.”
He looked out the window again, seeing that she was waiting at a light to cross the street. He could go right now, run to her and declared his love like they were in a stupid romantic movie. But Gert would probably take him for some creep. She was so amazing and strong and independent, there was no way she was gonna put him back in his place and tell him to stay away from her…
And Chase would rather spend the rest of his life pinning over her desperately, as long as he got to see her again.
“Nah, I don’t think she likes me that way…” he said in a sad voice.
“Whatever you say.” Janet squeezed his arm gently. “But trust me, the way she’s looking at you when she came in here, she likes you.”
“She’s a customer, she’s probably just being polite and I’m sure she didn’t want to be hit on by some guy when she’s out shopping…”
“You’re not some guy, sweetheart.” Janet giggled. “You’re just a hopeless romantic. It’s cute.”
“You’re my Mom, I don’t think your judgement is impartial.” he argued.
“Maybe.” she conceded with a smile, brushing his hair gently. “But I still think you two will make such a cute couple.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gert came back approximately once a week for a month.
Not approximately, she was in there exactly once a week, and Chase knew that because he was waiting for her to walk through the door of the shop like a kid was waiting to open his presents on Christmas.
The more he learned about her the more he knew he was in love. But also, the more he knew he wasn’t good enough for her. She was so smart, and strong and amazing… Why would she want to date a dumb former jock who couldn’t defend himself from of his own Dad?
Yeah, Chase just wasn’t good enough. And especially for Gert.
That’s why he was just savoring every second he could have with her, without ever telling her how he really felt.
And he could have been happy stay that way forever, until one day things changed…
When he saw Gert coming towards the shop from across the street, he noticed she wasn’t alone this time. There were two other girls with her, one tall and blonde with a bright smile (that was nothing compared to Gert’s smile) and a short goth with distinct Asian heritage. They looked like complete opposites but, if the way they were holding hands and sharing loving glances was anything to judge by, Chase was pretty sure they were together and super in love.
“Hey Chase!” Gert greeted him with a wave.
“Hi Gert! How’s it going?” he smiled.
“Good, you?” she replied, heading closer to the counter with her friends in toe.
Perfect, now that you’re here.
He bit his lip to retain himself from saying the silly truth, and opted for something less stupid.
“Fine, thanks. What can I do for you today?” he asked. “Oh, did your Dad like the fichus you got him last week?”
“Yeah. Thanks again for your help on that. He’s never met you, but he keeps telling me that you’re the best every time I bring home a new plant or flower.” Gert joked and Chase felt a warmth spreading through his chest.
“But I’m not here for them today. This is Karolina...” she introduced the blonde girl.
“Hi, nice to meet you.” Karolina smiled politely and gave a little wave.
“Nice to meet you too.” Chase replied in the same tone.
“And this is her future wife, Nico.” Gert continued, pointing to the goth.
“Nice to meet you flower boy. Gert keeps talking about you and I think I can finally get why…” Nico started but was cut off by Gert elbowing her. “Hey! What?! It’s true!”
Gert was blushing madly, glaring death at her friend.
Chase’s cheeks turned a little pink too, and he couldn’t stop the smile that popped up on his lip.
“Anyway.” Gert changed the subject, avoiding his eyes. “These two are getting married in three months and they’re looking for a florist, so naturally I told them they should come here…” she explained shyly.
“You said, and I quote: ‘you have to go to this flower shop where this hot boy works’…” another death glare and elbow from Gert to stop Nico’s sentence. “I mean, she said that the flowers are really pretty, and the service is… Excellent.” Nico corrected herself, biting her lip to stop the laugh that clearly wanted to escape.
Chase was doing a victory dance in his head, knowing that Gert had talked about him to her friends and that she thought he was hot.
“So, we decide to give it a try. Gert showed us pictures of what you’ve already done and we like it. Do you think you can show us what you can do and for what price?” Karolina asked to save Gert from more embarrassment.
“Uh?” he replied dumbly, still grinning about the fact that this girl found him attractive. “Oh, yes, of course! Actually, my Mom is the one who takes care of big orders for events like weddings, so you should go talk to her.”
This was the best thing ever. If they got hired by Gert’s friends, he could see her all the time for the next months. Maybe even get her number.
He led the way into the back of the shop where his Mom was doing the bills, explaining to her what the customers were here for. Janet immediately started to talk flowers with Karolina, and soon he lost the tract of all of their happy babbling. He turned to Gert. who was looking at flowers absently.
“Hey.” he said softly, putting himself next to her.
“Hey.” she replied, keeping her eyes on the flowers. “Look, about what Nico said earlier…” she started and he could feel how nervous she was. “She was just messing with me, OK? She likes to do that all the time, I don’t get why. She’s the worst friend ever…”
“It’s fine, I get it.” he reassured her. “My friend, Alex, does it whenever he thinks he can get away with it… He’s the worst sometimes, but I like him anyway.”
Gert finally managed to look him in the eye, and even if she was still blushing she managed to smile shyly at him. Chase smiled back and he could have stared into her beautiful eyes forever… if it wasn’t for his Mom asking him to go to the reserve and to grab a flower catalogue.
He tore himself away from Gert and headed to the way back, searching for the book in all the mess.
“Hey, flower boy.” called a voice from behind him.
He turned around to see Nico had follow him into the reserve.
“Can I talk to you for a sec?” she asked.
“Uh… Sure. What do you need?” he replied, surprised.
“Do you like Gert?” she asked abruptly.
“I… Uh, what?” he stammered, not expecting that from her.
“My friend, Gert, do you like her?” she repeated.
“I… Uh…” he blushed madly.
“OK, I’ll take that as a yes.” she snorted. “You have to tell her.”
“What?! Why?” he exclaimed with a half=strangled voice.
“Because I’m tired of hearing her talking about you all the time. She’s so completely gone for you it’s ridiculous.”
“What? No, Gert doesn’t like me this way…” he argued, still suffering from mental whiplash.
“Of course she does! Why do you think she keeps coming here?”
“Because she likes flowers?”
“Damn, you’re an idiot.” Nico laughed. “Gert can’t even keep a cactus alive. And she keeps coming here, buying fresh flowers that she has a high chance to kill before she could even give them away and you think she doesn’t like you? Plus, do you really think she had that many things to buy flowers for? She’s been giving everybody she knows flowers for the last month just so she has an excuse to come here and see you.”
“I… She really likes me?” he asked dumbly.
“Yes.” Nico repeated, half-amused, half-tired. “So, you’re gonna ask her out, or do I have to do all the work around here?”
“I’m not sure I…” Chase trailed off.
And it was true. Gert was so special, he couldn’t just dumbly ask her if she wants to go out for a drink with him.
“Figure it out flower boy.” Nico replied, “Or you and me are gonna have a problem.”
And with that she left Chase alone in the reserve with the distinct feeling he’d just been threatened but not quite sure how…
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chase’s heart taken up residence in his throat since this morning. He knew that Gert got the flowers by now and he still hadn’t heard from her. Maybe Nico was wrong and Gert didn’t like him. Or maybe Gert just found his bouquet too douchey or whatever other of Gert’s word she could use for this dumb idea.
He’d sent her a bouquet to her at work, with a card saying that it was from him and that the bouquet to tell her what he really thought of her…
OK, good news, Gert did get the bouquet. Bad news, seeing the way she was storming into the shop right now, she didn’t like it. Not at all.
“You send me flowers to tell me you hate me?!” she shouted, dropping the bouquet on the counter in front of Chase.
“What?! God, no! Why would you think that?” he replied, horror twisting his gut.
“Well that’s what I found when I googled what the flowers of this bouquet mean.” she argued, crossing her arms across her chest.
“No! No!” he rushed to answer. “I put some Russian Sage…” he showed her the little purple flowers on the bouquet, “for wisdom and knowledge.”
“Oh.” she said surprised, her face coloring slightly. “I thought it was Aconite… I saw on internet that it means hatred…” she bit her lip.
“Yes, Aconite does mean that, but this not Aconite, it’s...” he started.
“Russian Sage. Yep, got it.” she cut him off. “So, it means wisdom and knowledge.” she added with a softer tone. “So, I guess that’s mean you think I’m smart?” she tried shyly.
“To be honest, I think smart isn’t enough to describe how brilliant you are.” he confessed, the words leaving his mouth without conscious thought.
Gert blinked of surprise, blushing a little more at the compliment.
“Um… Thanks.” she whispered. “Keep going, I want to know what the rest of the flowers really are. What are these?” she added, pointing to some flowers on the bouquet. “I thought they were Scorpion Weed, but now I’m guessing I got those wrong…”
“Actually, you have those right.” he smiled.
“So… You think I’m poisonous like a scorpion?” she frowned.
“No.” he laughed. “Scorpion Weed mean strength and determination.”
“Oh. I stopped at the name and didn’t look any further…” she confessed sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck.
“Yeah, because of the name they’re usually misunderstood.” he conceded with a chuckle.
“OK. So, you think I’m strong and determined?” she guessed.
“Even scary passionate sometimes.” he smiled playfully.
“Be careful what you say next if you don’t want me to be pissed off at you again…” she warned, but she was smiling too anyway.
Chase chuckled, raising his hands in sign of surrender. Gert had relaxed now, she wasn’t crossing her arms on her chest anymore, and she had leaned a little on the counter, closer to him.
“What about the Lilacs?” she asked shyly. “I saw on internet that there’s a bunch of meanings for them but because of the rest of the bouquet I was too pissed to look too hard for what you meant…”
“Well, you’re right, there’s a lot of meanings for Lilacs, mostly according to the color. Blue are for happiness, violet for spirituality…” he explained.
“And what about magenta?” she asked, fingering one of the little bright flowers.
“It uh…” he cleared his throat, now more worried about her reaction to the flower. “It symbolizes p-passion and…” he stammered, his heart beating in his ears.
“And?” she insisted, holding back her breath.
“And love.” he blurted.
Gert was staring at him speechless. He gulped, afraid that he definitely scared her, and that Nico was just messing with him when she said Gert liked him.
“So… You’re telling me that…” she was looking for words.
Chase decided it was too late to back up now. Gert already knew too much and she wasn’t stupid.
“I like you, Gert.” he confessed with a strangled voice. “That’s what I mean.”
Gert was staying strangely silent which was only stressing him out more.
“I’m sorry, this was a dumb idea, the bouquet thing…” he started to reach for the bouquet. “I should have known you wouldn’t like it. I’m just so stupid and…Mph!”
Chase didn’t have time to continue his lamentation, Gert had grab his face to kiss him senseless. It was quick, and mostly weird because they couldn’t kiss properly with the counter between them, but it was also the best kiss of his life. Her lips were so soft and he felt electrified with just this tiny contact of her mouth on his.
“You’re not stupid.” she said, staring him in the eyes. “You are kind and funny and smart. Also, super-hot, but you already knew that.” she chuckled, referencing to Nico spilling the beans in front of him yesterday, and he chuckled too. “And the bouquet was a super sweet idea, thank you.” she whispered, brushing her thumb across his cheek.
“You’re welcome?” he tried and she giggled.
“You really meant what you said? You really like me?” she asked shyly, her voice loud as a whisper.
“Yes.” he stated with sincerity. “Practically at the second you walked in this shop and ordered a ‘fuck you’ Valentine’s Day bouquet.” he admitted.
She grinned, pulling him back in for another kiss, this time longer and softer. Like the last one, he loved every seconds of it, kissing her back softly and lacing his fingers in her hair. When she stepped back, she was looking at him with bright eyes.
“I like you too, Chase.” she confessed, and Chase never felt happier in his entire life than now. “Pretty much since the second you agreed to make the ‘fuck you’ bouquet and turned out to be not just be the hottest guy I’ve ever seen…”
This time, he was the one to pull her in for a kiss.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Hi. How do I say ‘fuck Valentine’s Day, but I still love you anyway’ with flowers?” asked a familiar voice.
Chase lifted his eyes from the backlog of orders he was checking on the counter to see Gert looking at him with an amused grin. He forgot his task, moving around the counter to meet her, pulling her into his arms and pecking her on the lips.
“Hey.” he greeted her. “You really want to buy me flowers for Valentine’s Day?” he asked with a laugh.
“I never say they were for you…” she grinned.
He pretended to be offended and she only laughed loudly. It might have been a year, but he still thought her laugh was the best sound in the universe.
“I see.” he pouted. “Well, you should try another shop. We’re out of flowers here…”
“Sure.” she giggled, shaking her head from left to right. “I helped you make the order last week; I know there will be snow in hell before this flower shop runs out of flowers for Valentine’s Day.”
“You make a point.” he conceded. “Thanks again for helping me and Mom with that. We never have enough hands on Valentine’s Day.”
It was true. Chase might be a mechanic now; his Mom was still so glad he agreed to come help her on nights and week-ends before this intense holiday was coming. It’s been months now that he stopped working in the flower shop, but Janet had found the perfect replacement with Karolina. The blonde girl was so good with the flowers for her and Nico’s wedding, Janet immediately thought of her to work with once Chase wouldn’t have time anymore. And the blonde was so happy, she agreed without a hesitation.
“I don’t mind.” she shrugged. “Even if I have to admit, I didn’t hate this holiday before I absolutely do now…” Gert grimaced, thinking of all the things she had to hear and/or see sharing a shift with Chase of V Day.
Chase laughed, kissing her lovingly. When they pulled apart, his girlfriend was looking at him with mischief in her eyes.
“What?” he asked with a grin.
“I know we said we weren’t celebrating this horrible holiday…” she started, “but technically it’s the 12th, so it’s not Valentine’s Day yet. And when I saw this I had to buy it for you…”
she grabbed something inside the pocket of her apron and handed it to him quick, biting her lip and he realized it was a card. Chase examined it, laughing when he saw what was wrote on it.
I lilac you a lot.
With the drawing of cartoons lilacs.
“Thanks babe, it’s awesome.” he chuckled, kissing her again.
She replied to the kiss with a smile, wrapping her arms behind his neck to depend it a little. When they split apart for air he put his mouth next to her ear, whispering teasingly: “I lilac you a lot, too you know…”
She shook her head at how silly they both were, before grabbing him for another kiss and he complied, more than happy.