Work Text:
You hummed happily as you cooked. It was a fine summer morning, the kind that easily put you in a good mood. Besides, you had been having the happiest mornings since you got this new job.
The bell at the front door rang, and you smiled to yourself. The shop was still closed and your coworker had a late shift, so it could only be the owner of the flower shop across the street.
Not long after you started working, you had brought some flowers from him to decorate the shop. His bouquets were so wonderful that you started visiting him every morning.
At some point, without reason or warning, you had switched to him delivering the flowers directly to your shop instead.
“I’m in the kitchen.” You informed.
You were busy putting the final touches on the cake you were baking, and he didn’t come to see you either. Footsteps could be heard moving from side to side in front of the shop, occasionally accompanied by the sound of someone searching through the cabinets. You didn’t worry, though. By now, you recognized the footsteps of anyone who frequented the shop.
You chose to look, though, and as you opened the door, Vlad was standing on the other side.
“Having a busy morning?” He smiled, and you stepped back to let him in. “It seems like every time I see you, you are hard at work. So I already set up the flowers. Hope you don’t mind.”
“Like you’re one to talk. Since you started making the deliveries, I can aways count on seeing you at the same time, and your shop is aways so busy afterward.”
“Flowers always make people so happy. I especially lie how you smile when I stop by.”
Vlad smiled at you. He had this friendly smile, with a mystical air. A smile that had lured you from the first moment you laid eyes on him. A smile that tempted you to unravel all the secrets behind.
But Vlad was so ethereal, so fleeting, like he wasn’t even human. Like he wasn’t even real.
Even if he wasn’t, you would want more time into that dream. More time with him. So, at each of those encounters, you tried to buy more time, to delay the inevitable parting.
At first he slipped right through your attempts to grasp just a little more of his attention, but, as time went by, he lingered more and you felt like you were growing closer. It still seemed like he would disappear if you fully reached out, though.
“Are you going to stay for a drink again? A friend brought some fresh strawberries this morning, so I was putting the finishing touches on some mini cakes.” Although you were hoping he’d say yes, you weren’t expecting the way his eyes lit up, like a child on Christmas morning. You chuckled and picked a strawberry from the basket behind you, coating it into the cream you had made for the cakes, and held it to him. “I tried a new cream recipe, too. Want to try it?”
You froze when he ate the strawberry right out of your fingers, lips brushing your skin.
“Sorry.” He said, when he noticed your reaction. His smile was the same as ever, though. He neither looked like he was sorry, nor like he’d done it on purpose. Then why was your heart beating so hard over an honest mistake? “It was delicious, though. I always love to try your cooking. Would you join me, though?”
“Sure. Take a seat while I make the drinks.”
Good thing you could dismiss him for a moment. It was difficult to recompose yourself with him right there. At least you would have time to calm down before facing him again.
He had invited you so smoothly and you were already in a fluster that you had hastily agreed. But, except for you preparing and serving the food, it sounded like you being invited on a date.
“Don’t read too much into it.” You whispered to yourself, trying to ground your overexcited brain. “Friends eat together all the time.”
Your brain still insisted that, even if this wasn’t a date, you had just found a way to his heart. But since when did you want that? You had never considered your interest in him in such a way. When had Vlad become more that the friendly neighbour shop owner to you?
Your time together would be short. There was little time left before you had to finally open the shop. But they would be some long minutes if you had to endure your new fixation. You only hoped that, next time you met, you had already sorted your feelings.