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Kimi glares at the tag on the bouquet in front of him as though the message on it is detailing a murder plot. Sadly that isn’t the case. Instead it’s a message written personally by one of their fairly regular clients in the flower shop, Sebastian Vettel.
Dear Lucilla, it reads.
Looking forward to spending the rest of the year with you.
Love, Sebastian.
The Finn doesn’t understand it at all. The other times the German has been in the shop he has been buying for his parents, or sometimes for various people at work with a long story about what they have done to deserve them. No girlfriend, or boyfriend, Nico is always keen to point out with an eye waggle. So therefore, Kimi has absolutely no idea who this Lucilla is and why Sebastian has written a message that seems as though it’s an anniversary of some kind.
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“Do you think he realises that Lucilla is a racing car?” Valtteri asks Nico quietly and the other man lets out a laugh.
“No, definitely not.”
“Should we maybe tell him?” Valtteri tries to prompt but instead Nico shakes his head emphatically in response.
“Absolutely not.”
By this point Valtteri is despairing, knowing fine well that he almost always lets Nico get his own way.
“I should never have introduced you to Lewis, he’s a bad influence.”
By this point Valtteri is muttering mostly to himself, but he still receives a response.
“We’re a bad influence on each other,” Nico jokes back and Valtteri thinks it’s the most honest thing that the other man has ever said.
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As much as Valtteri didn’t want to agree to this he can’t help but find it hilarious every time that Sebastian comes into the shop, flirting with Kimi while simultaneously talking about his “sweetheart”.
“She’s so beautiful."
“Kimi, your eyes are such a nice colour, are there any flowers that match them?”
At this point, Valtteri really has to concede that Lewis and Nico are an absolutely terrible influence on him.
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Sebastian doesn’t understand what’s happening. The first time he went to the flower shop it was to buy flowers for his mum’s birthday. Ever since then he’s been finding excuses to go back, buying flowers for every special occasion or event, and even making the odd scenario up in case he’s asked why he’s buying flowers for no reason.
At first it seemed to be going well. There’s a few men working at the store but whenever he comes in it always seems to be Kimi who is at the front desk. The other man is the attractive brooding type, yet he also has a dry sense of humour. Despite not watching racing he has an interest in cars, fixing up his own classic motor in his spare time.
Just as he was convincing himself to ask the other man out, finally trying to get away from the ridiculous reasons he’s been exaggerating and or fabricating to buy flowers, that’s when things seemed to suddenly change.
As much as Kimi has always been the strong and silent type he used to always have a joke or an explanation of what different flowers mean ready for Sebastian. Now he tends to deal with orders as quickly as possible, barely speaking unless he has to.
One day, when Sebastian arrives and one of the other men is on the till, despite the fact it isn’t one of Kimi’s normal days off, that’s when he knows he has to do something.
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When a voice calls out Valtteri’s name in a questioning tone, Valtteri realises he’s made a mistake. Some might think the mistake was agreeing to swap shifts with Kimi this week, one could even argue that not intervening earlier and playing along with Nico’s schemes was the mistake. Valtteri however, is pretty sure that ever agreeing to work in the flower shop was the real mistake.
“Hello Sebastian,” Valtteri replies reluctantly, wishing desperately that someone else was working today, so that he could pretend to have something important to do in the back.
“What can I get for you today?”
Valtteri asks the question in the vain hope that Sebastian will simply pretend to be a normal customer, buy some flowers from him and go. As soon as the words come out of his mouth however, Valtteri knows that he’s not going to be that lucky.
“Do you know why Kimi is angry with me?”
The German reminds him of an abandoned puppy at this moment, sad and lost looking. As soon as Valtteri sees the look on the other man’s face he knows he’s going to crack and explain everything to him.
As much as Valtteri is worried about the reaction of his co-workers, well he can surely get a job at a coffee shop or as a receptionist at the tattoo place next door right?
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It takes Sebastian a moment to get his head around the explanation he was given. As soon as understanding sets in he can’t decide who’s more of an idiot, himself or Kimi. The whole situation is absolutely ridiculous and yet looking back it also makes perfect sense. Right now, Sebastian simply hopes that this is something he can laugh about in a few months time and that it won’t be a massive regret. Wishing he had listened to all of those people who warned him off naming his cars and those who think that giving cars a gender is ridiculous, Sebastian knows he has to formulate a plan to explain things.
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While Valtteri and Nico are able to cater to his whims for a week or so, swapping shifts and letting him use up some holidays, eventually, Kimi knows he has to come back to the real world. Kimi thought that some time off would do him some good, let him have some distance, it really hasn’t worked.
Kimi finds out the hard way that when you spend a week trying to forget about someone, everything reminds you of them. When he looks at the flowers he remembers which ones Sebastian liked, the ones he had in different bouquets, the one’s he learned the meaning of. Even the counter reminds him of Sebastian, the way his hands would press on the surface as he leaned in to make conversation, the way he tapped his fingers when feeling excited about the conversation. Even the ring of the bell at the door reminds him of Sebastian, which is why when the other man appears in front of him now, it is almost as though Kimi is looking at a ghost.
Not the most loquacious at the best of times, Kimi has absolutely no idea what to say to the man in front of him. Especially not when the other man is holding… something. A bouquet of vodka and chocolates?
“I was going to get you flowers but I didn’t want to buy them from another business.”
As Sebastian talks he’s shuffling on his feet, like he’s ready to flee the moment Kimi tells him to leave.
“So that’s for me then?” Kimi asks when he is finally able to speak.
The words seem to give Sebastian a jolt and he quickly steps forward until he is able to thrust the present into Kimi’s hands. The Finn takes the present into his hands, a bemused smile on his face. First he inspects the alcohol and sweets before noticing the label. What jumps out to him is the flash of red on the outside of the label which upon further inspection is an image of Sebastian’s race car. Feeling even more confused than at the start of this interaction, Kimi finally reads the text on the inside.
Lucilla is the name of my car.
Despite the words having sunk in, Kimi feels unable to tear his eyes away from the words. At first Kimi is unsure how to react, a myriad of emotions swirling through his mind. Eventually however he feels his mouth twitch, locking eyes with Sebastian, the pair find themselves laughing. As soon as the laughing starts neither is able to stop, each one setting the other back off after a moment's respite.
After an indeterminate amount of time the pair are disrupted by a noise. Glancing behind him, Kimi spots Valtteri, having completely forgotten that the other man had been in the back room making up arrangements.
“Please take a sick day and leave.”
Kimi glances between the exasperated look on Valtteri’s face and the hopeful look on Sebastian’s, with so many different options of what he could say running through his mind. Instead of saying any of them however, Kimi simply nods at Valtteri in thanks, grabs Sebastian’s hand and leaves.
Fin.