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As soon as the door to Zelda Confections shuts, giggling rings out from behind Margaret. She turns on her heel, crossing her arms, and levels Lucy with the nastiest glare she can muster. Lucy doesn’t even see it, of course, because she’s too busy doubling over as she leans against Gin for support.
“You aren’t even working today!” Margaret hisses. “Why did you come here if you’re just going to laugh at me?!”
Gin raises an eyebrow, as if to say, Are you seriously asking that? Margaret turns her glare on them in retaliation, though they never yield under dirty looks like Margaret’s coworkers do.
“I’m here because I want to laugh at you,” Lucy answers once she’s caught her breath. She sighs, patting Gin’s shoulder before standing up straight. “I like watching you fluster yourself while walking the line between flirting and being professional. It’s hilarious!”
Margaret narrows her eyes. “Need I remind you how you were acting mere months ago whenever Gin-kun stopped by?”
Lucy falters.
Gin snorts.
Margaret huffs, stomping away from them, back to the safety of the counter. Nathaniel is on break right now, so at least she doesn’t have to deal with his nagging on top of the taunting. As if he has any room to talk, with whatever weird three-way situationship he got himself stuck in.
The shop is empty now, apart from Lucy and Gin who are whispering to each other, interspersed with some sign language from Gin. So, with nothing else to do, Margaret starts idly re-organizing the counter. Though it’s only a moment before her gaze drifts up to the door, where Higuchi left just moments earlier.
Higuchi.
The reason for all of the taunting and the nagging.
For the past several months, she’s been stopping by the shop weekly, every Friday after she leaves work, to buy a treat for her younger sister. Margaret had seen her from afar prior to that—she’s the manager of the flower shop across the street, so they frequent many of the same places—but it wasn’t until Higuchi started stopping by Zelda Confections that Margaret actually had a real conversation with her.
She would like to say she fell gracefully, but it was more like she tripped into an infatuation she didn’t have a label for until Mark saw the two of them interact, and afterwards said, Wow, you really are down bad for that girl. I thought John was exaggerating, but if anything, I think he undersold it.
At which point Margaret had half a crisis, decided to push it off until after her shift, and then had a full crisis once she got home.
It’s just—
Higuchi is sweet, and she’s funny, and she’s pretty, and she always makes conversation with Margaret whenever she stops in. Of course Margaret developed a crush—who wouldn’t?! She can’t be faulted for this!
Regardless, all of her coworkers have since picked up on it. As well as Lucy’s partner, who works with Higuchi. As if Margaret’s crush being common knowledge amongst the Zelda Confections employees wasn’t bad enough on its own!
Her only consolidation is that Gin has sworn an oath of secrecy.
It’s a fair repayment for Margaret pushing Lucy to finally ask them out. Even if half of the convincing was done by Louisa, who organized a pros vs. cons list. But Margaret helped her make the list, and she spent quite a bit of time telling Lucy to do it before that, so it still counts!
“You knowwww,” Lucy sings, prancing over to the counter and breaking Margaret from her thoughts. She slams her hands down against the marble. Behind her, Gin rolls their eyes fondly. “You kept telling me ‘the worst thing that could happen is they’ll let you down gently’ before Gin and I got together. You should really take your own advice.”
Never mind. Margaret wishes she never helped Lucy at all. She would prefer being subject to the obnoxious pining.
“This is different!” she protests.
“Oh yeah? How?”
“Because—” Margaret splutters, gesturing vaguely, “Because Higuchi-san comes in here every week! She’s a regular! Gin-kun only came in a couple times with Higuchi-san, and then started coming in a bunch very obviously just to see you.”
“That’s not a good enough excuse.”
“Yes! It is!”
“No, it’s—!”
“Please,” Nathaniel’s voice cuts through the argument, “would you take your incessant fighting outside? I have a headache.”
“You always have a headache,” Lucy grumbles, but she doesn’t resume her yelling. She just throws her head back and groans. “Come on, Gin. Apparently our expertise is not appreciated here.”
Gin purses their lips, clearly trying to suppress a smile, as Lucy grabs their hand and drags them out of the shop. The two of them wave over their shoulders, and then they’re gone, leaving Margaret alone with Nathaniel.
Margaret huffs.
“Have you considered that their teasing would cease if you did as they asked?” Nathaniel questions. He’s such a traitor. He should go back to being homophobic. Then maybe he would be on Margaret’s side instead of teaming up with the enemy.
“You are the worst,” she growls. Before he can respond, the bell above the door rings and a new customer enters. Margaret plasters a perfect customer service smile on her face and turns to greet them, effectively ending the conversation with Nathaniel before it can even begin.
— —
When Higuchi comes in the following week, Mark laughs and immediately takes out their phone. Surely to give Lucy a live reaction of whatever is to follow. Which seems like a rather significant breach of privacy, but Margaret can’t complain because Higuchi is in earshot and she does not want her knowing any of the gossip going down behind the scenes. Margaret would simply die from embarrassment if she found out even half of it.
“Hi, Higuchi-san!” she greets brightly. “Looking for anything specific today?”
Higuchi smiles. Her lips glimmer with gloss, and she clicks her teeth together, then clears her throat before replying, “Hi! My sister really liked the fudge you recommended last week, so I was wondering if you had another flavor for her to try?”
“Of course!”
Margaret launches into a series of suggestions, trying to ignore Mark in her periphery as their thumbs viciously tap against their phone screen. Higuchi listens intently, asking a few questions, and once she’s made her selection, they start talking about other things. They trade funny stories about customers and Higuchi talks about the school club her sister is in and Margaret talks about meeting up with Lucy and Gin for lunch the day prior.
Higuchi is an easy person to talk to.
It’s nearly thirty minutes before she leaves, with a small gift bag in her hands and a promise to be back next week at the same time. Margaret waves as she goes, and once the door is shut, her smile drops.
She turns to Mark. “Are you quite done talking about me behind my back?”
Mark grins, not looking up from their phone. “Just about, yeah. You two are even worse than the last time I saw you. You’ve gotta get over yourself and just make a move, man. Otherwise someone else will and you’ll spend the rest of your life wondering what could have been.”
Margaret clicks her tongue in dismay. “Trying to scare me into it. That’s a dirty tactic. I didn’t even use it on Lucy.”
Mark shrugs. “I’m willing to stoop to whatever level I need.”
“You are terrible.”
“So I’ve been told.” They look up, still smirking. “If you don’t want to ask her out, I totally will.”
“You—!” Margaret stomps her foot, then marches away. She can’t deal with this right now. “You’re a menace!” she shouts over her shoulder. “I can’t fathom why I still talk to you!”
Mark just laughs.
— —
The first time Higuchi breaks her routine is the following Monday. She enters the shop in the morning, shortly after opening, looking almost lost. She’s fidgeting with an envelope in her hands, eyes darting around as she clicks her tongue.
“Higuchi-san?” Margaret calls out from behind the counter. “Is everything alright?”
Louisa is doing inventory in the back, preferring that to anything that requires interacting with strangers, so no one else is around. It’s nice—it means no taunting as soon as Higuchi leaves. And Louisa is far nicer than the others anyways, even if Margaret knows she silently agrees with them.
“Yes!” Higuchi answers quickly. “Yes, I just—brrr—wanted to stop by and—a-and—give you this!” She thrusts the envelope out towards Margaret. Before Margaret can even comprehend her words, she starts rambling out an explanation: “Tachihara is having a housewarming party, and he said I could invite you, but don’t feel like you have to bring a gift or anything if you do come! And it’s totally fine if you can’t! It’s this Saturday, so I know it’s sort of last-minute and you don’t really know Tachihara that well, but…” her voice trails off. She clears her throat, gaze flitting between Margaret’s hands and the wall behind her.
Margaret takes a moment to parse through the words and make sure she heard everything correctly. She’s met Tachihara only a few times—he works with Higuchi and Gin, and he’s come into the shop with one or both of them on occasion—so it’s not like he’s a total stranger. And Margaret would like an excuse to spend time with Higuchi outside of seeing her at work…
“Lucy and Gin will be there too,” Higuchi adds. “They were the ones that told me I should invite you, actually.” She laughs nervously.
Margaret frowns at that. If Lucy and Gin were involved with this, how can she be sure Higuchi even wants her to come to the party? She doubts either of them would intentionally be so cruel as to make Higuchi lead Margaret on, but it is possible their personal agendas could blind them.
As if she can read the expression on Margaret’s face, Higuchi quickly continues, “Not that I didn’t want to! Because I did! They just…gave me the push I needed, I guess.” She smiles, sheepish, and tucks a strand of hair behind her ear, clicking her tongue as she does so. Margaret wishes she could be the one to fix Higuchi’s hair for her.
(Oh God, maybe the others are right. Maybe Margaret is just as ‘down bad’ as they claim.)
“I would love to come,” she hears herself say. Typically, she’s not much of a party person, but knowing that Higuchi truly did want to invite her has her jumping in without really thinking. Besides, if all else fails, she can third wheel with Lucy and Gin.
…Or maybe she can just leave early.
“Great!” Higuchi grins. “I’ll see you Saturday, then! Or—brrr—I mean, I’ll see you Friday first, I guess. And then again Saturday. Anyway, I gotta—g-gotta—run; we open in, like, fifteen minutes and Gin is probably w-w-waiting on me.”
Margaret bids her farewell, and once she’s gone, she has to physically restrain herself from squealing like a teenager with a crush. Though she does clutch the invitation to her chest, smiling giddily, incredibly grateful no one else is in the shop with her. She would never hear the end of their teasing.
(Her coworkers are definitely right. She is hopelessly infatuated.)
— —
The week passes excruciatingly slow, each day dragging on for its own eternity. Higuchi comes in on Friday as always, and Margaret can feel Nathaniel’s gaze burning into her for the entire duration of their conversation. She wants to yell at him to go be homophobic somewhere else, but then she would have to explain to Higuchi why that’s a joke she can make to him and—
that would probably include exposing her crush.
So she just does her best to ignore his staring.
Once Higuchi is gone, Nathaniel raises an eyebrow and asks, “You’re going to a party tomorrow?”
Margaret’s face heats. She throws a pen at him, and then stomps away to the bathroom so she doesn’t have to talk to him anymore.
— —
By the time Saturday finally rolls around, Margaret is vibrating with an unbearable combination of anxiety and excitement. She tries to do something useful with her restless energy, like clean her apartment, but she ends up getting distracted rather quickly thinking about what she should wear, which leads to her texting Lucy, which leads to a FaceTime call that is mostly Lucy teasing her while Nathaniel yells at Lucy to get back to work in the background.
After nearly an hour, Margaret picks an outfit and then ends the call so Lucy can face Nathaniel’s wrath on her own.
The day passes at a snail’s pace.
And yet, when it’s time to leave, Margaret finds herself feeling woefully unprepared. She doesn’t need to bring anything; the invitation said food and drinks will be provided. Though she did get Tachihara a gift despite Higuchi saying it was unnecessary. It’s nothing special; just a box of chocolates from Zelda Confections that were nearing their expiration date.
(Tachihara won’t know she snagged them from the clearance section, and Lucy can’t say anything because she would have done the same thing if not for Gin getting a gift from both of them.)
She arrives at the apartment right on time, and when she knocks on the door, Gin is the one who answers. They bow their head politely, then step aside, gesturing for Maragret to come in. They point her towards the kitchen, where Margaret finds Higuchi and Tachihara organizing the snacks.
“Yo!” Tachihara greets. “Margaret-san, right?” the name falls clumsily from his tongue, clearly unfamiliar with forming the foreign sounds aloud.
Margaret nods. She holds out the chocolates. “Higuchi-san said I didn’t need to bring a gift, but I figured I would get you something small. Congratulations on the new place; it looks very nice.”
Tachihara grins, accepting the gift. “Thanks! Higuchi nee-san, why don’t you go introduce her to the others? I can finish this up on my own.”
“Oh!” Higuchi clacks her teeth together. “Yeah, sure!” She turns to Margaret, gesturing for her to follow as she slips out of the kitchen. “We’re still waiting on a few people, but Tachihara had some of us come over early to help set up.”
Margaret recognizes Gin and Lucy right away, of course. They’re seated on the floor, huddled together, watching a video on one of their phones, each wearing one earbud. An old man Margaret recognizes as another flower shop employee is seated on the couch, talking to a red-haired guy who looks to be about Margaret’s age. Higuchi introduces the old man as Hirotsu and the other guy as Tanizaki, Tachihara’s boyfriend.
Beyond that, there’s Naomi, Tanizaki’s sister, and Teruko, a girl who looks to be about thirteen but is addressed with a -san honorific.
“Jouno-kun and Tecchou-kun should be here soon,” Teruko informs them, though those names mean absolutely nothing to Margaret. “They’re probably arguing about whether or not Tecchou-kun should bring his emergency sauce packets with him. Also, I think Kenji-kun is coming with them.”
Higuchi frowns. “I thought Kenji-kun couldn’t come because he was staying with Chuuya-san this weekend?”
Naomi giggles. “Dazai-san snuck him out.”
“Please tell me Dazai-san is not coming with them.”
“Oh God, no. He’s hiding at Poe-san’s house with Ranpo-san.”
Small world, Margaret thinks. Poe used to work at Zelda Confections until he got a deal with a publisher, and quit to become a full-time writer or something. He still stops by occasionally, mostly when Louisa is working. Margaret met his partner, once—and all she knows is that they seemed like a handful. She’s not sure how Poe deals with it.
Higuchi breathes out a sigh of relief as she turns back to Margaret. “Akutagawa-san and Atsushi-kun should be here soon as well, and I think that’s everyone! Unless Tanizaki-kun invited any other friends.”
“I did not,” Tanizaki calls out, then laughs as he adds, “Clearly you don’t want them here.”
“That’s because Dazai’s the worst!” Lucy shouts across the room. “I would launch him into the stratosphere in a heartbeat.”
Tanizaki merely shrugs in concession.
Margaret decides she’s better off not knowing anything about this Dazai character at all.
— —
Margaret has never been particularly fond of parties—at least, not the loud music-blaring, crowded rooms, alcohol in plastic cups, lights turned down low, frat party vibe. She much prefers a nice afternoon tea party with friends, catching up on gossip over non-alcoholic drinks and pastries. But while Tachihara’s apartment does end up fairly crowded, it’s not so overwhelming that Margaret wants to flee as soon as she can.
It helps, too, that Higuchi stays by her side.
She’d sort of been expecting to spend the evening stuck with Lucy and Gin, since Higuchi knows everyone here and she herself very much does not, but Higuchi makes sure to include her in conversations and doesn’t seem to mind Margaret following her around like a lost puppy.
She catches Lucy’s gaze a few times, and is always met with a teasing smirk. As if she knows something Margaret doesn’t. It makes her blood boil, but she can’t cause a scene here, so she’s forced to bite down her rage, soothing herself with the knowledge that she can enact revenge during their shared shift tomorrow afternoon.
Margaret is introduced to Jouno, Tecchou, and Kenji as soon as they arrive. Jouno carries a red-tipped cane, but with the amount of people in the apartment, they seem to be relying more on Tecchou to guide them around, one arm linked with his. And when Tecchou steps away, Kenji is right there to take his place as Jouno’s guide.
Tecchou and Kenji both seem nice enough, but Margaret cannot fathom being forced to spend more than five minutes alone in Jouno’s company. They’re blunt and rude and as soon as they step into the apartment, they ask if Gin is there just to turn their nose up in disgust when given an affirmative answer. Margaret rolls her eyes at the spectacle, then huffs out a quiet laugh when Gin flips them off and they remain entirely unaware.
For the most part, though, the party is enjoyable.
They eat and talk and play games and Margaret finds her nervousness melting away. It’s easier, almost, to talk to Higuchi outside of the context of being at work. There’s no need to keep up appearances as a perfect employee on the off-chance that Fitzgerald shows up; Margaret is free to just be herself.
(She’s grateful Higuchi seems to like this version of her, too.)
Near the end of the night, after Higuchi is tipsy from the questionable-looking punch that Margaret herself steered very clear from, the two of them end up in the kitchen alone together. Higuchi is refilling her cup, ladling in the bright red liquid, her coordination slightly off as she tries to avoid scooping up any ice. Meanwhile, Margaret is giving the latest gossip updates about Nathaniel’s weird polycule. Technically, she’s not supposed to say anything about it, but everyone who works at Zelda Confections knows, so she figures there’s no reason she can’t tell Higuchi.
Besides, if Higuchi drinks enough, she won’t remember the details in the morning anyway.
“And then Fyodor said they couldn’t go because—” Margaret cuts herself off. “Do you need help?”
Higuchi’s cheeks flush prettily. Surely it must be from the alcohol.
Margaret doesn’t wait for an answer, instead snatching both the cup and ladle from Higuchi’s hands and filling the cup herself. It’s much easier work for her, considering her motor skills are not currently impaired.
“Thanks,” Higuchi mumbles.
When Margaret hands the cup back over, their fingers brush, and she feels her own face flushing. But she doesn’t have the alcohol excuse to fall back on. …Maybe she should have risked the punch.
She pulls her hand back quickly, once the cup is secure in Higuchi’s grip, not daring to meet Higuchi’s eyes. Until—
Higuchi takes half a step closer. They weren’t far apart to begin with, but now Margaret is painfully aware of the lack of distance between them and the few inches she has on Higuchi as she tilts her head up, their eyes meeting.
Margaret swallows thickly.
Higuchi clears her throat. “You’re really pretty,” she whispers.
Inside her chest, Margaret swears her heart stops beating. She’s certain she must have misheard, but then Higuchi reaches up, tucking away a strand of hair that fell loose from Margaret’s bun. Her touch lingers.
Margaret’s breath catches in her throat.
As Higuchi’s hand begins to retreat, Margaret grabs hold of it. “You’re really pretty too,” she replies. There’s so much more she could say—so many more thoughts that have been building up in her chest for months—but forcing out just one sentence was hard enough.
Especially when Higuchi grins, inadvertently causing everything else to fly out of Margaret’s mind.
Margaret leans down, as if pulled by some invisible magnetic force. She imagines this must be how a meteor feels when it’s caught in the earth’s gravity, falling from the sky and plummeting towards the ground, moving far too fast to stop. All it can do is brace for the impact.
Higuchi’s lips shimmer with pink gloss. Margaret wonders if they would taste sweet.
She’s mere millimeters away from finding out when suddenly—
The kitchen door slams open, breaking Margaret’s trance. She and Higuchi jump apart from each other, punch sloshing out of Higuchi’s cup and onto her hand at the harsh movement.
“Hey,” Tachihara calls from the doorway, seemingly ignorant to what he just interrupted, “we’re playing Mafia if you two want to join. Lucy-chan already called dibs on being the narrator for the first round.”
“Yeah!” Higuchi answers quickly. “We—brr—we’ll play!”
“Dope. Jun’s in the bathroom, so we’ll start once he’s back.”
“Sounds great!”
Tachihara leaves, and Margaret wants to ask Higuchi to wait a moment so they can actually talk about what just happened, but the words get caught in her throat. Higuchi rushes out of the kitchen as well, leaving Margaret alone and unfortunately sober.
She serves herself a cup of punch before joining the others for their game.
— —
Lucy is a full three minutes late for her shift, which typically wouldn’t bother Margaret too much, but today, each one of those one hundred eighty seconds seem to hold the weight of an entire eternity. She needs to talk to someone and she can’t stand the thought of going to Nathaniel, of all people, for relationship advice. Certainly not when she got a text from him this morning that said: Nikolai bit me so hard I had to get stitches and now I’m not speaking to him.
Louisa would be preferable, but she’s visiting family this week, which leaves Lucy as Margaret’s unfortunate best option.
As soon as she steps through the door, Margaret demands, “Where have you been?!”
Lucy blinks at her tiredly. “Gin and I didn’t leave Tachihara-kun’s place until four. I just woke up, like, twenty minutes ago.”
Margaret seethes. “I have been waiting all morning to talk to you! You couldn’t even wake up when I called!”
Lucy frowns, fishing her phone from her pocket. “You didn’t— Oh. It was on silent. …My bad.” She puts it away, then brushes past Margaret, almost dazed as she walks to the back room to set her bag down. “If you were wondering about Higuchi-san, she left like five minutes after you did. You didn’t miss anything.”
“That’s not—!” Margaret breaks off into a groan. Before she can continue and explain the whole…whatever happened between her and Higuchi last night, the bell above the door rings. Margaret turns to find Gin walking through the doorway, appearing only marginally more awake than Lucy and wearing their own work uniform.
Great.
As if resorting to spilling all her drama to Lucy wasn’t bad enough.
Gin nods politely at Margaret, then signs something to Lucy.
Lucy scoffs. “You could have told me that on the way here! I just got yelled at for missing the call!”
Gin shrugs.
Margaret is going to lose her mind. There is one single thread holding her together right now, and it is pulled so taught it could break at any moment. And then she will either explode or simply unravel, withering away like dust in the wind. If Lucy and Gin don’t shut up right this very second—
“Are you, like, okay?” Lucy asks.
The string inside of her snaps.
“Do I look even remotely okay!?” Margaret demands. She’s grateful no one else is in the shop right now—she isn’t sure she would be able to reign in her outburst even if there were customers present. “Of course I’m not okay! How could you not possibly realize that I’m having a complete crisis right now!?”
Lucy and Gin exchange a confused look. Margaret ignores them.
“Why would I bother calling you if not for something important? Ugh!” She stomps her foot, delighting in the loud clack of her heel against the tile floor. “It’s not like you were my first choice, but I’m not sure who else to talk to with Louisa out of town, and Higuchi and I had a sort of moment at the party last night, but that idiot Tachihara interrupted us before anything could happen, and then Higuchi ran, and I don’t know what to do, and—”
“Wait,” Lucy interrupts. “Hold on. Wait. You…what?”
Margaret purses her lips.
“What do you mean by ‘a moment’?” she presses.
Margaret’s gaze dips to the floor. She clasps her hands together, hesitating for a moment as she tries to figure out the best way to put what happened into words. She refilled Higuchi’s cup, and then they were so close, and it was all happening so quickly…
“We…might have…almost kissed. I’m— I don’t know, exactly, it was just—” she huffs out a sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose. “We were really close to each other and I think she was looking at my lips, but maybe it was just because my mouth is about at her eye level, and—” she stops abruptly when she sees the twin expressions of disbelief on Lucy and Gin’s faces. “Don’t look at me like that!”
Lucy twists her lips up into something that resembles a grimace more than a smile. Gin simply continues staring.
“Maybe you should talk to Higuchi-san about it,” Lucy suggests. “Isn’t that what you told me when I was pining for Gin?”
Margaret glares. She isn’t wrong, but it seems like a sort of insensitive comment to make right now. Couldn’t she have waited at least a day?
“You two are no help at all.” Margaret sniffs. “I don’t even know why I bothered asking you for advice. I should have known it would all be useless.”
Lucy scoffs. “Remind me who, between the two of us, is actually in a relationship?”
Margaret bites her tongue. Lucy is so mean! She would do well to extend at least a little sympathy, given the current circumstances. That really shouldn’t be too much to ask for.
Gin taps Lucy’s shoulder, then signs something quickly.
Lucy nods. She glances back towards Margaret. “I can only help you if you want to listen to me. If you just want to play victim, then can we drop this and focus on work?”
“You are a horrendous friend,” Margaret grumbles. Before Lucy can respond, she stomps away, uninterested in debating any further. Perhaps she should text Louisa. Or, God forbid, risk talking to Nathaniel.
It must be bad if she’s debating going to a repressed Catholic man with two significant others he adamantly refuses to label as such. But it would be better than Lucy’s bullying.
She spares a glance back towards Lucy and finds her whispering to Gin. After a moment, she kisses them goodbye, and then they leave. Presumably to go clock in for their own job.
White-hot jealousy shoots through Margaret’s veins. She fixes her gaze on the display of chocolates she’s decided to reorganize and tries to ignore the uneasiness solidifying in her gut.
— —
After texting Louisa and being given approximately the same advice, Margaret slinks over to where Lucy is on her phone behind the counter.
“May I speak to you about something?”
Lucy shrugs. “I guess.”
Margaret grits her teeth, swallowing down her humiliation. “I…apologize for my earlier words. You were only trying to help, and I wrongfully lashed out at you. I just… I’m worried.”
Lucy raises an eyebrow. “Worried?”
“Do you think…” Margaret looks down, picking at a hangnail that she should really cut before she ends up making it worse. “Do you think we’ll be like this forever? Higuchi and I, I mean. Just…dancing around each other and admiring from afar? Sometimes, I fear that’s all we were meant for.”
Lucy sighs. She pockets her phone, then turns so she’s fully facing Margaret. “If neither of you make a move, then yeah, you’ll spend forever pining and wondering what might have happened if you took a risk. But as for that being what you’re meant for… Fate and destiny and soulmates aren’t real. You aren’t ‘meant for’ anything. Just go for it and see what happens.” Her expression softens into a fond smile. “That’s what I did.”
Now that Margaret’s temper has cooled down and she isn’t letting her anxiety manifest as anger, she has to admit that Lucy’s advice seems sound. She would know, after all; she’s the one who actually has a partner.
“How would I even go about confessing?”
Lucy grins. “Are you asking me for help?”
Despite the spiking apprehension that arises in Margaret’s stomach, she reluctantly admits, “…I suppose I am.”
Lucy laughs gleefully. “I thought you’d never ask!”
— —
The flower shop where Higuchi works is one of two owned by Mori Corporation. The other is much further from both Margaret’s apartment and Zelda Confections, but apparently not from wherever Gin lives because they and their brother work at opposite locations. Which Margaret only knows because Akutagawa is supposed to be expecting her at the further location, and she’s currently trying to gather up the courage to go inside.
The plan is simple: Buy Higuchi flowers, have them back to Zelda Confections by the time she comes in for her weekly visit, and then ask her out. On paper, it’s perfectly simple.
In reality, Margaret has never felt so terrified in her entire life. Even the tornado that wrecked her hometown when she was eight did not fill her with so much pure, unadulterated, fear.
She takes a deep breath, then forces herself to open the door.
This flower shop is bigger than the other one, but the interior layout is quite similar. Akutagawa stands behind the counter with a bored expression that does not lift a single millimeter when he meets Margaret’s gaze. It takes a moment for her to realize that he’s actually already conversing with someone—or, rather, someone is talking at him while he may or may not be listening.
They stand several inches shorter than him, red hair pulled over one shoulder and a hat resting atop their head. They’re talking animatedly, holding a bouquet in one hand.
Margaret approaches the counter hesitantly.
Akutagawa clears his throat. “Chuuya-san.”
Oh, Margaret thinks. She recognizes that name from Tachihara’s party. Chuuya does behind-the-scenes work for the flower shops—accounting, maybe?—and happens to be dating the infamous Dazai that Margaret heard far too many wildly concerning stories about.
Chuuya rolls their eyes at Akutagawa. “Have fun.”
“You too,” he deadpans. “I hope Dazai-san enjoys the flowers.”
Chuuya barks out a laugh. “These aren’t for that bastard; they’re for Doppo. Last time I got Dazai flowers, he threatened to poison himself by eating them.”
Margaret valiantly attempts to school her expression into something less than horrified shock. But apparently, she fails, because when Chuuya turns and sees her face, they say, “That’s normal for him, don’t worry.”
And then they leave without another word.
Margaret figures she’s better off not knowing anything else about that situation.
Once Chuuya is gone, Akutagawa asks, “Can I help you.”
Margaret forms her frown into a nervous smile. “Gin said they told you I was going to stop by. I’m interested in buying flowers for someone who I plan to ask on a date.”
Akutagawa nods. “Higuchi. I know. Give me one moment.” He turns away, and Margaret is grateful he didn’t comment on the way her face flushed at just the mention of Higuchi’s name. Truly she has no idea how she’ll manage to make it through today. She already feels on the edge of dissolving and blowing away in the breeze like dandelion seeds.
As Gin promised, Akutagawa has instructions on how to arrange the bouquet for Higuchi, left by someone who apparently isn’t working today. He takes his time putting it together, never once showing a single modicum of emotion. Margaret might be intimidated by it, if she hadn’t seen him at Tachihara’s party and realized that’s just how he is all the time.
She’d asked Higuchi if he was upset about being forced to attend, and Higuchi laughed before assuring her that Akutagawa wanted to come. He’d never admit it aloud, she said, but he certainly wouldn’t have shown up if he didn’t want to be there.
Once the bouquet is wrapped and tied with a sparkly yellow ribbon, Akutagawa hands it over and informs Margaret, “Gin and Lucy-chan already paid for it. I am to tell you it is repayment for helping them get together.” His frown deepens, slightly. “If I’d known you were behind that from the beginning, I would not have agreed to this. I do not enjoy the idea of Gin dating someone who is so…” he twirls his wrist, gesturing vaguely, before settling on the word, “much.”
It’s an accurate descriptor—one Margaret herself has used on many occasions—but she’s overcome with a sudden need to defend her friend against Akutagawa. And put a good word in for the relationship she has apparently been deemed responsible for.
“They’re good for each other,” she promises. “I can’t speak for Gin-kun, of course, but Lucy has been much happier since the two of them finally got together. And while Lucy can be quite stubborn and rude, she has a kind side she lets show once you grow closer with her.”
“Hmph.” Akutagawa folds his arms over his chest, looking Margaret up and down. “I suppose I can voice my support for your courting Higuchi.”
Margaret blanches. “Was that some sort of test?!”
Akutagawa’s lips twitch upwards, in the barest hint of a smile. Margaret is so going to give Gin a piece of her mind the next time she sees them. This is an outrage!
“I wish you luck,” Akutagawa says, instead of providing an actual answer. “Though, I doubt you need it.”
Margaret scoffs. But she bows her head politely and tells him, “Thank you,” before leaving the store.
— —
Margaret is busy helping another customer when Higuchi enters the store—a teenager dressed in a t-shirt with a dinosaur on it, who was very eager to pick out fudge for themself and a friend. It’s a rare occurrence for Margaret to be occupied at this time, but not unheard of. Though she’d hoped she would be lucky enough to avoid it today.
Apparently not.
As soon as she sees Higuchi, Lucy announces, “I have to go to the bathroom! I’ll be back in a bit.” Then, she turns on her heel and leaves. That, at least, gives Higuchi an excuse to wait for Margaret to be free. If Lucy decides to be nice, it will also assure the two of them are alone when Margaret confesses.
Margaret finishes bagging up the fudge for her customer, then hands it over to them. They thank her, and then—as if they somehow know she’s itching for them to leave—they bid a quick farewell and slip out of the store.
Finally, Margaret and Higuchi are alone.
It’s the first time since the party. Now that Margaret is really thinking about it, she wonders how much Higuchi even remembers. Wonders if the almost-kiss is something sober Higuchi would stand by, or if it was influenced by the alcohol and she isn’t actually interested in Margaret at all. God, she hopes the latter isn’t true. She’d never be able to show her face in public again.
“Hi, Higuchi!” Margaret greets. She hopes her voice doesn’t sound as shaky as it feels. “What can I get for you today?” She figures it’s best to have Higuchi pick out the weekly treat for her sister first, and then make her move. That eliminates any potential awkwardness after the fact if she rejects Margaret. And while everyone else seems confident that won’t happen, Margaret is loath to get her hopes too high.
Higuchi picks out a marshmallow pop shaped like Hello Kitty, which seems to take ages for her to decide on. Margaret can feel herself anxiously fidgeting, twisting her fingers together and rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet, but there is far too much nervous energy coursing through her veins for her to be able to stop it. All she can do is pray Higuchi doesn’t notice—or, at the very least, doesn’t find it odd.
After what seems like hours but must have only been a few minutes, Margaret is ringing up the marshmallow treat and placing it in a bag. As she hands it over, she says, “Could you wait here a moment? I have something else I’d like to give you.”
“Oh!” Higuchi exclaims. She clicks her tongue. “Yeah—yeah—sure, I can do that!”
“Wonderful!” Margaret hears herself reply. She hates how she said it the instant it’s out of her mouth, but there’s no way to redo it. So she simply turns away, hurrying to grab the bouquet from its temporary home in the back room.
When she re-emerges, Higuchi’s eyes widen. She doesn’t say a word as Margaret brings it over, though her lips flutter and her fingers twitch.
“I’m afraid I don’t know nearly as much about flowers as you do,” she begins, “but I spoke with some trusted friends about getting this bouquet for you.”
“I—” Higuchi clears her throat, then clacks her teeth together. “Um—” She starts to reach out, then stops herself, as if unsure of what she’s supposed to do.
Margaret holds the bouquet out towards her, and then she accepts it. “I apologize if this is unexpected or unwanted, but I… If I must be truly honest, I have been wanting to ask you this for quite some time now and have finally gathered up the courage to do it. I was wondering if, perhaps, you would be interested in going on a date with me?”
Higuchi’s eyes grow even wider.
“You are free to turn the offer down, of course,” Margaret hurriedly adds. “There is no pressure to accept, and I do hope that regardless, this does not cause tension between us. I value your friendship, and would not want my feelings to ruin it. I—”
“Yes,” Higuchi interrupts. Margaret would wonder if she’d heard correctly, if not for the fact that the response is paired with Higuchi emphatically nodding. “Yes, yeah, I’ll— I would love to go on a date—t-t-t—date with you. I— Yeah. That sounds…very nice.”
A smile tugs at Margaret’s lips. “Really?”
“Yes! I’ve been wanting to ask you out for, like, weeks, but I didn’t want to do it while you were at work! Then after what happened at the party, I was afraid you hated me, and—” she clicks her tongue twice. “Um. Yes. I’m free whenever.”
Margaret feels as if the weight of the world has been lifted from her shoulders. She could float away, soaring through the sky like a helium-filled balloon. In her perfect world, Higuchi would join her and they would watch the sunset from hundreds of miles above the ground, and the clouds would glow pink and taste like cotton candy.
Her gaze fixes on Higuchi’s lips. She wonders if they taste sugary sweet too.
“Whenever,” Margaret repeats. “Tomorrow?”
“Yep! We— We could get dinner and go for a walk in the park?”
Margaret could swoon, truly. As if she were some cliché heroine from a Jane Austen novel, except her handsome man is, in fact, a handsome woman. And far better than any Mr. Darcy or George Knightley.
“That sounds lovely.” And then Margaret realizes—she doesn’t know where Higuchi lives, nor does she have any way to contact her for further details. She glances around the counter for a pen and paper, but comes up empty. She’s about to excuse herself to go look through the back room when Lucy emerges, a playful grin plastered across her face.
She holds out a pad of sticky notes and a pen. “I thought you might need these.”
Oh, she is so annoying. Margaret would be completely lost without her.
She rolls her eyes, then swipes the sticky notes and pen from Lucy’s hands. She scribbles her phone number down, before handing it over to Higuchi. “Here. You can text me, and we can figure out the details.”
Higuchi beams. She whistles, then rolls her shoulder. “I can’t wait!”
They exchange farewells, with Lucy tacking on her own goodbye, and as soon as Higuchi is gone, Lucy cheers.
“You did it!” she exclaims, clapping her hands together. “You did it, you have a date!”
“I have a date,” Margaret repeats, still somewhat bewildered by the events that just transpired. It’s unreal. She’s slightly afraid Higuchi is going to text her only to back out.
But…perhaps it is worth it to have hope, for occasions like this.
Margaret recalls the memory of Higuchi’s shocked expression upon seeing the flowers, and then the delighted excitement when she asked her out. She likes to think she knows Higuchi well enough to determine that neither of those reactions were faked.
Yes, Margaret thinks, as her gaze drifts to Lucy. She leans over just enough to note that she’s excitedly texting Gin an update. I believe hope for this will pay off.
I believe it already has.