Chapter Text
Part 1
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“Lilia?” Rio called as she burst through the entrance door the The Witching Flower. A few flecks of snow flew in behind her as she quickly pushed the door closed. Winter in Westview had finally come in all its snowy glory. Last night’s snow storm had piled up around the windows of the little flower shop during the night, covering most of the Christmas decorations Rio had painted on earlier in the week.
“In the back, sweetheart!” Lilia called, popping her head out from behind the antique wooden room divider. “This center piece for Dottie had me up all night.” the older woman said, wiping her hands on her apron as she came into sight from the back.
Rio hung her winter coat on the hooks by the door and stuffed her scarf, gloves and her beanie in one of the pockets. She turned on the front shop lights and the strings of fairy lights flickered hanging in the windows. Despite it being a flower shop, the store felt more like a cozy coffee spot where you could also get an exotic plant or an arrangement of flowers for any occasion. Lilia preferred it that way, “No one is just one thing.” she would remind Rio every so often.
They had a handful of regular customers. Thomas, who came in every Friday morning to fill his flask with tea and to get a small bouquet for his wife’s headstone on his way to visit her grave. May, who couldn’t keep anything alive, but still had the hope and enthusiasm to keep trying anyway. Rio would always recommend something more “May-proof” but the woman insisted she’d keep whatever exotic plant victim she chose alive this time. Rio said a silent prayer with every pot leaving the shop in the woman’s arms.
And then there was Dottie, the very nosy neighbor of Rio’s now ex, Agatha. Dottie popped in every other week to pick up some elaborate flower arrangements for some event she was hosting for the PTA, HOA or whatever other acronym that needed center pieces, and unfortunately for Rio, The Witching Flower was the only florist in Westview after their competitors Heavy Petals had to close their doors.
“That woman insisted on Dahlias at this time of the year.” Lilia sighed heavily as she turned on the coffee machine. “Luckily I had some Chrysanthemums that just made the end of the season. She won’t notice the difference.”
Rio chuckled and wiped out two coffee mugs for herself and Lilia and started up the coffee machine. “Many wouldn’t, I suspect.”
The cups filled with steaming coffee and Rio instantly felt herself finally start to defrost. She handed Lilia her mug and cupped her own, feeling her hands slowly warm up again.
“I offered delivery for her this time, with the weather and all.” Lilia spoke into her mug. “Told her you’d drop it off just after 12.”
Rio narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “Lil, you have to stop.” Rio immediately knew what Lilia was up to. Since her and Agatha’s break up, Lilia had tried everything except cuffing their hands together to get Rio and Agatha back together. Well could you call it a break up if whatever it was, only lasted a few weeks? “It won’t work. She was ma…”
“Details!” Lilia chipped in..
“It’s just over, okay.” Rio answered quickly, putting her mug back down on the counter and suddenly finding herself very busy misting the small plants behind her.
“Rio, dear, it was a simple misunderstanding.” Lilia almost pleaded. “You two had something.”
“What she did was not just a simple misunderstanding… and well, some things have expiry dates, and we obviously reached ours just in time. Nobody got hurt.” Rio sighed, knowing that was untrue, at least for her. “Look, just don’t worry about it, okay, I will deliver Dottie’s flowers as you inconveniently promised.”
Lilia seemed to accept Rio's answer and returned to the back to finish Dottie’s flower arrangements.
Rio took a deep breath and finished the rest of her coffee which had already gone cold. “Fucking perfect.” She muttered to herself.
She busied herself again by going through their email account and placing orders for the next few weeks’ stock. Christmas was a very busy season for a florist, but Rio couldn’t really complain. Thanks to Lilia’s little shop and the unfortunate closure of Heavy Petals, the gothic flower shop, which turned out to be more of a front for some drug ring, Rio was able to get a more permanent position as the shop assistant, earning enough to eventually part ways with the Disney Party Palace and that godforsaken Elsa costume.
Seeing the time in the corner of the computer screen, she waited for the familiar ring of the shop door for Alice’s daily coffee fix. She missed working with Alice, who turned out to become one of her close friends here in Westview, but she certainly appreciated the fact that she no longer had to prance around in a scratchy wig, lip syncing to “Let it Go” more than four times in a shift. She also didn’t miss the screaming children with their sticky hands and entitled parents who always assumed they were the most important customers to ever breach the doors of the Disney Party Palace.
Flowers and plants were much easier. Rio had known that since she could remember. Sure some were finicky and they still needed love and care, but they were way less noisy and needy than some of the insufferable children she had to entertain some days.
“Hey Al,” Rio said without looking up when she heard the bell ring, predictably right on time.
“Sup, Elsa.” Alice greeted, sitting herself down at the counter in front of Rio. “One coffee please. Black as your heart and strong enough to wake the dead…”
Rio grunted… “That all?” she smirked knowingly. Alice never just ordered a coffee without some declaration and today was no different.
“Oh, and add a little bit of silent understanding of my unending misery, please.” She added dramatically.
“Geez Al,” Rio laughed, “I knew you weren’t a morning person, but this is just depressing.”
“I’m just…”
“You're sad because your girlfriend is still away on her conference and you miss her.” Rio stated blankly, handing Alice her mug of coffee.
“Well, you’d be too…” Alice sighed.
“She’ll be back tomorrow, won't she?” Rio asked.
“Yeah, so don’t you see my problem.” Alice lamented.
“I miss Jen too, but I think I can survive at least another day without her.” Rio teased.
“Oh come on Rio. Just because you missed out this is cuffing season, doesn’t mean the rest of us have to be miserable too. Allow me to bask in the glory that is my own sapphic winter holiday romance.”
“We’re not talking about me.” Rio said bluntly.
Alice raised her hands in defense. “I know, I know.”
Rio enjoyed the short silence for a minute, considering pouring herself another cup. “Has, ah… Has Jen said anything?”
As it turns out, a skin product mogul needed a lawyer on retainer and Jen’s lawyer on call was none other than Westview’s most sought after lawyer, Agatha Harkness, one unbelievably gorgeous half of Harkness & Maximoff, the corporate law firm running off of gorgeous hair, flawless smiles and the occasional law suit of some dodgy local car dealer and beauty influencers.
“I thought we weren’t talking…” Alice narrowed her eyes with a smirk.
“Yeah okay, I know, I know...” Rio interrupted her friend. It was a constant struggle to keep Agatha out of her mind and her mouth some days.
“She’s officially a single woman again, you know.” Alice smiled knowingly, sipping the last of her coffee.
“Oh yeah?” Rio said, trying her best to hide her interest.
“Yup, we’re having her Backwards Bachelorette party this weekend, you should come.” Alice answered, dropping the invitation nonchalantly.
“What the fuck is a Backwards Bachelorette party?” Rio asked, her interest no longer hidable.
“Wanda’s idea.” Alice rolled her eyes. Wanda was always on, always perky, and an avid Pinterest user. “It’s basically a bachelorette party but the bride’s getting a divorce.”
“Well I wasn’t officially invited and I am not about to crash my ex’s divorce party. Especially since the reason we broke up was because she was still married when we were dating.” Rio scoffed.
“You know that wasn’t…” Alice tried to interject.
“It’s fine Alice. Go and have fun, I’ve got so many important things to do anyway.” Rio interrupted. She was definitely not going to Agatha’s divorce party, even if it meant making up some lame excuse.
“Well, if you change your mind, it’s this Saturday night, at the DPP of course.” Alice smiled, sliding her cash over to Rio to pay for her coffee. “Gotta run, the new Cinderella starts today and she’s got the personality of one of the evil step sisters.” Lilia popped her head up over the divider again suspiciously and even more suspiciously Alice winked at Lilia when she turned towards the door.
“Good luck!” Rio called after her, releasing her breath slowly into the silence of the flower shop.
So Agatha finalized her divorce. Big whoop! That didn’t change things, not one bit. Rio would never forget her humiliation after bumping into the apparently not so happy couple at the farmer’s market. The woman holding onto Agatha’s hand asking in an extremely condescending way “Who’s this, Aggie?” when Rio’s smile died and fizzled out once she realized Agatha was actually pretending not to know her.
Sure, Rio was working that day but she definitely didn’t greet all the other customers with an enthusiastic “Hey there, gorgeous.” So she could understand the woman’s confusion and concern. But for Agatha to plaster on her trained courtroom smile and a noncommitted “Florist’s assistant, I think.”, that was unnecessarily brutal.
Rio remembered getting home that night and crying her eyes out as she read the stream of text messages from Agatha.
Agatha 💜: Rio please, answer your phone.
Agatha 💜: We’re separated, I promise. The divorce papers have been filed.
Agatha 💜: Just let me explain
And then the final…
Unknown Number: I’m sorry
And now, just a little over five months later, Agatha is a single woman again and Rio has to keep reminding herself that she should stay that way, single.
“Dottie just called,” Lilia interrupted Rio’s sad little trip down memory lane. “She asked me to ask you to make the delivery now, she has a catering emergency or something.”
“Urgh fine, Lilia. But you so owe me.” Rio huffed, grabbing the delivery truck keys from the hook under the counter.
“I think the cheque in the mail at the end of the month should cover it, no?” Lilia smirked.
Fine, so it was Rio’s actual job to do deliveries too, but that didn’t mean that she had to like doing it.
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The familiar street still taunted Rio. How must it have looked to the neighbors when she snuck out of the house before Nicky would wake up in the mornings after she’d slept over at what she assumed was her unmarried girlfriend’s house. For all she knew, the HOA clocked her as the official homewrecker of the once happy Harkness home.
Little did they know that she didn’t even know that she was the other woman up until that day at the farmer’s market. Pathetic.
She parked the car on the side of the road, two stops behind where she would have parked if she was still seeing Agatha, and unloaded the heavy center piece onto the sidewalk.
“I’ll help!” A small familiar voice yelled.
“Nicky, wait!” Another familiar voice called after the first.
Rio squeezed her eyes shut, wishing to suddenly be invisible. “Fuck…” she whispered to herself.
A small thud and a strong grip on her leg let her open her eyes. “Hey buddy!” She greeted the five year old with a pained smile. She missed Nicky more than she thought she would.
“Mama! It’s Rio!” Nicky shrieked, still holding onto her leg. His head of curls peaked out from under his beanie and his nose was a tinge red from the cold winter air.
Agatha, who was running after Nicky, came to a slow stop in front of them. “Nicky, baby, what did I say about running?” She sighed and unfairly, she looked absolutely stunning in her thick knit sweater and dark long waves cascading down her shoulders from her purple beanie. Rio gulped audibly.
“Sorry, Rio.” Agatha smiled sheepishly, “Dottie asked me to help, some catering…”
“Catering emergency,” Rio said in unison with Agatha which earned them a cute giggle from where Nicky was still clinging firmly to Rio’s leg.
“Let me take this inside, then I’ll be on my way again,” Rio smiled tensely, “Lots of deliveries and so little time.” Okay, stop talking idiot. Rio scolded herself in her thoughts. “I’m like the Santa of flower deliveries today.” Stop fucking talking. “Naughty or nice, I’ll deliver the Edelweiss.” You’re fucking dead to me, Rio.
Agatha snorted and Rio was actively dying of shame. Without allowing herself another horribly humiliating second of whatever the fuck that was, Rio picked up the heavy centerpiece and walked at double speed to the front door of Dottie’s house, only to have to wait for Agatha to come and open it. Which she did eventually, walking with a slow sway in her step, obviously elongating Rio’s humiliation on purpose.
“Just leave it on the counter.” Agatha smiled, pointing to the kitchen. “Dottie didn’t give me any other instructions after this.”
Rio placed the flowers on the counter top as she was told and awkwardly avoided any further eye contact, practically running past Agatha back to the safety of her delivery truck.
“Rio, wait!” Agatha said, holding onto Nicky’s hand.
Rio stopped, hesitated but didn’t turn around to face her, she didn’t trust herself on how she would react if she really looked at her. “Agatha,” Rio pleaded, barely audible.
“Thank you.” Agatha said softly.
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Saturday afternoon, Rio’s official “me time” as she liked to tell herself when actually she was actually just avoiding any social interactions for the last few months, specifically any interactions with those who had contact with or who she could get information from about anything Agatha related. She wasn’t obsessing, simply curious.
For today’s “me time” activity, Rio was rearranging her sneaker collection. She briefly considered arranging it by color but use and favoritism seemed more practical. The obviously well worn favorite getting the top of the shoe rack.
Rio took a step back, inspecting her work and looked at her watch only to see that a whole disappointing twenty five minutes was spent on what she had hoped would distract her long enough to forget about Agatha’s dumb Backwards Bachelorette party. It still sounded stupid in her head.
This had to have taken longer, she rearranged the shoes three whole times before deciding to finally sort them by favorites and not color or whatever else was the first ridiculously wrong option. It also didn’t help that there were only like, seven pairs.
Frustrated and annoyed, Rio fell back onto her bed and stared up at the ceiling, the same ceiling she smiled at after finally getting home after that first kiss they shared in the Disney Party Palace parking lot.
The same Disney Party Palace where Agatha will be celebrating her life as a newly single woman. The same Disney Party Palace where Rio was certainly not considering going to tonight.
Rio sat back up and rested her arms on her crossed legs. Rio wasn’t even invited, so pitching up would look weird, right? Like stalkery weird. And no one knew about them being together other than Alice and Jen… so it made zero sense for Rio to arrive at the party uninvited anyway.
It also made zero sense that Rio was now getting dressed in her favorite baggy jeans and sweater and the sneakers she just took off the top rack of the newly rearranged shoe rack and shaking her hair out of the bun, in a way where it looked like she wasn’t trying too hard. Which she really wasn’t, because she wasn’t going to crash a party. No siree.
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Standing in the cold snow covered parking lot of the Disney Party Palace, Rio felt a shiver and she could’ve sworn that she was hearing echoes of “Let it Go” still hanging in the air. Her eyes twitched.
For a split second Rio considered following the sane, logical part of her brain telling her to drive her sad ass right back home. But the louder, obviously insane part of her brain was now in control and walking her freezing ass straight to the front doors of the Disney Party Palace where a big "Closed for Private Event” sign was stuck to the door.
Just another sign urging her to leave and head back home to finally watch the Charmed DVD set she bought at the garage sale across from her home last month, but just as she was about to listen to logic and fuck right off back home, the door swung open, almost hitting Rio square in the face.
“Woah!” Rio said surprised, jumping back a few steps.
“Sorry, I didn’t see y… Rio?”
It was Agatha. Fuck.
“Wha… what are you doing here?” Agatha asked, hastily wiping away something under her eyes. Rio saw before Agatha could hide it that Agatha had been crying.
Agatha smiled up at Rio, but she was clearly hiding that she had been crying and trying to escape her own party. Rio wasn’t about to make her feel worse, so she ignored it, playing along.
“I uh… Alice invited me.” Rio said awkwardly. Suddenly she didn’t know what to do with her hands.
“Oh, yeah, that’s cool.” Agatha said unconvincingly, “So cool, really…”
“Cool?” Rio repeated with raised eyebrows and a small smile. Agatha laughed, but her eyes were welling up again.
“It’s just a lot… in there, I mean.” Agatha said, releasing a heavy breath and pointing to where the party was in full swing.
Rio looked over her shoulder and saw a group of women shouting some lyrics from the stage where Rio lived her nightmare as a Disney princess for way longer than she ever imagined. “Yeah, it ah… looks intense.”
“They mean well.” Agatha smiled, looking back over her shoulder at the same image. “I was meaning to tell you yesterday… you look good, great even.”
“Thanks, I guess.” Rio felt out of place, suddenly standing in front of the woman she actively tried to avoid for the last five months. “You look…”
“Pathetic? Like a failure? Barely holding it together?” Agatha asked, poorly passing it off as a joke.
“No, I was going to say…” Rio was at a loss for words. What do you say to the woman who broke your heart, but for whom you still felt so much?
“It’s fine, Rio.” Agatha sighed. “You don’t have to say anything… I know I messed everything up… and you didn’t deserve that.”
“Thank you for saying that.” Rio said, “You had your reasons.”
Agatha blinked up at her, “Hmmhmm…”
“Anyway,” Rio started, “I should probably not be here, so, before I crash any more of your party…”
“Please come inside.” Agatha interrupted, “Alice and Jen keep making out in front of everyone and Wanda is on some mission to get me drunk before 10pm and I need someone with a sense of sanity to help me make it through the night.”
Sanity. That was funny, it was insanity that led Rio here in the first place… “Okay Agatha.”
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“Ok, how about some water?” Rio shouted over the blaring music, after watching another round of shots disappear with the small group of ladies who hadn’t yet passed out around her.
“Nonononono! Noooooo water!” Alice slurred, “More tequila!”
“I think it’s time to get that Uber, don’t you agree, Rio?” Jen asked pointedly at Alice, who was hanging off of Rio’s shoulder. Agatha was leaning on the bar counter and slammed her hand on it in protest.
“Alice is right. We need more Tequila!” Agatha yelled as she almost tumbled off the bar stool.
“Uh… no, we’re getting water and Jen is getting that Uber.” Rio laughed, peeling a very sloppy Alice off of her and handing her over to Jen. “Wanda has already passed out and Vis is on his way to pick her up.”
“M’kay,” Agatha said slurring her words, “We can go, but no funny businessss, okay?” she poked Rio’s shoulder.
“Me?” Rio asked, pointing at her own chest. “You’re the one who could never hold her tequila.”
“Uber is here.” Jen called.
“Lock 'em up good, Darcy!” Alice yelled over Jen’s shoulder at the bartender.
“Will do boss!” Darcy laughed, shaking her head at her drunk employer.
Rio helped keep Agatha upright as they walked out of the doors and into the cold. “You gonna be okay with these two?” Rio asked Jen.
“Two?” Jen laughed, “Babe, that one is all yours!” And with that Jen and Alice drove off with the Uber, leaving Agatha hanging off of Rio’s shoulder.
“Guess you’re schtuck with-a meeee!” Agatha slurred drunkenly.
“Seems like it…” Rio sighed. “Come on, gorgeous, I’ll take you home.”
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“Oh dear,” the older lady, who Rio deduced to be Nicky’s babysitter, said as Rio carried a fully passed out Agatha through the front door of the house.
“I’ll just take her to her bedroom.” Rio grunted, smiling awkwardly at the older woman.
Once she put Agatha on her bed Rio suddenly didn’t know what to do next. Shoes, she would be more comfortable sleeping without shoes. So Rio carefully removed Agatha’s shoes.
For a brief second she almost started to dress her in pajamas, but for obvious and crossing the line into inappropriate reasons Rio decided against that, leaving Agatha in her jeans and sweater, just pulling the covers of her duvet over her.
Heading back out, the babysitter stopped her in her tracks. “Normally I wouldn’t mind staying over, but I have to head home, I’m sure you’ve got this under control, deary.”
“Yeah, sorry uh…” Rio hesitated.
“Sharon,” the babysitter introduced herself, “Sharon Davis.”
“Thanks Sharon, I guess I’ve got this.” Rio smiled awkwardly and walked the babysitter out, locking the door behind her.
Rio stood dumbly in the living room, back in the home of the woman she tried to forget about for the last few months. In the corner of the room stood a tall Christmas tree and two decorated stockings hung neatly from the fireplace.
From where she stood she could see the snow starting to slowly float outside the windows, the whole picture was perfect actually. Fairy lights hung in the windows that were slowly being covered in small specks of snow next to the beautifully decorated tree. Tomorrow will be Christmas Eve and Rio suddenly felt like she was intruding into something special, something that has no right to be hers.
Reluctantly, she grabbed the red fluffy blanket from the basket in front of the fireplace and laid down on the plushy couch, using Agatha’s white scarf as a pillow and falling asleep eventually. The consequences of the night would be the next morning’s problem.