Alstroemeria
Resembling a miniature lily, this flower can come in a variety of colors. These flowers are associated with friendship and the sense of aspirations.
Carnations
These flowers contain a large and long history, even having been found in old stories from ancient Greece. A pink carnation is used to symbolize the gratitude one may have towards another.
Wake up.
Get ready for the day.
Eat breakfast.
Leave apartment.
Pass empty store below his complex.
Drive to work.
Work until he's done for the day.
Drive back home.
Pass empty store below his complex
Eat dinner.
Get ready for bed.
Sleep.
Repeat.
Wake up.
Get ready for the day.
Eat breakfast.
Leave apartment.
Pass the sold store below his complex.
Drive to work.
Work until he's done for the day.
Drive back home.
Pass the sold store below his complex
Eat dinner.
Get ready for bed.
Sleep.
Repeat.
Wake up.
Get ready for the day.
Eat breakfast.
Leave apartment.
Pass the now open store below his complex.
Drive to work.
Work until he's done for the day.
Drive back home.
Pass the now open store below his complex
Eat dinner.
Get ready for bed.
Sleep.
Repeat.
After having gone through his daily routine too many times to count, yet never paying any heed to the idea of changing anything in it, Ludwig had unknowingly and unconsciously found himself in a rut.
While that is not to say that he doesn't enjoy his life or refused to enjoy his life, the others around him had noticed and even occasionally commented on his rather bland lifestyle, even if he himself doesn't usually acknowledge it. More often than not, his brother would be the one to do so.
Yet, even with invites to simply spend time with his friends and coworkers or the occasional friend-of-a-friend, it was more likely for him to turn down the chance than to not.
The hardworking man was in no way one to have any kind of social anxiety, as it was simply who he was: hardworking. Although he could never be seen staying in his work's office building past his usual work hours, the only reason was because of how much effort he would usually put in. This was what would give him an abundance of time, yet no real urge for him to go and get 'shit-faced' as his brother would usually put it.
Of course, he did leave his house.
Keeping three dogs in his somewhat small apartment was a somewhat large issue. While he was able to, in some miraculous persuasion, convince the landlord to keep all three of the large labradors, they were usually the only excuse he would use if he was to leave the house. With the one to two hours free time he would usually have, he had a tendency to take them around the city as he jogged around. This is also what had been able to give him a muscled body, even without going to the gym.
It was also because of these dogs that he had finally taken notice to the new store that had opened directly underneath his apartment complex. With the dogs rushing to a young man in front of the store who had been fixing a few of the outer arrangements, Ludwig had payed attention to some sections of the store.
It was rather small, especially since it was next to the apartment complexes, but was able to keep a charming atmosphere to it. Although, while looking at the store, the employee was being 'attacked' with excited jumps and licks, accompanied with tail wags, from his three dogs. It was only once he was toppled over by them that Ludwig was able to stop them from doing anything further.
"Blackie! Berlitz! Aster!" At the tone of their owner's voice, the three immediately stopped playing with the employee even though he had begun to pet them in the time being. "I apologize for all of this. They do not usually act this way." He had then stuck his hand that did not have the leashes in it to help the other get up off the ground.
A small chuckle was heard. "Ah, don't worry about it! I love dogs so much!" Once the dogs had retreated he was able to get up from off of the ground. "They're yours, right?"
"Yes, but we do not usually walk this route." As their conversation continued, Ludwig was able to examine the employee a little more closely. He was much shorter than Ludwig in comparison, at least four inches in difference, and he also had light brown hair that kept an unruly curl on the left side of his head. His eyes were only a shade lighter and seemed to hold a permanent joy in them. His voice had a light Italian accent to it, and the beginning of his sentences nearly always sounded with a 've' as if it was something like a verbal tic. He had an dark green apron on that was a bit dirty from working on the flowers all day, and a splotch of dirt was on his cheek as well. The only issue was that his name tag was smudged with dirt as well.
"If I may ask, what is your name?"
"Hmm?" Looking down he realized his name was unreadable, so it was only after he hastily cleaned it off did he answer. "My name is Feliciano, and I'm the owner here!" His face showed pride in his small store.
"And today is the first day that you are open?"
"Yup! I just finished preparing the store and today's my first day! Would you like to be the first customer?"
With a face full of expectations, Ludwig couldn't find it in his heart to say no. "Alright, but I will not be able to go inside because of my dogs."
"If there's anything specific you would like to get I can just go inside and get it for you in a moment!"
Ludwig wasn't really a floral type of person, so no request could come to mind. "Surprise me."
At the reply, the other quickly rushed into the store, only to return in a moments time with a small bouquet in his hands. It was made out of blue Alstroemerias, and looked exceptionally well made in Ludwig's opinion. After taking them and awkwardly trying to pay for them, at which Feliciano almost convinced him not to do as a 'first customer' type of gift, they said their goodbyes and left each others' sight.
After finishing the walk and returning to his apartment, Ludwig's dogs immediately rested, and once he got rid of their leashes, he only then realized that he still had the bouquet in his hand. Not sure of what to do, but also not wanting to let them dry up and die, he went to find and fill a clear vase with water and promptly placed them in the center of his dining table. He had to admit, the flowers did look rather nice in his apartment. Since he never bothered get rid of the generic nude colors, the pop of blue did add a nice, friendly hue to everything else.
Finding himself absentmindedly staring at the flowers, he reminded himself that he still had some work he would need to do at his house. Once he was invested in his work, he forgot all about his little conversation with the little Italian he met earlier in the afternoon.
When he finished his work he found himself back in his usual schedule of eating dinner, getting ready for bed, and then going back to sleep. Waking up in the morning, he continued on through the day in his usual routine, paying it no mind.
He returned home from his office and found no need to rush, as he did not have any work he needed to do. Going at his own pace, he prepared to go outside, with his dogs becoming agitated as they all knew what to expect when they noticed the leashes. Although, when he left his house, he begun to wonder what had happened with the flower shop he had visited the day before. Telling himself it was only because of curiosity, he traveled his regular route but in reverse so that he could visit the shop first instead of last.
The first thing he saw as he turned the corner to find the little shop was Feliciano waving goodbye to a few young women carrying bouquets in both of their arms. His face had a dopey grin and he was wildly using his hands as he continued chatting with them until they left. As he returned to the inside of the store, he glanced towards Ludwig, and at the realization of who he was, he began to call for his attention similarly to the way that he had been doing to his previous customers.
Embarrassed by the others actions, but walking towards him nonetheless, he begun to wave back with his empty hand while his other held onto his pets leashes rather tight when they had grown excited to see the shopkeeper again.
Before he could speak, Feliciano started speaking faster than Ludwig could keep up with.
"Ah, Ludwig! That's your name, right? I hope so, because I've been wanting to thank you so much for yesterday! When you bought the flowers yesterday, someone had seen them and then they came over and bought some and then so did someone else and then so did someone else and then again and again and again! I was so excited I felt like I was going to cry! Well maybe I did a little... but it was because I was so happy! Even today I had customers who had heard others talk about my flowers yesterday! Even the bellas that had just passed by right now had heard of me because of yesterday! I was able to get one of their numbers too..."
Before he could continue speaking, Ludwig had taken the small pause in his aimless chatter to start speaking before he would become too overwhelmed in the multitude of words being passed by too quickly for him to comprehend.
"Yes, well, it is no issue, and I am happy that your business has become successful."
"Oh! Can you wait for a moment? I really, really want to give you something as a 'thank you' for buying my flowers!"
Unsure if he should deny his request or not, he nodded to signal that he would stay and nearly saw a blur of color as the owner ran inside. Ludwig almost cringed as he thought that something would break due to his reckless actions.
Feliciano quickly returned with another bouquet in his left hand, as well as a small card.
"I just really, really wanna thank you for yesterday! I was so worried that no one would come and since it was nearly sunset I was scared that this would be a disaster! Even my brother didn't think it would last, but the moment you bought the Alstroemerias I could tell that I didn't make any mistake and you helping me really made a difference! Thank you so much, Luddy!"
Astounded by how much he had affected the small business, he hastily grabbed both the card and arrangement of flowers with his empty hand as the other continued to explain how he had felt yesterday. Ludwig decided it would be better to return the flowers to his apartment instead of jogging for the remaining hour or so with them in his hand. It was after he had said goodbye as the shopkeeper had grown distracted by a few more women who had passed by the shop did he realize the nickname that was used for him. Although, in all honesty, he didn't mind it too much.
After finding a separate vase for the flowers, which he had realized were pink Carnations, he placed the vase on his home office desk and then returned to his usual jogging routine.
After finishing his route, he had thought of visiting the store again, but didn't want to bother the owner again in such a short time frame. Opening the door to his apartment, the fragrant smell of flowers was a little stronger than what Ludwig was normally accustomed to, but he did find it a little nice when in comparison to his usually drab and dull home.
When sitting at his small dining table to eat his dinner, he noticed that the Alstroemerias he was given only a day before were already starting to pale in their color and seemed to droop down in comparison to their perky state from the day before. Not wanting to ruin them because of his lack of knowledge for taking care of them, he reminded himself to go ask Feliciano about how he should care for them.
Finishing what needed to be done for the day, Ludwig found himself looking forward to visiting the excitable young man.
Translations -
Bella - beautiful (woman)
Hey you guys! While maybe you might know me from my prucan story that is still in the works, I've been working on this story for a while as well. Although my prucan story comes first when it comes to which one I will make sure to work on, I have five chapters on this story already so we are far from leaving this alone and letting it collect dust.
An important part of this story is paying attention to the flowers mentioned throughout these chapters, they'll having a lot of meaning later on!
Anyways, I hope you guys like this and I hope you'll comment and follow!