"Everybody has their struggles within themselves, but for a certain someone, her personal battle has reached a new level, which can be described in two words: Truth and confession"
The person in question, Shiho Hahnenfuss, is having some time for herself at a café not too far from where she lives
Sporting a white long sleeve with the top portion a bit unbuttoned, a pink belt and black jeans, she enjoys the windy weather for today
All by herself on one table, she takes a sip from her cup of milk tea while reading one of her favorite novels.
"May I get a refill please?" she asked a waitress, who then took her cup for a refill
"Coming right up"
Seeing the waitress going back to refill her cup, she continued on reading; after finishing a couple of chapters, she took a break and took a deep breath, inhaling the fresh morning air around her
"That felt good…"
Before returning to her book, a scene caught her eye
Not too far ahead, in a small park, is a couple sitting next to each other on the grass while gazing at the beautiful sky.
The cute moment made her blush
"I always imagine me and him together like that"
"Here you go ma'am" the waitress returned with her refill
"Oh thank you"
As she's about to take a sip…
"Well, well, didn't expect to see you here"
The familiar voice took her by surprise, it was none other than the Hawke sisters
"Luna, Meyrin! What a surprise!"
"Hey Shiho!"
"How's it going?"
"Been doing good, how about you two?"
"Been better…" the older of the two smiled "Waiting for someone?"
"Nah, just wanna relax a bit…"
"Mind if we join you?"
"Sure go ahead" both sisters now sit along with her; both also ordered drinks; A cappuccino for Luna and a Strawberry Milkshake for Meyrin
Like Shiho, both sisters wore something they feel comfortable in
Luna wore an inner black tank top with a pink polo shirt and white jeans while Meyrin wears an unzipped jacket with a magenta/yellow combination (with an inner shirt of course), purple denim shorts and a cap with shades on.
"So how's life treatin' ya, Shiho?" the younger one started the conversation, already taking the first sip to her drink
"Just living the simple life, I currently work as a waitress at my family restaurant near my neighborhood"
"Oh that's cool, what's the name of the restaurant, by the way?"
"Hatsukoi, some name huh?"
"A unique name it is…"
"I know right? It means "First Love""
"Oooh…" both sisters said simultaneously
"Yeah, so how's it been for both of you?"
"Meyrin and I opened finally opened our flower shop"
"Really? I'm so happy for the both of you!" both sisters then sat down on the same table with her
"Yeah thanks…" the younger sister concluded, though with her tone isn't as cheery as her older sister's
"Why what's wrong? Are you not happy about it, Meyrin?"
"I am, it's just that… I don't wanna talk about it-"
"Come on Meyrin, I'm your friend, I'm sure it's not that bad"
"Easy for you to say…" she sighed "Luna, hope you won't mind if-"
"Oh no Meyrin, we've been through this before… you do it" taking a sip from her cappuccino
"Fine… you see Shiho… it was Friday and it's almost closing time"
~FRIDAY, NEARLY CLOSING TIME~
"Come again soon!" both sisters greeted as they bid their customer farewell
"I really hope she's the last customer" Meyrin hoped, fixing her hair
"Who knows…" Luna looked at the clock; they only have an hour left before they officially close
Minutes after their previous customer left, another one is coming by
"Luna, another customer!"
The male customer entered the store as the bell rang when the door opened
"Welcome to Hawke's Flower Shop!" both immediately recognized the customer upon further glance; his unmistakable wavy blue hair is enough to woo any girl; it's none other than Athrun Zala
His presence made Meyrin blush since she always has the hots for him
Luna once had a crush on him before, but she recently got her eyes one of his friends, Shinn Asuka
"Hi Lunamaria, Hi Meyrin"
"Hi Athrun!"
"Didn't expect to see you here, he-he"
"Same here, what can you say about our new flower shop?" Luna wants know to his thoughts
"I'll be honest here, it looks fantastic"
"You really think so?!"
"Cross my heart, Meyrin, it's the best one around the corner"
"THANKS!" both sisters are happy
"Can you suggest me some nice flowers?"
"Oh we have lots of flowers"
"Flowers for all kinds for any occasion…"
"That's great…"
*Phone rings*
"I'll get that…" the former immediately attended the phone call
"Hawke's Flower Shop, Good evening…"
With her sister on the phone, Meyrin feels this is her chance
"This is it! I can finally tell my feelings to him! Time to get rid of my shyness once and for all!" she smiled at the thought, a very obvious one since the guy she has feelings for is STILL in front of her
"So umm, Athrun… whatcha been doing lately?"
"Well, I've recently published my first novel"
"Cool! Congratulations! You write your own original work? Didn't know that"
"You do now… it's titled "Undying Perception" "
"What's it all about?"
"You'll see when you read it" *chuckles*
"I'm looking forward to reading it"
"Please do" his smile would woo any girl; her eye saw something
"Wow, is that a ring?"
"Oh you noticed, nice isn't it?"
"Yes very, where'd you get it?"
"I bought it at ZAFT Jewelry just across the street from here"
"It looks lovely"
"Thanks Meyrin, glad you like it"
Luna then came into the scene
"Where are you going, sis?"
"The customer said she wanted flowers perfect for decorating her bedroom"
"What kind?"
"She said anything nice so I'm about to check if there's anything fitting to that description" she then went to the other room to check for specific flowers
"You gotta excuse Luna, when it comes to phone orders, that's where she gets very focused"
"That's fine, being the busy worker that she is"
"Yeah, that's my sister for ya.."
"Meyrin, are you helping Athrun with what flowers to give him or are you just chatting with him?" she made her snap back to her job
"Right! Sorry Luna, sorry Athrun!"
"It's alright Meyrin"
"We wasted precious time due to our little chitchat, he-he; so what kind of flowers are you looking for in particular?"
"Something beautiful"
"All of our flowers here are beautiful" both laughed; even Luna chuckled a bit, who already finished and approved the phone order minutes ago
"He-he, you don't say, well aside from being so, I also want something exotic"
"I'm sure we have those, I'll go check them" Luna went around seeing if there are any exotic flowers
"And lastly, I want that flower to be delicately rare"
"Whoa there, some characteristics you've chosen for such a flower"
"Sorry, it's just that I don't want to be a cliché type of guy" both sisters laughed
"Alright, if you say so, Romeo" *chuckles*
~SEVERAL MINUTES LATER~
"Alright Athrun, here's perhaps the most rare flower this shop has ever had"
"Wow, it looks very beautiful"
"It's called the Middlemist red" the younger of the siblings told him the name of it
"Such an intriguing name" the blue haired hunk observed it even more, dazzled by its appearance "I'll take it"
"Thanks…"
"Likewise to both of you, well it's been nice meeting you two again"
"Yeah, it's been a while as well…"
"By the way, for what occasion is the flower for?"
"I'm gonna give them to my fiancée, Cagalli…"
Upon hearing her name come out of his mouth, the smile from Meyrin's face disappeared
"Oh… I see" she struggles to hide the pain she feels right now
Her older sister can already tell that she's hurt over his announcement
"Is something the matter, Meyrin?" he noticed the sudden change on her expressions
"Oh nothing… I forgot that I was charging my Android, I'm gonna go check it's fully charged" she ran off
"Oh alright… again, thanks for the flowers Luna"
"Anytime Athrun, see ya!"
"You too!" he then left the store
The older Hawke sister was able to keep a straight face to cover for her sister…
After locking the door and closing the lights, she heard her weeping, she checked on her to see how's she's doing
"MEYRIN!" she sees her sister, standing on one corner, crying
The sound of her weeping made her heart ache, she hates seeing her sister in any form of hurt
"I should've seen it earlier, it was already there!" *sniff*
"What do you mean? What was there?" she rushed to her aid
"He was wearing an engagement ring!"
"Oh…"
"The sign was already there! I'm such an idiot!"
"It's not your fault, Meyrin" she hugged her in an attempt to comfort her; Meyrin in return, hugged her older sister tightly
On the floor is a white envelope, the love letter that Meyrin was supposed to give him; it got all torn up, crumpled and stomped on
~END OF FLASHBACK~
"Ow, I'm sorry to hear that Meyrin"
"Thanks Shiho"
"How did you get over it?" she took another sip
"Well it wasn't that easy…"
"Oh…"
"It took her like a week to get over it"
"You're kidding… you really loved him that bad, Meyrin?"
"I sure did, he wasn't like other guys"
"Did it affect your work at the flower shop?"
"It did a bit… but we were able to pull through but it didn't take him off her mind though"
"Damn… so what did you-"
"Luna took me to an Amusement Park after a week"
"Aww, that is so sweet of you Luna… and thoughtful"
"What can I say? Anything to make her smile again" all 3 shared a hearty laugh
"By the way, Shiho, what's that book you're reading?" Meyrin took notice
"Oh I'm reading 'The Host' by Stephenie Meyer"
"Mind if I look?"
"Sure…" she handed the novel to her, but not before putting a bookmark on the page she's currently on
"Mhm…Wow"
"Lemme look at that too"
As the Hawke sisters let their curiosity go on her book, she decided to glance on the very open to clear her mind when something (or someone rather) caught her eye
"Is that who I think it is?" upon closer glance, it is who she think it is…
"Some romance novel this is…"
"Hey Shiho, what made you interested in- Shiho?" both sisters noticed the look on her face, as if she's in some sort of trance
The look on their friend's face says it all…
"What's she looking at?" her older sister wondered
"Shiho, Shiho, SHIHO!" Meyrin finally managed to snap her out of it
"Hey what's up?"
"You alright?"
"Yeah why?"
"Your face is all googly eyed and stuff…"
"Yeah, it kinda creeped us both"
"Oh was I? Sorry… it's just that I was looking at someone"
"Who?" both sisters asked in unison
"Oh someone…"
"I bet it's a boy you have a crush on for some time…" Meyrin suggested with a smirk
"What?! Meyrin!"
"You're blushing!" *chuckles*
"Alright, alright it is…"
"Ha-ha, I knew it!"
"So who's the lucky guy?"
"Ehh, I'd rather not tell"
"Come on tell us!" Luna begged
"No thanks…"
"Pretty please?" even Meyrin's attempts fail to convince her
"N..O… NO" she made her point, smirking and taking another sip from her drink
"Are you two done with my book? Can I have it back, please?"
Both sisters gave each other an evil look and smiled
"Alright Shiho, you can have your book back…" the younger Hawke hands back the novel
"I must say you have some unique taste for books…"
"You think so? Thanks- Hey!"
"Only if you tell us who was that guy you were glancing at…"
"Meyrin, come on!"
"You want your book back, then tell us who it is first" Luna intervened as well
"What?! Oh come on you two!"
The commotion is causing some attention around nearby customers
"Luna, Meyrin please, other people are staring at us…" she struggles to get her book back
"You want your book back right?"
"Then tell us who was that guy you were having a cute look at?"
"If I tell them, will they believe me? Like I got no other choice…"
"Alright fine, I'll say who it is"
"Good girl" both said in unison
"Just promise to give me my book back, please?"
"You can count on me and Meyrin…"
"Cross my heart, Shiho"
"Pffft, I hope so"
"Alright, the guy who I was eyeing on a few minutes ago was…"