Disclaimer: Anything originally written by the producers of Supernatural does not belong to me.
Dean stared down at the spreadsheets on the counter and ran a calloused hand through his sandy-brown hair. He shoved his glasses up, letting out a disgruntled sigh, and trailed a finger down the writing-cluttered page. He hated thinking about the costs too much but when business was sluggish, he didn't have an excuse not to. Dean tossed his glasses onto the counter and slouched on his stool, wishing he'd bought a chair so he could lean back. He stared up at the ornate open sign wistfully, remembering when he'd first put it up, remembering how he thought it would be fun and easy to run a small business. Sadly, such was not the case.
The bell clanged as the door peeled open letting in a warm breeze from outside. A man walked in wearing business clothes, his tie a bit loose and a trenchcoat slung over one arm.
Dean picked his glasses up and hastily put them back on. "Looking for anything in particular?" he asked, standing up from his stool and realizing that his red tee-shirt was sticking to his back a bit.
The man looked over at him as if pulled out of summer daze, "Oh, yes, actually. Thing haven't been exactly… great between my wife and I lately and I was wondering what sort of flowers you get for that type of thing. You see, I'm not much good at this type of thing." The man shrugged nervously and shifted his coat to the other arm.
"Well," Dean said, moving from behind the counter, "I've got just the thing." Dean walked over to the flowers by the window and plucked a few from a bucket vase. "These here are wildflowers and…" he trailed off, glancing around before spotting what he wanted and moving towards them, "they look lovely in a bouquet with these irises and some greens."
The man nodded, "Whatever you say goes, like I said, I'm no good at this."
Dean walked back behind the counter and grabbed a sheet of cellophane from below the counter. As he began settling the flowers into an arrangement he glanced up at the man waiting in front of the counter, "I'm Dean, by the way," he said.
"Jimmy, I'm Jimmy," he said, watching Dean settle the flowers together.
He kept his eyes trained on his work but the corner of Dean's mouth hitched up a little, the name didn't fit this guy at all. "Do you want a vase?" Dean asked, looking up.
"No, I think they'll be okay like that. Or do women prefer vases?" Jimmy asked worriedly.
"I think you'll be okay with these," Dean said, allowing himself a small smirk.
"What?" Jimmy asked, "Why are you smiling like that?"
"Nothing," Dean replied, his eyebrows hiking up in defense.
"No, tell me, please? Are flowers too cliché?" Jimmy seemed to get nervous a lot, Dean noticed.
"Flowers are good, flowers are always good. You're gonna be fine." Dean said.
Jimmy let out a breath of relief and pulled his wallet out of his back pocket, "How much do I owe you?"
"$32.67, please," Dean said, placing his store sticker on the ribbon holding the bundle together.
Jimmy tugged out the money and handed it over, taking the flowers in his hand, "Keep the change," he said, "And thank you for the help," he said gratefully.
"Not a problem," Dean replied, waving away the thanks, "that's what I'm here for." He grabbed a business card off the counter and handing it to Jimmy, "If you ever have any other trouble, here's my card. I do deliveries if it's a flower emergency," he said, smiling.
Jimmy smiled appreciatively, "Thank you, Dean, I expect you'll be seeing me again. Things haven't been the best lately."
"Well, best of luck, man," Dean said, waving goodbye as Jimmy walked out, waving goodbye to Dean through the window before heading up the street.
Dean pulled himself up onto his stool and turned his head back down to his finances when he noticed the little black square on the counter. He picked it up and opened it, already knowing whose it had to be. Sure enough, an ID inside read 'Jimmy Novak' in capital letters.
"Shit," Dean mumbled, folding the wallet and shoving it into his pocket. He rushed out into the sidewalk and started jogging up the street hoping to find Jimmy. He went up until the car spots ended and then let out a sigh of defeat. How the hell was he supposed to find the guy? He didn't have a number or address to find him at. Dean walked back down to the shop pondering what to do.
He tried to concentrate on doing his bills, simply hoping Jimmy would notice his missing wallet and come back. However, Dean watched as the sun set and the streets became vacant except for those out for late dinners and he finally had to admit to himself Jimmy wasn't coming back yet. Dean locked the front door and began the process of moving all his flowers into the back cooler room. He was moving the azalea's into the backroom when he heard a sharp tapping on the door. Dean glanced quickly at his watch, 9:17. Who could possibly want to buy flowers at this hour? He walked into the front of the shop, rubbing the flower water off into his green apron.
There was Jimmy, standing at the door, holding his trenchcoat over his head to shield from the summer rain. Dean quickly unlocked the door and swung it open, ushering Jimmy in.
"I think I, um-" Jimmy started.
"Yeah, you left your wallet here," Dean said, grabbing it off the counter and handing it to him.
"Ah, yeah, I guess I set it down to pick up the flowers. Thanks for keeping an eye on it, I suppose," Jimmy said, pocketing the wallet.
"How'd the flowers go?" Dean asked, noting the flecks of water that clung to Jimmy's hair and eyelashes.
Jimmy's shoulders slumped and he let out a disgruntled sigh, "Not too good, I think. Well, I mean, she accepted them and smiled and all that but I think I'm too late."
"What makes you say that?" Dean asked, pouring water into the lilies.
Jimmy watched him, his eyes slightly glazed, "I walked in and she was, well, she was having intercourse with our neighbor, Frank."
Dean stopped, looking up immediately, "No! That's awful!"
"Yes, well, I guess that's how some things are," Jimmy said but Dean could see the sadness in his eyes.
"What did she say when you caught her?" Dean asked, mentally admitting he was a bit curious.
"Nothing," Jimmy said and when Dean looked like he was about to say something, Jimmy spoke up, "Which is most likely because she didn't know I saw. I walked in, saw them, then I walked out. Drove around for awhile and came home and gave her the flowers."
"Dude, you've got to be kidding. You're going to let her get away with that?" Dean asked, what kind of person cheated on Jimmy? Jimmy seemed like the nicest person Dean had met in a while and he barely knew the guy.
"If she's happier with Frank, I should let her be happy, right?" Jimmy asked, leaning against the wall by the window.
Oh you have got to be kidding me, Dean thought, someone really had it in them to cheat on this guy? "Look," Dean said, "You seem like a really good guy and personally I think you deserve better than to have a wife who's having an affair. I think you need to let her know what you saw."
"Maybe," Jimmy said and for a moment Dean thought it actually looked like he was considering it, "I should go though. You probably want to get to bed and April will wonder what's taking me so long. I'll see you around, Dean."
"Yeah, see you around, Jimmy," Dean said, watching as Jimmy hefted his coat back over his head and walked out into the drizzling rain.