Lucas Friar was the proud owner of a tiny, but famous flower shop in New York City. It had been a tough road, getting to where he was, his grandmother founded and managed the very first Friar's Flowers back in Austin. She had taught him everything about the business, and seeing how his grandparents and legal guardians tossed him back and forth between working the farm with Pappy Joe and caring for the flowers, soon he learned that watering plants and cutting weeds was a lot nicer than plowing the ground or harvesting the fields.
Before he even thought of opening his own shop he was just a student, he had moved to New York to become a veterinarian, just like his mother had been. He was almost done with his studies when luckily he found a job on a veterinary as an assistant, this meant that he could leave his other work delivering packages and actually do something he enjoyed. The pay was low and the work hard, but anything was good to pay for rent and at least a little of that loan that was hanging on his back.
When the bills began piling up and the water of his apartment was cut one week and then the electricity the next one, as a warning from his landlord, he thought it was necessary to get a second job, but one that didn't require sticking his hand on dog's asses. His grandmother helped him and got him a job at a flower stand, the lady who ran it was a friend of his family and would gladly help out the grandson of Martha Friar.
They visited different markets around the city, depending on the day of the week. On Fridays they would set up in Greenwoodstock, because many restaurants made their orders for next week's flowers. Mondays were busier in Hester Street, for families usually bought their produce at the beginning of the week. Tuesdays and Thursdays he didn't work, Wednesday he visited her greenhouse outside of New York to help around with heavy work. And the weekends were the longest days, from 5 a.m. to 3 p.m., they usually changed of market every week to spread her business around.
The old woman handled mostly big sales for some B and B's, for restaurants, some offices and family sales. She didn't do decorations, she didn't arrange the flowers either, but Lucas had noticed how sales had improven since he started accommodating the buckets a little and mixing some flowers to make them look like bouquets.
One day, in the greenhouse, he was mixing some dirt with the fertilizer when he asked Ms. Díaz why she sold flowers, she replied: "They smell nice, don't they? I just think that they bring a smile to people's faces and if they make this hideous, grey city a little more beautiful, then it's worth it." He liked that thought, he liked it a lot.
Could he?
No... it was too crazy.
He could start by buying flowers from Ms. Díaz, no, he had no money and a ton of debt. Though he already had a truck, he was thinking on the way home, but no, it was too risky. But he knew what was necessary for the business and he was ready, he had managed his grandma's store those weeks she had a broken leg, but no, still no money.
He had abandoned the thought until that same afternoon, when he reached the veterinary for his shift, he saw that the bike store nextdoor was closing and the space was up for rent. It all came rushing back, he could picture it now, on the front a three level stand made of wood with tin buckets filled with bouquets and flowers, a bench on the other side to make it more homely. Inside the smell would be delicious, with small center pieces displayed on one wall and the big, tall ones in front of the glass and just behind the bench. He could see the golden letters on the other window, Friar's Flowers, a white wood counter and a big shelf behind him with other pots, small plants, cactuses...
The vision made his heart go faster, he had no money, debt, it was too risky, but fuck it, he was going to open his own flower shop, nothing had ever felt as right like this did.
Lucas asked his grandparents for the money he needed for the lease, for the first time it sounded like Pappy Joe was happy with one of his decisions, last time hadn't gone as well, since he had to tell them he was moving to New York. Oma had cried when he told her, she asked to send her the pictures of the small store, and he described his dream while she looked at them. "It's perfect," she had told him.
The next months were the hardest of his life, he gave up his apartment and stayed at his friend Billy's place while he found a smaller one to reduce expenses. He did all of his handy work, he set a wall to separate the space in two, a workshop and the front store. After many different YouTube tutorials, he managed to set the electrical connection. He only almost flooded the store twice before he had a working stainless steel sink. Little by little his flower shop came to life, he build the shelves and the three-leveled stand with wholes to hold the buckets, he found an old bench in a flea market which he fixed up. All his wood came from construction lots that threw the pieces away, he bought the paint he needed and worked on the walls every day after his shift at the veterinary.
It took four months to finish something that could have been done in one by a contractor, but the satisfaction he felt the day he glued his sign on the window wouldn't have felt the same if he hadn't spent all his money, sweat and blood on the little shop.
Though it was hard at first, after only a year of struggling his business finally started to see some gains. He had faithful clients who always contacted him about weddings and parties, he made the decorations for some churches in the area, he always left his business card and soon enough people began asking about him. His clientele grew, while his sleep hours decreased, but he was happy and that made it worth it.
His success was a combination of hard work and pure luck, when Manhattan Bride wrote an article about him, after one of its writers attended a wedding he decorated, he was flooded with requests and meetings. He hired two employees to help him reach his deadlines and the shop flourished.
Throughout the years since he had opened Friar's Flowers he had witnessed several businesses come and go in the space next door. First was the veterinary, while Lucas was still living in his car one of the doctors there was sued for malpractice and had to close the clinic when he lost the case. Then came the movie rental, apparently they hadn't heard of something called streaming and soon enough they went too. After them was the tech store, but a gang attacked the place and they moved out of fear. The Chinese salon that settled in was doing great until they busted them for laundering money.
Lucas' neighbors claimed the space as cursed, because only the Starbucks at the corner, Mr. Brown with his barber shop, Mrs. Arenberg and her vintage store and Lucas' flower shop had made it so far. Although one of his favorite clients, Ms. Huang, an elderly woman that lived in the building in front of his store, she said to him that the space was just looking for the right owner. And when the For Rent sign disappeared once again, she visited him asking for a bouquet of white roses and told him she had a good feeling about this one.
He felt differently when, a week later, he came early to open the store and saw the sign that read 'Blue Hart's Tattoo Parlor'. He didn't want a tattoo parlor next to his store, he had been taught that the ink destroyed the skin and the natural beauty of it and natural beauty was all his shop represented.
On the following days he never saw the owner of the establishment, which he imagined to be a bald, fat man with a long beard, wearing a black leather vest and his arms practically black from all the tattoos.
Lucas always ate his lunch on the bench he had in the street, he was surprised when he saw that the paper used to cover the windows of the place nextdoor while they were fixing it, was covered in drawings.
The left side, the one closest to Lucas, showed giant tentacles sinking a ship in the middle of a storm, he had to stand up to see the full image, the picture was filled with different characters, pirates, sea monsters. There was something familiar about the style which he couldn't quite place until he saw a little Waldo with his round glasses and stripped sweater that he understood the scene. He checked the other side and it was similar, this time it seemed like they were in a bar fight, it looked like one of those bars that were famous in old western movies. It took a few minutes for him to find the little guy on top of a table holding a broken bottle. He had to laugh at the drawings, they were genious and a smart way to interest people.
"How long did it took you to find him?" Asked a voice behind him.
"Not long... I" He said turning around to find a gorgeous blonde standing there with a smirk in her face. She had the most beautiful blue eyes he had ever seen, there was something hipnotizing about them. He was left speechless, she was very short, but she didn't feel that way. The mysterious woman was wearing black jeans so used that they seemed grey, a white shirt and a black leather jacket. He hadn't noticed before, but she was holding a motorcycle helmet.
"Cat ate your tongue?" She said, lifting an eyebrow.
"No, uh–" He cleared his throat, trying to sound casual for her. "I think they're fun."
She nodded but didn't say anything else, she just studied him from his toes to his face, Lucas suddenly felt concious about the way his hair looked today.
"Do you have a bike to match that outfit?" He asked, shifting around uncomfortable, not knowing where to put his hands, should he just let them hang there by his sides? God, what was happening to him?
"I do, but I parked around the corner while I do some shopping." She told him, running a hand through her mane and messing it up a little, which just made her look better, who was she? "Do you know if there is a hardware store nearby?"
"Uh, yes, Howie's is around the opposite corner," he replied, pointing away from where she had parked. "I'm Lucas, by the way." He offered his hand, like Pappy Joe had taught him.
"Maya," she said, shaking his hand. "And thanks, I'm new to the neighborhood, so I'm still settling in."
"Oh, I've been here a while, so if you ever need help I work in the flower shop." He offered, pointing his thumb to the store behind him.
"That's sweet, thanks. I have to buy some tubes but I'll see you around." She said, before walking towards the hardware store.
"See ya." He felt like such a dork, he should've been cooler, like her. Although she did want to see him again, or at least she hoped she would.
Lucas was finishing his lunch when he saw Maya walking back with a long tube and a bag in hand. She came towards him and placed the bag next to him on the bench.
"That was fast." He remarked, putting the rest of his sub in his mouth, she leaned the tube against the window of the tattoo parlor, and looked for something in her backpack.
"Yeah, well my contractor needed them for like yesterday." She said, taking out a keychain with at least 10 keys.
"Do you want a flower to brighten your day?" He offered smiling, signaling the buckets of his most sold flowers.
She looked very quickly, before returning to her task. "No, thank you, I hate flowers." She simply answered. Lucas couldn't lie that it didn't hurt a little the way she just waved him off.
"Oh, okay." Was the only thing that he could say.
"Jackpot!" She said, holding one of the keys, she opened the door of the shop nextdoor, brought the pipe with her and disappeared inside. It had happened so quickly that Lucas didn't have time to process it and the next second she was out again to pick the bag she had left in the bench.
"You work there?" He asked, while he still could.
"I do, I'm also the owner." This was the second time he was speechless today and it wasn't for a good reason anymore. This blonde beauty was the opposite of what he was trying to build here and she could be dangerous for his business. "Anywho, I got work to do, thanks for your help today Huckleberry! If you ever need a job that doesn't involve killing the environment come see me!" She said smiling before disappearing once again.
He couldn't tell if she was being serious or not. She had just insulted him and his business and he just stood there like a mindless moron.
It seemed like every image he had of what the owner would look like was wrong, the thought of the bearded fat man was discarded and replaced with Maya, the blonde of blue sky eyes and snarky personality. He was in a crossroad.
A week after their meeting he was making a center piece for the window when he heard the tiny bell of the front door. Maya was standing there with a red balloon in hand, she was taking a look around, he frowned and cleaned his hands on the towel that was over the counter.
"Hey, Huckleberry." She said returning her eyes to him.
"I didn't think my accent was so obvious." He replied, walking towards her.
She only lifted one eyebrow and that was all the answer he needed, she extended her balloon to him. He grabbed it hesitantly, he didn't understand what was going on.
"This is to thank you for your help." She said, was she expecting him to appreciate the gift.
"Why a balloon?" He asked.
"Well, I didn't know what to give you and a lady in the street was giving these away." He tried to smile to hide the horror that this gift was, but he probably didn't do a good job. "I was also wondering if the owner of the shop was around, I wanted to talk to her you know, introduce myself."
"Her?" He nodded. "Of course, you want to make a good first impression." He finished her thoughts.
"Exactly!" She smiled, he was charmed for a second, before he remembered who he was talking to.
"A tattoo parlor next to a flower shop, that is weird. Two completely different types of costumers, you could be hazardous for business." He explained.
"Yes, see you understand, but I have to convince her that I'm not." Maya was happy that he was on her side, but not for long.
"Well, she is not here, but–" he turned around and took one of his business cards from the counter. "– you can have my number and call me anytime." He said, with a fake smile.
She thanked him and walked out of the door, he waited in his spot, looking out of the window, and sure, soon enough Maya stormed back inside, frowning and with a dangerous look in her eyes.
"Lucas Friar?" She asked, angrily. "As in Friar's Flowers?"
"Oh, did I forget to mention that I own this store?" He said with a smirk on his face. "Silly me!" He said, hitting his head. "I must've been too busy killing the environment."
His face changed, he was serious, he hadn't put everything he had on this establishment to see it crumble because of her and her "art". He had lived in New York City long enough to see this happen to other neighborhoods, new and "cool" businesses settling in and pushing out old shops that had been there before the others were born. Well, it wouldn't happen to him, he wouldn't allow it.
Maya was flaring, she had been played with and he had made her admit that she didn't care if he lost clientele because of the parlor, there was still a lot of bad reputation about tatoos and the people that wore them, this wasn't the first time she had encountered an annoying neighbor that wasn't happy with her moving in, but at the end he had moved out as she succeeded.
"Look, I don't know what your problem is with me and my shop, but I meant what I said, I'm here to stay." She pushed a finger at his chest as she spoke.
"I can tell you the same for me, I've been here longer, I'm a part of this neighborhood and you don't belong here." He said, defensively.
"We'll see about that." Maya finished mysteriously, but before he could reply she was out in the street again.
Lucas felt a lot better now that she knew who he really was, maybe she would just run her business without causing any trouble to his, but somehow he knew that this was only the beginning.
Sunday arrived very quickly and Lucas was ready to take Maya down. That night the neighbors were meeting at Zoey Fields' apartment, like they did every last Sunday of each month, and he was using that golden opportunity to show all of them why she was a pest they had to contain before she ruined all the success they had cultivated.
Lucas had a basket of apples, from the Díaz farm upstate, they all loved his fruits. He had convinced Ms. Díaz to let him plant some trees in her property, he even drove to Texas to bring the trees to implant himself, he brought apples, oranges and limes. By now, everyone asked him for some of his harvest to make pies, jam, applesauce, and all kind of desserts.
He could hear laughter from the other side of the door, they're in a good mood, he thought happily. The living room was filled, everyone was here, and he meant everyone, he could spy a blonde mane in the middle of the group telling a story. His heart stopped, he didn't know how this was happening.
"Lucas!" Zoey called out, she approached him and he kissed her cheek and she fixed the neck of his shirt. "You've been ignoring my texts."
"I know, I'm sorry. I've been swamped with this legal stuff I told you about." He scratched his neck, while he told his excuse. The truth was that he had signed the ownership papers months ago. He had slept with Zoey a few times, but it had never gone beyond that, like they had agreed in the beginning, only Zoey was starting to get other ideas and he wasn't interested.
"Oh, you could've told me that. Are you sleeping over tonight?" Lucas looked around him, every eye was on them, including the pair of blue eyes he found so beautiful.
He cleared his throat. "Let's talk about it later, okay?" He walked down to the living room where everyone was sitting. "Hello everyone, I've brought some apples." He said, lifting the basket.
"Ooh, thank you Lucas, you can put them next to Maya's cupcakes–" Said Mrs. Harris, "– or whatever is left of them." She laughed and looked back, everyone in the room joined her. His smile faded, he looked at the table where only one cupcake stood, when he turned to face Maya she was very satisfied with herself and winked at him as finished the rest of her tea.
"Lukey, boy, come here!" Howie was calling him, he was next to Maya. "You know Maya, she is the owner of the tattoo shop next to yours. She was telling me how you sent her to my store."
"Yes, he did. If I hadn't met Howie I wouldn't have known about these meetings, so I wanted to thank you." She told him happily, he forced a smile. "He also said that we live in the same building, how weird that we haven't crossed paths." He didn't know that, he had seen a moving truck parked in front of his building, but he couldn't have guessed that it was hers.
"Lucas is always the first one up, he even wakes before Bernie, isn't that right Bernie?" He shouted at his friend.
"What? Oh, yes, he's always walking around in that apartment of his. Talk about interrupted sleep, ha!" He laughed, Bernie was his downstairs neighbor and he claimed to hear his every step, though Lucas didn't believe it. "And I still have nightmares about 'Nam."
"Ooh, Bernie," Maya called hurriedly, "show him what you showed me." Bernie put to display his crooked smile, he approached the trio and lifted part of his shirt. Fuck, Lucas thought, he was seeing a tattoo of some Vietnamese scribbling on his ribcage, it was grey, probably worn by time. "He got it in Vietnam, isn't that the coolest? I offered to ink it again." She looked at him like she had won the game.
The rest of the meeting went as usual, everyone complained about the inefficient trash collection, how some people were still mixing plastic and paper together, about the cats that were in one alley, a tree was shedding too much leaves in a backyard. Apparently, Maya had connected with everyone in the block, she had taken the previous weeks to meet everyone and talk to them, so Lucas' plan was officially lost.
"Something wrong, Ranger Rick?" She asked him. "You were frowning most of the meeting." He rolled his eyes, most were gone by then, Lucas, Maya and Ms. Guerrero had stayed to clean up, though Ms. Guerrero had stayed because she needed help to walk down stairs.
"So this week is Ranger Rick?" He asked, placing the cups in the dishwasher.
"I'm testing it out." He couldn't hold a little smile. "I hope I didn't scare you off." She said, leaning on the counter.
"You didn't," he said, drying his hands on a towel, "you don't fit in here."
"Everyone seems to disagree with you." Maya stated, walking out of the kitchen.
"That was a very smart move, I'll give you that." He offered, following her back to the living room.
"Thanks," she replied, Zoey walked in too. "Ya nos vamos Señora Guerrero." The old woman smiled and stood up, walking with her cane towards the door. "Well, we should go." He told Lucas.
"I'm staying a little longer." He looked at Zoey, she smiled and nodded.
"Oh... sure, well goodnight, thanks for the tea." She finished, before helping Ms. Guerrero out. He didn't know why he had done that, he didn't want to be with Zoey, but he felt like he needed a win after today's failure and he saw Maya's disappointment in her eyes, that was a dick move, he thought.
And so it began, the war between them started out as a simple prank war, with stupid pranks that you would do as a kid. They would call each other pretending to be different costumers, Maya once ordered 10 pizzas on his name that he had to pay for and take to a shelter to give them away, he called then to tell her she had jury duty and she wasted half a day on court just to be told they were summoned on mail.
The pranks grew exponentially, becoming bigger and bigger each time.
"Lucas! They're towing your truck!" She said on the phone while he was on the shower.
"Quit playing Maya, I know it's one of your pranks." He said washing the shampoo off.
"Do you think I would ever call you Lucas if I wasn't being serious? You left your truck in front of the fire hydrant!" She shouted at him, he hesitated for a few seconds, the water running down his body.
"Fuck!" He yelled, he yanked his towel and sprinted out of his apartment and out of the building just to find a paper stuck to his car that read 'Fool', he closed his eyes. Everyone on the sidewalk was looking at him, he could feel the foam on his ears, he was dripping everywhere. "Nothing to see here folks!" He said aloud, clutching his towel thighter around his hip.
When he was in the entrance of the building he realized that he didn't have his keys with him, he made an exasperated sound, that won him a weird look from a man on the street.
"Oh, fuck off!" He said, past his point of patience. He buzzed Bernie's apartment, but there was no answer, his only chance of getting in was the blonde that put him in that situation.
"Hello?" She said through the buzzer.
"Maya, open up!" He replied, not wasting any time.
"I'm sorry, who is this?" She told him.
"I'm not for games anymore, Maya." He said, angrily.
"Not-for-games-anymore? He doesn't sound real..." She answered. "Listen pal, unless you tell me your name I won't let you in."
He pressed every button in the board, but no one answered his call, this could not be happening, how was it possible that only Maya was in the building?
Reluctantly, he pressed the little square next to her name.
"Who's this?" She asked, prepared.
"It's Lucas, Lucas Friar, I live next to you." He told her, annoyed.
"There's no Lucas Friar living in this building, sorry." It was in that instant that he knew what she wanted, he yelled in frustration when the door wouldn't unlock by pure force. He called again.
"Who's–" She began.
"It's Bucky McBoingBoing..." He said, she changed it most weeks, Lucas could bet that she had waited for this moment so it could go on perfectly. He heard her giggle on the other side, something he probably would've found cute if he wasn't so pissed.
The door opened and he ran upstairs, he knocked loudly on her door. She was wearing nothing but a really big white shirt that left little to the imagination, but luckily he wasn't the only one staring, her eyes traveled from his chest to the V line, visible because of the towel hanging low on his hip.
"You crossed the line this time, Hart." He said, bringing her eyes back to his. "I don't know how you pulled it off, but you just raised the stakes."
"That's fine by me, but I'm worried you won't be able to handle it." He narrowed his eyes, she made to close the door but stopped herself. "Oh, and we have thin walls, you should shower at night."
Lucas made a mental note about it, that same night he called Zoey to come over and he made sure to be as loud as possible, relishing the disgusting look that Maya gave him the next morning.
They did everything in their power to annoy each other, Maya always played music too loudly in her parlor which Lucas hated, specially when he tried to make an arrangements and he couldn't concentrate. So he began parking his distribution truck in front of her shop every Saturday, which became the days she displayed different kinds of paintings on her windows, he lost count of how many times she walked into his store fuming, telling him to move the giant truck.
When the next weekend arrived and he reached his usual parking spot, he found it occupied by at least 20 different motorcycles. He had to park behind them, shadowing his own store. There was a type of reunion happening on the sidewalk with two dozen men and women, all wearing leather and covered in tattoos everywhere there was skin available. Some even depicted his thought of how the owner of the tattoo parlor was going to look like to perfection.
"Uh, excuse me, do you know what's going on?" He said, walking to one of the riders.
"Maya called us, she is making a discount for everyone that would bring their motorcycle." Lucas could see a dozen more inside the store, heavy rock playing on the background.
When he entered his own shop, he locked eyes with Cassidy, her eyes widened when she saw him, she jerked her head a little to the right. Lucas followed the movement and saw the tallest man he'd ever seen, he had to look up at him, and Lucas considered himself to be pretty tall.
"Can I help you with anything, sir?" He asked, approaching the man. He was a head taller and twice as big as Lucas.
"Yeah," he said in a deep voice, "do you do baptisms?"
Lucas was baffled by the question for a minute, it was so unexpected. "Uh... yes, yes we do."
"Could you give me a card? My nephew is three months old and my sister wanted pretty flowers for the party." Lucas chuckled, this was one of the best things that had happened on the store, almost as good as the time Chris Hemsworth walked in and Cassidy called him from the back because Thor was in his shop.
He almost forgot about Maya's little stunt if it hadn't been because one of his clients called that she wouldn't make it to their meeting to talk about flowers for her wedding, because "a gang of thugs" was outside of his store. He apologized for it and offered to go personally to her house with his wedding album, but she passed, telling him she had a back up appointment at Dreamy Flowers uptown.
The next day, while Maya was drawing a concept with a client, he walked in with an envelope in his hands.
"Hey, Hopalong!" She greeted him with a smirk. "Didn't see your truck yesterday." She quipped.
The store looked very large, but it was because hers wasn't divided in two, there were three different stations that were now empty except for Maya's. At the front she had couches with albums of the generic tattoos. There was a front desk, and in the back there was a three paneled mirror, so clients could appreciate what she had done. He walked in closer to her station, there were several pencil sketches hanged on her wall.
He had never been inside Maya's store before, most of the walls were exposed brick with several paintings hanged around the store. One caught his attention, it was beautiful and dark, he could feel the anger it was trying to represent, but in one corner the yellow overpowered every other color and it filled him with happiness.
"All the paintings are on sale, if you're interested." She said, bringing his attention back to her. "I didn't take you for a very artsy dude."
"I have an eye for beautiful things–" He replied, "–not this though."
Maya rolled her eyes, turning to see him. "Why are you here? I'm in the middle of something." She told him, eyeing the girl next to her, she was very young, probably her first tattoo and that was just what he needed.
"They delivered this at my store, but it's for you." He said, showing her the envelope. "So I brought it here."
"That's nice," she commented, narrowing her eyes, "you didn't have to do it personally."
"I hope you don't mind I read it, I didn't know it was for you." He ignored her suspicion and placed the envelope over her desk, but she didn't grab it. "It's from one of your clients, apparently he is HIV positive... so I hope you wash your needless." He joked, but it went exactly as he hoped it would. Both girls gasped, Maya's eyes filled with anger while the others were full of fear.
"He's just kidding..." Maya tried to explain.
"Uh, I just forgot that I have to pick up my dress for prom." The girl stood up, Maya opened her mouth to say something but she interrupted. "Thank you, Maya." Lucas watched her walk out with a victory smile in his face.
"You're a dick!" Maya shouted at him, punching his arm hard.
"Hey!" He said defensively, grabbing her hand. "You did the same to me with your gang of stupid motorcycle buddies."
"Boo freaking hoo, do you know how hard it is to set a good clientele?" She exclaimed, like he didn't. "Every good review counts, what is gonna happen if people think I gave AIDS to someone!" Lucas was going to say something in his defense, but she lifted a finger and stopped him. "You have a good clientele! You've been here two years! Do you know how hard it's been for me?!"
Lucas was speechless, he didn't know what to say, because he understood exactly what she was going through, he had been there and it had never occurred to him that she was struggling like he did. He couldn't help but feel bad for her, maybe he had gone too far.
"I... I'm sorry." He said, a little ashamed. "I never really thought about it."
"Of course you didn't!" She snapped. "All you've been worrying about since day one is how to get rid of me!"
"Maya–" He tried to explain, but she wouldn't have it, she kicked him out of her store but not before warning him about her revenge.
And soon enough the revenge came when he least expected it, it had been past a week since his last prank. One Friday he arrived at his store around seven in the morning, a little later than he usually did, he had a big delivery that day, 52 white arrangements were sitting behing the store. He needed to change the water and add the vitamins in so the petals wouldn't wither for a couple of days more.
He always loved opening his store, the smell hit him like a wave and for a second he would forget that he was in New York and that the city smelled like piss.
"Hello, my beauties." He said, checking them to see if they had deteriorated a little, fortunately they were perfect. A smile curled up on his lips, he grabbed one of the center pieces and dumped the dirty water down the drain, when he opened the faucet nothing came out.
A panic settled in his stomach, he walked to the bathroom to check it out, but the only thing coming out of the lavatory was a few drops of water.
He ran upstairs to his own apartment and opened every faucet, but still nothing came out, now he was really panicking. How was he supposed to change the water of every plant in his store without water.
Back in the store he looked for all the buckets he had in storage or that he could spare, he only found two since the others were in use. He grabbed a hose and his buckets and crossed the street to knock on Ms. Huang's door.
"Lucas! Is early." She said, fixing her robe tighter around herself.
"I know Ms. Huang, but it seems like my building is out of water and I need it for my plants, I was wondering if I could connect this hose to fill the buckets outside, you won't even notice me." He explained as fast as he could, hoping that she understood every word, she thought about it for a minute.
"Fine, you can have water, but you paint house next Sunday." She opened the door wider and showed him the cans of paint she had on the floor.
"Of course, I'll help you with your walls." He answered, relieved that he had found a solution so fast. Ms. Huang nodded and let him in, he connected the hose to the kitchen sink and passed it out of the window that faced the street.
He would fill the buckets to the brim, cross them across the street and begin to change the plants' water one by one. He started with the arrangements which were the most important, to each piece he put three drops of vitamins. Lucas moved as fast as he could, coming back and forth with the heavy buckets.
It had been almost two hours when he finished changing every plant on the inside and on the workshop, now all that was left were the 9 buckets he hung outside. The sun was up in the sky, no clouds to see, his shirt was soaked in sweat from all the trips, now he only had to do four more.
When he was filling the second bucket Ms. Huang came out with a glass of lemonade for him.
"Thanks, Ms. Huang, I don't know what I would've done without your help." She nodded again and received the empty glass.
"You have audience." She said, looking at his store, when he turned around Maya was sitting on his bench eating a bagel with a cup of coffee and sunglasses.
He carried the buckets again, she chuckled when she saw him struggle. His arms were beginning to ache and the lower part of his back craved to sit down and rest.
"Pretty morning, isn't it?" She asked, as he poured his water on the tin buckets.
"I had no water, I've been carrying out buckets all morning to keep my flowers fresh, so no, it hasn't been a pretty morning." He answered, annoyed and tired.
"Didn't you get the notice on your mail?" She asked, he looked up at her and opened his mouth.
"What notice?" He asked, frowning.
"The one that said that there'd be no water today." He looked confused, Maya lifted her brows, surprised. "That's weird... Although my mail has been mixed up before, maybe that's what happened."
"Maya this wasn't funny, I could've lost my week's worth of flowers because of this." He scolded her.
"Then you go and kill off some more." She said nochalantly.
"That's not how this works." He made an exasperated sound and crossed the street to bring more water, he decided bring all of his buckets back and returned for the hose. He was left with two buckets that would do for the rest of the day. "I give up." He told her.
"What?" She asked, frowning.
"I'm tired of this, I've invested too much in this store to see it all crumble because of a stupid fight." He sighed and sat down next to her, enjoying the comfort on his back. "I don't like what you do and you don't like what I do, but that doesn't mean we should destroy each other." She was watching him carefully. "I'll leave you alone if you leave me alone, okay?"
"Okay." She said softly, nodding. He stood up and took his buckets inside, he washed the sweat off, wanting to feel some kind of relief, but instead feeling a little empty.
After their peace agreement, they stopped talking to each other, besides the courtly heys and goodbyes, but ironically he began bumping into her everywhere he went. It was one of those things that after you meet someone you didn't know existed you begin to see them all the time.
He saw her on the grocery store, on the market, on the subway, on the elevator, picking up her mail, doing her laundry... But the craziest encounter was on Sunday, when he knocked on Ms. Huang's door and Maya opened it. They both frowned.
"What are you doing here?" She asked.
"Ms. Huang asked me to paint her apartment." he replied, showing her his brushes.
"No, she asked me." She told him, showing him her paint stained overall.
"Lucas!" Ms. Huang greeted him, and urged him to come in. "My two painters are here." She said happily.
"If you called Lucas too I can leave," Maya told her, "he can do the work just as fine."
"No, no, no." The elderly woman said, putting one of his brushes on her hand. "Four hands better than two." She said, grabbing her coat. "I come back at noon, you paint." She closed the door behind her and left the two in an awkward silence.
Now that he was there, he could move the furniture to the dining room next to the living room, he was strong enough to move them alone, meanwhile Maya covered the floor with white linens.
They started on opposite walls, each one grabbing a can of paint, they worked in silence, except for the times Maya broke out into song, Lucas said nothing finding her voice soothing.
His strokes were fast and careless, leaving tiny drops all over his pants and shoes, he finished his wall first, but it seemed like it was going to need a second coating so he continued with the one next to it. Maya still had a part left of her first wall, but her strokes were small and delicate, she wouldn't have to paint it again so she moved to the other one. She looked over her shoulder, to the mess Lucas was making to finish quickly, but she ignored it and kept going.
After a couple of hours they had almost finished the whole job, she was at the end of her second wall, but Lucas still had to redo his. She dropped her brush in the bucket of water they had in the middle of the room, she giggled, remembering how funny he looked carrying all those buckets last week. Maya grabbed the other paint roller and helped him with his coat.
"If you'd used the brush instead of the roller, we would've finished by now." She told him, rolling the sponge on the paint.
"It's faster with the roll." He said, concentrated on his strokes.
"No it isn't, I already finished my part." She pointed out.
"Yeah, but yours has a huge whole to the dining room." He said defensively.
"Besides, these rollers waste so much paint." She continued, ignoring what he had said, he rolled his eyes and kept painting. "You could've saved half a can with a brush."
"Yeah, yeah, I get it, I'm wasteful." He replied.
"And taking the paint off them it's the worst, there is always some left, I mean look." He didn't have to look, he felt the drops on his face and arm like a a heavy rain broke out for a second, and he had an idea. He turned around to face her, her lip was tugged under her teeth holding off her laughter, but she understood. "Don't do it." She began walking back, but there was nowhere to go. "Lucas, don't... See? I called you Lucas, I mean it!" But he didn't stop, when he was too close she screamed and turned around, but his roller left a streak of paint that started on her head and finished on the lowest part of her back.
Lucas wasn't expecting that she would be so fast to respond, she grabbed a can of paint and threw it's remainings to him, he tried to cover his face to no avail. He was dripping paint, at least half of his face was white and he would have to throw his pants away after today. Lucas jumped on her, she ran away laughing and screaming when he caught her.
At noon, when Ms. Huang entered her apartment, the smell of paint filled the air. She found her two workers sitting on the floor laughing, covered in paint from head to toe, but at least they had finished the room. They stood up when she entered the room, scared of what she was going to say.
"Good," she told them. A sign of relief filled them, they announced they were going to grab some lunch and return later to accommodate the furniture.
The paint job was sloppy and they left many spots on her floor, but they were laughing together and they weren't fighting and that was good, because that meant her plan had worked.
"Can you give me two with everything?" He asked the man in the stand, who stared at the pair weirdly, but Lucas didn't blame him. He payed for both hot dogs and Maya told him that she knew the perfect place to sit.
They walked to the park that was a few blocks away from their establishments. They found a nice bench in the middle of it to eat their lunch.
"Do you come here often?" He asked, crumbling the empty wrapper in his hand.
"I do, it's one of my favorites." He smiled knowingly. "Most times I come here to draw new ideas for designs." She explained, pointing out a place where the sun creeps in and let's her draw.
The park was mostly covered in tall trees, its branches shadowed most of the ground, making it feel like it was always spring inside. In fall, the beautiful leaves covered the floor, making an orange blanket, and in winter you could finally see the sun as it warmed the cold air of a tiny frozen forest that made you forget where you were.
Lucas was a big fan of that park too, though he had a different connection to it than Maya's.
"Let me show you something." He offered standing up. She hesitated, but decided to follow him. They walked a little south towards the center of the park. He stopped in front of a tree, with a smile on his face like he knew something that she didn't.
"What?" She asked.
"Do you see any type of flowers in this park?" He extended his arms around him, it was empty, just them and the trees.
"No, why? Is this your supplier?" She quipped, but he rolled his eyes.
"No, look up." He pointed at the top of the tree, she followed his finger but it was easy to spot what he wanted to show her. Under a branch she saw a beehive, tiny bees flying around it, she opened her mouth. "How can there be a beehive in a park that doesn't have any flowers?" He pointed out, mirroring what she was thinking. She didn't reply, but she already knew where he was going with this.
"My shop is the only flower shop in a 6 blocks radius, I've looked." He began. "They feed from the flowers I display outside." Maya was speechless. "I'm not trying to destroy the environment, that's not what I do." His voice had turned soft and honest. "This park is here because of these bees." She looked up again, and to him, her eyes had never been as blue and beautiful.
"I didn't know." She managed to say.
"You never asked–" she opened her mouth to say something but he didn't let her, "–but that's fine, because I did the same to you." A smile curled on her mouth, though she tried to hide it by putting a white strand of hair behind her ear.
They fixed Ms. Huang's furniture and talked like the first time they met and they didn't know who they were yet. She offered to make tea for them, but they passed, craving more a hot shower.
"I guess I'll see you tomorrow..." She said as they both unlocked their apartments. "Neighbor." She finished smiling.
"Neighbor", he tipped an imaginary hat, that made her laugh as she disappeared inside, he smiled too.
The pranks stopped, they were pointless. it was because of their war that business had taken its toll, now that they had each others backs, sales were better than ever. They ate lunch outside in his bench everyday, sometimes she would bring him coffee at 10 when she opened and he had already been working for four hours. He would do the same when it was five in the afternoon and he was closing but she had four hours left.
Maya made him a beautiful stencil with different flowers, so he could put it in his window, and every time someone complimented the new addition he recommended Maya's store and told everyone how good she was. He still didn't like the idea of a tattoo, but at least now he respected it.
Lucas became the first person she called whenever something broke in her shop, although most of the times she just needed to take down one of the paintings and change it for a new one, he learned to ignore the looks Cassidy would give him every time he answered the phone and it was her.
One Sunday he came back from his property, he was called to check on the new tulips they had planted some weeks before, when he entered the apartment building he found Maya trying to push a giant box across the lobby to the elevator.
"What are you doing?" He asked, putting his keys on his pocket.
"My new drawing table arrived," she said, displaying the picture on one side of the box.
"That won't fit in the elevator." He explained, it was too tall. "I'll help you, c'mon."
He gave her his mail, and lifted her table like it was nothing, putting it behind his back so he could climb the stairs easily. After three flights of stairs he arrived at their floor, she was waiting for him with her door open.
"You can leave it there," she told him, pointing to a spot next to her couch. It was the first time he had seen her apartment from inside. She was messy, art supplies were everywhere, her old drawing table had masking tape on the back to hold it, next to it was a pile of finished paintings, they had the same style as some he'd seen in her store.
"You painted those?" He asked absentmindedly, looking at them.
"Yeah," she said softly.
"They're so good." He turned to see her and realized that she was wearing shorts and a tank top and he could see her tattoos, he had seen a couple and the glimpse of others, but honestly he had never paid attention before.
She noticed that he was staring.
"This one was the first I got." She showed him her wrist, it said 'lightning' in cursive.
"I'm sorry, I was staring." He said, looking down, she chuckled.
"It's fine, Huckleberry." She reassured him. "Look..." She pointed at a trio of hearts near her own, one of them was completely painted while the others were just outlined. "This one is for the Hart ladies, me, my mother and Gammy Hart." She touched the black heart last and he didn't have to ask to understand what that meant.
She proceeded to lift her top a little, enough to show her ribcage where it read: PEOPLE CHANGE PEOPLE and on the other side near her hip was a symbol he didn't understand.
"That one is something my teacher used to say that really stuck to me and the other is the Irish symbol for hope." She continued. "This one behind my leg is a purple cat for my best friend, she made the design." She giggled.
On her ankle she had a little Kermit the frog, on her index finger she had a cute outline of a pencil, there were others but she didn't explain those.
"Every tattoo I have has a meaning, it's like an album, it has the good stuff and even some of the bad stuff. This you see–" She extended her arms, so he could see all of her. "–this is who I am."
He liked that thought, he liked it a lot. He stepped closer and put his arms around her hips, pulling her forward and joining his lips to hers. She froze for a second, surprise by the sudden motion, but she let her arms fall around his neck, and never had any kiss felt as right as this one.
Everything clicked in that moment, their bodies came together like a puzzle, it was like he had a map of her neck and when he lifted her it was like he had done it so many times before, it felt natural. When he asked permission to roam her mouth she wondered what had taken him so long. And though it seemed impossible, the kiss felt even better when their clothes began disappearing somewhere in her apartment. Her skin was on fire, every touch sent ripples of joy through her spine, making her crave for more and more and more.
He delivered, they passed from the living room to the kitchen counter and from the kitchen to her bedroom in such way that it seemed like he had lived in her apartment his whole life.
Lucas was thinking why he had wasted so many months fighting with Maya when he could've been doing this all this time, and he could've gotten to know her and her work and he would've forget everything Pappy Joe had taught him about tattoos because that wasn't Maya, she was a work of art, literally, and damned him if he ever thought she wasn't.
The next morning, he woke up first like he always did, his body had become a biological alarm and every day at 5:30 a.m, he woke up, ready to work. Today was different though, because today he didn't woke up in his bed and normally he didn't have a beautiful blonde on his arms. He smelled her hair one more time, she used a daisy shampoo, he recognized the scent. Carefully, he turned her around so she could keep sleeping, he smiled, watching the flower tattoo on her back. Last night when he first noticed it, he told her that she wouldn't be able to live it down.
When Maya woke up, some hours later, the first thing she noticed was that she woke up alone, no Huckleberry beside her. She laid there in bed thinking about everything that had happened last night, she couldn't hold her smile anymore. She grabbed the pillow he used and hugged it, it still smelled like him, like flowers and she loved that.
She spent that morning, putting her apartment back in order, picking her clothes up, she almost lost her mind when her top was on the fan above. She also collected a sock from Lucas that had fallen under the coffee table. Maya decided to return it as soon as possible, just as an excuse of seeing him again.
She tightened her bathrobe and opened the door, surprised by what was on the other side. There was a package from Dunkin Donuts and next to it a little cactus with a bow on top. She picked up her gifts and closed the door again. Inside the package of doughnuts (which were delicious), Lucas left a note that read:
"Good morning, I had to work, but at least I brought breakfast. Last night was amazing... I don't know how you are supposed to proceed, but I got you a cactus, it reminded me of you... Strong af, and with an attitude that screams if you touch me I'll hurt you, but still cute. Just feed it with water once a day, oh and he loves the sun, so keep it outside."
She snorted, he was such a dork, she gave it a little water and opened her window to put her new plant outside.
They watched the cactus grow, at the same time their relationship did. And just like the plant, they needed work and dedication, they still fought over the stupidest things, but this time they didn't let their pride get in the way of forgiveness and so they grew tall and strong.
His job became a little easier, but getting up early a little harder, he didn't want to leave her side, the comfort of her hug too good to waste. He started waking up late on the weekends, after she convinced him to let Cassidy open the store for him. "It'll be safe in her hands, I promise." She told him, pulling him back to bed, how could he say no to her?
Maya introduced him to her mother, something she had never done before, Katy loved him from the moment she heard his accent. Lucas had never been as nervous as the time his Oma and Pappy Joe came to visit and he told them about Maya, at first it was weird, but Maya showed them her shop and her paintings and his grandmother smiled. Pappy Joe took a little more time to like her, but he noticed how Lucas' smile came easier when he was with her and his eyes shone a little brighter when he saw her, and so he told Maya she was welcome at their farm any time. Lucas didn't think the world would ever taste as sweet, until she kissed him and he was reminded that it could.
Maya soon learned that his apartment was much better, he always had it cleaned, his bed had this mattress where she felt like she was sleeping in a cloud, even the pressure in his shower was better, but the best part was the smell, the hint of flowers that he carried from his store to his clothes to his apartment, she couldn't get enough.
He insisted that she'd bring some of her clothes to his apartment, it made no sense that she had to come back and forth, plus he had to start doing laundry more often than before when she began using his shirts as pajamas.
She kept her apartment as an art studio, and Lucas' favorite days became Sundays when she would paint and he could watch her as he read a book on the couch. He loved how she would bite her lip, concentrated on her strokes, and she would laugh so hard when he grew bored and put some music so they could dance.
After much begging, she finally agreed to go with him to his property upstate.
"Ms. Díaz left half of the property to me when she passed away, the other half she left to his son, so we could be partners." Lucas explained, while they walked around the greenhouses and the fields. "Roberto didn't want his part, he wanted to be a chef, so I bought his half and he opened his own restaurant with the money."
"Wait," she stopped him, "Roberto as in Beto's Tacos?" He laughed and nodded, she loved that place.
"Yeah, now I sell some of my produce to him, so I guess we did became partners. The important part is that now this is all mine." The property was big, it had three different fields and four greenhouses, he showed her the stables were he kept two horses, she met the family that lived there to take care of the grounds. He even took her on a trail that carried them to the end of the land, Maya never thought that she would enjoy that trip as much.
He taught her how he kept the flowers, and how they had started to put solar panels to cover the electrical needs.
On their way back, he picked a dandelion and gave it to her.
"Every stack in the flower is a new seed," he told her, pointing the white tips on top, "so when you blow it you are making sure there will be more dandelions when we come back next season."
"Next season?" She asked, shyly. She closed her eyes and blew the seeds away, wishing with all her heart to see the new dandelions next season.
"Are we having lunch together?" She asked, putting her hair in a bun, as he walked out of the shower, with his towel around his hip.
"I don't know, I have a meeting with some suppliers..." He explained, taking some boxers and a pair of jeans from his drawer.
"I thought you only met on Sundays." She pointed out, as she cleaned her face in front of the mirror.
"They asked to reschedule." He simply said, shutting the matter down. He appeared behind her, wrapping his arms over her stomach, and resting his head on her shoulder.
"Your hair is dripping!" She told him as some drips fell across her neck. He smirked and moved his head from side to side, like a dog. "No!" She yelled, trying to get him off, but he was too strong.
"I think you need a shower." He said, lifting her up and carrying her inside the shower as she tried to free herself to no avail.
He opened the key, and in the matter of seconds they were both dripping. She laughed and pulled him down to kiss him.
"I hate you." She reminded him, they still hadn't said 'I love you' to each other, no matter how many times they had thought about it. They were scared, scared of how happy they felt, if life had ever taught them something was that nothing good could last, at least not for them.
"I hate you too." He said smiling against her mouth, as the water ran between them.
Many of his clients reminded him how weird it was to have a tattoo parlor next to his flower shop, he always chuckled and nodded. It had been almost a year since Maya moved in next to him, more than the Chinese salon or any of the others did.
"You knew, didn't you Ms. Huang?" He asked her when she came in to take her usual bouquet of white roses. "That Maya belonged here."
"Who you think showed her the space?" He lifted his brow, surprised by the old woman.
"But were you surprise that we... I mean, you couldn't have known about us." He affirmed her, but she didn't say anything, she simply looked him in the eyes and thanked him for the flowers.
That night, Lucas came home late, she was waiting for him on the couch, he was acting really strange. Actually he had been acting weird all week, canceling their plans more often than not.
"Where were you?" She asked with her arms across her chest, sick of his secrecy.
"I was finishing some arrangements." He replied, putting his keys on the bowl.
"No, you weren't, I just called the store, no one answered." She came closer, her eyes narrowed, he smelled like some kind of liquor. "You're lying." She said, softly. He looked at her, half surprised, half ashamed.
"I am–" Her heart sank, this couldn't be happening, not today, not with him. "–I went to visit my friend Lola..." Before he could say anything else, Maya punched his arms. He screamed in pain.
She looked at her hand, she hadn't hit him that hard. He was rubbing the spot where she punched him.
"Don't be such a baby, I barely touched you, and with good reason, you've been lying to me to go and see another girl." She exclaimed, furious.
"Lola is a tattoo artist! She was helping me with this..." He took off his jacket and lifted his sleeve.
Maya gasped, he had tattooed his arm, it was a flower, but not any flower, she recognized it. She looked back, to her window where they kept her cactus, the pink flower on top of it was exactly like the one on his arm. It was beautiful, suddenly she forgot why she was angry and fought back the tears itching behind her eyes.
"I'm sorry I lied, I just wanted to surprise you." He told her, taking her hands.
"You're an idiot, you scared me." She said taking a step back. She lifted her own shirt and on her right hip, the skin still looked a little red. He smiled at her girlfriend, her newest addition to her album was a cowboy hat.
The whole misunderstanding was put behind and she jumped in his arms, ready to never let him go.
"I love you."
"I love you too." She replied.