The prompt for this chapter is: I'm a florist and you keep buying flowers from me and what do you mean it was my fault we didn't get together earlier you were buying flowers i assumed you had a lover au
She sees her fair share of people. She works in one of the busiest flower shops in the city. But this man is attractive and she sighs internally because almost every man that comes through the door is taken. She covers her disappointment and offers the gorgeous man in a designer suit a smile.
"Hello. Can I help you find something?" Elena asks and he tells her that he wants a bouquet of yellow roses. He's politely distant. She makes an arrangement for him and he doesn't even look at the price tag, he just swipes a card and tells her to have lovely day. She tells him to have a good day too, and she thinks sees a smile on his lips as he leaves.
Caroline gives her grief over the gorgeous customer when Elena tells her about it when she comes home with takeout. The yellow roses though, Elena had stressed. Those weren't flowers to get a girlfriend or fiancee. Those were flowers to get a friend or a sister. If they were meant to be for a romantic gesture, he did not do well. She lets it go and life goes on. But he's in the same time the next week.
She helps him find flowers for a funeral. His eyes are dry but he seems even more distant than the first time. She makes sure the card and arrangement are not tacky.
"I'm sorry for your loss." She says as he swipes his card and he nods.
"Thank you." He says quietly and walks out, flowers held by a careful hand.
The shop gets busy after that and she forgets about him until she sees him again, three days later.
"Hello. I need flowers for an old friend. She's very important." He says politely and she offers a few suggestions, but he lands on an arrangement of primarily alstroemerias and adds that she can add whatever flowers she wants that will make it pretty. He smiles and apologizes, but he doesn't know very much about flowers, and the shop was recommended to him for a reason. She smiles back as she carefully moves flowers around. She wonders if it's for a girlfriend, but if it was romantic, then the bouquet will definitely send the wrong message if she knows flowers.
She finishes the arrangement and he picks out a card as she rings him up.
"Have a nice day." She says and he wishes her the same. Next time, she'll ask who recommended their store.
It's two weeks until she sees him again, and he asks for roses that are for someone special. Damn, he really is taken, she thinks. Not that he's interested in her, or that she's interested in him really. He's just a nice and attractive customer who always wants her to do his bouquets and arrangements.
He writes Rebekah on the card as she picks out pink roses for a bouquet, he didn't specify red after all and she asks.
"My brother recommended your shop to me, actually. His girlfriend orders from here quite frequently." He says and she smiles.
"Good luck with the roses."
"Thank you, I might need it." The man, who she's now nicknamed Suit, says. He pays and leaves, and she wonders who recommended the shop to him. There's about a dozen people who order from them frequently enough to be called regulars, a few women who arrange weddings, Caroline, a man who is a secret admirer, a sewing club and a few business people. She sighs in frustration and resumes arranging a custom order, careful not to injure the baby's breath she's holding.
Caroline updates her on her relationship with Klaus when she arrives home with pizza and sits next to Elena on the couch. Elena listens to her as she bites into a slice. Klaus is slightly annoyed with his businessman brother Elijah, and she has a date with Klaus on Friday. She apologizes, but Elena's going to have to fend for herself for dinner. Elena rolls her eyes. She finds herself updating Caroline on Suit, including the nickname. She tells Caroline that while she's busy with date night, she'll be at her favorite bookstore for an hour or two. Caroline teases her that she should just ask Suit to dump his girlfriend and go to the bookstore with her. Elena just rolls her eyes again and gets another piece of pizza as Caroline flips through channels.
Work passes her time, living with Caroline is easy, but she gets enough social interaction from work. She doesn't go out quite as often as Caroline would like.
She changes out of her work uniform, although the rules are fairly loose she wants out of her floral dress. She really just has to wear something that's comfortable and covers her well enough and the apron on top of that, she doesn't want to wear part of her uniform while going out.
She finds a book she's been to five different bookstores for, she knew they'd have it. She keeps her joy quiet, and she turns around and almost bumps into someone she's never seen outside of work. Suit, with a blonde woman next to him.
He recognizes her and says hello and introduces the women to each other. The pretty blonde woman is named Rebekah, and she realizes that's the Rebekah he gives flowers to so frequently. The girl smiles with something Elena can't identify, and says that it's nice to meet her. Elijah is clueless when it comes to flowers, and she's happy he found a place to help him out. She wonders what's going on, if he's dating Rebekah, he doesn't seem overly attached or affectionate to her, and she seems to be happy that he knows Elena. Suit has a name, but she's still going to call him that mentally regardless.
Her phone buzzes and she tells them she has to take it, but it was nice to meet Rebekah and see them. She doesn't hear Rebekah and Suit talk, she accepts the call from Jeremy as she walks to a more secluded part of the store.
She finds a book she thinks Caroline would like, and the series for Bonnie she had been looking for as she walks around. It's a successful trip to the bookstore, she thinks, forgetting about Suit and his blonde girlfriend.
"She was pretty. Is she the reason you keep giving me flowers and why we're here on a Friday night?" Rebekah asks and Elijah pretends, rather convincingly that he's interested in a book above her head.
She tells Caroline as she pulls brownies out of the oven. Caroline proposes a trade off and Elena warns her that she can't stay up too late, she has the morning shift the next day. Caroline complains half heartedly about Elena's job, but Elena just rolls her eyes again and gives her the book she bought half an hour before. Caroline begins to speak and Elena listens.
She has to get coffee before she can function to an acceptable level at work. Barely anyone comes in Saturday morning bright and early. It's mostly for getting ready for the day and changing prices, cleaning and having a grace period to eat breakfast before they open and customers come in.
Elena's sipping on her coffee that her co worker stole for a few agonizing minutes to draw flowers all over it and then returned it with a sunny smile. Her hand covers the view of daisies and tulips around the coffee shop's logo on the cup. Elena will thank her when her brain can function on a higher level than autopilot. A few customers wander in, needing flowers for various reasons. She thanks her cheerful coworker as she takes another sip of coffee. When she's starting to function well, she sees Suit again. He passes by one of her coworkers who offers to help him. He politely declines her help and walks to Elena. The coworker glares daggers at them before focusing on the next person who comes through the door. She'll have to fix that later, but she smiles and asks what she can do for him. He tells her he needs an arrangement for a retirement party for a coworker who loves flowers. She offers suggestions and he chooses enough of the flowers that she can think of an arrangement to start on. He notices the flowers on her cup and she tells him one of her coworkers decorated it, she can't draw very well. Her brother can, but she's not very good at drawing. He smiles and tells her he has a brother who is an artist, and he isn't artistically inclined either. She refocuses on the arrangement.
She picks out a vase and he rolls with it. It's gorgeous, and they follow their routine, but before he goes, he changes it. He asks what books she bought the night before. She tells him and asks what he bought and he tells her he bought a book he's heard good things about. She tells him that she loves that book, and he has to let her know what he thinks of it after he finishes it. He smiles at her and she tells him to tell his girlfriend hello, and he opens his mouth when his phone buzzes and he slides his card and answers his phone at the same time. He carefully balances the flowers in one arm and his phone to his face with the other.
He thanks her quietly and now he understands why she has acted the way she has. He's interested, and he's fairly sure she's noticed his interest, now he understands why she hasn't acted. He responds to the phone call, and hails a cab. He'll correct her later.
"His name is Elijah and his girlfriend is named Rebekah." She tells Caroline and her eyes widen.
"Elijah?" Caroline asks and Elena nods.
"Why do you have that look on your face?" Elena asks and Caroline reminds her that's the name of Klaus's brother. Rebekah is the name of Elijah and Klaus's sister.
"Suit is Elijah Mikaelson." Caroline says and gears start turning in Elena's head but Caroline speaks again before Elena can.
"He's single."
"Care, no. I do not need your matchmaking." Elena groans and her best friend rolls her eyes.
"You aren't the least bit interested now that you know he's single?" Caroline asks and Elena tells her that she refuses to answer that.
Elena doesn't work Sunday, she tells Elijah. She had a sneaking suspicion Suit was Elijah and after a quick call to Rebekah, she knows she's right.
"I finished the book." Elijah tells her when he sees her again on Tuesday.
"What'd you think?" Elena asks, and he tells her that he has quite a few thoughts on the book, it might take a while to talk about it. But if she wants to, maybe they could talk about it over dinner Friday night? She knows her coworkers are listening, but she asks what he thought of the main character.
"She was very realistic. I'm glad she was the protagonist, she gave the book more depth than if the author had chosen that other character to focus on." He says and she tells him she would love to. Caroline has complicated tests for boys she likes, but Elena has the book test. If the boy in question doesn't like the book or her favorite character, they probably won't get along well. A date usually proves her right, but she usually gives them a chance anyway.
"Who recommended our shop to you?" She asks.
"Caroline Forbes." He answers and a knowing look passes over her face.
They coordinate and he'll pick her up Friday night.
"See you Friday." She says as he takes a step away from her.
"I'm looking forward to it." He says and she smiles.
She can't believe Caroline, and she has an entire rant ready when she's waiting for her to come home, despite the butterflies in her stomach about what happened. She waits for a few minutes, while she is excited for the date, she's not fine with Caroline playing matchmaker again. Stefan Salvatore was the first and only blind date Caroline set up for her.
She changes out of her work clothes and waits a little longer when Caroline comes through the door carrying two boxes and disappears into the kitchen before she reappears, with empty arms so Elena asks.
Caroline slips out of her heels as she answers that she did not tell Elijah to like Elena, she did recommend the shop to him. While Caroline wishes she could have played matchmaker with them, she didn't. Elijah's feelings were his own and Caroline knew he was hopeless with flowers. She admits to telling him when Elena worked, and that she'd be in the bookstore, but nothing more. She wasn't sure Suit was Elijah until Elena mentioned Rebekah. A good amount of the shop's clients are men in suits after all. Elena sighs, she's never been able to stay mad at Caroline for very long. Elena warns her not to meddle again and she promises not to.
"And just in case you're mad, I brought your favorite takeout and cupcakes." Caroline says and she can see Elena's annoyance melt out of her face.
Elijah's interest in her is purely his, so she'll give him a chance.
"Am I dressy enough?" Elena asks and Caroline sighs and tells her to close her eyes so she can adjust Elena's eyeshadow. It's just a little bit of makeup, not overkill.
"You're fine. You're the Gorgeous Elena Gilbert, don't open yet!" Caroline says and Elena keeps her eyes closed.
The doorbell rings and Elena asks if she can open her eyes yet. Caroline steps away and tells her she can, and Elena moves to answer the door.
"There's a sequel." Elena says after they order drinks and his eyes widen.
"I'll have to go find a copy then." Elijah says and she tells him that she has it in her purse, and he remarks that he has always been impressed by what women could fit in their handbags. She smiles and tells him that Caroline could fit anything in her purse during their college days. He laughs at the stories she tells, and finds himself genuinely wanting to know her. Unlike the sharks and dogs he works with, she's an open book. An open book who seems to be as interested in him as he's interested in her.
"If you want to borrow the book, you can." She says. He thanks her for her offer, he'll take her up on it. There's a bookmark in the book towards the end of it, and he tells her he won't disturb it or move it.
They barely notice when drinks arrive and they are asked if they want to order.
Elena orders first, and they order dessert before she's aware their night's almost over. She hands him the book before she enters her apartment, and wishes him a goodnight.
She doesn't tell Caroline what she did, she just changes and gets ready for bed.
She gets a call around two am, and answers it.
"Elijah?" She asks and he tells her the sequel was good, and she was very clever putting her number on a bookmark. He asks if there's another, or if the author wrote anything else. He needs more.
She tells him while concealing a yawn, that maybe they can talk about it over flowers in the afternoon. He agrees to that and she goes back to sleep.