This takes place just before the events of "Da Doo". Seymour finds something of Audrey's and discovers her feelings for him. I do not own Little Shop of Horrors or any of its characters.
The bell on the door of "Mushnik's Skid Row Florist" rang a soft jingle and was followed by a cool late September breeze. Seymour could already tell who it was, as the sound was followed by the clacking of heels. He knew only one woman crazy enough to be wearing heels all day to work.
"Hi Audrey," he said looking up from a potted plant, a smile spreading wide across his face.
Audrey nodded and smiled back. She took off her new white fur coat and hung it up next to Seymour's red one, and placed the magazine she had been clutching on the counter. She was exhausted and it was visibly present. She had dark circles under her eyes, nearly matching the blue eyeshadow she loved so much. She absentmindedly touched her split lip. Not the first of many injuries she had come into work with. She turned around, facing Seymour fully for the first time and smiled.
"You look radiant today," he breathed. "Is it new lipstick?" he asked, rather ignorantly.
She touched her lip again and moved so he couldn't see her face. Just then Mr. Mushnik came stumbling in from the back room clutching an order form. He saw Audrey and glanced at the clock, scowling. He turned to rip her a new one when his eye spotted her lip and his expression softened.
"Audrey, what happened?"
"What happened when?" she said trying to busy herself.
Mr. Mushnik sighed, "Look…" he said then stopped himself. It really was none of his business.
He glanced down at the order form he was holding.
"Another Shiva, thank goodness. Please have this ready for the end of the day," he said, nearly tossing the paper at Seymour, who dropped it immediately.
"I will," he said, picking it up to examine it. It appeared the order didn't have to be sent out till 5:00, no use getting started on it now.
Mr. Mushnik turned away rolling his eyes. It wasn't that Seymour didn't have the time, he just wasn't the smartest bulb and he knew he'd forget.
"Make sure that gets done," he whispered to Audrey.
She watched him fold it and put it in his pocket before nodding.
Time went by very slowly after that, as it does when business is nonexistent. Seymour tried to keep himself busy, watering plants and sweeping the floor yet again. Audrey had positioned herself behind the counter for the morning. She watched Seymour for a bit and smiled before opening her magazine. It wasn't till around noon that anyone had said anything. Mr. Mushnik had taken his newspaper to the back room an hour prior and was settled into one of the swivel chairs snoozing.
"Seymour," yawned Audrey, getting up and stretching, "Do you mind watching the counter for a minute while I use the bathroom?"
It wasn't necessary. They didn't have any business currently anyway, but he agreed. Smiling he moved behind the counter and propped himself on the stool Audrey had been using. Audrey smirked yawned again before heading past the swinging door.
Seymour propped his head up on his fist and drummed his finger on the counter. He glanced at the magazine Audrey had been reading, still on the counter, and slid it towards him. Picking it up he read the cover "Better homes and gardens".
Oh to dream, he thought. He had never lived in a home. He'd never even really had a room. He had grown up in a dormitory crowded with 10 other boys, and after that a damp basement. He opened the magazine in the middle. He noticed that alongside the pictures and articles, there were drawings and scribbles in blue ink. Out of the corner of his eye he spied a blue pen by the register. Audrey must have been doodling. He smiled at a picture she drew of a bunch of sunflowers in a pot. He turned the page to see she had drawn a pair of glasses in one of the corners. There were words too. Seymour tried to make sense of them. "Pine sol" on one page. "Plastic on the furniture" on another. "Green" seemed to be recurring. He quickly flipped past two or three pages when he saw something that made him freeze.
Was that my name?
He quickly turned back one page, then the next. Sure enough in the margins, in blue ink were the words that caught him completely off guard,
"Mrs. Audrey Krelborn"
Seymour furrowed his brow, confused. He read it over again,
"Mrs. Audrey Krelborn"
He rubbed his forehead with his palm. What was that all about? Why on earth would his name be in there? After a solid 10 seconds of staring at the same page, it struck Seymour. Audrey's magazine, Audrey's writing, Audrey's pen, Audrey's first name, Seymour's last name. Mrs. Audrey Krelborn.
She… likes me too?
He heard the echo of heels growing louder, and basically dropped the magazine on the counter, pages sprayed as it laid open upside down. He picked it back up again and straightened it. No harm done. Audrey appeared a second later. She smiled at him and moved back behind the counter. Seymour slowly got out of her chair. He maintained eye contact through this exchange, finding a great interest in her face, which seemed untouched by this.
She likes me?
Audrey moved back onto her stool, and opened up her magazine, oblivious to the fact that it had been opened, and was now sitting at a different angle. Seymour kept looking at her as he slowly walked away and picked up the broom and started to sweep.
She likes me? Mrs. Audrey Krelborn?
He thought back to all the nights he lay down on his pathetic little cot dreaming about her. He never imagined she'd even LIKE him, let alone fantasize about marrying him. The thought of this brought great joy to Seymour. The look of worry and confusion now leaving his face replaced by a very wide smile. He put a hand over his mouth and closed his eyes.
She likes me!
At first he snorted. Not out of humor, but because of the immense uforia he was having trouble expressing.
"Something funny?" Audrey asked, looking up from her magazine and glancing around.
Then he started to snicker under his breath, turning away to hide his face. He continued to giggle.
"What?" she asked, slightly giggling herself.
Seymour put his hands on his face still laughing, causing Audrey to laugh herself. Tears of joy welled up in Seymour's eyes. He nearly toppled over from laughter, clutching the top of the broom to steady himself.
She likes me!
Audrey continued laughing herself. Just the sound of his laughter, and the look of him trying to remain standing was enough to make her laugh. She couldn't remember a time when he laughed like this before, and found it quite contagious. Mr. Mushnik appeared from the back door, having been awaken by their laughter.
"What's funny?" he asked, confused and surprised.
Audrey looked over at him, still laughing and with a giant grin on her face. She motioned her arm to Seymour and shrugged. Seymour took gasping breaths trying to calm his breathing. He looked up at the ceiling and tried to blink back his tears. When his breaths had returned to normal he glanced at Mushnik, smiled briefly, then turned his back and kept sweeping. He snorted one more time, and continued as if nothing had happened. He felt their gaze burrowing into his back but he couldn't turn around. He still had a big grin on his face and a flush in his cheeks. Audrey finished laughing herself and glanced up at Mushnik, a look of complete wonder and bewilderment on his face.
After the commotion had calmed down the shop returned to it's normal mundane self. The only thing that stayed present was the giant grin planted on Seymour's face. That he couldn't hide.
I need to rearrange this display, and she likes me.
This plant needs to be moved to a bigger pot, and she likes me.
Inventory needs to be unloaded, and she likes me.
He was nearly moving with a literal skip in his step.
It wasn't till around 4:30 that the store made a sound. Audrey let out an audible gasp, making Seymour jump.
"Shiva."
Seymour unfolded the order form from his pocket and handed it to Audrey, who quickly went to the back room to retrieve some Lilies. Seymour moved himself behind the counter as she returned carrying an armful. He watched intently as she arranged and rearranged, tying different ribbon, and sprinkling different glitter. He watched her face, beautiful as ever. She had a stern look of concentration. The one she always had when making her creations.
Say something! But what?
Seymour moved himself closer, and sat himself on the stool Audrey had just gotten up from.
"Audrey," he asked.
She looked up at him and smiled
"What, what are you doing tonight?"
"Tonight?" she asked, her eyes widening and her eyebrows raising. This had clearly caught her off guard. She wasn't ever eager to share her after work activities, and her other job, so she never brought it up.
"Tonight," she said glancing at the ceiling to think. "Let see, tonight, I have a date," she said looking back down and meeting his gaze.
"Oh." he was about to ask about tomorrow when something glittering caught his eye.
"Did your boyfriend buy you that brooch?" he asked motioning to the shiny diamond flower pin near her right shoulder.
"Yes," she answered.
Seymour chewed the inside of his lip, thinking. She had a boyfriend. A boyfriend who can buy her nice things. A boyfriend with a decent income. A boyfriend, who probably doesn't live in a basement. Then it hit Seymour and he crumpled slightly. So what if Audrey liked him? What could he do about it. Whisk her away to his lovely downstairs apartment to live? He pictured himself carrying her in a wedding dress over the threshold of the basement door, and heading down to their honeymoon suite equipped with leaky pipes and a dozen plants in coffee tins. What would they do, raise a family in that tiny basement? Have children who grow up to sweep the floors upstairs alongside him? He had never even left Skid Row, though he constantly longed too. No, she couldn't be Mrs. Krelborn. Not now at least. Not while he had nothing.
Audrey caught sight of his low spirits as she reached for the glue.
"Ya know I don't think the diamonds are real," she lied.
He looked up at her.
"I don't like the pin very much. It doesn't seem very… me, ya know? Besides, it's never about the gifts, it's about the giver." This she told truthfully. She smiled warmly and looked back at him. He wasn't looking at her anymore. He was hanging his head and keeping focus on the "Better homes and gardens magazine" still on the counter. Audrey's hinting going completely over his head.
"Seymour," she asked and waited for him to look up, "What are YOU doing tonight?"
"Tonight?" he asked. He hadn't thought of it.
Think of something! Something cool!
"I was gonna walk… I was gonna walk down to the wholesale flower district."
Audrey's eyes grew slightly.
"I've never been." she said, finishing up with the glitter.
"Really? I like it a lot. I know a guy there who always has weird and exotic cuttings. He supplies me with them, strange plants being my hobby and all. I know it's dumb, but..."
"But I think its great," she interrupted.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
She turned around and handed him the lilies.
"Gee, that sounds interesting. I do love strange plants. You'll have to take me sometime."
"Thanks," he said looking down at the arrangement. Such a beautiful creation. When he looked up he noticed Audrey hadn't moved. She was still holding the vase, standing inches from his face, and staring directly into his eyes. Seymour looked into her brown eyes and she looked into his blue ones.
What do I do? Do I kiss her? He wondered, No she has a boyfriend, stupid. Do I say something? No she might go away.
Their moment was broken by Mushnik pushing through the swinging doors.
"Seymour!" he bellowed, "did you get the order for…"
He stopped noticing Seymour, standing behind the counter, and holding the order. Audrey quickly let go of the vase and looked down at her feet as she walked out from behind the counter and away from Seymour. She tried to find something quick to busy herself.
"Alright then." Mushnik said nodding.
Seymour watched as Audrey walked over to the window and positioned the plants to catch the evening sunlight, a dopey grin on his face.
6:00 came around and Audrey grabbed her white fur coat off the rack.
Another gift? Thought Seymour sadly.
"Well, have fun tonight Seymour. Find something bizarre and bring it back. I want to see it," she said handing him his red coat. He smirked and grabbed it, their hands meeting. Audrey jumped as if she had been shocked.
"Night Seymour," she nearly whispered over her shoulder as she turned out the door. She didn't hesitate this time or meet his eyes.
"Goodnight Audrey," Seymour called out, stunned and saddened by her immediate departure.
As Audrey walked she touched on the scab on her lip with her tongue and thought about her date. Orin would be here soon. He promised he wouldn't do it again, and Audrey believed him. She glanced down at her magazine. Its wear and tear starting to show from all her opening and closing all day long.
What Seymour didn't know was how much he actually meant to Audrey. Her mind drifted back towards him. Sure it was nice to dream about a house in the suburbs, but that was just a dream. What she really wanted, no, needed, was him. Even now. She needed his smile, his laugh, his comfort when she was upset. She needed the sweet understanding that only he could provide her. She sighed and thought back to the times she thought she had been obvious and cursed herself for doing so. She must've looked like a fool. Plus, what was she to him? A coworker with a questionable night job. A nothing.
Silently she sang to herself:
Where relationships are no go,
Down on Skid Row.
Seymour stood in the doorway watching her, as she worked her way up the stairs. He listened to the clack of her heels and the jingle of her keys as she opened her door. He watched the soft glow of the lights being turned on behind her curtains.
Someday. Someday I'll make something of myself. Then we can run away together… Mrs. Audrey Krelborn.
He sighed heavily.
She likes me.
Author's note 9-28-18: This was the very first piece of fanfiction I ever wrote. And it's really... something. I have since decided it is an AU for several reasons. Mostly it doesn't line up with the timeline I created. September 23 would be an important date for Seymour (go read Child Of The Street). And Seymour was completely kept in the dark regarding Audrey's affections or there wouldn't be a "The Meek Shall Inherit" number.
However, this is a fanfiction after all and if you enjoyed it rock on!