At this very moment, the time had been 14 days 3 hours 43 minutes and 12 seconds since the botanist and his blonde love had encountered the Darling Mermaid darlings enjoying a slice of pear gruyere. Upon making these new acquaintances, there was also the promise of seeing one another soon. The blonde, usually so hesitant about new people, but severely lacking friends all her life, jumped at this opportunity.
Vivian and Lily Charles lived in a lavish victorian style home in the town of Coeur d'Coeur. It was lucky that it was lavish, as they rarely left it. Though Seymour and Audrey were new to the life in the suburbs, and didn't mind taking the trip.
The front gate wasn't locked. Audrey looked up at the home as they drew closer, and admired it's detail. Both her and Seymour imagined this house could have come from a fairy tale. Audrey decided to ring the bell, causing the door to swing open barely after it had chimed. Her new friend, Vivian, stood smiling in the doorway.
"Audrey! Seymour! What a nice treat this is! Please, come in. Come in."
She stepped out of the way, letting the pair pass through first. They quickly took in their new colorful surroundings, and recognized two familiar faces on the sofa in the parlor. Only one of which was smiling.
"You remember Olive," Vivian introduced.
The small woman rose to her feet and extended her hand. "How do you do? Again."
Audrey smiled and shook her hand. "Very well thank you. And how are you?"
"Me? I'm good."
Olive Snook, though not normally shy, was at a loss for words. Audrey broke the silence.
"We brought something. If that's okay."
"Lilacs!" Vivian exclaimed.
Seymour handed the bouquet into her waiting arms.
"How did you know they were our favorite flower?"
Audrey smiled over her shoulder at her husband. They hadn't, but this was a lucky coincidence.
"I know just where to put them."
Vivian crossed the room to the mantel and stuck the bouquet in a red and white painted vase.
"Who is that?" Audrey asked, motioning to the picture above the mantel.
Vivian grew solemn. "That is our niece, Charlotte Charles. She passed away recently."
"Oh. Oh I am so sorry."
Audrey, wracked with guilt at bringing it up, didn't make the connection. However, Seymour did.
"She looks kinda like Kitty."
"What?"
"Kitty. Someone we met once. Audrey doesn't she look like…"
"Who wants pie!" Olive spouted.
The two hadn't noticed the box on the coffee table while coming in but could now smell the sweet aroma of a strawberry custard pie.
"What a good idea. I'll get the plates. You just sit here." Vivian scurried from the room.
Olive seemed to breathe in relief and sat down on the sofa next to her companion. Lily Charles hadn't spoken the entire visit. But now chose to do so.
"Nice of you to stop by."
Though by her tone, Seymour wondered how sincere that greeting was.
"We don't usually get visitors." She didn't sound disappointed by this fact. "Olive brings us pies, but that's about it."
"Well, consider me your friendly neighborhood… pie… bringer." She realized how lame this sounded halfway through her sentence.
Audrey didn't think so and exhaled a laugh, relieving Olive. Lily took a swig of the drink in her hand.
Vivian returned from the kitchen with a stack of painted plates and rested them on the coffee table. The next few minutes or so were seldom filled with words as the five of them all enjoyed their slice of pie. Four of them finished quickly, but Seymour was still picking at his crust when Vivian collected the plates. Audrey insisted that she should help do the dishes. That it was kind enough of them to share their pie and home. Vivian was persuaded and the two left the parlor. Olive said her goodbyes and promised to return again next week with a three plum pie. And that was how Seymour Krelborn came to be alone with Lily Charles.
Normally shy and awkward in an average conversation, Seymour felt petrified as she nearly glared through her one eye. He kept his head down and trailed patterns in the whipped cream on his plate with the tip of his fork. Lily broke the silence.
"Y'know Seymour…"
He glanced up at her.
"It's not normal for my sister to be this open with other people. But for some reason or another she has found a great deal of comfort in your wife."
Seymour smiled.
"I, on the other hand, am much more hesitant when it comes to letting people into my home. So I did some research."
Seymour was genuinely confused and creased his brow. "Research?"
"When we spoke at The Pie Hole you mentioned you had moved from the city. So I checked records and newspapers for your names."
Lily adjusted her drink and leaned forward.
"Tell me, what is an Audrey ii?"
The plate on Seymour's lap fell from his grip and slid, shattering on the carpet beneath him. He grew pale at the reminder of a name he wished to forget.
"W-where did you hear about that?"
"It was in so many papers. 'The famous Audrey ii, discovered by Seymour Krelborn'. What was all that about?"
Without moving from his seat, Seymour tried to pick up the pieces of the shattered plate. The papers had been local, and the plant and fame quickly forgotten by the world. So far he had been off the hook with others bringing up the skeletons in his closet. Today he was not so lucky. He laughed and pretended it had all been a joke.
"Oh. That. It was… a long time ago."
"Not very long. It seemed the two of you had a good life in the city. All the fame it could have brought in. But it didn't. And I couldn't help remembering your palm."
Seymour took a moment to glance at his free palm before closing it and shoving it behind his back.
"It said you were guilty about something. Now what was that?"
Seymour was at a loss of words, but knew he couldn't lie. He was a bad liar, even to the untrained sleuth. He shook his head.
Lily began burrowing down on the poor man. "What was it?"
Seymour longed for his wife. He glanced at the way towards the kitchen and briefly considered calling out for her. Or perhaps he could simply leave and insist that he really had wanted to do the dishes all along. But he knew this wasn't the right plan. If he looked guilty now he didn't want to think about how that would look.
"Why'd you give it up, Seymour?" the woman rattled on. "The fame…"
He had squeezed his eyes tight and was shaking his head. "I didn't want it."
"Want what?"
He opened his eyes. "Any of it. The plant. The fame. I just wanted…" he took a deep breath and scooted forward. Lily wasn't about to let this go and Seymour knew that. He had to say something.
"Audrey and I weren't always… together. We were coworkers for a long time. Friends even." Seymour's gaze moved from Lily's face and a small smirk formed in the corner of his mouth. "But God did I love her."
To both their surprise, Lily smiled.
"I couldn't tell her though. You've met Audrey. She's… well… and I…"
Lily filled in the blanks for him and nodded. "Go on."
"So I… I wanted to do something. To impress her. Not just that but to make something of myself. Something significant. Something…"
Lily finished when he couldn't. "Worthy."
Seymour chewed on his thumb nail.
"So the plant, that was for her?"
He smiled. "I named it Audrey ii."
Lily herself was the one to gaze off as Seymour continued.
"I thought it'd help. It wasn't easy. It wasn't just a normal plant."
He abruptly stopped talking causing Lily to look back up. "What?"
This was where the story became difficult, and Seymour wondered how honest he should be.
"You just wouldn't believe me if I told you."
She smirked and took a swig of her drink. "Try."
Seymour didn't know how to say it. "Alien."
"What?"
"It was an alien."
Lily contemplated this. "You're right. I don't believe you. But continue."
Seymour smiled. "It brought in money. Lots of it. And drew a lot of attention."
He paused.
"Did it work?"
"In a way, sorta. But I never wanted the fame. I only wanted her. That's all I ever wanted. And I guess… for some reason or another… she liked me too. Even before the plant."
Seymour was smiling and felt his heart flutter. Lily, normally repulsed by romance of any kind, was moved by his passion.
"So we got rid of it. And we moved here. Somewhere that's green."
Lily creased her brow. "Somewhere that's green," she repeated.
He smiled, assuming this to be the end of it. Lily, however, had something else on her mind.
"So what's that got to do with it?"
"Huh?"
She motioned to his hands, folded in his lap. "Why would any of that make you feel guilty? You left something out. Spill."
Seymour clamped down on the plate shards and began to wring the skin around his hands as he fret.
"She had a boyfriend."
Lily was annoyed at his vague response and waved her hand for him to continue.
"Audrey doesn't like to talk about him. So please don't bother her about him. It hurts her."
"I won't so long as you finish the damn story."
Seymour continued to wring his hands and began to bounce his leg. He couldn't look Lily in her eye.
"He was… a bad man. She'd come into work with these bruises..." Seymour ran his finger across his wrist and then against his eye.
Seymour wasn't sure but he could have sworn she saw Lily's jaw tense in anger.
Seymour moved his gaze again. "He wasn't gonna stop. It kept getting worse. It hurt me to watch her hurting." Lily heard him mutter through clenched teeth, "bastard." and grew a liking to the botanist for the first time.
He opened his empty palm and glanced at it. "I guess if I feel guilty about anything it's that. Though I don't regret it. Not after he hurt her." He glanced up alarmed. "I didn't kill him!" This wasn't a lie. "He just… won't be bothering her anymore." This also wasn't a lie.
Seymour was staring, terrified he had said too much. Lily rose from her seat, and crossed the room to a small silver end table. She began to stir a drink for her new friend.
"You could'a just told me you removed the abusive jerk. That would have earned my respect right from the start."
Seymour was stunned. He had never thought of the story in that light. But maybe in the eye of Lily Charles, doing something wrong for the right reason, was doing something right all along.
It was at this moment that Vivian and Audrey returned from the kitchen, and Seymour remembered the damage he had done. He quickly rose to his feet and weakly held out his palm which held the pieces of the broken plate.
"I'm sorry Vivian. I'm just so sorry. It was an accident. I'll buy you a new one."
Vivian took a step forward and retrieved the pieces of her shattered plate. What she said next surprised Seymour, as he was unaccustomed to the kindness of others.
"That's alright Seymour. It's just a thing after all."
She glanced between her sister and her new friend. "What were the two of you talking about?"
Lily stepped forward and pressed the drink into Seymour's hand. "We were just getting to know each other."
Both Vivian and Audrey looked impressed at their companions. For both of them they knew that new people and new friendship was not their strong suit. And perhaps this out of character behavior would be the beginning of something great.
"How about a toast?!" Vivian declared.
She quickly moved toward Lily's silver end table and mixed herself a drink, and a juice for Audrey.
"What shall we drink to?" Audrey asked, receiving her glass.
Vivian raised her glass. "To new friends."
Audrey raised her glass and smiled at her husband. "To new places."
Seymour held up his as well. "To new beginnings."
Lastly, Lily joined them adding a quick smile at the botanist. "To the Krelborns."
Audrey beamed. "And the Charles."
All four of them clinked glasses before taking a sip. Seymour, unfamiliar with the strength in which Lily Charles preferred to mix her alcohol, quickly sputtered his drink back up into his glass and gasped for air.