Gil wasn't really sure why she was doing this. She had always walked past the Williams Flower Shop every day on the way to the mechanic shop and spends the short time passing staring at the flowers in the window. But 2 weeks ago, her routine was screwed over by a pair of innocent purple eyes. She had strolled up to the entrance, her hair a mess and red eyes covered in unattractive, thick framed glasses, hoping to catch a glance at flowers she would never buy for anyone when she saw her. Pale blond hair reached halfway down her sweatshirt, held back from the soil in a loose braid. Despite the baggy sport sweatshirt, Gil could see the sharp curve of her waist, the strong lines of her arms. Holy shit, she was really really hot. The girl turned around and cocked her head to look at Gil.
"Um… Do you want something?" Oh my god her voice was like coffee at 3 in the morning. Speaking of coffee, Gil didn't have enough of that this morning. Wait shit, answer the question.
"Uh… I would like," Gil frantically glanced around her, "A flower." Wow, smooth Gil. A flower, she's totally gonna want to talk to you now.
The girl laughed and Gil almost swooned, "A single flower?"
Gil pulled her self together. "Yes please ma'am. A single flower. Your favorite."
The girl smiled and her eyes glimmered behind circular glasses. She turned around and Gil shamelessly looked at her ass. Don't blame her! She had nice long legs in well worn jeans and Gil was weak.
As she turned around, a single white trillium in her hand. "Well, here you go. It would be 5$ for a boutique, but I guess… like .50 cent for a flower? That makes sense…" She trailed off and glanced to the side. Gil pulled two quarters out of her pocket and traded her for the flower. She glanced at it and handed it back to the florist.
"For you… I forgot that my sisters allergic." Yeah okay, Monny is as allergic to flowers as I am to being awesome. Way to go Gil, lie to the hot chick. My stupidity never ceases to amaze me.
The blond girl started at her, obviously astonished. Gil fidgeted for a second, afraid of her reaction. After a pause, she smiled at the albino.
"Thank you, this is so nice of you. My name's Maddie."
"I'm Gil, no problem."
"Do you want your money back?"
"Nah, keep it. I need to go to work."
And this is how the flower phenomenon started. Monika, Gil's sister, thought it was funny that some girl had rendered her sister dumb as a brick. Felicia, Monika's girlfriend, thought it was adorable. Gil wasn't sure which answer she liked better.
Maddie Williams was star struck. One day she was quietly working on planting some roses when a whirlwind of red eyes and pale skin spun into her life. Every day, the woman would pass and buy her a flower. She would wink clumsy and stumble over her words and Maddie felt herself falling deeper in love every time. Despite the the awkward introductions, Maddie was happy they had started talking. Gil was wonderfully interesting compared to Gil. She had moved from Germany with her younger sister after their parents left them, got a small job at a auto mechanics shop and worked her way to co-owning the shop with her sister. She lived in a small apartment and played Call Of Duty with her friends. She had insane stories of drunken endeavors in college, wore fitted clothing and quite honestly was way out of Maddie's teaspoon sized league.
"Hey birdie!" Maddie snapped out of her thoughts when she heard the familiar nickname and spun to face Gil.
"Hello Gil, what can I get you today?"
"I would like one petunia."
Maddie smiled despite herself. She turned to pick up the petunia and handed it to Gil and tried to dodge the money given to her.
"Gil, are you going to give this flower to me?"
"Yes."
"Then why are you trying to pay for it?"
Gil's answer was a smirk and the money and flower being pressed into her hands. Maddie huffed but eventually gave up fighting.
Smiling Gil said, "Cya Birdie."
"Bye…" Maddie's response faded into the busy street. She turned back to the flowers to see an excited face very much like her own pop up in front of her.
"HEY BRO!"
Maddie shuddered at her twin sister's loud voice, "Hey Amelia."
"Who was that?"
"Just someone. Get out of my face."
"Touchy. I need a bunch of flowers, sunflowers preferably."
"Why?" Maddie asked, worried what her hyper sister could do armed with sunflowers.
"Alice hates them and is allergic and Ivanka thinks they look pretty." Maddie laughed. Of course, her sister's idea of courtship is practical on the ideals of seduction and ridiculousness. After all, whats the point of just flirting with the pretty barista when you can also piss off your ill-tempered and very single roommate?
"Alright," she continued giggling as she cut the flowers and wrapped them. "Here. On the house because you're my sister."
"Thanks dude, love you." Maddie sighed as her sister bounced away, swinging the bundle of sunflowers with her. Maddie sighed, she never imagined her sister, loud and obnoxious, could find a date before her.
Maddie jumped out of bed remarkably early. She walked into the bathroom and showered, she was actually going to try to look nice today. Then maybe, she thought, Gil might actually flirt with her. Not just on the basis of awkward obligation. Nearly poking herself in the eye with eyeliner and feeling kinda scared about the difference of her appearance, she ventured outside.
Standing outside the shop and rearranging flowers she looked at her watch and looked up to the street. It was 5 minutes past 10 AM and Gil had never been late before. She shook her head at any paranoid thoughts she had flying through her head. She was being ridiculous, people showed up late all the time. And it wasn't like they had a date or any formal arrangements, it was just a dumb routine. Maddie turned back to the sunflowers and tried not to be heartbroken.
Gil didn't show up the next day either.
A day later, Maddie told herself that she was over it. She didn't put on any makeup or different clothing, she made no effort to look presentable and just went back to doing her job. She put her earbuds in and played her music, focusing solely on trimming and rearranging flowers, and tried to ignore her disappointment. Through her earbuds, Adele's voice sung out the first few lyrics of "Someone Like You". Maddie furrowed her eyebrows and skipped the song.
"When your day is long, And the night, the night is yours alone" Maddie snarled at the depressing song and hit the skip button with more force than necessary.
"Alllllll byyyyy myyyyyseeeeelllfff~"
"What the fuck." She whispered out and turned off her music. She shoved her phone and wrapped up earbuds in her sweatshirt pocket and glared at the roses in front of her. "Fuck my life." She continued to mutter to herself as she picked up the shears and began to cut the ends of the roses.
"Um, excuse me?" Maddie whirled around at the sound of a familiar german accent. However, the woman in front of her wasn't Gil. She was wearing a neatly ironed suit and had her short blond hair pinned back from her face. Everything about her seemed stern and disciplined, the opposite of Gil's carefree and messy personality.
Maddie smiled quickly. "Hi, welcome to Williams Flower Shop how can I help you?"
"Uh," The blond woman fidgeted and asked uncertainly, "Are you Maddie?"
"That I am, how can I help you?" Maddie answered.
The blond woman gave a quick smile and continued. "Hello, I'm Monika, Gil's sister. She was in a car accident and has been unconscious the hospital for a couple days. She woke up today and was really worried about you. I wanted to explain the situation to you..."
"Thank you so much, it means a lot to me. Is your sister okay enough to visit?"
Monika smiled, "Yeah she it. She's in Mercy Hospital. You don't have to visit, I'm sure you're busy, but Gil would really appreciate it."
Maddie smiled back, "No, I'm really not busy at all. Thank you so much for telling me, I'm sure you're much more busy than I am."
Monika laughed and bid Maddie farewell, heading back to the mechanic shop.
As she walked away, Maddie turned back to the flowers.
"So, who's coming with me?"
