AN: GUESS WHOS BACK IN ACTION! After being gone for I don't even know how long I'm back with a whole new one-shot for you guys. Okay so this was requested by indayiashow on tumblr a while back and I figured this would be perfect to get me back in the writing jig! It's all about Shalily, a tattoo and floral shop owner AU! Enjoy~
Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or it's characters. Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima
He loved the way the light shined in downtown Magnolia during midday. It would shine perfectly through the flower shop's windows across the street. When it did he always took his lunch so he could look at her from the street benches. Maybe that made him a creep, but god she was so beautiful. If anyone ever noticed his strange lunch breaks everyday they never confronted him about it. He only hoped Gajeel hadn't taken notice yet. That man could act dense as ever but Pantherlily knew that he understood a lot more than people thought.
He had just taken another bite of his kiwi garden salad when her eyes lifted up to make contact with his. Her locks of curly white-blonde hair falling in front of her face, only to be pushed gently back by her tiny fingers. She smiled at him and he almost choked, quickly looking down so it didn't look like he was staring even if he was. He didn't think it did that much good though. When he looked back up at her she was busy smiling and laughing with a customer.
She must have a beautiful laugh, he imagined. It had been three weeks since her shop was fully established right next to his work and he had yet to work up the courage to speak with her. He mentally kicked himself for not talking to her yet. Normally he would be just fine asking a pretty girl out on a date, if they said no then he would back off and if they said yes he would be a gentlemen to them. But this girl...she was something else. Her beauty was nothing short of divine. Everyday the sunlight shone upon her hair, he could almost see the halo above her head.
"Hey, Lil." A voice called from behind him. He turned and sticking his head out of the tattoo shop doorway was Gajeel, his partner and co-worker. "Go over there and chat with her, will ya! All this lovey dovey staring contest stuff is getting ridiculous." He snickered when Pantherlily froze up and avoided his gaze.
Then Lily stood from his seat, abandoning his lunch. "Alright, fine. I will." Gajeel looked shocked but an evil smirk played upon his lips as he stepped fully outside, leaning against the shop wall.
"Mind recording it for me then so I can laugh at it afterwards?"
"Ha ha, very funny." He attempted to straighten his wrinkled shirt and brush off some dust. It didn't do much but at least he tried. "Watch and learn, Gajeel. Maybe if you're lucky you'll even get to use some pointers on Levy."
Gajeel blushed slightly then crossed his arms defensively. "Shuddup and go get yer woman already."
"Thank you, come again!" She gave her best smile for the customer in front of her, then went back to rearranging her new arrivals by the window displays. New arrivals always smelled the freshest and had the most vibrant colors. Watching the late petals bloom filled her day with joy. When they finally opened up and showed the world how beautiful and intricate each petal on each flower with it's many colors can be...That's when she knew she made the right decision in opening this flower shop.
"So what's the deal with that hot tattoo artist across the street?" Her daughter and family employee asked, from her spot behind the counter.
She tried to hide her surprised face from her daughter. The last thing they needed was Charle worrying about her mother's non-existent love life.
"Oh, I don't know. I haven't spoken with him. Although he is cute isn't he?" She turned her head with a smile and tried for a nervous chuckle. Her daughter saw right through it.
"Shagotte." She scolded. It was rare that Charle ever called her mother 'mom'. That was probably because she spent the first ten years of her life in foster care when Shagotte was too sick to take care of her. Shagotte tried to make that up to her little girl every day but sometimes it seemed the damage had already been done and her daughter had grown up too fast. "I see the way you glance at him as you walk by the window and don't think he doesn't notice either! Honestly, playing these silly games is pointless if neither of you act on it!"
Shagotte dipped her head but couldn't help a small smile. She sighed. "Yes, you are right. What do you think I should say to him, then?"
"Perhaps you should have thought of that sooner." Charle suddenly said, with a tiny smirk turned towards the paperwork she was doing behind the counter. "Because he's coming this way."
Shagotte whipped her head around, and without a doubt the man she'd had a silent crush on for three weeks was making a beeline for her shop front door. Passersby avoided his gait, with that muscular build and body covered in tattoos even she was slightly intimidated. Who was she kidding? She was more than slightly intimidated. After her late husband she never had a man so much as glance at her because of her daughter. But this one, this incredibly hot one, was coming right towards her.
The doorbell chimed as he walked in, sending a wave of chills up her spine. Shagotte didn't know what to do so she pretended to be busy with the flowers in the window displays. Charle greeted him as she did with all customers.
"Good morning, sir! Stop and smell the flowers for a while! I'll be right back to serve you but in the meantime my mother can take your order if you like." Although Shagotte's head was turned she could feel Charle gesturing a hand to where she was and those eyes of his pierced on her back.
"I-I'll be right out, sir!" She called trying to keep her voice straight. She took a calming breath and cleared her mind. It's just a customer. He might even be here to buy flowers for his significant other, don't get your hopes up She told herself but those butterflies in her stomach still persisted.
Finally composed, she stepped down from the window display and faced the man she had admired from afar for so long. He was large in comparison to her, and those muscles seemed to only add to his height.
"What can I help you with?" She started out, giving him her most friendly smile.
The man hesitated, "I...just wanted to get your opinion on the flowers you have for sale?"
Shagotte tried for a laugh. "Are you asking for my professional opinion or for a friendly one? I'm sure you understand that as a florist I would highly recommend all the flowers I have for sale. But maybe that's not what you're here for."
The man had averted his gaze to some Tiger-lilies before but he looked to her as he spoke, "Let's just say I'm asking as a friend. The name's Pantherlily." He extended a hand to her. She took it without delay, matching his strong calloused grip with a firm handshake attained over years of job interviews.
"Nice to meet you Mr. Pantherlily. I can tell you anything you want to know about these flowers, but my favorites are these ones over here." She held her face steady as she lead him across a few aisles to a budding daffodil. "The daffodils are always so beautiful this time of year. I love to watch them bloom and grow, they grow fabulously well in summer gardens as well. If you're looking to buy for a significant other I would recommend these one's however." She showed him a flower a few more aisles down, where her carnations grew. "The red carnation symbolizes love, pride and admiration. A pink carnation symbolizes the love of a woman or mother, and white carnations mean purity." As she finished talking she finally looked away from her flowers and met his gaze. He seemed surprised and for a second she wondered if she had overshared her love of flowers with him.
"Thank you. Although I'm not in a relationship right now." Her heart skipped a beat. "I wouldn't mind taking a bouquet of those daffodils though."
She smiled again, keeping up her good customer service skills even though everything about that gaze dare her to ask for his phone number. "Certainly." She quickly turned on a heel and grabbed a bunch of the daffodils. She neatly trimmed each stem and placed them in accordance with each other. "Would you like any highlighting colors or flowers in with the bouquet?" She called back to him.
He thought for a moment. "What do you recommend?" He said, placing a hand in his pocket absentmindedly and smiling shyly.
She pondered the flowers for a moment. "Well, purple is yellow's complementary color although I always thought purple is too dark to complement a bright yellow. Doesn't do a good job at making the color pop...Hmm, how about some white lilies and maybe a dark green fern as a background color." She arranged the flowers in her head then grabbed the closest ones to her and placed them accordingly. She wrapped some green tinted opaque liner around them for good measure and gave a satisfied smile when they were complete. "Here we are!" She said, bringing the bouquet up to the front desk where Pantherlily followed her. She walked behind the register and pounded some of the keys on the board before turning to him with a smile.
He patted his pockets for a minute then looked mortified when nothing happened. "Oh dear. It seems I've forgotten my wallet. I work right across the street do you mind?" He pointed to the tattoo shop where she knew he worked with one of his close friends. From watching their reactions and conversations with each other so often she could only assume they were close friends.
She looked back to Pantherlily and shook her head. "That's quite alright. I'll just hold these here for you."
Pantherlily looked at her gratefully and took off, not even bothering to look both ways before he crossed the street. Shagotte couldn't help but sneak a glance as he rushed through the tattoo shops doors.
Suddenly the sound of a door creaking open made her jump backwards in fright, "Did you get his number?" Charle asked, looking very sly as she pretended to be interested in her nails with her back against the door frame of the backroom.
"Hush child! That's not appropriate!" Charle shot her a look and she caved in with a sigh. "No…" She admitted. "Not yet anyway. He just forgot his wallet so he's going back to get it. Now if you really wanna pretend to be busy so I can 'get his number'," She drew air quotes around the word and Charle couldn't seem to stifle a laugh. "I'd suggest you actually get back to your work."
"Whatever you say, mother. Just make sure you get his number after all this. You didn't come this far for nothing." Shagotte was a bit taken aback when Charle addressed her as mother but there was not time to dwell on it when the doorbell chimed again and Charle slipped into the backroom again.
"I'm back. I apologize for the hassle, I sort of came over here in a hurry. You see I'm still on my lunch break." Pantherlily chuckled.
"That's alright. So the total for these flowers will be eleven ninety-five." He opened his wallet and counted out the bills, handing her exact change. "And here you are Mr. Pantherlily-" She placed the money in it's proper spot and was going to hand him the flowers when he passed something along the counter to her. It looked like a business card.
"You can just call me Lily. And these flowers are for you, m'lady Shagotte." He picked up the flowers himself and handed them to her over the counter. More than a little flustered she took the flowers, holding them close to her chest so she wouldn't drop them in her utter shock. "Maybe next time we can go out for lunch?"
She looked again at the business card and beside his professional information a phone number was scribbled out, his mobile phone replacing it in hastily scrawled lettering. It took her a while to process what she had heard. Not only had the man she'd admired from afar for weeks come into her shop, but he bought her her favorite flowers and even extended an invitation for a date. The news was almost too good to digest.
Finally Shagotte smiled and held up a finger, a signal for him to wait, as she set the flowers down and quickly wrote a number on one of her own business cards. "I think that sounds like a lovely idea! Thank you for your business Lily. You're a very kind man offering a woman her favorite flowers like this."
Lily smiled, accepting the card from her fingers. "Think of it as an invitation to friendship and new possibilities!"
Shagotte smiled wide to match his own, then, too soon, he took the card and left. Shagotte looked to the flowers on the counter beside her. Daffodils represent new beginnings… The serendipity of it was not lost on her. She kept a genuine smile as she nitpicked the flowers in the bouquet and made a mental note to place these one her coffee table at home.
AN: Also I've started writing a lot more one-shots so in stead of making a whole new story every time I upload one I'm just gonna pile them all into a single story~ Thanks for reading!