"Uhm, hello?" a young woman said from the doorway of Mushnik's Skid Row Florist Shop. The young man working at the cash register looked up from the bouquet he was putting together. The young woman was beautiful, with short blonde hair, blue eyes, and a gorgeous body. The young man's hand slipped and he cut himself on one of the rose's thorns. The cut went deep into his palm and started spurting blood immediately. The young woman gasped. "Are you all right?"
"Oh, yeah, I'm ok," he replied, embarrassed. He took out a small, blood-stained handkerchief from his pocket and pressed it against his wound. "How may I help you, miss?" The young woman took a newspaper clipping from her handbag and held it up for the young man to see.
"I saw this ad in the paper for a job. I was wondering if the position had been filled." The young man looked at the clipping and then shook his head.
"No one's come in yet. You'll have to wait until the boss gets back, though, Miss…?"
"Audrey," the young woman said, a smile brightening her face. "And your name?"
"Seymour," the young man replied, sticking out his hand. The handkerchief fell off, letting the blood roll down his hand. He felt his face get red as he bent to pick it up. Audrey gave a small giggle. This made Seymour blush even more. "I-I could have h-him c-call you when he g-g-gets back," he stuttered. Audrey shook her head.
"I don't have a phone at the moment." Audrey sat down in a chair near the door. "I'll just wait here for him, if that's ok."
"Oh, yeah, yeah, th-that's just fine," Seymour replied. He tried to redo the bouquet he'd gotten blood on, but he kept getting distracted by Audrey. She was just so beautiful that he couldn't stop looking at her. She would occasionally catch him staring at her, and would wave. He would look back down at the flowers, getting redder and redder every time. Audrey tried to start up a conversation a few times, but the only responses she received were mumbles and nods.
The boss, Mr. Mushnik, returned to the store about twenty minutes later. He didn't see Audrey at first, so he walked right past her and walked to the cash register. He started yelling at Seymour for all the bloody flowers and the unfinished bouquet. "How many times has this happened? I'm surprised the building hasn't been engulfed in flames!"
"Uhm, sir, we have…" Seymour started, pointing to Audrey. Mr. Mushnik continued until Audrey got up and tapped him on the shoulder.
"Hello, sir. My name is Audrey." She handed him the job ad. "I was hoping to get a job here."
"Oh, yes," the older man said. He ushered the young blonde into his office for an interview. Seymour tried to listen in, but he ended up falling over on the floor somehow. After a few minutes, the two came out. "You can start first thing in the morning, an hour before opening." He looked over at Seymour, who was still working on the same bouquet he'd been trying to organize for the past hour. Sighing, he said, "Seymour lives downstairs. He'll let you in tomorrow morning."
"Oh thank you so much!" Audrey said. She shook his hand and left. Seymour gave a sigh.
"She's beautiful," he said. Mr. Mushnik shook his head.
"You don't have a chance with her," he replied. He looked at the finally finished bouquet. The flowers looked beautiful, since the kid had taken care of them, but the arrangement was all wrong. "Just go to bed, Krelborn. It's obvious I'll be getting less work from you than usual with her around." Seymour nodded and went downstairs to his small bedroom.
That night, Seymour lay in his bed thinking about Audrey. He could already tell that they would be friends. She was nice, and he liked her a lot. He found himself excited to start work the next day.