Orange Lilies

Chloe Beale's day had been pretty boring so far. Her boss had given her the last shift of the day which meant that she needed to clean and close the shop at 8.

Only two people had decided to buy flowers on this hot summer evening and Chloe couldn't blame the other people for staying at home. It was incredibly hot outside and even though the shop had working air conditioning, the redhead felt like she would melt the second she moved more than her eyes.

She was sitting at the counter of 'The Green Room' - the flower shop she worked in during the summer to earn some money before she went back to college - and flipped through a magazine when the door opened and an uncomfortable amount of hot air flooded the shop.

She looked up from the newest fashion trends to greet the customer but stopped when she saw the person who was standing in front of her.

She didn't know this girl, but she looked incredibly hot. In more ways than one.

The brunette girl lifted her sunglasses until they sat at the top of her head and slapped twenty bucks on the counter. "How do I passive-aggressively say fuck you in flower?"

"Umm, excuse me?" Chloe wasn't sure if she had heard correctly. The girl before her was glaring angrily with her beautiful ocean blue eyes and had crossed her arms in front of her black tank top clad chest. She rolled her eyes at Chloe's question.

"You work at a flower shop, right? So you do know that flowers have meanings, right?"

Chloe blinked twice and nodded slowly. "Yeah, of course. So you want a bouquet that says 'fuck you'?"

"Yep. Can you do that?"

"Um, sure. So, do you have any specific flowers in mind?"

The brunette girl scowled. "I don't care how it looks. I just want to get the meaning across."

"Okay then. How about geraniums? They have a few different meanings but one of them is stupidity."

"Sounds about right. Put them in please."

"Okay. What about foxglove? They can stand for insincerity."

"Yes! Definitely. That bastard lied to me. 'I will never marry again, Beca. Don't worry, Beca, your mom was the love of my life.' Yeah, right." The brunette girl muttered to herself as she paced up and down in front of Chloe.

The redheaded girl raised her eyebrows and couldn't help but worry about the other girl. "Um, Beca?"

The other girl stopped pacing and looked at Chloe. "Yeah? Wait, how do you know my name?" She narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

"You talked to yourself a moment ago. I think you called yourself Beca. Are you alright?"

Beca relaxed a little as she sighed. "Yeah, sorry, I must look like a crazy person, walking in here unexpectedly and demanding a weird bouquet. Sorry."

Chloe grinned. "Don't worry. Today has been pretty boring so far so you're actually a pretty welcome distraction. I'm Chloe by the way."

Beca nodded. "It's nice to meet you."

Chloe smiled. "Yeah, you too. So, about that bouquet. I have yellow carnations that say 'I am disappointed in you' or something like that."

"Totally. Please put them in."

Chloe nodded. "Okay. Orange mocks mean deceit. And petunias stand for resentment and anger. Orange lilies imply hatred."

"Yes! To all of those!"

Chloe was a little surprised by the strong feelings Beca was showing but it wasn't any of her business so she didn't pry. "Good. I think any more flowers would blow your budget."

Beca nodded. "Alright. Do you think it will convey my message?"

Chloe snorted. "Oh, definitely. If the person you intend to give this bouquet to knows about flowers and their meanings?"

"Oh yes, she definitely knows about that. She's reading all those gardening magazines and we always have some kind of stupid bouquet in the house. She'll get my message."

"You know what? It's not my business and I normally wouldn't pry but it's way too hot for me to be polite. Want to tell me what's going on while I prepare that bouquet for you?"

Beca looked at the beautiful redheaded girl in front of her. She had bright blue eyes and wore a white sun dress with cute sandals. The small brunette didn't know much about fashion but the girl before her looked as if she could have jumped straight out of one of those dreadful magazines all those mainstream bitches read to increase their social standing. But she looked nice and Beca needed someone to rant to after the unbelievable phone call she had received twenty minutes earlier.

She sighed and leaned on the counter a little as Chloe started collecting the flowers she needed. "You know what? Why not? I don't know you and I need someone to rant to. So, my mom died a few years ago. Until then we had been a happy little family. Only my dad, my mom and me. She was in a car accident and dad and I were devastated when we got the phone call. About a year after my mom's accident, he brought this woman home. He told me her name was Sheila and he really liked her. When I threw a tantrum, which was totally the right reaction for a fourteen year old that didn't want to share her dad, he sat me down to talk about things. He promised me that mom was the love of his life and that he would never marry again but that Sheila was a great woman and would help both of us move on."

Beca snorted and weaved one hand through her messy ponytail. "'Move on.' He actually said that we needed to move on from mom. How could he say something like that? Well, fast forward a few years and now we're here. 4 years later, I just finished my last year of High School and he uses the fucking phone to tell me that he's going to marry the step monster!"

Chloe had listened quietly while she prepared the bouquet and watched Beca's agitated behavior. "I guess you don't like her?"

"No! I never really warmed up to her. To me, she has always been the useless replacement for my real mom, you know? I don't talk to her and she ruined my relationship with my dad."

Chloe lifted an eyebrow. "Oh? How did she do that?"

Beca groaned. "That's the thing! She didn't have to do anything! Dad just stopped paying any attention to me. He had work and a new woman in his life. I guess he thought I didn't need him anymore. I don't want to sound like a whiny brat that had her dad stolen from her but it really sucked for me, okay?"

"I can understand that. But I have one question. Is she really a bad person or do you just hate her because she replaced your mom?"

Beca closed her eyes for a moment to think about the question. Chloe used the opportunity to check the other girl out. Beca was wearing a black tank top with incredibly short jeans shorts. She wore black chucks and both of her wrists were covered in festival bracelets. Her beautiful brown hair was put in a messy ponytail and there was smudged black eyeliner that framed her eyes.

When Beca opened her eyes again she caught the other girl staring and smirked at her. "No, I guess she isn't a bad person. But that doesn't mean I don't hate her. I still think the fuck you flowers are a great way of conveying my congratulations to their engagement."

Chloe grinned. "They definitely show your strong feelings on the matter."

Beca returned the grin. "That's all I wanted." She took the bouquet Chloe was holding out for her and shook her head when Chloe wanted to give her the change. "Keep that for yourself. Thanks for listening to me."

"No problem. Say, I have one last question. You said you finished High School this summer, right?"

Beca nodded.

"Are you planning to go to college this fall?"

"Yeah, I'm already enrolled at Barden."

Chloe smiled brightly. "Great!" She handed Beca the receipt after scribbling something on the back. "Here you go. Good luck with the step monster and if you're ever bored or if you just want to rant about something, you can call me. I'm sure we'll be seeing each other again in the fall."

Beca furrowed her brows. "Call you?" She turned around the receipt in her hand and smiled at the number that was written on it. "So I guess you're going to Barden as well?"

"Yep. I'll be waiting for that call."

Beca grinned. "Oh, I'll definitely call you. I'll have to tell you if Sheila liked your flowers."

"Definitely."

The small brunette put her sunglasses back on and turned around to leave the flower shop after one last smile in Chloe's direction.

The redheaded girl was hit with another wave of ridiculously humid air as the door slowly fell into it's lock.

She blinked a few times as she looked at the closed door.

Beca. Huh. She definitely needed to remember her and look for her in the fall. She didn't think life would get boring if she knew someone who gifted fuck you flowers to communicate her anger.

The redhead smiled to herself for the rest of the evening, her mood definitely better than when her shift had started.