Sunday, February 22nd; 5:20 AM
Natalia and Alfred, side by side, walk up to the trio of stores, shocked: the lights in the tattoo parlor were on, a nice looking neon-sign was up, and there was someone walking about inside. Natalia quickly unlocks Arlovskaya's Flowers and walks inside, dropping her bag on the counter. She then opens the never-locked door, walking into the tattoo parlor.
"Oh, hello. I didn't realise you were open on Sundays. Was I too loud? Sorry..." The man said in a quiet voice; he was exactly as Alfred had described him, with pale skin, blue-ish violet eyes, and he was rather tall. He was wearing a black tanktop with some Norwegian death-metal band on it, black jeans, and black hightops; tattoos covered his arms and part of his neck. He was stacking cardboard boxes into one another. On the boxes were various phrases, such as 'Blekk', 'Tilfeldige bøker for folk å lese', and 'Mer tilfeldige ting', all written in Sharpie.
"What do those say?" Natalia asks, trying to make sense of the letters.
" 'Ink', 'Random Books For People To Read', and 'More Random Things', all in Norwegian." The man responds. "Lukas; You?" He outstretches a hand.
"Natalia," She responds, shaking Lukas' hand.
"Is he your boyfriend?" Lukas asks, gesturing at Alfred, who was standing in the doorway, staring into space.
"Alfred? Please... he's gay and dating." Natalia explained. "We dated once, and, no offense to him, but he's not someone I'd like to date again..."
"I heard that." Alfred says, walking over with his hands in his pockets.
"Anyway, nice meeting you two," Lukas says with a slight smile.
"Same, I guess... have you met the folks that own the bakery yet?" Natalia asks, walking out backwards.
"I plan to soon. Thanks." Was Lukas' response as Alfred and Natalia walked back into Arlovskaya's Flowers.
"I knew you would like him," Alfred said, leaning against the counter. Natalia blushes, and pulls out her laptop.
"Gah, why are so many people ordering roses? We're almost busier than we were on Valentine's Day!" Natalia said frustratingly. "Most of them are due tomorrow, so, you're going to get them from the greenhouse."
"Oh God... can we call them? I hate driving that van..." Alfred replied.
"It's 6 AM, the city doesn't wake up until 8. Go. I'll wait for you." Natalia says, not looking up from her laptop. Once Alfred had walked out, slamming the door behind him as he does, she begins to play 'Fairytale'. As she had forgotten to flip the sign to 'Open,' no one came in, and she was free to sing along and dance. Suddenly, around two minutes in, she hears a door open, and someone else begin humming to the music in a quiet voice. She suddenly stops dancing and tries to quickly fix her messed up hair. Lukas smiles.
"Your hair looks fine. You a fan of Alexader Rybak?" He asks. Natalia nods in response.
"Same..." Lukas says. "This was the first song I listened to by him."
"Mine was Foolin'... I was 13. Funny, you don't seem like someone who would listen to him." said Natalia in response. She walks over to her latop, and turns the music off.
"Yeah, most people get that vibe from me; and hey, I can play music just as loud." Lukas says, grinning and walking back into his store. Natalia shakes her head and flips the sign to 'Open'.
"Hey, you boob, I'm back. Now help me carry these in." A familiar voice says. Alfred, using his back to open the door, was carrying around 5 big bouquets of red roses.
"How are you back already? It takes longer than a couple minutes to drive to the greenhouse and back..."
"Hate to break it to you, sister, I was gone for more than ten minutes." Alfred places the bouquets on the counter. "There's around fifteen still in there. I had to drive that disgusting van, so you go get them."
While Natalia walks outside and attempts to stack all fifteen bouquets in her arms, she thinks. She couldn't have been dancing, listening to music, and talking to Lukas for that long...
The trio of friends sit around the coffee table Alfred had made. Arthur and Alfred were on a love seat, and Natalia in an armchair. Three boxes of pizza sat on the table, all of them open and empty. Natalia had two slices stacked on top of each other, and was eating them. The TV was on, but the volume low. As "The Golden Girls" played on the TV, Alfred being the only one watching, Arthur chatted with Natalia about how the shop was, how her students were doing, random things like that. This was their routine every Friday, but they never grew tired of it. Eventually, Arthur and Natalia's discussion turned to how they first met, in high school...
The trio of friends had all met at the end of 9th grade, when Natalia's adoptive father had finally let her start school after getting used to the town a bit. Alfred and Arthur still hadn't started dating, and, to be honest, neither of them knew they were gay yet. And the more the three hung out, the more people urged Natalia and Alfred to date, and so they did. And as that went on, the more Alfred realized he was gay: for Arthur in specific. Nat and Al broke up, and Arthur started dating him in secret, with Natalia still "dating" Alfred as his beard to avoid conflict with both of their parents. However, despite how hard they tried, Alfred's parents found out in the beginning of their senior year, and, after abusing him all throughout the school year, kicked him out and refused to pay for any of his college. And so, he simply didn't go. The same happened with Arthur, but they kicked him out because he needed to live on his own. Alfred got a job as a waiter at the restaurant Natalia worked part time as a chef at. However, at the end of her senior year of college, they were both fired. Which is how they got the idea for the flower shop: the two were sitting outside, glooming and waiting for Arthur to pick them up, when they were both admiring the flowers, and realized the town didn't really have a flower shop; after pitching the idea to Arthur, they were able to find and buy and abandoned lot next to a French bakery, right near the apartment complex all three were living in; after working lots of other part-time jobs and having friends donate, all three raised enough money to buy the store, and, lo and behold, Arlovskaya's Flowers was born, named after Natalia. Arthur, deciding to finish school, helped them out with minimal and unnecessary donations, which Natalia and Alfred decided to put away for something important, like necessary renovations. The grand-opening was a busy day, but not as busy as the other days were bound to be; thousands of people ordered a variety of flowers, from Felicia amelloides (which they didn't have), to red roses (which they had an abundance of). The two were overwhelmed with people coming in and out, and in the end, Arthur ended up helping them out. That night, at exactly 5:30, the store closed for the first time, and certainly not the last.
Suddenly, a flash of lightning illuminates the room. Alfred flinches and drops his plate, which was luckily paper.
"Thank God we live in the same apartment complex..." Natalia says, folding her arms over her stomach. "I think I should be heading home soon... thanks for having me." She stands up and picks her bag up, slinging it over her shoulder. "Do you guys have a generator? I do; if the power goes out, feel free to come to my place; my couch is large enough to fit two."
"Thanks; the storm is probably going to be bad." As Alfred speaks, another large flash of lighting strikes, followed by a loud crack of thunder. Alfred lets out a small whimper.
"I don't know about you Arty..." He stutters out. "But I'm taking up Nat's offer." He stood up, taking the blanket on his lap and wrapping it around his shoulders like a shawl; Arthur sighed and stood up, taking his beer bottle with him.
"Thanks, Nat," He says simply, following her as she walks to the elevator. Natalia pressed the button and steps into the spacious elevator; Alfred and Arthur walk in after her.
"Ooh, do you think Pixel will be awake? She's so fucking cute and I just want to squeeze her hubby little stomach and…" Alfred trails off, making various baby-talk noises. Arthur rolls his eyes, but reaches slightly up to hold his hand. Arthur was only an inch or two shorter than Alfred, but Alfred's boots and confident stance made him appear much taller. The elevator slowly went down, before finally reaching its second floor destination. Natalia leads the duo down the hall to her apartment, opening the door and using her foot to stop Pixel from attacking Alfred's leg.
"Baby!" Alfred yells, scooping up the black kitten in his arms. He wraps her in the quilt and carried her over to the couch. While he baby-talked the cat, Natalia sat on the kitchen counter and looked at her feet. Arthur leans on the counter across from her.
"So, how about that weather, eh?" Arthur awkwardly says, causing a small laugh from Natalia. "Are you positive you don't mind us spending the night? We can always just sleep in our apartment."
"In the cold and dark? No way: my couch is your bed tonight." She says, walking into the living room. "You two can set up the couch and make yourself comfortable. Good night," Natalia walks into her room, shutting the door behind her. Pixel would likely sleep in there with Alfred, and she'd somehow find a way in anyway. Natalia kicks off her shoes and peels off her shirt and pants. She crawls into bed, only in her black bra and underwear. Pulling her comforter over her shoulders, she stares out the window, into the city, watching lights flicker off and the city went to sleep.
