Hello again all! I hadn't thought I'd be able to update again so quickly, but alas, here we are. Now, I must confess something: I Mary-Sued just a bit in this chapter. How? Each event described (as you'll see), I've done. Sad but true...

Now, I owe many thanks to Star's Snowflake! She's reviewed every chapter thus far and has been supportive of my little fic. So thank you very very much :) Also, thank you to all of my readers who don't review. Seeing interest in the fic is enough to keep me going. Please do review though if you can, they mean a lot.

Disclaimer: I don't own Little Shop of Horrors. However, I do own every feat of clumsiness. So that counts for something, right? Didn't think so.

4. Stories

Maybe he won't notice, Audrey thought as she rushed across the street to her place of employment as fast as her foot could carry her. I'm not that late today…

Shop opened at 9, and it was only 10 o'clock. Mr. Mushnik should think it's an improvement over the last three weeks, she wished. She tried to ignore the shooting pain in her foot. No one's gonna believe this…

The bell on the door jingled as Audrey opened it and stepped into the flower shop. "Audrey," her boss said, "you're early. We weren't expecting you till at least noon." Sarcastic as always.

"Sorry Mista Mushnik," she squeaked. "I'll try to be on time tomorra." Silence filled the room. "Did we have any customas today?"

Mushnik dramatically stood, and announced with a flourish, "Of course not! We never have customers. Not even Mrs. Shiva came in for a dead someone or other. Why God.." Audrey blocked out her boss's laments about his shop. She'd heard them thrice a day, no matter what time she arrived. There'll be time later…

Just then, Seymour arrived from the basement (and his room), where he had been caring for his personal plants. When he saw Audrey, his face lit up. "Hi Audrey," he said with his shy, cute smile. "It's good to see you."

Looking at her, Seymour knew something was different. He raised an eyebrow, asking "Weren't you taller than me yesterday?" Her white face turned to pink, and she looked down. "Oh no, I didn't mean to insul—" "Don't worry Seymour," she half-smiled at him, still blushing.

Without another word, the pair busied themselves around the empty shop. Audrey watered on one side, Seymour on the other; Seymour took inventory, Audrey arranged flowers for the windows; Seymour swept the floors, Audrey dusted the counter.

Things passed quietly. The shop remained deserted, and the two employees simply bided their time before Mushnik's Skid Row Florist could officially close for the day. Everything went well, until Audrey and Seymour were walking in different directions, and Seymour, tripping over his own feet, stumbled and regained his balance…right on top of Audrey's foot.

Even though he jumped up almost immediately, Audrey's foot shot up in pain, and she nearly tumbled straight to the ground; she would have fallen completely over if she hadn't fallen into Seymour, who (somehow) kept her mostly upright.

She cried out slightly, trying to downplay her pain. Slowly, she tested her foot, sharply inhaling with every step she took.

"I'm so sorry Audrey!" Seymour exclaimed, "I didn't mean ta! I just fell like I do all the time and I.." "It ain't your fault Seymour," she said gently, trying to smile at him, "I hurt my foot earlier..."

Mushnik then decided to pay some attention to his workers. "Audrey, if it's that boyfriend o' yours again…" he warned. "Oh no, nothin' like that Mista Mushnik!" she cried, embarrassed. "I, uh…did this to myself." Her entire face was flushed.

Simultaneously, Seymour and Mr. Mushnik raised their eyebrows, suspicious. "Audrey…" Mushnik started again; cold though he could be, he did care about his naïve little employee.

"I mean it Mista Mushnik sir!" She exclaimed again. "I was gettin' ready this mornin', and I had one a my shoes on, when the phone rang. An' I was kinda out, so the phone scared me and I jumped up to get it…and I landed on my othah foot, and slid and fell." Both Seymour and Mushnik looked down to her foot, and sure enough, there was a small but deep stiletto-shaped scrape on the top of her foot, surrounded by a nicely bruising shoeprint à la Seymour. For the first time that either man could remember, Audrey was wearing not her normal, spiky high heels, but a pair of more conservative black flats.

Audrey shook her head but smiled a little. "It was a wrong number," she told them, letting out a barely-there giggle. At that, Seymour couldn't help but smile. "Is your foot gonna be okay?" he asked her. She nodded. "I survived worse," she said nonchalantly, taking a seat on one of the chairs in the room.

Seymour went to her and sat in the chair beside her. "Like what?" he asked, genuinely intrigued.

She giggled. "Well, ya ain't gonna believe this one," she started. Seymour's big eyes said, go on, as he gazed at her. "I…fell through a roof."

"You're kidding," Seymour said, shocked. She laughed, despite herself. "I did!"

"How?" he asked curiously, "why were you on a roof?"

Smiling almost ironically, she confided her story: "Well…I was ten years ol' and my friend dared me to go up on a garage. An' I never turn down a dare," her grin turned a bit mischievous, "so I went up, an' I stepped on the weak spot…and I landed in a wheelbarrow. Lucky all I did was break an arm."

Seymour stared at her, half in shock and half in amazement. "Wow Audrey, you really did that?" She nodded. "Gee…I never done anything like that. Well…once I fell into a window and broke it…" he turned the same shade of pink she'd been earlier.

Audrey couldn't help but burst into a fit of giggles. "I'm sorry Seymour," she said through the laughs, "how'd ya do that?" she asked, controlling her fit and looking at him intently. "I was cleanin' a window, and there was a leaf on the ground, ya see, and I stepped on the leaf and fell right into the window, and it cracked real bad. Mr. Mushnik wasn't too happy about that window…"

"Aww Seymour, that's terrible!" Audrey said. "Nah," he countered, "it's kinda funny now. It wasn't when I hadta pay for a new one though…"

"Ah, what're we gonna do?" she asked rhetorically, "we're a couple a klutzes it looks like." She smiled, and he beamed at her. "I guess so…I didn't know you were as bad as I was though," he said, blushing slightly.

"Ya didn't?" she nearly shrieked. "I trip all the time! Usually over my own two feet…"

Another dull day at the Skid Row Florist became less dull as the coworkers exchanged tales of their trips, falls, sprains, bruises, cuts, scrapes, and the like. As the chatter became more and more animated, their boss could but simply stare in awe at the two of them.

Only one thought ran through Mushnik's mind: Oafs, both o' them.

End note: At about 1,113 words, this is my longest chapter yet. I'd intended to keep my prompt drabbles shorter...that'd didn't work out so well now, did it? Well, I hope you all enjoyed, and as I have my next chapter done, I should see you all soon. Until then!