Mireille Li had to be careful not to crush the fragile gold flowers as she affixed the miniature bunches to the wire frame. A feat that requires the utmost concentration. It had to be perfect, lest the rage of the mother-of-the-bride be unleashed upon her for a less-than-perfect flower crown. Rose hips were exceptionally fragile, she must handle them delicately.
Maybe that was why when she had felt a hand on her shoulder, Mireille she was more than a little surprised to say the least. Swinging her arm back in reflex, she felt her fist hit something solid. With a yelp, she jumped back. Inadvertently shifting all her weight on the shorter leg of her crooked old stool, she began to tip over.
But she didn't hit the ground.
Opening her eyes, she saw her face had been two inches away from hitting the light hardwood head-on. Holding her still in this position was a set of arms that had managed to grab her in time.
Slowly, they pulled her upright. Her heart was pounding so fast, she was unsure if it had stopped beating for a moment. The sight greeting her when she had finally refocused her vision was a rather intimidating man. Broad shouldered, he seemed to wear a rather serious expression. Next to him, taller, well dressed man. Rubbing his shoulder as if it had been hit.
… It was hit.
The moment Mireille realized that she had accidentally hit a customer, she felt her face flush hot.
"Oh my goodness!" she cried, jumping to her feet. "I am so, so, so sorry!"
She covered her mouth with her hands, feeling tears begin to well up in her eyes from embarrassment. She had to blink them away, she couldn't further humiliate herself in front of those customers.
"I'll give you gentlemen a discount on your whole order for this inconvenience! I promise! I am so unbelievably sorry!"
She was so focused on her work she hadn't even heard them enter the shop. Even with the little silver chime she had hung over the door! She was such a fool.
"Miss Mireille Li, right? We aren't customers." the shorter man said, seeming a little befuddled at her sudden barrage of an apology.
The florist couldn't help but give a slow blink. Then blink again.
Not customers?
"I'm Agent Morgan. This is Doctor Spencer Reid-" he gestured to the taller man- "We're from the FBI."
"FB… I…?" she echoed. "Like the federal agency?"
Soon a whole new flood of thoughts entered Mireille's mindscape. She wondered what could she have possibly done to incur the wrath of the federal government? She was a law-abiding citizen. Always paid her taxes and filed the proper paperwork. Sure, maybe in the days of her youth there was some underage drinking, but she was young and dumb.
Then it hit her. She had accidentally smacked a federal agent. That opened a whole different can of worms. What if she was arrested for assaulting a member of the Federal Bureau of Investigation? She couldn't go to jail. She would probably die there.
"Don't worry, Miss Li. We're only here to ask you some questions," the taller man said, pulling Mireille out of her train of thought.
"Oh- of course!" she replied, her voice still a bit shaky. She hoped they hadn't noticed.
"Do you recognize these?"
The agent laid a set of photographs across the counter. Each photo was of three of her bouquets, taken from various angles. She slid them closer to herself. The paper tag with her store name still attached to each one of her bouquets.
"These are my arrangements, alright," she said, looking back up to the two.
"Do you recognize them?"
"Yeah. Even for custom-made bouquets they're pretty unique."
She pointed at the third photo on the counter, remembering how unusual that one in particular was.
"Begonia, candytuft, primrose…" she mindlessly recited, pointing out each of the respective flowers. "Snapdragon… peony… On their own, not all that unusual. But to order them all together. That never happens. But hey, some people have unusual taste."
She shrugged, before a purple-blue spot in the photographs caught her eye. How strange.
She pointed to the second photograph at tall flowers with smaller violet blooms scattered through the stem.
"See that flower?"
"Monkshood," Doctor Reid said. "Also known as wolfs' bane."
"That's right," Mireille replied, slightly impressed that he was able to identify it right off the bat.
"Right. Highly toxic. Can cause death if mishandled type toxic," she continued, not taking her eyes off the picture. "I refuse to handle it. That was added after I sold these."
"It's in the first and third bouquets too," Agent Morgan muttered, looking over the other photographs once more.
"It's the only one where the same flower was used in more than one bouquet."
"Do you remember who ordered these, Miss Li?" the agent asked.
"Never got his name, but I know his face. Always gave a bit of a creepy vibe. Always paid in cash. You can look at my order logs, if you'd like."She pulled a thick binder from a shelf underneath, dropping the heavy thing on the counter with a thud. "Comes in every Wednesday. Always in the afternoon."
Doctor Reid took the binder, quickly flipping through it until he reached the section closer towards the back of the book. He slid his finger down the pages, seeming to only briefly skim over them.
"This would line up with the time of the killings."
Killings? she thought. Just who are these guys?
"Now that I think about it, it is Wednesday, no? I think he should be coming soon."
The two agents looked at her. She couldn't help but cast her glance aside, unable to meet eye contact with either of the agents.
"You two are free to stay here as long as you'd like."
Today was just one awkward humiliation after the other.
Since I wrote the first chapter of Mais Oui over a year ago, I really didn't like how I had written it. I also regret the original direction I took the story, so I'm rewriting it! Hope everyone enjoys!
L.D