"Ah, goodness I almost forgot!" Annie's voice echoed in the empty halls of the inn one evening.
Kamil, hearing her voice from downstairs in his room, almost dropped the bouquet he was working on because of the sudden outburst. When Kamil moved into Oak Tree Town in the spring, he would always make sure to lock his door. It was now almost fall, and Kamil had grown so comfortable with Maurice and his daughters that he had a habit of leaving his door open. He heard Melanie's footsteps seconds after and could imagine her jumping around in excitement. Giggles started filling the once empty inn.
Every day or so, Annie would give gifts to the townspeople. At first, the majority of the town thought she was buying her friendships, but soon they realized that she did it out of the goodness of her heart. They were usually small gifts, but what made them so special was the thought she put into it. She made sure to give gifts they would like, whether it was a tasty snack for them to eat on their breaks, a sample of the crops she was growing back at her ranch, or things she would find in the market or while she was in the mountain area. She would do all of this while striking up a conversation, then going back to her regular routine.
Kamil could hear Melanie's light voice. "You really didn't have to give me a Moondrop flower," she told Annie. "I can always look at them on my own!"
"Well, it's starting to get a little bit chillier. I think it would be better if I brought them to you," she replied sweetly. Kamil could tell she was smiling at the young girl just from her tone.
Kamil tried to stop eavesdropping, but he couldn't help it. He always hated it when Laney and Howard would eavesdrop back at Bluebell, so why was he doing it now?
"I'm always thinking about everyone... wondering if they're okay, if they have enough energy to go through the day-"
"The only person you should worry about is Fritz!" Melanie interjected, causing them to both laugh.
Kamil smirked a bit, too. Fritz was a wild one, for sure. Kamil once caught Fritz fishing in the lake for food and having a fit when he caught garbage instead. However, he was a caring and hard working farmer. In a way, he reminded Kamil of Ash.
Kamil tried to get back to work. He closed the door this time, stared down at his hands which still had some dirt residue, then picked under his nails. He had been working outside all day, picking flowers around the town and outside by the mountain area. Tired, but happy with how productive his day was, he smiled gently to himself. He couldn't wait to put the flowers he collected together to make a bouquet. He started adjusting the colours one by one.
Hmm... No, this way's better...
Melanie's voice interrupted his train of thought. She sounded closer, like she was right outside his room.
"Annie! Come play hide and seek with me and Nadi!" she exclaimed.
"What? Melanie, shouldn't you be sleeping?" Kamil heard the landscaper grumble from inside his room.
Annie laughed nervously, "We already played hide and seek with him... and it's getting late, Melanie. Listen to Nadi. You really should get to bed now. I'll be leaving soon too."
Melanie sighed in disappointment. "Oh, fine! Promise we'll play again tomorrow?"
"I promise," Annie said.
"Yeah, yeah," Nadi's muffled voice replied as well behind his door.
"Yay! Okay, goodnight!"
Kamil only heard Melanie's footsteps as she made her way downstairs back to her room. Annie, however, didn't move for a bit, from what he could hear. Moments later, he heard slow, but quiet footsteps head closer to his door. She knocked on his door two times before asking in a timid voice, "Kamil, are you busy?"
He froze in his place. His interactions with Annie had become less awkward as they saw each other more, but Kamil had trouble with getting Lillian off his mind. He distracted himself from his thoughts with his work. "Come in," he simply said. "The door's unlocked."
"It's me, Annie," she announced, entering his room then closing the door behind her. "Were Melanie and I loud? I hope I'm not bothering you..."
"Hey, Annie. No, you're not."
"I stopped by to give her a Moondrop flower and I have an extra one. Before I go, would you like to have it?" She extended her arm, revealing a deep blue flower with large petals. Kamil nodded and accepted it with a small smile. Her attention suddenly switched from him to the flowers on his table. "What's this you're working on?"
Kamil stepped aside, allowing her to move closer and get a better view. He answered, "I'm working on a flower arrangement. I want to use local flowers to represent the feel of the town." He noticed a sparkle in her eye. Gesturing to the seat next to the table, he said, "Y-You can watch, if you're interested."
"I would love to."
"You can have a seat over there."
As Annie walked around him to sit down, Kamil already started working. He wanted to avoid making conversation, but the awkward silence was getting to him. He spoke up, not taking his eyes off of his flower arrangement, "Annie, do you enjoy flower picking? What do you think of flowers?" They would often converse if they passed each other in town, but he never really got the chance to ask her this.
He remembered asking the same thing to Lillian back at Bluebell the first time they spent time alone together.
"They're so beautiful..." Lillian said dreamily.
"I try to grow my own flowers," Annie said. "I have so many favourites... They're all so pretty, I can't pick just one!"
"I feel the same way. The townspeople are like the flowers. All of them are so nice, you can't like just one." His fingers were shaking slightly. His nerves were getting to him as he arranged the flowers by their colour and placed them in the wrapping. "Say, have you ever tried making a bouquet?"
"Cam, I think gerbera would be a great accent colour," Lillian told him with a smile. "What? I've been doing some research!"
Annie answered, "Yes, I have! Giorgio loves them. They're not as beautiful as yours though, that's for sure."
Kamil smiled at her kind words. "Thank you. Some people don't recognize the hard work that gets put into bouquets. You don't just randomly put them together. Each flower means something. I'm sure you'll get better at it. If you ever need help with your bouquets, I'm here. Although, I'm still learning myself..."
"You can do it, Cam!" Lillian always encouraged him and made him go out of his comfort zone. "I'll be here to support you." With her, he could do things that he could normally never do...
"Well, that's why you're here, right?" Annie stood up then crouched down so she could see the bouquet closely. She continued, "You'll study and learn more. Just as you said, 'I'm sure you'll get better at it', too!"
Kamil carefully tied a blue ribbon around the bouquet then cut and evened out the ends with scissors. The arrangement of bright red, dark blue, and white flowers were eye-catching and fresh. The different shapes of the petals and faces of the flowers created the illusion of movement, making the eye look at every flower. It was dynamic, contemporary... something Kamil's never really tried before.
"There, that should do it. What do you think?" He was genuinely curious as to what Annie would say about it. He finally tried to make eye contact with her.
"Wow!" Her violet eyes sparkled even more with delight as she said, "It's like magic!"
Her words caught him off guard and he felt the blood rush to his face. He wanted to hide behind his hands. Instead, he found himself awkwardly rubbing his neck, as if playing with a tie that he was supposed to be wearing. "Oh," he began nervously, "it's not that big of a thing. Really. Thanks."
Annie giggled softly, "I didn't mean to put you under pressure."
Kamil cleared his throat, composing himself. "No, it's okay. I'm just glad you were interested in seeing what I do. Trying to work with an audience in front of me was pretty exciting, to be honest."
There was a short moment of silence as they exchanged glances, before Kamil found himself looking back at his flowers. "Anyways, I'd better clean up."
"Yeah, I should head back before it gets dark. See you tomorrow, Kamil. Maybe we can grab a coffee together some time?"
"I would like that. See you later, Annie."
Once Annie left, Kamil got ready for bed, placing the Moondrop flower she gave him by his bedside table. He hadn't seen her all day, actually. They both were so busy that this was the first time they talked today. Usually, she would give him flowers, just like she did today, hoping he would make a bouquet out of them. Other days, when she would have time in the morning, she would invite him for coffee at the restaurant owned by Raeger. He always looked forward to it.
Before turning off the lights in his room, he glanced at the bouquet he made one last time. Looking at the bouquet he made by the local flowers made him realize how different Oak Tree Town was to Bluebell. How would he represent Bluebell with flowers, he wondered. Something probably more traditional and delicate.
He sighed. He had to admit that he felt a bit homesick. He didn't know if he would sleep well tonight. Getting coffee with Annie in the morning sounded like a good idea, but then again, the bittersweet taste of coffee always made him nostalgic as well.
a/n: after a long and unannounced hiatus, i am back! i'm on summer again and i survived my super busy school year. hopefully i can update more! i would love to finish this fanfic not just for you guys, but for myself too xD i can't just abandon this.
i wanted to incorporate flower events in this fanfic so here you go! if any of you played tale of two towns, i hope you noticed some of the references i also threw in! please leave a review to let me know how i'm doing! i would really appreciate it. until the next chapter~
