Though she was glad business had been picking up for the shop, Audrey had to admit, she missed the times when she and Seymour could spend hours back in her arrangement room, just enjoying talking together with no one else around. Now, business was considered slow if there were only a small number of customers looking around at the moment.
While Audrey was at the counter ringing up flowers for a young woman who'd come in for her mother's birthday, Seymour was standing across the shop and dealing with a customer who was trying to argue that they'd gotten his order all wrong, even though they'd given him exactly what he asked for over the phone.
Only half paying attention as she wrapped some paper and a bit of ribbon around a bundle of white and yellow roses, Audrey was trying to keep one eye on Seymour. She knew the type of man he was dealing with well. Just the slightest bit richer and more put-together than your average Skid Row inhabitant, which meant he was miles more arrogant and full of himself. The kind who seemed to make a pastime of finding things to complain about at every business he stepped foot into. And since he was a tall, broad-shouldered man who absolutely towered over Seymour, she was feeling a little worried for her co-worker, and wanted to make sure things didn't get worse than some huffy complaints.
She must have been glancing in Seymour's direction more than she realized, because the customer she was supposed to be helping seemed to take notice.
"Is that someone special to you?" The woman asked.
"Oh, well, um…" Caught off guard, Audrey struggled to figure out to respond, but settled on, "We're close friends."
The woman followed Audrey's gaze back across the shop, and nodded approvingly at the sight. "Lucky you."
Audrey could pick up a few faint traces of the conversation happening over by the peonies. She could hear that Seymour was defending her as the indignant customer tried to say that she'd been incompetent about managing his flowers, and she couldn't help but smile.
"Yes, I am very lucky."
Whether curious or just looking for a bit of gossip, the woman decided to ask, "So, 'close friends'? Not together, then?"
Feeling her face growing warm, Audrey shook her head and stared down at the roses as she did her best to get back to tying the ribbon into a bow.
"Oh no, we're just friends. I'd never be good enough for him."
Still staring across the shop, the woman was beginning to look more and more fascinated. "I suppose he is rather good-looking. I'll bet he makes good money, too."
Audrey tried to ignore a rapidly-growing feeling of unease in the pit of her stomach. She'd never seen anyone look at Seymour that way before, and she had to admit that she didn't like the feeling it gave her. But since she couldn't manage to come up with any clever thoughts about what she should say, she only agreed, "He has been successful lately…"
"Hm…" The woman's eyes lit up as she continued to watch the scene happening on the other side of the room.
Just friends. They were just friends. Audrey had absolutely no business interfering if some customer was taking an interest in Seymour. And besides, she might just be jumping to conclusions. This woman might not even-
"Maybe I'll give him my number."
The feeling of unease immediately turned into a cold, sharp, plummeting sensation. Audrey had always thought that there was something special about Seymour, but somehow, most people didn't seem to notice it. But she should have known that it would only be a matter of time until someone without a past full of dirty, awful secrets came along and became just the sort of girl he deserved.
With the thought that she might have to stand there and watch as Seymour was swept off his feet, Audrey felt an impulse to run from the shop, lock herself in her apartment, and spend the rest of her life never going back outside and running the risk of seeing him living a happy life with someone else.
But since she did care more about his happiness than her own irrational feelings about it, she forced herself to smile, and replied, "I don't see why you shouldn't."
"I think I will." The woman sighed dreamily, twirling a strand of hair around her finger. "He is very handsome."
In spite of herself, Audrey let out a sigh of her own. "He really is. Don't those glasses make him just the cutest thing?"
The woman blinked in surprise, glanced over at Audrey, then looked back at the two men, only one of whom was wearing glasses. "Oh, you meant that little shop hand? I was talking about the customer he's helping."
Her face suddenly burning red, Audrey couldn't think what to do besides quickly fumble to finish off the arrangement and hurriedly hand it to the customer.
"There you go have a nice day!" She said in a chipper voice that probably sounded more than a little forced.
Now seriously questioning whether or not this florist had any sense of good taste, the woman took a few moments to double-check her order, but finally decided that it appeared satisfactory after all.
Willing all of this to be over as soon as possible, Audrey watched silently as the woman walked over to the other customer in the shop, whispered something in his ear, and handed him a scrap of paper with her phone number scrawled on it. It wasn't long before the man decided that following after her would be much more interesting than continuing to argue with scrawny, sweater-vested employees, and he had soon left the shop as well.
There were already new customers coming in, and Audrey did her best to return her focus to work, despite how incredibly embarrassed she was feeling. She must have sounded so foolish. She should have known who they were taking about from the moment that woman started asking if they were together. Why would anyone ever suspect that a wonderful guy like Seymour might be more than just friends with her?
Still, it did manage to lift her spirits a good deal when people started asking questions about the Audrey II, and she overheard Seymour explain that he'd named it after someone he cared about. Maybe it wasn't quite the most foolish thought she'd ever had.