"Seymour… there's something I wanted to talk to you about."
Audrey was sitting at their small kitchen table, a few papers gathered in front of her. Seymour didn't have the first idea what to expect, but the look on her face told him it was something more serious than what flowers they should add to the windowsill, or what color drapes they should pick for the dining room.
Immediately, he was trying to remember everything that had happened over the past few days. Was something wrong? Was it something he had done?
"It's just, um…" Audrey adjusted how she was sitting and smoothed out the papers as Seymour came over to join her at the table. "We've been working on setting up our own store, and I started thinking about how we've both worked in a flowa' shop, but neitha' of us have run one before..."
She paused to look up at Seymour, and felt a little better when she saw that he was listening intently. She reminded herself that he wasn't the sort of person who would scoff at her and tell her she didn't know what she was talking about if she tried to discuss business.
"So I went down to look into what sort of night classes are offered around here, and I thought it might be a good idea to sign up for something." She pushed the papers closer so he could see, and began pointing to the places she'd circled. "It wouldn't have to be a full degree or anything, just a class or two to make sure we know what we're doing. I figured intro to business management would be important, and if you'd feel up to doing two, then there's accounting, or maybe marketing…"
Seymour remained silent as she explained, thinking over it carefully. He'd never been at any good at school, not to mention that he'd dropped out so young he would be incredibly out of practice with the whole thing. And this was the kind of thing that would involve a lot of numbers, wasn't it? He'd always been worst at the numbers. Though he also knew that the last thing either of them wanted was for their new flower shop to fail, and to end up in another place like Skid Row because they'd run out of money. And if it would make them more secure in their new life and help Audrey feel more at ease, he would gladly agree to give it a shot.
But even if this probably was something he should do, he still had a sinking feeling that it wouldn't go right at all.
Starting to get worried about his silence, Audrey continued, "Of course, you don't have to if you don't want to. I hope you don't feel like I'm asking too much."
"No, it… it does seem like a good idea."
He tried to give her a convincing smile, but Audrey still picked up on the nerves in his voice, and reached out to take his hand. "I wish I could go through it with you, but classes do cost money, and we really should be careful before we start earning a profit."
It was the truth that she'd like to go through the classes as well, for more reasons than just wanting to provide moral support. Most of her boyfriends had called her stupid, or got angry when she voiced her opinions, or just generally made it clear that she should stick to looking nice and keeping her mouth shut. She couldn't help but think that it would mean a lot if she could show that she was capable with something like this. But as much as she would like to, they had to be practical, and she would feel selfish if she asked to dig into more of their savings just so she could prove something to herself. And she probably was too dumb anyway…
Though Seymour didn't know exactly what was on Audrey's mind, he could see the longing in her expression as she looked over the class listings. And suddenly, the right answer was very clear. Now smiling genuinely, he pushed the papers back in her direction.
"I think you should be the one to do it."
Audrey looked up at him, nearly gaping with surprise. "… me?"
Seymour nodded earnestly. "You stayed in school longer than I did, and you're so smart. I bet you'd do great at this."
Audrey didn't know what to say, and she wasn't sure whether to start with thinking over the suggestion, or if she should be processing the fact that it was the first time in her life she'd ever been called smart.
"Well, I… I just don't know…" Her brow was creased with concentration, and she seemed to have to tear her gaze away from the information sitting on the table in front of them. "Running a shop was always your dream. I wouldn't want to step on your toes."
"You wouldn't be." He assured her. "The shop is still something we'll be working on together. And besides, taking care of the plants was always the part I was liked."
Audrey's gaze was already starting to drift back to the papers, but she still noticed the encouraging look Seymour gave her.
"So… what do you think?" He asked.
Audrey thought hard for a few moments, before, finally, a bright grin broke out. "Sure."