I wasn't planning to add anything to this, but since I got a nice review asking for more, I decided to write a part 2! This wound up being very fun to write, and I hope you enjoy!
Audrey learned very quickly that work in a Skid Row flower shop was anything but hectic. She she had always known that not many people around their part of town took the time to stop and appreciate something just because it looked nice and could make people happy. Still, she thought it was sad to see so many flowers sitting around on the shelves until they eventually had to be thrown out. Mr. Mushnik told her that when they were lucky, business sometimes picked up around some of the holidays. But in the meantime, she wound up facing a lot of long hours with very little work to do. For a while, she'd been worried that it would be decided she wasn't necessary after all, and she would be out of a job again. But as far as she could tell, whatever work she did have to do seemed to have proved her useful enough to stay.
And even in the stretches of time between orders and customers, she had something else that was certainly keeping her mind occupied.
He loves me, he loves me not…
She knew, she knew, it was a childish thing to be doing. But she'd been finding her thoughts trailing to her co-worker more and more these days. He was out of her sight at the moment, off sweeping out front while she sat back in the area that had been set up for her to put arrangements together. But even so, she found that she couldn't stop thinking about him. And when she saw the stray, browning flower just lying there, she decided it was at least something to do besides sitting around twiddling her thumbs.
He loves me.
Maybe she was overdue for this sort of thing. It wasn't exactly that she was inexperienced when it came to relationships. But the experiences she did have were about the farthest thing possible from a schoolyard crush. And now, she was learning what it felt like to be daydreaming about a pair of kind eyes, and to feel her heart lurch every time he talked to her, and to spend the whole day feeling giddy because 'He smiled at me!'
He loves me not.
But she was getting carried away, wasn't she? Surely there was a reason for the fact that, out of all the men she wound up with, none of them had ever been a thing like him. It wasn't as if she ever went out of her way to find a leather-clad brute with a harsh voice and a sharp temper. But those were the sort of men you met in the Gutter, and the men in the Gutter were the ones who wanted someone like her. She figured that the kinda guy who wore a sweater vest and spent his evenings reading a botany book was smart enough to know better.
He loves me.
Still, it was hard not to let her mind travel towards romantic thoughts when she was surrounded by flowers all day. When they did get customers, it often appeared to be someone who realized at the last minute that it was some holiday or anniversary where flowers would be expected, and they seemed very much resentful of needing to take the time to stop by the run-down shop and spend any of their hard earned money. But once or twice, she'd seen someone who looked very much in love, and who couldn't wait to brighten the day of their special someone. Just the day before, it had been a boy who couldn't have been many years younger than her or Seymour. He had come in to buy a corsage, and spent the whole time gushing about the girl he was taking to a school dance. Audrey had never gotten to have an experience like that in her own life, and she couldn't help but wonder what it would be like.
He loves me n-
"Penny for your thoughts?"
Startled, she looked up as the petal fluttered down to join the others on the table, and she realized that she hadn't heard Seymour come in. He'd been getting a little braver when it came to starting conversations, but hesitated when he saw that he seemed to have interrupted her while she was deep in thought about something.
"I mean um, if you aren't busy, that is. I thought it might be getting lonely back here, but I could-"
Audrey smiled at him, and shook her head to say that she wasn't too busy for him. She motioned to the other stool sitting nearby, and as he came to sit down, she set the flower down on top of the small collection of petals that had been gathering beneath it and instead picked up the corsage again.
"I was just thinking about this orda'." She said. It certainly wasn't all she had been thinking about, but it wasn't exactly a lie either. "He'll be coming by to pick it up soon. Do you think it looks nice enough?"
"It looks wonderful. I'm sure he'll be really happy." Seymour had learned that Audrey had a lot of doubt about her skills, although he couldn't see why. He was certain he had never met anyone more talented at getting their meager stock to look nice.
"I wish I knew what I was doing betta'. No one's ever taught me how to do this…"
It wasn't something she would have brought up if her boss had been in the room, but she felt more comfortable around Seymour, and it did wonders to put her mind at ease when he gave her a reassuring smile.
"I don't think it matters. Everything you've made looks great. A lot better than I could do. You've got a good eye for this."
Audrey smiled as well, idly turning the corsage over in her hands and trying to make herself believe that it looked fine, rather than searching for ways she might have unknowingly ruined it. "It was fun to make. Do we get a lot of orda's for this sort of thing?"
Seymour's smile faded and she briefly wanted to flinch, wondering what she had said wrong. But she realized a moment later that he wasn't angry, only thoughtful.
"No, not really. I don't think many people in this part of town stay in school long enough to go to many dances." He shifted awkwardly on the stool, and admitted, "I never made it all that far myself."
Mr. Mushnik had pulled him out of school at a pretty young age, since he couldn't get any work done while he was off in a classroom. At the time, he couldn't say that he minded much. As eager as he was to learn, he hadn't really liked school. The bigger kids picked on him, and the teachers would always smack his wrist with a ruler because he was writing with the wrong hand. He much preferred learning his botany facts in a quiet shop surrounded by plants that did nothing but sit there and listen willingly as he eagerly explained what he was learning about them. But given that actual people never really took any time to talk to him, he knew that he was probably a very dull person to be around, and he worried that Audrey would be thinking the same thing if she knew he never even finished grade school.
"Oh, well that's alright. I think you still know more about plants than anyone I've eva' met." Audrey said, and she was quite pleased when it seemed to have the desired effect of cheering him up.
Quite the contrary to finding him dull, Audrey was looking at him just the way she always had, as if he was the most fascinating person she had ever laid eyes on. Having a conversation like this, one where you could talk about things like your past or whatever happened to be on your mind at the moment, was quite new to her. At her other job, the topics people usually brought up after meeting her were either how great they were, or what they would like to do once they got her alone. This was something very different, and it was something very, very nice.
The bell from the front door interrupted the moment, and she hurried to scoop up a small box and place the corsage inside.
"That'll be the customa' for this." She explained, already reaching for a ribbon to add a quick bow.
The part where she had to actually give something she'd made to a customer still made her nervous, and she always worried that they'd end up losing their temper with her because she'd done it all wrong somehow. Seymour noticed her hesitance, and picked up the box once she had finished with it.
"I can bring it out to him if you'd like."
She nodded gratefully, and only managed to relax completely again once she heard that it seemed to be a perfectly cheerful exchange happening on the other side of the door.
She supposed she should get around to cleaning up her work station now that she was finished with the last order she had for the day. After brushing a few bits of leaves and ribbons off the table and into the wastebasket, she stopped once she reached the flower that was almost bare from her pulling off the petals. There was only one still remaining, but she couldn't quite remember where she had left off.
Well, she supposed it was silly to think some little game with a flower could tell her what her co-worker was thinking about her anyway. And yet, she couldn't quite bring herself to simply throw it away with the rest of the debris from the table. After pulling the last petal off, she carefully tucked it away in her clutch so she could pull it out and look at it again later. Maybe it was a good thing to not know. She wasn't quite sure if she would be ready to handle the answer. And she knew it would only be a matter of time until the already-browning petal completely withered up and crumpled to pieces. But at least for a few days more, it could serve as a reminder that, no matter how unlikely, there might at least be a chance. That seemed like a thought worth holding onto.