Sunlight shone through the cracks in the blinds, illuminating the bedroom. Ava rolled onto her stomach and groaned. Was it morning already? Unfortunately, it was, which means Ava had to get up. Her sleep-bogged body protested as she dragged herself upright. At that moment, the closet looked to be a mile away. Ava forced her legs to move off of the bed and she stood up. Before venturing to find clothes, she stopped at her mirror.
"I can do this. I am Ava. I am Ava Ire and I am beautiful," she told herself. Walking over to the iPod dock, she put on some uplifting and catchy music. Her voice joined in with the melody and Ava began to dig through her closet to find the dress Maggie told her to wear. With an "aha!" Ava pulled the dress from the seemingly endless void that was her closet. It was a powder blue color with pale yellow sunflowers. Rummaging through her dresser for a pair of fresh underwear and a bra that wouldn't show through the light colored dress. She shimmied into the dress and realized she hadn't shaved her legs in a few days. While she was really leaning towards not shaving, she knew Maggie would kill her if she knew she neglected to do so. Ava rushed to the bathroom, grabbed her razor, and hopped onto the sink counter. Running the hot water, she started lathering her legs. A record was set that day for the shortest time someone had ever taken to shave their legs. She double-checked to see if she was wearing enough deodorant to last through the bike ride to work. Though mornings were cooler, it was still the summer.
Ava sat down at her vanity once again and toyed with the caramel colored locks. Carefully, she opened the box that contained the makeup she rarely used. She started with lining her eyes with a chocolatey brown. Next, she dusted her eyelids with a coppery gold shadow. Moving onto her lashes, she picked a neutral colored mascara. She finished the look with a clear, sugary lip gloss.
She rushed downstairs to grab her backpack, then popped the garage and grabbed her bike. Ava glanced at the leather watch on her wrist. Crap. If she didn't get to the shop soon, she wouldn't be there for opening. Why, exactly, did she have to tell him to come by when they open? She should have told him noon, when she actually started work. What a story this would be to tell Ruby.
On her bike, Ava sped through the streets and dodged as much early morning traffic as she could. Once she reached her destination, she parked her bike around back and checked the greenhouse for Daniel or Ruby. She found Daniel tending to the flowers there.
"Good morning, Mr. Daniel," Ava greeted. He turned around, startled.
"Good morning to you too, Miss Ire. What are you doing here so early?" He questioned her.
"I, um, I took an order from a customer yesterday and I was hoping to give it to him personally," Ava said quietly. Daniel laughed under his breath.
"So Miss Ava has a crush, does she," he teased. At that, Ava blushed furiously and stuttered out some half-formed excuse. She turned to head to the main store and was stopped.
"I was going to call you later, but since you're here I'll tell you now. I was going to close the shop for today. Ruby's pain was bad this morning. We're going to the doctor later to talk about a different route of treatment. It'd break her heart to not be able to work in the gardens. If you're serious about this boy, you can run the shop today but I won't blame you if you go home early today, okay? Don't overwork yourself," he said, placing a hand on Ava's shoulder. She covered his hand with her own tiny one.
"Go home and take care of Mrs. Ruby. Tell her I hope she gets to feeling better soon. I'll call and check how she's doing later, if that's okay with you," she responded with a soft smile.
"Will do. Now you get on and go take care of the shop while we're gone, you hear?" His tone had turned stern yet he sent her off with a wink.
Ava unlocked the doors to the main building, turned on the lights, and began the store's steady stream of soft music. She loved the sound of the older music, Glenn Miller's "In the Mood" being her favorite of the songs they played. Perched on the stool behind the counter, Ava pulled a tattered copy of The Tommyknockers by Stephen King and started up where she last left off. Instantly, she was drawn into the terrifying world of other-worldly creatures. She was so immersed in what she was reading, she didn't notice the chime of the door's bell. A knock on the desk frightened her right off of the stool and onto the floor. A deep, mellow laugh followed.
"Oh, I-I'm so sorry, are y-you okay?"
She looked up to see Odin had rushed around the counter and was extending his hand to her. There he was, smiling again. Why'd he have to smile like that at her? She could feel her face flush as she placed her hand in his. He swiftly brought her to her feet.
"Um, you can let go of my hand now, if you want."
"O-oh," he dropped her hand as if it burned him. "Sorry." He scratched at his scruffy beard. "Ab-bout that order…"
"Your sisters! Right! I'll, uh, I'll bring them right out. Excuse me." Ava darted out to the greenhouse. She closed the door behind and her let out a deep breath she had been holding. Grabbing a storage cart, she loaded the flowers onto it. "You can do this, Ava. No, you can't! I can't do this. I'm going to do this!" With another deep breath after her small pep talk, she dragged the cart back to the main shop.
Odin had pulled out a small black book and was leaning up against the counter. He looked to be drawing but before Ava could tell, he had straightened up and tucked the book into his jacket pocket. "Is th-that everything?" He asked. She nodded.
"Mhm. Do you need any help loading them in your car?"
"If you don't mind," he replied. He picked up the carnations and the lavender, leaving her to carry the pansies. Odin led them out to his car, a black Buick Century. He unlocked the car with the key fob, shifted the pots to one arm, and opened the passenger door. Setting the two flower pots down, he turned to Ava who was standing there patiently. He took the third from her and set them with the others.
"Th-thank you, Ava. I'm sure my s-sisters will love th-them." Odin tucked his hands in his coat pocket and rested his hip against the car. "L-look, my sisters are m-making me take them to the fair in t-town and I was w-wondering if y-you'd think about coming with me? Of c-course you don't have to but I th-thought since they'd t-take off without me anyway I would ask." A soft pink stood out against his pallid complexion.
"What? I, I mean yes! Yes, I'll go with you. When are you guys going?" Ava asked, her hands hiding her own rising blush.
"Is Fr-Friday at six okay?"
"Friday at six is fine," she replied with a smile. "Should I meet you guys there?"
"I could p-pick you up, but I'll be dr-driving my sisters too." Odin looked down.
"That's fine! Can I give you my address?" Ava was running her fingers through her hair. He pulled the black notebook out again and a pencil with it.
"Okay, g-go." She told him her address, he wrote it down, and he put the book back in it's place in his coat. "So, Friday at s-six. I'll see you then, Ava." Odin smiled at her once again and got into his car. She waved slightly as he drove away.
When he was out of sight, Ava ran into the shop and picked up the phone. She dialed Maggie's number and waited for her to pick up.
"Who the fuck is calling me this early in the morning," she answered.
"He asked me to go to the fair with him, Maggs. He asked me! Can you believe that?" Ava was bursting with excitement.
"Really? Did you say yes? Please tell me you didn't chicken out and run away or say no."
"Of course not! He's picking me up Friday night at six."
"Ava, expect me at your house at four on Friday. I'm going back to sleep. Goodnight."
"It's morning, but okay." Maggie had already hung up. Ava hung the phone back on the dock and fell back against the counter. She had a date. Ava Ire had a date.