A/N: 'I Almost Had a Weakness' - Elvis Costello & The Brodksy Quartet
Disclaimer: Don't own anything, all rights go to respectful owners.
Eli strolled down to Bibi, seeing her own breath from the cold and hugging herself to stay warm.
"Damn this winter," she grumbled through gritted teeth as she pulled out the keys to her shop and opened the door.
Unlike Nozomi, Eli's keys didn't have an alarm clicker. She had to briskly walk to the back room, unlock that door as well, and then enter in the alarm code to disarm it.
Not to mention the shop's lights were off.
There was always a wave of anxiety that crashed over her when she put her key into the lock: was it the right one? Would she set of the alarm at 7am and embarrass herself in front to the neighbouring shops? Would she be forever encased in the dark abyss that was her flower shop at this unholy hour?
Eli had only done this once, and it was her face day on the job, back when she was a lowly casual worker staring at 9am. Honoka had been passing the store, and jumped from the shrill beeping of the alarm. When the orange-haired girl peered through the window, she saw Eli, on her knees with her head hung in shame. There was a small trickle of something running down the Blonde's leg, and there was a silent pact between the two girls to never speak of that incident again.
Fortunately, Eli had learned to not dawdle when she unlocked the shop, and automatically hurried to the back door, opened it, and punched in the four-digit code to turn off the alarm.
The blonde let out a sigh of relief and scuffed her boots across the floor to put down her bag her to her desk.
On the hangers opposite her desk were three aprons: one blue, one red and one pink. Each apron had a name stitched onto pocket above the left breast.
Eli took off her coat and brushed down her denim skirt. She then put the apron on and tied it up at the back.
Since the store didn't actually open at 9am (when Maki and Nico would arrive,) Eli would water the flowers and write out the day's plan.
On occasion, she'd text Nozomi reminders for their apartment:
"Don't forget to extinguish your incense before leaving"
"Make sure there are no cigarettes still burning"
"Please clean the stove."
Sometimes, Eli worried that she was such a nag at times. Constantly reminding her more-than-capable girlfriend to do thing she clearly knew what to do. It wasn't that she didn't trust her partner of four years, the 26-year-old have lived alone her entire life, and knew how to take care of herself.
However, even after being in a relationship for four years, Eli sensed Nozomi was still getting used to living with someone else, even after two years of sharing the same bed.
The only reason Eli would 'nag,' as Nico would say, was just to make sure Nozomi was okay. When she responded to her text messages, either normally or humorously, Eli would feel a wave of relief crash over her.
Especially just now, when her phone vibrated in her skirt pocket.
Eli took out her phone and opened her messages:
Eli, 7:04am
Please don't leave your music playing when you leave, I don't think Mr & Mrs Yamaku would enjoy listening to Softengine all day x
Nozomi, 7:06am
Aw, no fair! I'm sure Mrs Yamaku can get down to Yellowhouse
- N, xx
Eli chuckled, then sent a quick text back:
Eli, 7:07am
Their taste in music just sucks, unlike yours x
At 9am on the dot, Maki walked into the store with a yawn.
"Morning, Eli-senpai," Maki drawled, clearly still waking up. Her red hair was messy, even though she wore a beanie.
Eli looked up from her daily planner, smiled at the younger girl.
"Morning, Maki," she greeted, remembering that Nico had the day off, and it would just be her and Maki for the day.
The pianist went into the backroom to put down her bag and adorn her red apron. Eli tapped her pencil against the table, trying to think of what else had to be done today.
However, just as she was about to write down something else, the front door opened.
"Excuse me?"
Eli looked up, and saw Alisa's ballet teacher, miss Yoshino, enter the parlour. Her cheeks were pink from the cold.
"O-Oh! Miss Yoshino! Welcome," Eli stuttered, but slapped a smile onto her face at once. The other woman walked forward with a smile,
"Good morning, Miss Ayase,"
"Eli, please," The blonde pointed to the white letters on her apron.
"E-Eli, then," Miss Yoshino cleared her throat and pulled out her phone.
"Could I please make an order for some bouquets?"
"Of course," Eli remembered they had talked about this yesterday. The blonde bent down and pulled out a note book from a draw at the bottom of her counter.
"I'll just need some details," She said, as Maki came out of the backroom with her hair tied at the ends. Eli glanced at her sideways, then pointed to the box of chalk on the counter.
"Can you change the message on the chalkboard to say something about 20% off wrapping please? Be as creative as you like,"
Maki nodded, and got to work with a small grin. The florist then smiled at Miss Yoshino.
"Okay, what date did you need your order by?"
"25th of February,"
Eli jotted down the date.
"And how many did you need?"
"Twenty."
"Twenty?!" Maki blurted out, and the older women turned to look at her. Eli had a cold glare on her face that made Maki shiver.
"You'll have to excuse her," Eli's smile didn't reach her eyes when she turned back to the customer,
"She's still new."
Once miss Yoshino had placed the order and left, Maki stood in front of Eli's piercing glare, and felt colder than she had walking to word.
Eli's eyes pierced her very soul.
"Maki," her voice was ice, and Maki couldn't help but nervously wring her hands.
"We do not blurt out like that in front of customers. They have their reasons for ordering certain numbers of bouquets, and it is not our place to question them or react in that manner. Do you understand?"
Maki trembled as she choked on her own words.
"Do you?" Eli raised an eyebrow at the 23-year-old, who gasped and actually jumped.
"Y-Yes! I'm so sorry, it won't happen again!" Maki threw herself into a bow, and Eli sighed, moving a strand of blonde hair out of her face.
"Good, now get back to work on the chalkboard. When that's finished, place it outside, then get started on trimming the thorns of the white roses."
Maki scurried back to the corner where the chalkboard was, and Eli place a hand to her forehead.
"Are you sure you want to do this, Rin?" Umi's sceptical gaze lingered on the young girl, who was sitting cross-legged on the cosmetic bed.
"Yep! And since Umi-senpai is the only person I know who can do microdermals, plus we work together, there's no better option!"
"Rin," Umi sighed and leaned against the sink.
"This is going to hurt,"
"I know, I did some research."
"Like…it's really going to hurt. You won't be able to play football for a while."
"Huh?"
"Football? The sport you play and coach?"
"Oh, you mean soccer?"
Umi groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose.
"Regardless, getting a hip dermal is going to hurt a lot. All dermal anchors hurt a lot, especially when you sit down with a hip dermal."
"Hmm…" Rin bit her lip in thought, and Umi lifted up her shirt to show Rin her own dermals: there were two on each side, that stood out against her stomach tattoo: Kanji for 'balance.'
"I got these done a few years ago, but they still give me grief from time to time. The hip is a sensitive area, almost as bad as the ribs. If you reallywant a microdermal implant, I can at least suggest getting it in a different spot."
Rin looked at the small silver jewels in Umi's body, than looked down at her hands, then at her arms. Her left arm a large sleeve of Japanese koifish, and her right arm had various big cats (the tiger was done by Nozomi.)
"okay, how about here?" Rin pointed to her right forearm, where a Maneki-Neko tattoo was. Umi hummed, and observed the arm.
"That will hurt a little less, but you'll still need to be very careful."
"Okay! Done deal!" Rin twisted herself to lie down on the cosmetic bed and held out her arm.
"Umi-senpai, work your magic!"
"So, you'd like a nose piercing on Friday at 3pm?" Nozomi asked the customer on the phone as she jotted down the information.
"Yes…yes that's fine. I'm looking at Umi-chan's schedule right now and she's free then…okay! …No, you don't have to worry too much, nose piercings will hurt but Umi-chan is very gentle and c-"
Nozomi was cut off by a bloodcurdling scream from the piercing room.
Green eyes opened and she turned around to look at the closed door.
Nozomi blinked, and turned back to look at the book.
"That was not someone getting their nose pierced, miss, I can assure you."
The rest of day was extremely quiet, which only made it more awkward for Eli and Maki. At around, 2pm, Eli looked at the sales reports, and sighed.
"Maki," she addressed her colleague, and the girl jumped at once.
"Yes?"
"Let's get a drink."
"Huh?" Maki was shocked, but Eli just turned the computer screen around to show the reports to the young girl.
"We've only made $90 today, and no one else is going to come in. Let's just go get a drink."
"O-Okay," Maki was in a state of shock, Eli rarely took breaks (other than her mandatory half an hour.)
Eli already walked into the backroom and took off her apron to replace with her coat.
Nozomi looked at the pigskin Rin had tattooed on yesterday. There was a cigarette between her lips as she leaned against the backdoor.
Despite the scare Rin had with the first hiragana character, her lines were quite neat. However, with the stencil placed on top of the finished product, Nozomi could see that Rin had done the edges far too long, therefore elongating the tattoo.
It was a common mistake all apprentices made, especially on pigskin. Nozomi also noticed how hard Rin had been pressing the needle against the skin.
"We can work on all of this," Nozomi thought as she finished off her cigarette and went back into the store.
Rin was currently at the counter, sorting out appointments as per Nozomi's instruction. Umi was piercing a client, and Nozomi's schedule was completely free until 4pm.
"Hey, Rin-chan," Nozomi placed her elbows on the counter and glanced at the mouse on the computer screen.
Rin looked up, and Nozomi caught sight of the freshly pierced skin on Rin's right arm (seeing as there was a giant red blotch surrounding the tiny silver jewel.)
"Nya?"
"I'd like to review your pigskin with you, okay?"
"S-sure," Rin twiddled her thumbs awkwardly, waiting for the verdict.
"Not right here, silly," Nozomi grinned, and pulled out her wallet.
"Let's got get a drink."
"I-It's like 2 in the afternoon!" Rin spluttered, and Nozomi shook her head.
"Coffee. Not alcohol."
"Oh, okay," Rin got up from her chair and went into the break room to fetch her coat.
Nozomi gently tapped on the door of Umi's piercing room.
"I'm taking Rin for a coffee to review her work, do you want anything?"
"Black tea, please, and one of Yukiho's manjuu if possible," came the response through the door. Nozomi snorted, but obliged.