Audrey grabbed the appropriate amount of change for the order for a dozen red carnations that she was currently processing as quickly as she could, attempting to complete the order before the exaggerated foot-tapping of the customer who was next in line became any more rapid. As she slid her current customer her change and mentally prepared herself for the next interaction that would take place, she felt a slight sense of pride in the improvement she had seen in her skills at the many jobs she had not been trained to do as the floral arranger of Mushnik's Skid Row Florists despite her anxiety, which immediately smothered it again as she unexpectedly felt Chiffon's presence and heard her voice. "Hey Audrey? This gu...irl? wants ta talk with you in private. Says h...she? knows you from The Gu-" Despite her alarm at seeing her former coworker and hopefully still friend Emily and hearing Chiffon nearly reveal her shameful and mortifyingly recent past to the customers, Audrey managed to interrupt her, thus preventing a near PR disaster.
"The gu-un store we used to work at together?" Audrey continued to speak despite Emily's concerningly piteous glance from the newspaper in his-her? hands to her. "Well, I'd love to catch up with you sometime, but unfortunately-" Rather than having to make the point that she was currently busy with the shop herself, the customer she was supposed to be helping did so for her. "Can't even serve a man properly... that's a tranny for ya." ...How does he know?! Seymour's reassured me so many times that I look like a woman?! Audrey managed to snap herself out of her worried reflections after realizing that Chiffon was approaching and shouting at the customer confrontationally, and she reached her just in time to physically restrain her from hitting him over the head with one of the very heavy and ancient botany textbooks that Seymour had left on the store-front, taking it from her hands while contending with a surprisingly large amount of resistance and placing it semi-safely under the counter.
"I'm so sorry, I promise I'll have a talk with her about not... doing things like that to the customers... and you can take those Sweet William flowers for free, of course." Despite her concerned focus on the customer, Audrey couldn't help but notice Emily stiffen at the mention of Sweet William flowers. She breathed a slight sigh of relief as the customer gave her and Chiffon a surprisingly polite and very intimidated nod before leaving the store with his bouquet. Should I talk with Chiffon first or deal with this next customer? The answer to this question turned out to be "focus on Emily" as... she once again addressed her, this time with a greater sense of urgency in her voice. "Audrey, I understand that you're busy with..." She vaguely gestured towards the shop. "...all this... but I really do need to talk to you. I've tried your apartment several times during non-business hours, and you've never been there."
She waved the newspaper she was holding near her face for a brief second, and Audrey almost thought that she had seen the unsavory word that her last customer had just used to describe her in a very large and bold print. "...Depending on how understanding your landlord is, you might not be going there again anyway. You can stay with me if that happens, of course... but I'm getting ahead of myself. Please just let me tell you what happened before you hear it from someone who'll be... less sympathetic." Audrey looked out at the thankfully and regrettably long line of customers, jerking to the side slightly in shock as she suddenly heard Ronette's voice beside her. "We can handle things up here, don't you worry about it. Just go talk to hi...her." ...Well, she wouldn't do something like this without a very good reason, I probably should go. Plus Chiffon... they won't have any reason to do anything like that again if I'm not on the store-front. Audrey mumbled a hurried thanks to Ronette, giving her a quick polite head dip before gesturing Emily towards the door to Seymour's room with her head and starting to walk her towards it. She gave the shop one last worried glance before opening the door for her and making her way into the basement with her, closing the door and turning on the light for her before sitting on Seymour's bed.
"I'm sorry that I left The Gutter without saying anything... and that I haven't been at my apartment lately, it's just that Seymour's been... busy with interviews, and me and the girls have been running the shop mostly by ourselves... so I haven't really had time to formally quit at The Gutter, and sleeping here instead of at my apartment has been comforting for me and helped me deal with the shop being so busy... oh! I forgot to tell you, Seymour and I are together now! He's been so loving... when he's... been here, anyway... and I..." She trailed off as it became apparent that Emily's divided focus between her and the room was much more heavily oriented towards the latter, and she gingerly picked up a potted Sweet William plant from a shelf. "His name is William. William Haywood. That's what it's supposed to be, anyway, but I guess the 'good folks' at the Skid Row Home for Boys don't care about things like that. About Elizabeth's legacy being carried on in the name she chose for him... but who cares about the 'legacy' of us denizens of The Gutter, eh?"
The Skid Row Home for Boys? Where Seymour grew up before Mr. Mushnik adopted... took him in? Wait... Emily is- Her confused thoughts scattered as Emily sat beside her and continued addressing her, still holding Seymour's plant and the newspaper. "Yes, William is my son. Or was, anyway. I'd had my suspicions from your descriptions of him, and the investigations I was able to do after you two and that plant of yours caught the attention of the press confirmed it. Speaking of which..." She hesitated for a few seconds, giving Audrey a sympathetic and pitying look and comfortingly placing her hand on her knee before showing her the front page of the newspaper, covering as much of the article itself besides the title as she could with her other hand. As Audrey read it, a specter of horror unlike anything she had experienced since Orin's death-'mysterious disappearance' descended upon her.
More meat than a botanist would be used to? Krelborn's rumored 'girl'friend and business partner found to be tranny with past at Skid Row's local femboy night spot The Gutter... oh my God... Audrey was mostly brought back to reality as she suddenly felt Emily's warm embrace around her, and she sunk into her as she continued to address her. "I'm sorry, hon. It was extraordinarily difficult for me to give him up as well... obviously, but it's a cold, hard, undeniable truth that associations with The Gutter and... well, as the article not so tactfully put it, 'femboys' like us are dangerous. I know our fellow escorts are probably mostly too feminine for your tastes, but there's some nice guys and girls who look like guys working at the bar and casino that I could set you up with... it's mostly the latter if you'd be open to that... but you know that, of course." ...Should I leave him? Audrey found herself blinking back tears despite the trust that she normally placed in her friend. ...She's right that this could be dangerous for him, but I really do think that he loves me, and I don't want to put him under more stress when he's already dealing with so much... plus, he can look out for himself... probably... and he'll inevitably see the article soon if he hasn't already, so he can make his own decision about it.
Audrey pulled away from Emily slightly so that she could look her in the eye. "That won't be necessary, thank you." She continued speaking as she felt Emily stiffen and saw a flash of anger cross her face. "I'll make sure to tell him about the article the next time I see him, and I won't resist whatever decision he makes about it. I really do appreciate you telling me-" Suddenly, Emily pulled away from her and interrupted her. "Just like the evil fucker who bashed Elizabeth's skull in 'appreciated' her attempts to tell him to leave her alone? That she wasn't that kind of employee of The Gutter, and she was just trying to provide for her kid serving drinks without getting harassed for it?" Emily angrily stood up and loomed over her, and Audrey found herself almost instinctively leaning away from her and defensively holding an arm in front of her. "She lived and died protecting him, and I willingly subjected myself to a living hell of missing him, my only surviving link to her and son, so that her sacrifice wouldn't be undone by another one of the drips that frequent The Gutter and those associated with it, but I guess your ability to use him to get off is more important than all of that."
Audrey suddenly became aware of the tears that were dripping down her face. "...It's not like that... He loves me, and I love him... and I thought you were rooting for us bef-" She abruptly stopped talking and barely managed to stop herself from crying out as Emily slapped her across the face, hard. "I wouldn't have been rooting for you two if I had known who he was! Or that you would be capable of sinking to the level of Elizabeth's rapist." Suddenly, she bitterly stalked to the basement door, and Audrey followed her after hesitating for a moment, causing her to whip around and face her. "Don't go near me again, James. Don't go near my son either, I hope to God the title of that article is right and the reality that you used to have 'meat' that a woman would never have becomes too much for him to handle. God willing, that'll be the only area where he doesn't end up taking after his mother."
Before Audrey could respond or even think of a response, Emily had exited the basement and slammed the door behind her. Audrey stared at it in shock for a moment, not really seeing it, before shakily making her way back to Seymour's bed and curling up in his covers, holding his Sweet William plant tightly to her chest and attempting to soothe herself with their smell and feel as she had done many times before. Despite her best efforts, mental images of Elizabeth's tragic fate and Seymour meeting the same end, as well as her former friend's likely justified vitriol towards her, continued to plague her. Of course it's too dangerous for him to be with me... how could I have ever thought otherwise after years of being harassed at The Gutter? Emily is right, Seymour deserves a real woman, not a... ladyboy of the night... and a liability... I really don't want to interfere with his interview for Seymour Krelborn's Gardening Tips tomorrow, so I guess I should take care of this afterwards... Oh God I love him so much... For the first time... pretty much ever, Audrey didn't make any effort to stop herself from crying.