Zachary reached out and took her arm. “I know a great place down in Ladue….”
Elly was grateful for their hormone-fueled conversation—it gave her time to look around the place. It was about a third of the size of Posies, and yet, she didn’t feel that it mattered. This would be a different kind of shop—the kind of shop where a delicately placed protea would replace mass tulips, a place where orchids would sell out over roses, and where tiny potted succulents crowded the counter, instead of fall mums. It was big enough to fit one, maybe two large coolers. They would have to build a desk and a design table. Other than that, there would be a tiny space for an elegant display in the middle of the store. The main displays would be in the huge windows, crisscrossed with metal beams. The long, thin room was small but useful. She turned to the chatty pair, who were both pretending to look at the walls, but were very focused on each other. “Excuse me, sorry, wow, holding hands already, okay … Zachary where would our deliveries come out?”
Zachary pulled himself away from Snarky Teenager’s smoldering eyes. “Ah, what? Oh, sorry, deliveries. Well, if you look back here….” He walked to the back and pulled a door out from the wall. “This door goes straight out to the delivery dock. No stairs, no elevators, nothing. You’re lucky this is on the first floor.”
Elly nodded. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, saying a small prayer for guidance. It felt as though there was a tiny finger pressing against her chest, a fluttering. She had known when she saw Posies that it was perfectly right. The world moved under her feet in that moment, a righting of her future. She was having that feeling again. This tiny store was exactly right in every unexpected way. This location would be everything: petite, contemporary, and hip. It wasn’t big enough to design weddings, but Posies would be their home base for weddings—she had anticipated that. This would be purely commercial flowers—flowers delivered to high-end bankers, accountants, and successful artists. Elly knew she should ask more questions, seek more answers, and act like she was not that interested. But that would be a waste of her time, and at this moment, between BlissBride, Keith, and Dennis, she didn’t have a lot of time to waste. Besides, Zachary looked like he had a manicure to get to.
She felt a soft, small hand on her elbow. Snarky Teenager nestled against her, her perfect little mouth in a hopeful question mark. “Can you give us a second?” her young worker asked Zachary, giving him a small smile that was sure to break his heart someday.
He nodded. “Absolutely, ladies.” He strolled out to the sterile hallway.
“I think this is perfect,” she hissed at Elly.
Elly, amused, smiled smugly. She agreed, but why not let her sweat it out for a few minutes? “Really? Why do you think so?”
Snarky Teenager began pacing in circles around Elly. “The location is ideal, right in the center of downtown Clayton. I mean, you couldn’t get any closer to the businesses if you tried. It’s in an office building that probably employs thousands and thousands of people, so that’s business you don’t have to advertise to get, they’ll walk by it every day. We can put sample arrangements in the Starbucks for free and get that connection, like Ada’s Coffee by Posies. The deliveries would be convenient—maybe even more convenient than Posies!” She spun on her heel to face Elly. “I know I can do this. I can make this store amazing. And we can price things really high here, just because of where we are.” Her tone rose dramatically. “I’m not sure we will find a better place than this. Zachary says he will cut us a deal if we go with him today, and I have a little bit saved up and maybe if I give that to you, you could do the first month’s rent….”
Elly suddenly felt compelled to give her an affectionate hug. Snarky Teenager’s body straightened awkwardly. It was like hugging a rain stick. “I agree with you. I just wanted to see what your case for this place was.”
Snarky Teenager pulled out of the hug. “I hate you.”
“No, you don’t. But we have to come up with a name. A real name. It can’t be Red Zen.”
Snarky Teenager whipped her hair around. “Yeah, I guess it really doesn’t fit this place. We can’t just keep calling it Store B.”
Elly gasped. “Oh my gosh, yes we can. That’s the perfect name for this place!”
Snarky Teenager tilted her head. “Store B?” She walked around the industrial space, all steel and light, and turned back to Elly with a huge grin on her face. “Store B: Posies reinvented. It’s perfect.”
Elly turned to the hallway. Zachary was standing in between the floor-to-ceiling windows, hands shoved deep into his pockets and staring at Snarky Teenager, who bent over, fixing a strap on her shoe.
“We’ll take it,” Elly said. “We’d like a one-year lease, and we can pay for the first three months up front.”
Zachary blinked at her. “I’m sorry, what did you say?”