“Well, have at it. Let me know when you are done—I’ll just be checking emails and typing up contracts.”
Her young coworker gave her a sarcastic smile and began pulling florals out of the cooler. Elly willed herself not to spy as she sat down at the computer. Mindlessly, she surfed the Internet, looking first at maxi dresses, then cheesecake recipes and funny videos that revolved around English sheepdogs in lobster costumes. Keith had emailed her a picture of Cadbury wearing a Blues jersey. Elly gave a smile and then inspected the background of the picture for a sign of anything. Underwear, stationery, vacuumed carpet, anything that would suggest a woman was there with him. There was nothing. It appeared to be taken on Keith’s couch. The only thing in the background was a beige wall with a photograph of Italy behind it. It almost looked staged. Typical, she thought. Keith hides his secrets well.
She peeked over her computer at Snarky Teenager and almost gasped. The first container, a low bowl made of bamboo, was now a lush garden of greens: succulents, dusty miller, snapdragons, and a single red protea. Horsetail wrapped around the bottom of the arrangement and then shot up in the air—a dramatic finish for a beautiful composition. Wow. She was good. She was really good. It was both intimidating and edifying. Elly’s training had paid off. Her second arrangement, already in progress, was in a simple glass cylinder. Birds of paradise towered over a low arrangement of deep plum tulips, which was drawn together by a ring of curly willow. A single freesia had been wired to the branch at the peak. Marvelous, thought Elly. She had never seen design quite like it.
She stood up from the desk. “That one is good. Remember, the gift of a true designer is knowing when to stop. These look really great, actually. I’m surprised.” Elly walked over to the arrangements, and put them in cooler with barely a glance at Snarky Teenager. “Okay. Now make five more.”
“But I just made those.”
“Yes, but you have to fill the cooler. And you will have to keep filling it as bouquets go out.”
“This is stupid.”
“This is what it takes to run a floral shop.” Elly crossed back to her desk and wrote out some logistics on a piece of paper. “Store B will open in a few weeks. In the meantime, I’ll schedule you to come in every afternoon to staff the store and help me close, so you can get used to that. I’ll be there most days, so maybe you won’t need to worry about it….” Elly realized she was going to have to hire someone for the morning shifts, when Snarky Teenager had classes and Anthony and she were busy at Posies.
“I don’t know why you would need to be there. I’ll be there. And I can handle it.”
The numbers blurred together. Elly couldn’t even think about something as complicated at scheduling right now. She just needed sleep. And for Keith to still be perfect, the man who rose above all the others. “When you are finished, make sure you put the arrangements in the cooler before cleaning up and closing!” she shouted.
Snarky Teenager pouted. “Alone?”
“Yup. I’m going up to take a nap.”
“Thank God,” Snarky Teenager muttered as she uncurled a jade rose. “Try not to kill someone on your way there.”
Elly thought of snappy retort as she climbed the stairs to her apartment, about five minutes too late. One perk of owning your own business was that if someone was in the shop, you could give yourself some time to rest if you needed it. Still, she felt a little bit guilty. She pushed open the door to a wave of teenage boy: Axe body spray and BO. Oh. That’s right. Dennis lived here. Elly could hear the sounds of his gaming in the other room, the sounds that invaded her every waking hour and dream life. She knocked on the door.
“Come in.” Dennis looked up with a grin. “Hey, what are you doing home early?”
Elly rested her fingers against her temples. “I’m not feeling very well, so I think I’m going to take a nap.”
“Cool.” Dennis turned back to the screen.
“Would you mind turning that off while I sleep?” She saw his hand grip the mouse. “It’s just that I haven’t been sleeping very well lately….”
Dennis looked up at her. “Can I just turn it on silent?”
“That sounds good, but actually, I can hear the keys through my wall, so no?”
“Oh. It’s just that Ahora is on, and I wanted to run over some strategies with her. She might call later….”