You don’t see many flowers in this part of the city…
Who would want to open a flower shop here?
These were the slums. The only thing people cared about were weapons, booze, strippers and materia. The person opening up a flower shop in sector seven might as well just close up now. This was a death sentence for something like that. Not to mention, flowers didn’t grow in Midgar, especially in this part of the city. Where would they even get their stock?
I couldn’t believe my ears when I heard about it. Some woman buying out the store across from 7th Heaven to sell flowers. I can’t imagine how she’d be able to afford it. I felt bad for the poor soul, not knowing what she was getting herself into. Or maybe she was really just that naive?
Either way, I had to see it for myself. I couldn’t help it. I needed to meet her, to understand what sort of person would do something like this. It happened when I had closed the bar for the night. It was awfully late and I was dead tired from dealing with the last few drunks that needed to leave. I usually had to haul them into the cabs myself and they weren’t exactly the skinniest men.
Once all that was taken care of, I noticed the light in the flower shop was still on. The store hadn’t officially opened yet and it was well past midnight. I closed up shop, cleaned up and filled up a large canteen with some tea. I grabbed two mugs and the remnants of the fudge cookies I had baked the other night and headed out. I walked outside and made my way to the soon to be flower shop directly across the street. It was still in the run down, the sign still reading Earl’s Beer & Grub. He hadn’t been much competition for the 7th Heaven and I suppose it was partially my fault that he was out of business.
Business was business, nothing personal. A girl’s gotta make ends meet somehow.
The windows had the blinds drawn but light seeped passed crevices and illuminated the dark street. I went up to the glass door, which was also covered in brown paper, and knocked a few times. I heard movement from inside and then a single jade green eye staring at me from a little peephole in the paper. I smiled and showcased the goods.
Before I knew it, the door was unlocked and I was greeted by her.
I was expecting a lot of things. I was expecting someone bone skinny. Slum ridden. Poor. Like the rest of us. What I got was a girl beaming with life. She smiled at me and loose brown curls fell from the high bun she had atop her head in a messy array. She was wearing a lovely pink dress and silver bangles on her wrists. A cute pink ribbon held her bun together and she had to brush her bangs behind her ears.
“Hi there! I’m Aerith Gainsborough.” She said, smiling up at me.
I smiled back and returned the greeting, “Hi! Nice to meet you, I’m Tifa
Lockhart. I run the bar across the street. I just closed up shop and saw that your lights were on. I figured you could use a late night snack and maybe some company?”
The girl eyed the plate of fudge cookies with a maddening hunger and I took it as a chance to advertise, “Best cookies in town, so they say. Once you try one, you’ll be coming back for more. 7th Heaven guarantee.”
She opened the door up wide and let me in, “In that case! I can’t just say no to cookies! Come on in. Make yourself at home…”
The place was in shambles. The paint was peeling off the walls, the floors were filthy and stained and I could have sworn I saw a roach scurry off underneath the counter.
“Oh my…” I couldn’t help it.
The door chimed and she locked it behind us.
“Well, as at home as you can possibly get anyways. The place isn’t in great condition. It’s taking me a while to put it back together.” Aerith explained, heading over to the counter and laying out a sheet of newspaper to cover the dirty top.
She pulled out a stool for me to sit and leaned across the counter, smiling at me.
“Are you gonna share, cutie?” She winked at me.
Oh right. The cookies. I settled everything down on the counter and sat down. I began to pour the tea into the mugs, the steam tickling my nose.
“So, why’d you come over at this time of night?” Aerith asked me, blowing on her tea after.
“Oh you know, I heard about what you were doing over here and I figure us girls gotta stick together. These are the slums and it isn’t a pretty place. Besides, it’s not like flowers will be giving me any competition business-wise.” I smiled.
She smiled back and took a sip of her tea, “That’s true. Girls do have to stick together. Especially the pretty ones.”
I blushed and masked it by drinking more tea.
“So,” I started, trying to change the subject, “Flowers huh?”
She nodded and nimble fingers played with the porcelain handle of the mug.
“Yes! Flowers. I love them. Don’t you?” She asked.
“Of course!” I agreed.
“It’s just that…flowers don’t typically grow around these parts.” I concluded.
Aerith kept smiling, as if she had a secret she wasn’t telling me. She cupped her chin with her hand and watched me with green eyes. I cleared my throat and looked away. The way she looked at me was making me nervous.
“You’re right, they don’t. So I know what you’re thinking; this girl must be off her rocker opening up a flower shop in the slums.” Aerith unwrapped the plastic on the cookies.
I didn’t say anything, not wanting to admit to it.
“You can sleep well, Tifa. I’ve got flowers. No point in opening a shop if I didn’t.” She grinned before picking a cookie off the plate and admiring it.
I laughed nervously, “Of course! I wasn’t trying to say that you didn’t…I just, I guess I was…”
She giggled, “You sure are cute when you get all flustered like that. Don’t worry. I’m not offended. It’s a shocker to many. But believe it or not, I’ve been selling flowers for quite a few years now. And it’s been so successful, I decided I needed a shop!”
I couldn’t believe my ears. Flowers were selling in Midgar? She bit into a cookie and gasped. She stared at me with wide eyes and I suddenly had a terrible feeling she was allergic to something in it.
With cookie still in her mouth, Aerith cried, “These are amazing! My taste buds died and went to heaven!”
I laughed, feeling really happy that she liked them so much. I ran a hand through my hair and tried to appear humbled. She finished the cookie and was on her second while I drank my tea. She motioned for me to have one but I shook my head.
“I’m sick of ‘em, to be honest.” I admitted.
She looked at me like I was crazy.
“What’s your favorite flower, Tifa?” She asked me after she had washed down the cookies with the tea.
“Lillies.” I said.
She smiled at me so beautifully, my heart did something funny.
“That’s my favorite flower, too!” She exclaimed.
“I guess that makes us soul mates.” She said, teasingly.
“Maybe.” I replied.
“Girls have to stick together, right?” She repeated what I had said earlier.
“Yes. We do. So if you ever need anything, don’t be shy to ask.” I told her.
“Like more cookies?” Her face lit up.
I smiled, “You can have all the cookies you want. On the house. But I was thinking if you needed some help cleaning this place up, I wouldn’t mind giving you a hand sometime.”
She beamed and I stood up; it was getting late and I was so tired.
“You’d do that for me?” Her eyes shone with so much sincerity.
I nodded, “Well, why not? Gotta help out my fellow girl. I like coming to the rescue of pretty girls.” It was my turn to wink.
She laughed and came from behind the counter. I offered my hand but she wrapped me in a hug. It was so sudden, I was taken aback. But she felt small and warm in my arms so I hugged her back. She had her face nuzzled into my hair and I knew my face must have been burning.
“You smell good, Tifa.” She whispered.
“Th-thanks.” I stuttered.
She pulled back after what felt like forever and then stared into my eyes. And just like that, she leaned in real quick and placed a feather light kiss on my lips.
I was left standing there like an idiot, unsure of what to do with myself. She went back to the counter and continued with the cookies.
“I’ll get the dishes back to you tomorrow. You should go sleep, Tifa. You look as pale as a ghost!” She giggled, munching on a cookie.
Right. I was leaving. I was tired. I did just that. I walked out of the flower shop, feeling slightly dazed. I almost thought it had all been a dream, something so surreal. But when I woke up, there were a bunch of golden lilies on my windowsill with a note signed in pretty cursive:
Your place, tonight?
-Love, Aerith
