A Rose By Any Other Name
This modest flower shop isn't very large, but houses a wide variety of flowers and gardening accessories. The pink tiled floor and the terra cotta colored walls make this shop seem even cheerier than it already is. The shop is predictably lined wall to wall with flowers. There's not much leg room between aisles of fresh flowers, herbs, and gardening accessories. A rack near the wall next to the cash register displays a variety of vases and pots, some of them plain and cheap, others extravagant and pricy. There's also a small revolving rack with greeting cards near the cash register. A back room undoubtedly leads to where more flowers and supplies are stored. The large picture window in the front of the shop creates both a nice display area and lets the sunlight stream through into the shop, provided it's a sunny day. A neon sign is affixed to the front door, blinking 'OPEN' in green from eight AM to five PM on weekdays, ten AM to four PM on weekends. The shop's name is artfully painted onto the glass of one of the picture windows in neat red cursive.
It's an early afternoon and things are relatively quiet in the shop. The radio is playing a country western station and Hana can be found lip synching the words to a Dixie Chicks song as she gets everything ready for Mother's Day. No doubt it's probably one of her best sales times. She's dressing up the display window, laying down a pretty pink cloth that'll create a feminine backdrop for the bouquets she's going to put on display. The card rack has been fully restocked and there's been a shipment of mother's day related gifts put up near the register on a shelf. Everything seems to be in order. The door has been pushed open to allow a cool breeze and the sunlight to travel freely through the shop.
Mother's Day isn't even in Hope's head at all. Since the other night, with her binder, she's been in a bit of a daze. That her parents put out an announcement in the paper? That's made it all worse.
Waltzing into the flower shop with the black and pink binder under her arm, she twirls around once. Just enough to take in everything that's in the store, the flowers, the bouquets, all of it. "Hana~!"
Hana hadn't really expected to see Hope around, but she's glad that the woman has come. "Hope! Praise be, I am so glad to see you… I put fliers up and…" Hana looks close to tears for a moment before she bites her lip and collects herself. "You look good. Come in and pull up a chair!" She says, motioning to a folding chair in the corner. "What's brought you by?" Considering the binder, she doesn't expect that it's mother's day business. Hana uses the opportunity to take a break from her arranging. She moves to the counter and retrieves a still-cold bottle of water from underneath it.
"Oh, Hana! You truly didn't have to go through all of that hassle. I appreciate it though." Now if Hope could only remember what happened, everything would be peachy again. "They say I've got some sort of acute stress disorder, or situational amnesia or something. I can't recall a thing, except that Robert Cornett found me and…" The binder is slid over to nestle beneath her right arm. "We're getting married!" The heart-shaped diamond, with pink diamonds trailing down either side of the white gold ring is flashed. "I'm just waiting to hear back from Reverend Newlin now to see if the date I'd like for August is available or not."
Despite Hope's statement about acute stress disorder, Hana doesn't push. She bites her lip and looks sympathetic though. "That's… that's beautiful! Congratulations! I saw the announcement and there's a card in the mail." Hana nods a little bit and glances to the ring a little bit more, perhaps with obvious envy. It's not every day Hana gets a marriage proposal or a rock that size. "Really, you're going to get married at the church? That's wonderful. I'll mark it in my date book. I wouldn't miss it for all the world."
It would likely be bad if Hope mentioned this was actually the second proposal, but it's the one she's going with. Things have been a bit weird until the last week or so, and thus she's going to be happy about this no matter what. "Thanks! It's so beautiful, isn't it? I have everything planned already, and I just need to make the calls, but I figured I'd better just come see you in person." The binder is flipped open, the pages moving until she comes to the floral arrangements. "Do you think you could make something like this? It's a bit simplistic, I know, but I think these tied with a black and pink ribbon… with a little bit of a cascade here…" Elegant, classy, and mostly roses so probably not at all difficult for her to do.
Hana studies the picture before nodding to it and smiling. "Good choice. It's going to be fabulous. Very classy, too. It should be easy. I have a small suggestion… just a bit more baby's breath to even things out. Not too much, but a bit of sporadic baby's breath can really work wonders. I've never understood why so many people don't like it. It's truly the focal point of a lot of bouquets." Hana curiously starts to flip through the book if Hope will let her. "And I think I have some ribbons like that in the back. Probably not exactly the same, but it'll do in a pinch. Are you planning on having mini-bouquets for the bridesmaids?" Hana asks curiously, intrigued. What girl doesn't enjoy planning for their wedding, or someone else's?
It's not as though Hope's guarding the book with her life. Only the very last page, and only from Bobby. "Great! Is three months enough time to get them done? I figured I'd ask now, that way if we can't get everything…" She flips a few pages for Hana, and grins. "Yes, like these ones, and also I'd like some pink flowers that can float. Either that or something that has a large pink bloom to set atop black sand in big globe bowls like these…"
"Three months is plenty of time." Hana browses through the book as Hope flips the pages, letting out a dreamy sigh. "I envy you. Pink flowers that can float? I think I can manage that. How about tea lights too?" She asks, getting perhaps a little carried away with 'helping plan'. "You're so lucky. I never get to plan anything except for what I order. All of this looks fantastic. You're a woman after my own heart! I couldn't have done it better. I could probably help you find a few places around town that have some cheap but nice-looking things too. You know how it is. You hear about them from the grapevine. A few customers have gotten married and then come back in to share wedding photos. It's kind of inevitable to ask where they got such and such, y'know?" Hana asks, before she sucks in a deep breath as though she's had the wind knocked out of her previously.
That three months is enough time seems to cause the Tyler twin to settle down just a little. "Oh, Hana!" There's a little giggle. "I've had this planned since I was twelve. I was just waiting for the right guy to come around." At the offer, she squeaks. "Really? Oh that would just be great. I don't think I'll have a really tight budget, but I'd like to keep costs down anyway." She flips through the pages, showing a picture of the center pieces. Then she grins. "You know, there's this guy at church I could try and set you up with. He's a bit shy, but he's sooo nice. Maybe you can bring him to the wedding with you…"
Hana can't help but laugh, blushing very slightly. "Oh, I've had mine planned since around then too." After a moment of dreamily sighing over the center pieces and gawking at all of the things Hope has picked out, Hana perks at the words 'guy at church'. "Oh? What's his name? Maybe I've run into him before. I've kind of cut back with the extra curriculars recently though. Just the normal services… things have been busy because of spring." She lets out a tired sigh and takes a long sip of her water, waiting anxiously for the details about this stud.
"I think most any girl has," Hope says with a gentle laugh. "At least any girl that wants to get married." She's fairly certain that her twin had rock band posters or something instead. "His name is Sean, he's somewhat new. Only a few months there. I was supposed to go bowling with him, but with everything that's happened it just plum slipped my mind." Glancing around the shop, she nods. "I imagine so. New flowers, Mother's Day, Easter… busy time for florists, not to mention the summers filled with weddings."
"Yeah. It's getting pretty exhausting, but this is when I make the money that helps during the winter slack." Hana takes another drink of her water before discarding the bottle in the trash and moving back over toward the window display. Surely they can talk while Hana works. "I'm so excited for you." She pauses, considering Hope's proposition with Sean for a moment. "Well, what's he like?" Beat. "At least tell me what he looks like. I'd like to think I'm not totally shallow, but…" Hana trails off. The look she wears on her face says 'you have to have some standards'.
"To be honest, Hana, I came for another reason as well." Hope blushes slightly and looks down. "With all the issues I've been having at night, I've been considering getting a daytime job for the summer, up until the wedding. I was sort of wondering if you were looking for help?" Looking away, she folds the binder back up and slips it under her arm. Then she's given a topic, and she laughs. "He's tall, blonde, you know, pretty much the all-American guy. He's got the's really great eyes… heck, if I weren't so in love with Bobby, I might've gone for him myself."
Normally Hana would probably have to turn Hope down. But she's come at precisely the right time. The winter is a dead time for the shop, and it's only just picking back up. Hana takes in a breath and then smiles at Hope. "Actually, that sounds like a good arrangement. Granted, I may only be able to use you through the summer. And the pay won't be so great at first. But it'll get better in June. Obviously you wanna work in the day, right?" Hana asks. It's something that she can't blame Hope for. That's why the store hours are like they are. "This'll probably be good then. Let me know what days you can work. We can change it up. Sometimes you can work the mornings, or you can work every other day. Whatever sounds good to you. I'm flexible either way." She smiles at Hope and listens, considering Sean before she bobs her head from side to side in contemplation. "Sure. I'd like to meet him sometime."
"Really? That would be wonderful. Even if it's just until the end of August. I'll be back in school after that, you know, after a short honeymoon." Blushing like the soon-to-be-bride that she is, Hope grins. "Trust me, Hana… it will be much better than working into the night at the mall, and potentially getting grabbed again. I don't think I could ever survive it." She barely survived this first kidnapping. "Well whatever days you need me, I should be good, honestly. I've just finished school, and I'm intending on heading to the mall this afternoon to give my two weeks, but they've really only got me scheduled a few days a week now as it is, since I've been injured and kidnapped…"
"Great! I'll introduce you two at church on Sunday. It'll be wonderful, Hana. You can bring him as a date, and oh!" She drops the binder on the counter and flips it open to the bridesmaid dresses. "Of course, I would love it if you could be a bridesmaid as well. No pressure if you don't want to be though."
Hope really had Hana at bouquets and floating flowers. But when the other woman says 'bridesmaid', she very nearly lets out a shriek that would break glass. Losing all composure whatsoever, she reaches out to hug Hope tightly and jump up and down in place a few times. "Of course I will! Of course! I don't care how ugly the dress is!" When Hana pulls away and glances at it, she blushes a little bit. "Oh. That's not so bad at all. I can actually wear that again! Of course, of course!" From the way she carries on, it's rather like Hope has just proposed to Hana in a more significant way.
At the hug, Hope just laughs and goes along with the jumping. It's hard not to when the girl is doing it while holding onto her. "Great! I'm trying to get a deal with the dress shop to have them shortened after the wedding. If people want them to be shortened that is! And the ribbon colors are easy to change." She smiles at Hana quite brightly. "I'm so happy you accepted. I'm greatly honored by that." She waits a tick then quickly adds, "But I'll still pay full price for the flowers. Please don't think I was asking to get a discount. I just genuinely want you to be part of the day."
"What?" Hana asks, genuinely shocked. "I hadn't even thought of that! You can have a discount anyway. I was going to cut you one to begin with, but now…" Hana claps her hands with excitement. "It doesn't actually matter. You'd be getting an employee discount anyway." She moves over toward the register and reaches underneath the counter, pulling out a W-2 form. "I'm going to need you to fill that out and return it. Don't worry about references or anything, just give me the stuff I'll need to file for taxes. This is all so exciting!"
Taking the form, and slipping a pen from her purse, Hope begins to fill it out now. "Oh, no! I insist on paying full amount for the flowers. Please? My parents are paying for it anyhow, so it's only fair to charge them the full amount." Grinning, she looks up from the form. "I have something that I can bring with me when I come… that might help your business in the winter too if you'd like. I've been making these fruit bouquets in my spare time. For fun. They make great gifts and all. I made one for someone that works at St. Cecilia's…"
Hana shrugs her shoulders a little bit. "If you really want to pay full price, be my guest. But if you change your mind, the offer will still be open." Hana moves to sit down in the folding chair she had pointed out earlier, taking a load off. She takes in a deep breath and nods. "Fruit bouquets? That sounds… interesting. We'll see how it goes." Hana's stomach rumbles and she glances outside. "I think I might close up early today. What do you say we go get some lunch?"
There's not going to be any mind-changing. How can she ask a small business to cut her a deal on flowers? It just wouldn't be right! Even if she considers Hana to be a friend. "Fruit bouquets. Have you ever seen them? I can bring one into the shop the first day you need me, just to show you. It really doesn't take much. Fruit, a cookie cutter, some skewer sticks, and flower foam. Generally a nice short basket works wonders too, or a really nice vase. Just to give it a great feel…" She glances down at her watch. "Sure, lunch sounds great. My treat though, alright?"
