I Hate Roses

Write about a character who makes a dramatic life change to pursue a goal they’ve secretly always wanted.

"Do you also have roses?" The man across me asks. If my eyes had the capability of rolling, they'd have been spinning. I answer this question so often each day, it drives me insane.

"Yes, sir. To your right." I say in a cheery service voice, as I am accustomed to over the years. He gives me a smile of acknowledgement and starts perusing them. Roses, so uninspired but also our best seller. It is one of the only flowers that sells consistently throughout the year. 

Men who have done something wrong - what it is I do not care to ask but they still tell me - opt to simply buy a bouquet of roses to even the waves and heal the wounds. Rarely, they do. I often only see such customers once in a while, but in a busy city such as Libertia you see them daily. One goes, another comes, and another heart is broken. I assume of course. I would not know any better. 

I have only had one love and she has left me recently. She said she had troubles overcoming the recent death of her mother. I conceded and gave her some space. The space grew larger and eventually she said she wanted to take some time to 'find herself' and ventured off-planet to a resort world. It was only two systems over but there's still mail, right? We can still send interstellar messages? I mean my uncle still writes me every week for Wodan's sake. But no. She could not write, only after 6 months she wrote me that she has indeed found herself and it would be better if she stayed there a little longer. I implored her to come back. I begged her to tell me where she is so I could visit her.

I ended up going after all, last year. Took a cruiser and did some work for a cheaper flight, a common theme. When I arrived it took me months just to find her last whereabouts, but she had already gone by then. A planet so large as Exulsia Prime it would be impossible to find her. So I came back to Libertia and back to my flower shop.

It was our dream. After time I lost my passion in it, but I continued for her. Now? I have nothing but these fucking roses and I am tired of them. I can't stand roses. I can't stand anyone asking for them. I don't care what species they are: Rilani, Gor, Hydari, or Human. They all piss me off when they ask for roses. How the hell did Gor even find roses as the go-to to ask forgiveness for their sexual sins eludes me.

Finally, I close up shop around 20:00 local and even then another guy shows up asking if I can open it just a few more seconds. I lie and tell him I already locked the door and wait until he leaves to lock it and head to Billie's Pub. It's just two blocks away and though I just sit there and watch TV, it's better than being in our apartment. My... apartment, all alone.

I order a Guinness and indulge in some Marijuana as I watch a gameshow where they try to find out which species can do specific tasks better. Today they are finding out who can play chess better and it's actually interesting. As I continue to watch and enjoy my drink and recreational drugs, wafting in and out of the show and my surroundings, I realize a Gor has sat himself next to me. I greet him curtly, and he greets me back with a nod. He seems nervous, his eyes darting back and forth. He seems peculiar to me, but I reckon he will either open up to me soon with the help of the offers of Billie's, or leave after he gets his marijuana. Some species are more peculiar about it than others, it seems. Though in my experience the tough and hardy Gor care little for what others think. Always have. 

I take another sip of my beer and as I set the beer down it lands on a beige envelope with a little rope around a button on the envelope itself. I look over to the Gor but all I see his is back as his black leather jacket disappears with his green head and short hair. He looks up and down the street, one of his tusks slightly bent inward, the other straight up, as he frowns and disappears into the night.

High as I am I have no idea what to do. Did he put it there on purpose? He was at least an arm's length away. I figure I could go after him but, again, I am high. If I tried to go after him I would just get lost. I figure I will just keep the envelope for now and give it to him when I see him again. The bartender sees me put it away and gives me a wink as he cleans his glasses. I nod and lift my glass to him as I have the envelope disappear. I am way too high for this.

The next morning, thank Wodan it is a Saturday, I get up groggily and stretch. The lights of the city of Libertia shine in vaguely, and I order the apartment system to increase the shading. It becomes a bit nicer in the apartment and the breakfast sequence starts. Eggs, bacon, coffee. Everything a guy needs to get out of - oh fuck. The envelope. I notice it staring at me on the countertop in the kitchen. It comes back to me immediately, the Gor, the bar, the marijuana. That was good stuff, I should go again after work, I only open at 10 today and close at 14. Interstellar time of course, damn off-planet freeloaders keep trying to come at 15:00 and try to give me bad reviews. 

I take my coffee from the machine as my eggs and bacon are being prepared by the kitchen-bot - Dagmar said she didn't mind if I keep everything in the divorce, she was 'liberated' ... fucking cults - and open the envelope. My eyes, though fogged slightly from just having woken up, are not deceived. It has 5 pictures of a... mushroom? Some kind of tree? It was hard to decipher until I took a look into the other parts of the envelope. It was a full portfolio of some kind of alien politician, full of his daily habits, his likes, dislikes, even his favourite colour: Aquamarine. That's water, man. Water. Anyway, as I peruse it more and more, I realise this is some kind of intelligence briefing on a politician that either has to be shared, or taken care of. I decide to head to the bar the same time as tonight, maybe see if the Gor guy shows up. My heart beats faster - though it could be the coffee - as I contemplate the possibilities. A hitman, me? I always hated everyone - except Dagmar - in this horrid galaxy. Ever since I had served as a mercenary for the Babagazook interstellar army I had a knack for killing. I was the best sniper in my squad, the best cartographer, and damnit I just loved killing xenos. I smiled to myself as I browsed through the pictures. I caught myself smiling. Wow, I can't be really thinking this. 

I put the envelope away and take a plate to put my bacon and eggs on a plate. "No, I can't." I say out loud, laughing. Dagmar would be furious. Just then I realize that one of the photos had fallen down. I put my plate on the table, tell the apartment to lighten up the room and go back to pick it up. "Unless..." I notice eventually that the instructions of where, when, and how to take this alien out are given to me so clearly, so straightforward, that it would be too easy if all the requirements match up. Yes, perhaps I could do what I had always been good at. Something that could keep me away from pathetic businessmen and had always given me satisfaction. 

In the end, I am reading the entire portfolio, memorizing the pictures, recalling the target's patterns, reciting his name. It's too late, I am reeled in by the excitement, by the change. Though I do end up going to the flower shop, my head is elsewhere. Even as a Rilani businessman shows up, with his flawless suit and impeccable English, asking for some fucking roses, I show them to him with a smile.

"Right this way, sir!" I say, and come out from behind the counter, leading him the 50cm to the roses. 

"Here they are! Red, yellow, orange, black! Whatever you wish! We even have white in the back, what do you say?"

"Oh, that would be splendid!" He replies, elated by the response. I smile outward, I smile inward, for I know this is finite. My true calling is already echoing off the inside of my skull, bouncing in between my ears as I head to the back to fetch some roses.