Love at the Flower Shop

“There you go Mr. Frederickson. I hope she loves it.”

The elderly man nodded and took the bunch of red roses and the baby's breath as Alice smiled at him. She had seen Mr. Frederickson at her floral shop several times with his wife who was equally adorable. By helping him write letters that had gone with the flowers over the years she had learned that he had lived in New York City with his wife all of his life, and intended to keep it that way until his death. It was getting late and the shop was about to close up. The last customer in line came up to the counter.

“Yes I was wondering if I could make an order for the 14th?” 

Alice had never seen him before, he was in his early 30s about her age. He was very attractive with brown eyes and dark brown hair.

“Ok I will show you our catalog.” Alice stated as she got up behind the counter strolling towards a booklet in the back of the room. 

The orders for bouquets were rapidly increasing since Valentine's day was only 3 days away, but Alice liked the rush. She loved the smell of the flowers especially in the cold of winter when she missed them the most. 

“Actually I just want to start off with a letter. It's for this girl that I don’t really know and I was wondering if you could get some help. I know that she reads all the time and maybe someday I was looking forward to talking about the books she reads.” 

His nervousness  made her blush, a smile formed on Alice’s face. She grabbed her notepad and a pencil. 

“Ok I will help you. What is it that you want to say?”

“I want to tell her that my name is Jason and that she is the most beautiful woman that I have ever seen.” 

Alice looked up at Jason

“She doesn’t even know your name?” She asked. 

Jason looked at his shoes. 

“No. I have only seen her in large group settings. It is kind of intimidating just going up to someone when there is no formal introduction or reason to talk to them.’

Alice gave him a concerned look. 

“How do you know if she is single?” She questioned. 

“I know that it is a shot in the dark, and those chances are really high. But women are like the lottery, you don’t win if you're not playing. And if I win her affection, I know that it would be better than winning the jackpot.” 

Alice shook her head. He might be shy but knew what to say to spark romance. 

“Ok. So the way that I recommend you to approach things less personal the first time. Maybe a quote from the genre of literature that you both like, or a quote from something you like. That way it will lead into some conversation,” Alice suggested. 

“I don’t know if that would work, I saw her once reading Stephen King’s Cojo. I’m not sure if she liked it or not but I don’t think that a quote from that book would be appropriate.” Jason smiled, “Could you imagine a love letter from a stranger with quotes from horror books from Stephen King? That would not go over well.  Do you think that there is a genre of books that women like that I could pick from? What do you like to read?”

Alice smiled to herself. There was something about him that made her not want to admit that over the top blood and gore horror books as well.  Her mind raced to answer his question. 

“I personally enjoy nonfiction biographies and political history” Alice could see the surprise in his face the moment the lie came out of her lips. What was that? She yelled at herself. She wanted to sound smart but that answer sounded like her personality was as dry and chalky as an old cardboard. 

“But there is no specific genre that women like,” Alice continued, “Let's go with something more generic like a  Shakespeare quote on love since she likes books? Although women like to feel physically attractive, starting out complimenting only with that trait could come off as a little creepy .” 

“Ok that seems fair.” Jason smiled as Alice walked back to the register to ring him up for the personalized card. Suddenly his face turned serious.

“So you write love letters. Do you believe in love at first sight?” Jason questioned. 

Alice smiled, feeling a strong blush in her cheeks. She didn’t want to look at his face fearing that she would lose her train of thought. 

“I try to keep the faith that love at first sight is a thing, but it hasn’t happened for me before, but I hope that it works out for you and this woman. The card will be ready by tomorrow.”

“Oh can I get your name so that I know who to ask for when I pick up my card?”

“Alice.” 

“Ok Alice. I will see you tomorrow then. Goodbye.” Jason waved and left the shop. 

Alice closed the store and stayed late to concentrate on the back order of custom cards for the next day. She was glad that she had a job that guaranteed that she would be working Valentines day so she knew that she would have a distraction. It wasn’t that she was lonely, she had a roommate, a cat, and family less than two hours away in Connecticut, but the whole idea of the day left an empty pit in her stomach. The subway station was right outside as Alice ducked out of the freezing cold to get on the train. It was the five o’clock rush and the subways were packed as usual. Alice squeezed into a seat. There was nothing more that she hated other than being glued shoulder to shoulder next to strangers. Alice rummaged through her bag grabbing a trashy vampire novel out of her purse. It was a small paperback that she selected mainly because it was so small and the back promised a power female protagonist. As she read the book her mind drifted off into what Jason’s mysterious woman was like. If she attracts attention without even talking she must be beautiful and fashionable. The more she thought about it the more of a back story the woman got. Alice imagined her the more Jason’s mystery woman took shape in her mind. Jason looked fit so he could have met her in a park where she read all the New York Times best sellers after her long stroll. Alice glanced down at her old flower shop uniform. She wasn’t ugly by any means but she could not imagine a stranger falling for her out of nowhere.  The subway jerked to a halt at Alice’s stop and Alice walked the frozen streets back to her apartment. Her roommate was out for the day so Alice found some leftover ramen soup and relaxed on the couch. Flicking on the TV Alice decompressed and fell asleep instantly. 

The next day Alice got on the train and headed to the shop. She tried to concentrate on her novel but her thoughts about work were circulating in her head. When Alice arrived at her shop there was already a line at the door. Alice moved efficiently attending to her customers, looking out for Jason. She was just about to close when he appeared at the front door to pick up his order. Alice got behind the counter to ring him up. 

“Hey how are you doing.” He asked walking in the front door.

“I'm fine, I was actually just about to close up. Would you like anything else to go with your card?” Alice replied, entering the card price into the register. 

“Actually, you have a little bit. I was thinking about getting flowers as well. I think it would be a nice addition.” 

“Well for you I suggest a single red rose would be most appropriate.” Alice pointed towards the $4.99 roses near the front of the register. 

Jason looked at her curiously raising his eyebrows. 

“ I am surprised, as a sales woman I would expect that you would want me to buy the dozen red roses with baby's breath over here for 40 bucks instead of the $4.99 roses over here.” 

 “I am a business woman, but I also want my customers to return needing more special occasion items. So therefore a card with single flower for a woman that is a stranger is the perfect pairing. Plus if she asks you can tell her that the single flower is a representation that she is the only one in your life that you want to be with.” 

“Ok then.” Jason smiled, handing cash and the flower. “What should I say to her when I talk to her tomorrow?” 

“I would hand her the flowers and card. State that there was something about her that you couldn’t take her eyes off of her. Then ask her out for coffee or tea. You could also add in the quote in the card if you want.” 

A grin grew on Jason’s face, he shrugged. 

“Simple enough I suppose. What time do you close tomorrow if I need to pick something else up?” 

“ Eight in the evening, but honestly anything else would be overkill. Good luck out here. You’ll be great!” Alice smiled, handing Jason’s things to him and letting him out the door.  

The next day the shop was bustling. Alice had barely time to sit down. It slowed at and then stopped around seven thirty. Alice cleaned the floors and got her jacket on. She needed a nice bath and rest her feet. She closed up shop and walked down to the subway. At eight pm rush hour was over and there were a lot fewer people on the terminal. Alice caught the train headed towards her apartment and again pulled out her book. The rumble of the subways fell into a rhythm as she picked up where she left off. 

“ Alice?” 

Alice looked up to see Jason standing there with her card and a single red rose. 

“ I saw you on the subway reading your books as we both commuted together. I couldn’t help but keep staring at you, I everyone is on their phone these days no one ever hardly reads books anymore. You are very pretty.”

Jason then cleared his throat. 

“As Napoleon Bonaparte once said ‘courage is like love; It must have hope for nourishment.” 

Alice’s face broke out in a smile. 

“Where did that come from, I didn’t write that on my card.”

Jason smiled sheepishly. 

“It was the only quote I found on someone political talking about love, you said you liked political nonfiction remember.” 

“I was just saying that so you would think that I was smart. No, I like horror.” Alice giggled. Jason’s face turned bright red. 

“How did you know to find me at the shop?” Alice questioned.

“You wear that uniform every day. I am sorry if this seems kind of creepy but I  would love to meet up with you for coffee or tea or something.” 

Alice felt the subway lurch to a stop at her terminal. 

“Yes I would.” 

“Awesome. My number is on the card.” Jason handed Alice her gifts as she departed the train and waved as  it left. Alice smiled to herself. She knew it was the beginning of something special.