The morning passed quickly. Elly shared more about herself than she ever had with any of her friends in Georgia. Kim told her stories that made her blush and laugh about the neighbors, the inhabitants of this strange little chic suburb, this Clayton. Elly had three hot chocolates and Kim had two more lattes and pumpkin bread. By the time noon rolled around, Elly’s ambition to drive into oblivion had disappeared. Her exhaustion soaked into her bone marrow.
“So what’s next for you?” Kim asked.
“I don’t know…I was headed west. I thought it would be pretty.” Elly winced at how stupid she sounded and stretched her arms above her head. “I’ll probably just find a hotel and stay the night and leave in the morning.”
Kim pestered her with rapid questions, “So there is no one there that you are going to meet? What is your plan? Do you know anyone out there?”
“Nope. I just thought I would drive until I found somewhere I liked.”
“So, what about here?” Kim asked.
“Where…is here?” Elly asked. Kim gave a grin. “You are in Clayton, Missouri. Land of heat and flowers.”
“Here?” Elly glanced around at the well-dressed crowd sipping their overpriced drinks behind the shiny marble countertop. “Yeah...I don’t think I really fit in here,” she lamented, unable to picture her squat body waddling down the posh main street.
“Yeah. I don’t either.” Kim turned her head thoughtfully.
That’s true, Elly thought. Kim didn’t really fit in. She was dressed like a hippie – wearing a light blue dress that really seemed to have the stitches on the outside, an expensive-looking turquoise necklace, and black and white espadrilles. It was quite urban for this posh suburb. Still, Elly knew that people beautiful like Kim seemed to fit in everywhere - it came as naturally as smiling. Even now, she could feel men’s eyes on their table. A handsome yet chubby man wearing an apron had been staring at their table since they sat down, unsuccessfully hiding behind his newspaper.
“What would I do here? Honestly, I probably need to go home…beg for my job back,” The thought of facing her boss, who would offer unsolicited advice, tell her that she was a nice “lady friend” and give her a gift card for Macy’s, sent a pang of nausea through her stomach. Kim frowned at her and looked directly into her eyes.
“Why would you do that? You left for a reason. You haven’t have driven two days straight just to turn around. Whatever you left behind, it hasn’t changed just because you’re gone. If you go crawling back, you’ll end up where you were before.” She paused. “I would know. I’ve left many men and gone back again, only to find myself in the exact same moment, leaving again. The wasted time that I will never get back is depressing to think about, especially now that I’m married to someone wonderful.” Kim was now on a roll and getting louder by the minute. Her hands flailed around wildly. Elly wanted to shrink in her chair.
“Elly, your heart is broken. I can see it on your face and hear it in your voice, and I know that I don’t know you, but I feel like you’re meant to be here…here, in this ridiculous coffee shop.” She giggled and then grew suddenly serious. “I woke up today and felt that something important was going to happen. I saw you snapping at the barista and I felt like I knew that you were going to be a part of my life. It’s the oddest feeling. I’m not a person who usually believes in signs, but I can’t shake this feeling that my reason for being here this morning is you.” Kim paused and reached for her hand. “I think you should stay”.
Elly was overwhelmed by exhaustion and the emotion of the moment. She blinked back tears as she lifted her head to look past Kim, to see the sun streaming in through the windows. Suddenly she was back in her car, the sun rising, sitting in front of her house, trying to breathe. She was walking down the stairs in her house, hearing two voices, muffled through the door…
She wouldn’t go back. She couldn’t go back. Not yet. And maybe, if she waited long enough, he would come for her. By then, she would surely be mended.
“So…where are we again?”
“Clayton. Missouri. St. Louis.”
Elly smiled and repeated the name to herself. “Clayton. Okay.”
And so she had decided to stay. And it was almost two years to the day.
Elly snapped her mind back to the present in Ada’s Coffee. She grabbed her drink with her free hand, gave the barista a smile and headed back to Posies. As she stuck her old fashioned gold key into the large brass lock and opened the door, the bell chimed and Cadbury, her English Sheepdog, trotted down from upstairs. He nuzzled her feet as she closed the door with her hip and pushed play on the stereo. Cadbury emitted a high pitched whine as she ignored him to set her drink down.
“That’s enough. I’m right here. It’s not like we didn’t spend the last eight hours together. Remember? When you kicked my stomach?” Cadbury licked her elbow. “Oh love,” she said scratching behind his ears, “you are the worst dog in the world.”
“Good morning!” chimed a voice from somewhere in back. Elly set her hot chocolate down mid grin. Her loyal staff was already here, hard at work for tomorrow’s wedding. She headed for the back room, where dozens of buckets held flowers that were being processed. Elly stepped over a mound of dried leaves and twigs and looked over at her assistant manager.
“This one’s a no-greenery. No surprise there.” Kim stood, arm half-way down an Ambience rose stem, its dewy cream petals blushing to a bright pink tissue at the tip. “What? You know she is.”
Elly sighed. “You think everyone is a no-greenery bride. You have a low tolerance for needy women.”
“Why am I friends with you then? I’m just saying, she emailed me twice this morning to ask about whether her roses were really blown open or just blown open, that put her into the no-greenery bride category,” Kim retorted. Elly grunted. She was probably right.
There were two types of brides that came to Posies, their high-end flower studio. Greenery brides were easy-going, laid-back, daisy kind of girls. No-greenery brides were anti-chrysanthemum, anti-foliage, anti-everything.
Kim continued her ranting. “If they had their way, we would all be carrying white rose bouquets with pearl flower accents, a white wrap and NO greenery to enhance the bouquet whatsoever.” They also called eight times everyday to have lengthy conversations about the boutonnieres, thought Elly. They were a handful, but Elly loved them anyway. Most of them. She paused. Okay, some of them.
With a triumphant flourish, Kim finished stripping the flower and plopped it into the bucket. “You deal with her then!” She looked over at Elly. “Wow, you’re really sweaty.”
Elly nodded and wiped her face with her sleeve. “Thanks. It’s nice of you to notice.”
Kim, she noted, was simply glowing, her perfectly freckled skin radiating light and warmth. Elly mentally punched her. “Well, at least I don’t have tulip dirt in my hair.”
Snarky Teenager, her other employee, walked into the work area, grabbed some Marguerite daisies out of Elly’s bucket and left.
“You’re welcome,” Elly called after her.
Snarky Teenager poked her head around the corner. “You’re welcome for what? For doing my job? I should thank you for letting me do my job? Whatever.”
She stomped to the back, her bright pink bra blazing through her sheer shirt. Kim rolled her eyes and mouthed, “Boyfriend drama.” Elly shook her head, exasperated, and wandered to the front office where she sank heavily into her oversized chair. Her damp blond hair stuck to her face. It was only April, but it already felt like the hottest month ever. The back room of the shop wasn’t air conditioned and even with fans blowing every which way (which resulted in having make-out hair – even though everyone knew there was none of that going on), the heat seeped into her body like a steaming lotion. She never got cool and sweat trickled like a stream between her breasts. Wonderful. Boob sweat. It felt like walking in a warm, living womb.
Kim had threatened many times that she would quit if they didn’t buy air conditioning for th
e back room, but they were empty threats. Kim would never leave. She loved the flowers too much, as Elly did. And Elly loved flowers, and her store – her little piece of heaven. The front of the store was painted pale yellow with antique white accents – not unlike cake piping. Angel ringed ivy snaked down book shelves filled with wedding and flower books: The Language of Flowers, Your Unique Bouquet, Martha Stewart Weddings and others. Her dark cherry wood desk had very little clutter on it besides a computer – a complex general of a machine that she barely understood – and a ceramic mug filled with pens that simply said “Love.” Elly grimaced at the irony of what was clearly lacking, but that mug was one of the few things she brought from Georgia. There was no reason for it; she loved her love mug. Everything was placed in the right spot on her desk, simple and clean. While looking effortless, it took a lot of work to maintain.
To the right of the desk was a huge cottage window. It peeked out onto a tiny courtyard that faced Wydown Street. Elly and Kim had tried their hardest to decorate the barren, overgrown area – they put topiaries in the corners, rose bushes tucked into a raised brick seating area, white lights in the trees, but still looked a little....ugly. It would always be a little ugly, but Elly liked it anyway.
She sighed and took a sip from her water bottle, delighting in the cool liquid trickling down her throat, into the wrong pipe. Elly wheezed and choked. Just when she was feeling sexy, it all fell apart. Oh well, it wasn’t like anyone was looking anyway. She shrugged; at least her store was beautiful. Tall ribbon holders stretched across the walls, displaying a satin rainbow of pastels. Two coolers hummed all day long and added a much-needed sense of urgency to all projects. Posies had a variety of walk-ins every day – from older women, who lived in the grand mansions lining the street, to awkward high school boys buying single roses for their girlfriends. The boys were Elly’s favorites. Other than that, it was mostly brides. Ah, the endless brides.
They would come in, their faces flushed with the excitement of their upcoming wedding, mothers and sisters and friends in tow, clutching various wedding books and magazine cut-outs. She would greet them at the door, seat them at her table and proceed to talk about such lovely things that they always left a little dazed. She had a large glass covered table, and under it were the thank-you notes from dozens of brides, all grateful and gushing. There were a small handful of brides over the past two years who didn’t like their flowers – “too earthy” was always their complaint– but the vast majority of Posies brides loved their flowers and couldn’t refer them fast enough.
Elly would spend a couple of minutes every day running her fingers aimlessly over the notes. Her brides, her girls. She would often become more than a florist to each of them – a friend, a confidant, a trusted wedding advisor. This was her favorite part of the job, besides the designing. Elly loved creating her organic magic, a bundle of beauty that when handed to a bride made her gasp in delight. Elly was constantly thinking up new combinations and could sit for hours writing down flower types and color and today, standing in front of the picture window, she let her mind wander to just that.
She was shaken out of her freesia-induced stupor by the shrill ringing of the phone. She took a quick sip of water to clear her throat, and answered.
“Thank you for calling Posies, this is Elly.” And so went the day. Consultations, flower orders, processing, talking with Kim, yelling at Snarky Teenager…it was all a joyful blur of work and play.
At five, when business was winding down, Elly switched the sign over to “Closed” and watched the professionals driving by, on their way home to big lives in big houses. She sighed peacefully and leaned her head against the cool glass. Elly never dreamed she would be here. She never dreamed that she would have her own shop – her own life – after the nuclear sex bomb decimated her life in Georgia. Starting over was painful, heart-breaking and exhilarating. She was anew. She was blessed. She was…really hungry. Pizza?
With a new urgency Elly switched off the lights, took one last look at the quiet shop, clicked her tongue at Cadbury to follow her and headed upstairs to her apartment. Unlocking the door, she reveled in the air conditioning before stripping off her apron, and pulling off her pants and sweeping her hair up in a ponytail holder. She ate her homemade pizza quickly, settling on the couch next to Cadbury. A few television reruns later, she headed up to the roof.
The roof of her building – which was directly above her apartment - was a 15-foot concrete square of paradise. Plants covered the ground, and there was just enough room for two outdoor loveseats covered in beautiful terra cotta fabric with bright pink pillows to snuggle with. She loved to come up here to think, to nap, and to cry. Relaxing back against the cushions, Elly stared up, transfixed at the night sky, trying not to think on her past or worry about tomorrow’s wedding. Her elbow bumped the loveseat and she dashed red wine across her bare legs. She threw back the blanket.
“Crap!” she cried out loud and then instantly felt exposed.
She looked around and calmed herself - she was the only one up here – the only one with the roof deck, the only one without pants. There was no one to care that she was drinking wine in her underwear, or that she had eaten a whole small pizza by herself earlier. She was alone. She was always alone. Shaken by the thought, Elly leaned her head back against the couch. It had been two long years since she had driven away from him. Him, the man whose name she would never think. Kim had been right. Clayton was…okay. She was okay. Elly lingered on the thought. She was, right? With that, Elly longingly began counting the hours until she went back to work – for at night her loneliness awakened deep within her; a nagging finger pressing against her heart, an awareness that something was missing.
CHAPTER
TWO
“I can’t believe that you didn’t mention to me, UNTIL RIGHT NOW, that she ordered another bridesmaid bouquet. Did you not think that was important?” Elly slammed the cooler door shut and glared at Snarky Teenager, who shrugged her hair out of her eyes and yanked up the pants that were barely covering her lavender thong.
“Look. I’m sorry. I checked the email about a week ago and I forgot to write it on the contract. I suck. I get it.”
Elly rolled her eyes. “Don’t be sorry, just do it right next time, okay?”
Snarky Teenager nodded sullenly.
“Okay. Grab some of those for me.” Quickly, Elly assembled the bridesmaid bouquet: Bright pink tea roses stood out against pale green hydrangea, yellow mini-callas and creamy sweet pea. Once the perfect loose dome was assembled, Elly carefully folded tropical leaves beneath the floaty petals, pinning them with pearls. She grabbed a pear-colored satin ribbon and wrapped the bouquet, winding around and around until everything was taut and contained. Plopping the bouquet into a vase, she whirled around in time to see her volatile young worker texting in the corner.
“Start loading the van!” she snapped. Snarky Teenager sauntered out the door.
Elly sighed. Wedding deliveries, no matter how planned and organized, were always stressful. God help me, she thought. She grabbed her directions from the table, along with two flower girl baskets and jogged out to the van. Once there, she ran through her contract verbally with her hormonal worker.
“One Bridal Bouquet?”
“Check”
“Four Bridesmaids…plus the new one you forgot?” Elly arched her eyebrows.
“Check.”
“Personal flowers?”
“Check”
“Twenty centerpieces?”
“Check.”
“So we are good to go?”
Snarky Teenager nodded. She peered at Elly. “Why are you so sweaty?”
Because I’m a heifer, Elly thought. She ignored the question, but wiped her hand against her drenched forehead. Geez, I haven’t even left the parking lot yet and I’m soaked – can it really only be the first weekend in May? Elly climbed in the car, slamming the door next to her.
“Make sure you don’t forget the Meske pick-up
at 4,” she instructed. “I’ll call you on my way back.”
Snarky Teenager nodded and walked back into the shop, butt cheeks hanging out of her underwear that Elly believed were masquerading as shorts. I have got to talk to her about those. She knew she wouldn’t.
Elly pulled her van onto the street, heading for Interstate 40. The air conditioning blew on her freckled skin. The wedding today was at the Botanical Gardens. While beautiful and romantic, Elly loathed delivering there. Not only did the ceremony site feel like it was approximately 100 miles from the entrance, it was in the African Garden – Elly snorted - but it was hot as Hades and she was going to have to truck it all out there on her little cart. Elly turned up the radio, trying to ignore the oncoming trauma.
When she arrived at the gate, she was first waved through to the wrong entrance, where caterers’ unloaded white push carts and frozen shrimp platters. She drove around until she found a suitable entrance, which was still across the garden from the ceremony, quite the distance from Elly’s perception. Lifting the first box of flowers holding the bouquets, she carried it across the parking lot and into the bride’s room. The bride was not there yet – thankfully – so she unloaded the vases, taking a minute to admire their simple loveliness. The bride’s bouquet was white orchids, Queen Anne’s lace, white mini-callas and white roses with green berry accents. Next to the bright pink, green and yellow, the whites looked even more radiant in their crystal vase.
Huffing back out to the van, Elly threw the box in the back and proceeded to grab the men’s flowers. The handsome young men dressed in khaki suits were actually nearby in the garden lobby, much to Elly’s relief.
“Um, excuse me. Excuse me?”
The men ignored her.
“You!” she pointed at the groom, who was taking swig from a small bottle of liquor. They looked up, annoyed.
Elly In Bloom Page 2
