Petal Pushers

A few moments after Leif rang the bell, Ember threw the door open. She rolled her eyes at the bouquet of flowers he held.

Sighing, she said, “Again?”

Leif had never seen such seething outrage at the arrival of a top-of-the-line bouquet. His delivery job for ‘Bloomin Florist’ made him an expert.

He checked the order and presented the bouquet.

“Ember Atwood?” She nodded. “These are for you.”

She grabbed the bouquet, opened the card and groaned. Under her breath, she said, “What a putz.” She flicked the card away.

Leif asked, “Is there a problem?”

She’d forgotten he stood there. “Oh… no… Not the flowers. But yeah, the jerk who sent them… big problem.”

Leif hesitated. He delivered flowers, not therapy.

But he hated seeing anyone upset. His nature was to empathize. Despite her outrage, Ember was the most beautiful woman Leif had ever met. Delivering flowers for a living, Leif had met many. Resisting temptation, he maintained his professional distance. He didn’t reach for her even to comfort her.

With imploring eyes, Ember looked at him. His heart melted.

Her face changed. She said, “He betrayed me. If he dares to show his face again, I’ll pistil whip him.”

Leif stepped back. “You have a gun?”

She looked shocked. “What would I do with a gun? Oh! No, silly. A pistil.” She shook the bouquet at him. “A bouquet beating. It’s a saying…”

“It is?”

“I thought all you florist guys knew it.”

Leif struggled to understand this absurd turn. “Uhm, no. All our flowers… We’ve bred any violent tendencies out of them.”

“Don’t want anyone pushing up daisies, huh?”

“No, we stopped carrying them.”

Ember laughed. “You’re funny…”

He recovered. “We, at Bloomin Florist, do all we can to please the customer.”

She smiled coyly. “I know you do.”

Leif said, “Wait… Hold on…”

He ran to the delivery van and grabbed another bouquet, unclipped the card and brought it back up the walk. What am I doing? The thought passed through his mind, almost without notice. He offered them to Ember.

“If you’re dissatisfied with your flowers, for any reason…”

Ember looked with adoration at the new bouquet. “Thanks… No one ever did that for me…”

He said, “We aim to please… I don’t know what happened between you two… None of my business, I know… But if I ever sent you flowers, I’d be faithful, loyal and loving.”

What did I just say? Am I a pooch?

Smiling through fresh blossoms, she said, “These are beautiful. I’ll keep these. Thanks…”

Her eyes fluttering, Ember inhaled the fragrance of her bouquet. Then, as if disposing of offal, she gave the other to Leif. He shoved them, stems forward, under his arm.

Leif nodded and withdrew.

But first he gave her his name and offered to stay in touch. Her reply made his heart sing.

Quick recovery, he thought. That betrayal didn’t destroy her. Of course, meeting me didn’t hurt.

Leif hummed while clipping the card into the rejected bouquet. The van seemed to float to his next delivery.

What luck, that Milo, his co-worker, swapped routes with him. Having seniority, this had always been Milo’s route. He just gave it up. On a whim? His loss, thought Leif.

Leif brought Ember flowers each day. And she always received them with squeals of delight. His store discount helped defray the expense.

Her smile intoxicated him. He took her to dinner at his favorite restaurant.

She called him, “My personal florist.”

He felt like a knight courting a princess. “I’m honored to serve you…”

When Ember invited him into her home, Leif couldn’t believe how she’d decorated. Flowers were everywhere. Constant deliveries required innumerable vases displaying fresh blossoms on every available surface.

Some rooms had ornate flower print wallpaper. Paintings and posters of flower filled meadows covered other walls. One window displayed a stained-glass homage to Van Gogh’s painting, ‘Sunflowers.’

Her couch had flower print upholstery. The large circular rug on the living room floor depicted a splash of roses.

Leif’s first reaction was, “Good thing I don’t have hay fever.”

Ember said, “I doubt you’d be a florist if you did…”

She led him into her back yard which had a perimeter of rose bushes. Those were fronted by rows of marigolds, pansies and lavender.

Leif couldn’t believe how lush her yard was. “Amazing garden, Ember. Do you work in a nursery?”

She laughed. “I couldn’t work with plants all day, every day. And then come home to more…? No. They provide me with an escape, a balance, from my day at the office.”

In his enthusiasm, Leif, being a guy, moved too fast. One day, after delivering her flowers, he hugged and kissed Ember. She responded. It was wonderful. But he tried to take it further.

Ember broke away. “Hey… I’m going to nip that in the bud, Bud…”

He said, “Sorry. Too soon?”

“Seeding and fertilizing is out of season…”

He wondered where he could snag a copy of the ‘Old Farmer’s Almanac.’

Things continued as they had been, more or less.

For Valentine’s Day they planned a special night together.

But that day, Leif hadn’t anticipated his work load. Delivery orders backed up and he arrived late for their date.

Ember accepted his apology. And she loved the flowers he brought her.

He couldn’t place it, but Leif felt something had changed.

The next morning, Leif saw Milo in the lot, loading up for their shift.

“Hey, Milo… I owe you.”

“What for?”

“Trading shifts with me. It’s working out great.”

“Oh. Well good. I’m a delivery guy. I don’t care what it is, or where. I deliver. I’m good at it.”

“But we deliver flowers.”

“Yeah, well there’s such a thing as too much of good thing. After a while, get tired of the stink. Thinking of driving for Amazon. They deliver everything.”

“Like vases and posters of flowers?”

Milo looked at Leif. He smirked. “So, she got you? Enjoy it while it lasts.”

“So, you know Ember?” Milo shrugged. “What happened? She’s great.”

“Too many rules. You’ll see. No doubt she cares about flowers. But that’s all she cares about. I deliver them. I don’t sleep with them.”

Leif helped Milo load his van. Milo returned the favor.

He thought about the last several weeks with Ember. Milo had a point. Everything seemed to hinge on that daily delivery. Was that all it was about? He couldn’t believe it.

He pulled up to Ember’s house for his daily delivery. A van from another florist stood in his usual spot. He saw Ember at the door talking to a young man. All smiles, she accepted the bouquet he handed to her.

Look at that kid. What a sap. Should warn him... No matter. He’ll learn.

Leif watched him leave.

He knocked on Ember’s door. She answered. He handed her a bouquet.

Ember said, “Thanks…” and began to shut the door.

Leif blocked the door with his foot.

“Someone else sends you flowers?”

“Well…”

“And you accept them?”

“No surprise… You know I like flowers.”

“Yes… But I thought what mattered was who sent them. Not the flowers themselves.”

She said nothing, backed away and pushed on the door.

Leif said, “You said I’m ‘your florist.’ I thought I was more than that…”

“You’re a good florist…”

“Tell me… the guy you said betrayed you… He also a florist?”

She looked trapped. Turning away, she said, “You need to go.”

Leif turned away. He heard the door shut behind him.

The next morning, he dragged himself in to work. He hadn’t slept.

Milo smiled. “Looks like you could use a change of water. Feeling plucked?”

He shook his head. “More like mowed… Plowed under.”

“Rise and shine. It’s a new day. New deliveries.”

“I know… the old flowers to bees rant.”

“Want to change routes? I can arrange it…”

“Naw. She went over to ‘Petal Pushers.’”

“Amateurs...”

“No biggie. I’ll just drive on by.”

Leif pushed a bin full of bouquets toward his van.

Milo stopped him. “You, okay?”

Leif smiled without humor. “Not going to leave work. And I won’t stalk her either.”

Milo nodded. “Good. I’ll help you load up.”

Once his van was ready to go, Leif helped Milo and others load their vans.

It turned out to be a pretty good day.