Day Nine

Mornings with Megan went on like that for a couple of days. I would order a black coffee, we'd sit down, and talk. Nothing important, nothing entertaining, just small talk. An excuse to look at each other. I never called her,though, but I took the paper she gave me with me almost everywhere.

Eight days after our initial meet up, I left a few minutes early from my apartment. I walked to the flower shop next on 4th street. I walked into the green-walled-small shop.

"Hi," a small Vietnamese woman told me from behind the cash register. I nodded my head.

I walked to the fridge, Roses? No, their too formal. Maybe Sunflowers, those are nice, or Violets. The small Vietnamese woman came up behind me.

"Who you shop fo'?" she asked, her accent hard not to notice, "You buy fo' girl?"

"Yes," I said, looking down at her and back at the fridge, "A friend."

"Oooh," she said, raising her voice ever so slightly, "A friend, I heard that before."

"What do you mean?" I asked, examining a bouquet of Lillys.

"A friend," she said knowingly, "You now want her a friend?"

"No," I said, pretending to understand what she meant, "But I've only known her for a few days, so it doesn't matter."

"Oooh," the way she said oh was slightly stereotypical, "She pretty?"

"Yes," I said, I opened the fridge and took out a few Daisies, "Very."

"Well," she said, walking back to her eat, "Let's make deal, you take flowers for free, ask friend on date, you come back and tell me how it go."

"Uh," The flowers were kind of expensive, and being a writer didn't exactly give me deep pockets, "Uh, okay, yeah. I will."

"Good, good," she said, "Young love so beautiful. Now go on son, she be waiting."

"Thanks," I said. walked out.

**********

After the odd meet up with the woman, I walked the few blocks back to the Starbucks. I was still thinking about the encounter when Megan shrieked.

“Eeek!” she yelped in delight, “Are those for me?”

“Yeah,” I said, thinking about how short our meet up would be. I wondered if it was worth it, “Yeah they are.”

“Oh!” she said joyfully, her cheeks where a luscious red now, “I hope it wasn't too much trouble,” she had half ran the way from the counter to the entrance.

“No,” I said, handing them to her, “They where a bargain.”

Why did I say that? I asked myself. I shouldn't have, I sounded cheap.

“Oh my god,” she said, examining the Daisies, “Did you get these from Lil?”

“That nice Vietnamese lady from the flower shop down the street?”

“Yeah,” she said, her cheeks now even more deeply blushed, “I live with her.”

“Oh,” I said, piecing everything together, “That explains it.” The words came absentmindedly.

“Explain what?” she asked, looking up at me.

“Oh, uh, nothing, uh,” I said, stumbling on my words, “I was wondering if, uh,-”

“Yeah?”

“If you wanted to, uh-”

“Yeah?”

“Maybe we could, uh-”