Ting-a-ling

The small bell over the door jingled melodically, announcing my entry.

As I stepped in, my eyes wandered over the most vibrant room I had seen in my life. Flowers of all colors, shapes and sizes lined the walls and shelves, some in planters, others in bouquets and a few on their own, held up in bunches. As I inhaled, a dozen different scents invaded my nose all at once.

Only after a few seconds did my eyes find the short, brown-haired woman, smiling at me expectantly.

I smiled back.

"I must say, you have the single most beautiful shop I have ever seen. Though you must get that a lot."

Her smile widened. It was contagious.

"And every time I hear it is as good as the first. So, did you have anything in mind?"

I nodded. I didn't even have to think of the answer.

"Do you have chrysanthemums?" I asked, smiling warmly as I recalled a distant, sweet memory.

"Of course! This way, follow me." Her voice broke me out of it.

She led me past a couple rows of flower-filled shelves, and to a wall filled solely with crisanthemums of every single color imaginable. I hadn't even known they came in so many different ones.

"Do you want to buy a bouquet?"

After a moment's thought, I shook my head.

"No, that would be over the top. Just the single flower, please," I answered, and she stepped aside, beckoning me forth with her arm to let me pick a color. I wasn't sure which one to get; I didn't want to go with red again. It just didn't feel right. Our relationship had changed a lot since that day I confessed, and choosing the same color as back then would be like saying it hadn't, or at least it felt that way to me.

"So... a budding romance? Want to sweep her off her feet on the first date? You've certainly dressed to impress," she said, teasingly, wearing a mischievous smile.

I looked down at my tuxedo-like outfit, and laughed perhaps a tad too loudly at her misunderstanding.

"No, no, these are just my work clothes. I'm a corporate worker and like to dress the part, even if they don't really make us do so. And the flower's for my wife, nothing so bombastic," I clarified with an embarrassed smile, showing her my ring out of muscle memory and finally settling on yellow for the flower. I thought it'd look good against her perfect black hair.

"Oh! Silly me, how did I not notice that? She's one lucky woman– ah."

The shopkeeper winced as I picked the yellow flower, for some reason.

"You... don't know the language of flowers, do you?"

I gave her a quizzical look. "The language of... flowers? No, sorry, no clue."

She smiled knowingly, then took the yellow chrysanthemum off my hand, replacing it with an orange one.

"That'll be two dollars; you're lucky they're on season right now."

Deciding not to question her actions, I nodded, satisfied with the price, and took out my phone to pay. I didn't even ask if that was an option; you paid for everything with your phone these days.

Or so I thought.

"Oh, sorry... I don't take payment through card or phone... I don't have the reader."

I looked at her in surprise. "You don't?"

She rubbed her head sheepishly.

"Yeah, my parents used to run this shop until a few weeks ago, and they were very... conservative. And I haven't had time to set up everything needed to accept card payments yet."

Hearing her words, I froze as I was searching for my wallet.

"Um... My condolences..."

"Huh? Oh, no, it's not like that, hehe, my dad just had one too many falls and he and mom decided it was time to hand over the reigns," she explained, giggling cutely.

I sighed in relief.

"Oh, good, I was completely lost on what to say there for a moment," I confessed, making her giggle again.

"Yeah, I would be, too," She replied, understanding.

Finally I found my wallet, but when I opened it, I found the smallest bill I had was a ten dollar one.

I shrugged, and handed it to her.

"One second, I'll go get the change."

"No sweat, just keep it. I need to get going soon anyway, my wife's gonna kill me. Bye!"

"Oh. Uh—bye!"

I left the flower shop with an orange chrysanthemum and a pep in my step, carefully placing it on the car's shotgun seat when I sat inside.

A few minutes later, I was home.

 

---

 

Opening the door was tough, with three large bags and a delicate flower. I ended up having to gently hold said flower between my teeth, in order to free up both hands to properly maneuver the key and doorknob.

I managed to do it, somehow, and a moment later I was inside. After closing it again and putting the key on its little hook next to the door, I let the bags drop to the floor, keeping the flower in my mouth as I took off my jacket, and only then noticed that it wasn't stiflingly hot.

Oh? She must've put the heating on lower power today. I wonder if it has to do with the heart-to-heart we had this morning.

I smiled as I remembered it, despite the pain in my chest that sprang up when I thought about what caused us to drift away in the first place.

I'm over it, I reminded myself, I've already grieved.

The TV's volume was also noticeably lower than usual, changing it from an annoying distraction to simple background noise.

Yeah, It can't all be a coincidence. I'm glad; it means my words must've finally reached her.

"I'm home!" I announced, loud enough for Alice to hear me from the living room.

There was silence for a moment, a and I wondered if I had assumed wrong.

"...you're late." When a reply finally came, I felt a wave of relief wash over me. Her words were as detached as they had always been lately, but her tone was pouty, rather than angry or uncaring. It gave me hope.

"Sorry, I had some coffee after work with a co-worker and bought some groceries, so I took longer than normal."

"Oh, is that... so? ...I hope it all fits in the fridge, then..." She said, with a weird tone, half muttering. Her voice was still coarse and husky, but somehow more lively than yesterday.

I tilted my head at her words, as I headed to the kitchen, bags in hand.

Huh? Why wouldn't it fit? I thought, grabbing the refrigerator's door, After all, it's almost completely empty—

"It's completely full." The words slipped my out of mouth, though thankfully not very loudly.

What? How? Since I had the car, and she still can't really go outside, she must've bought it online and had it delivered, like usual... but they don't put the food in the fridge and cupboards for you. And with how utterly full it is... she must've really broken her back, huh? Especially with how little she's been doing lately, it's a big step-up.

Looking at the three large bags full of groceries, I felt both glad I hadn't bought more, and a bit annoyed to have bought groceries in the first place.

Oh well, time to put all those Tetris hours to practice.

In the end, with a combination of shuffling things around, stacking some things in precarious fashion, and taking out anything that didn't strictly need to be refrigerated, I somehow managed to make it all fit inside. I'd broken quite the sweat by the end of it, but looking at my handiwork, I felt a strange sense of pride and satisfaction.

Then I looked over at the orange chrysanthemum over at the counter.

Shit. I didn't think this through. How am I supposed to give it to her?

I sighed; I really was doing that too much these days.

Oh well, I'll just figure it out as I do go along. I'll never give it to her otherwise.

Determination in my eyes, I marked over to the living room's entrance, only to find the TV was off.

"Alice?" I asked.

"...Yes?"

A voice came from the couch. It was nervous, almost scared.

So she was there.

"Um... thanks for doing the groceries. I managed to fit it all, by the way, if barely," I said, lamely. It seemed even Eloquence wasn't flawless. It made sense; I didn't exactly give it much to draw from, with my shitty speaking skills.

"No... I'm sorry I didn't do them earlier, it was my turn... and thank you for getting some stuff despite that. I'll... do it next time too," she said, and I wasn't about to contradict her.

"Okay, if you want to. I'll help you put all the stuff in their places, though. It must've been quite a chore," I proposed, offering a compromise.

"...yeah, it was a quite bit of work. I needed it, though. I have to move more."

I had no good answer to that, short of "You probably do", which would just be rude, so I changed the topic, still standing on the living room's doorway.

"Have you eaten dinner yet?" I asked, checking my watch. It was almost seven; a good time to start making it.

"I... have plenty of snacks."

I snorted.

"You can't just live on snacks your whole life, Alice. Wait a bit, I'll make us something... hmm. Well, not necessarily tasty, but healthy at least."

And so I did. Putting on a typical apron and chef hat, just for the fanfare, I decided to go for a caesar salad; one of my favourite foods that could squarely tick the "healthy" box.

I wasn't exactly a good cook, barely passable really, but I knew how to follow internet recipes, and with more than enough ingredients to choose from, the result was something I could more or less be proud of. Add a small cheeseboard and some fruit, and bam, you got yourself a full, balanced dinner.

Separating the salad into two plates, I cut a few cheeses and arranged them on a small wooden board, then prepared to bring it all on a tray to the living room. Before that, though, I saw the flower, which I'd completely forgotten about, and after a moment of hesitation placed it on the tray, between the salad bowl and cheeses.

Steeling my mind so as not to hesitate, I picked up the tray and entered the living room. "Here you go, Alice, I brought you dinner," I said, but was stopped a few feet away from the couch by Alice's voice.

"Don't come closer," she said, her voice leaving no room for negotiation.

I immediately halted my steps.

"Thanks... please close your eyes," she continued, her tone softer.

"O–okay..."

I did as asked.

I heard some shuffling, and some uncertain steps coming towards me. They stopped a short distance away, and then I felt the weight of the tray leaving my hand. My hand brushed against something soft for a moment.

I heard the steps start to move away, followed by a gasp.

I heard her set the tray down a moment later.

"R–Ryan, this is..." she said, sounding shocked and... moved?

Ah, so she saw the flower.

"Well, you see, there was this little flower shop next to the supermarket, and one thing led to another..." I explained, sheepishly.

"Y–you remember..."

I couldn't help but laugh at that. A bit too loudly.

"Hey! W–what's so funny!?" she demanded, trying to sound authoritarian and failing, despite Eloquence's best efforts 

"Sorry, it's just... of course I remember, Alice. It's one of my most precious memories, I remember every detail, down to how your hair smelled that day," I answered, Eloquence helping me recover from my faux-pas.

I heard a small gasp.

A moment later, two hands were on my chest, a face pressed to the spot between them.

"A–Alice...?" I asked, startled.

"Don't open your eyes," she told me, reminding me of her earlier command.

"Of course. Whatever you say." I agreed immediately.

I could feel her warmth through my shirt, the shape of her soft hands. She didn't smell very good, but I couldn't care less.

After a moment, both hands grabbed my shirt's collar, and I was unceremoniously pulled down onto her lips.

And my brain shut down.