I arrive at the flower shop almost an hour later. I know Lydia isn't mad at me but I still feel like the worst employee ever. The bell above the door rings when I rush inside and my boss looks up from the bouquet she is preparing for an old lady leaning on the counter.

“Hey” She greets me and watches me disappear in the back. I put my bag down and walk out again, panting slightly.

“Morning” I gasp and wipe some sweat off my forehead. “Sorry again for being late.”

Lydia looks down at her work again. “I told you it's fine.”

“I still feel bad. I'll close up today.”

“I thought I told you to leave an hour early.”

I look at her like she just grew a second head. “I got here almost two hours late and you want me to go home early?”

“Yes” She says and wraps the bouquet in paper before handing it over to the woman. Lydia takes the money and says goodbye. The costumer leaves and my boss wipes her hands on her jeans. “Aven, you're always on time. Just because it happens once doesn't mean I'm going to cut your salary. Especially after what happened yesterday.”

“Seriously? I'm not a kid. Yes, Visionary died and that dude with the gun shot himself. I saw it. So?”

Lydia puts on a sad smile and pats me on the shoulder. “You're definitely going home early today.” She walks past me to put the money away and I glare after her.

I know she's just being nice but still!

Eventually I give in and sigh. “Sorry, maybe I am a bit stressed.” I mumble. “By the way, how was your date?”

She turns around to face me and the look on her face tells me everything I need to know. There's this small smile that she's trying to hide.

Before she can tell me about it, I gasp and point at her dramatically. “Oh God, don't tell me you had sex with him?”

Her smile disappears and instead a blush rises to her cheeks. “W-what? No!”

“Oh, you so ended up in his bed.” I tease her. “So tell me, does suit guy have a play room filled with weird sex toys?” I smirk devilishly.

Lydia turns away and pretends to organise some papers next to the cash register. “Well, he doesn't have a room for it.” I hear her mumble. “But it's not like that's any of your business!” She adds, pretending to sound strict.

“Sorry, boss.” I chuckle and look up when the bell rings, announcing the arrival of another costumer.

Lydia looks at me and smirks. “I'll be in the back. There's a bunch of paperwork waiting for me.” She says and starts walking off. “I have another date with him tomorrow so more info on Monday.”

I watch her go and hide a laugh behind my hand before greeting the costumer.

~ ~ ~

My shift is mostly quiet. Just a few costumers who want simple bouquets and a woman asking about a bonsai for her living room. We usually don't have those so I tell Lydia to order it for her. My boss spends most of the day in the small office in the back to order a bunch of new flowers for next week.

It's almost four when she finally appears next to me again. “All finished.” She announces and stretches her back. She hates doing office work. It hurts her back to sit for that long. “You can leave if you want.”

I look up from the magazine I'm reading and raise an eyebrow. “Nah, don't worry. I told you I'd close up later.”

Lydia crosses her arms and looks down at me sternly. “Aven, I left work early yesterday. Today it's your turn. No more talking back or I might cut your salary after all.”

I put the magazine away and open my mouth to protest when the bell above the door rings. Lydia glances over briefly before glaring at me again. “Last costumer. I want you gone after.” Then she disappears in the back again.

I look after her and fight the urge to poke my tongue out. Instead I turn to face whoever just entered the shop and smile.

My face turns blank though when I see who it is.

Hot guy from the Tube!

Shit shit shit

He looks around the small shop interestedly before finally facing me. His eye widen for a second but my mind might be playing tricks on me. Why is he here? Was he looking for me? Nah, he's probably just buying flowers for his girlfriend or something.

“Hey, it's you.” He greets and smiles. Oh my God, his teeth are perfect! And he remembers me! My inner teenage girl is doing backflips right now.

“Hello, h-how can I help you?” Good one, Aven.

The guy chuckles and steps closer to the counter slowly so I have enough time to take in his appearance. Seriously, why does his shirt have to be so tight? That's a bit unfair.

“I didn't know you worked here.” He tells me and shrugs. “How convenient.”

I frown. “Huh?”

He shakes his head and holds his hand out. “How rude. I never mentioned my name. I'm Gabriel.”

My gaze drops to his hand. I must look like a total idiot, just staring at his hand like that. Eventually I take it and give it a quick shake. “Aven”

“Aven? That's a weird name.” Gabriel laughs and pulls his hand back. “Actually, I'm here to buy some flowers. You know about this stuff, right? How many roses to really impress someone?”

My heart does not break when he says that. No. He's hot. That's all. And hot guys always have a girlfriend. Always!

“Well, uh, actually I don't have it memorised.” I say calmly and reach across the counter to take one of the cards that some costumers buy to add a special message to their bouquet. I look down at it before handing it over. “It's all on here.”

Gabriel takes the card and looks down at it for a few seconds before a smile reaches his face. “Then I'll take 24 red roses.” He says and hands the card back to me. I glance down at it briefly. '24 roses – can't stop thinking about you'. He looks down at me and smirks. “And make it pretty, would you?”

I nod quickly before rushing away to get the flowers and some decoration. While I start putting them together, I can't help but glance over to Gabriel. He's leaning against the counter, watching me closely. I feel myself blush and lower my gaze to concentrate on my work.

“How old are you anyway?” I flinch at his sudden question but suppress the need to look up at him again.

“Turned twenty a few months ago. Why?”

He shrugs and turns his gaze away. “No reason.”

I bite my bottom lip nervously as I try to wrap the bouquet together with a red band.

“Ever got a bunch of roses from someone?” He then asks. That does make me look up. He's watching the street outside, acting like he was asking me about the weather.

When I drop my gaze to look down at my work again, my eyes widen. I finished putting the red band into a bow. It looks pretty. The only problem is that the flowers don't look as pretty any more. Why? Because they're freaking frozen.

“Shit” I mumble and drop the whole thing in shock. It lands on the floor and the band rips.

“You alright?” Gabriel asks and when I look up at him, he is leaning across the counter to see what I'm doing.

I kick the ruined bouquet aside so he won't notice and laugh awkwardly. “Yes, I...uh, I just noticed that these didn't look very fresh. I'm getting new ones.”

When I disappear in the back I feel his eyes follow me. Once I know I'm out of sight, I look down at my hands. Ice. Why does it have to be ice? Before I get new flowers, I make sure to put on a pair of gardening gloves and walk back into the shop. Gabriel is watching me again.

“You sure you're okay? You look a bit pale.” He asks after watching me work for a while.

I simply nod and put the flowers together quickly. I put another band around the base and quickly wrap them in some paper before handing it over. “Here you go.”

He hesitates and chuckles when he takes it from me. “Thank you.” With his free hand he reaches into his pocket and pulls a few bills out, placing them in front of me. “That should be enough.”

I look down and blink in confusion. “Uh, that's too much.”

Suddenly his face is right in front of mine as he leans down. He's so tall. Oh my God. A whimper escapes me and I quickly bite my lip to hold back any more awkward noises.

“Keep the change.” He pretty much purrs and then he turns around and leave the shop, leaving me to stand there in shock.

“Finished?”

I whirl around and stare at Lydia with wide eyes. “Yes” I gasp and hand her the money. “Here, they gave a tip.” She takes it hesitantly and I rush past her into the back to get my bag.

“But that's your tip.” She calls after me. I come back into the shop and shrug.

“I don't care. You keep it. I'm leaving, alright?”

She turns to put the money away and laughs. “Yeah, sure. See you on Monday then.”

I nod and wave before slipping through the door and into the summer heat. It doesn't bother me as much as yesterday though. That might have something to do with the fact that I just accidentally froze a bunch of flowers!

As if that's my biggest problem right now. Hot guy just bought roses for someone. The one time I think I like someone and then something like that happens. That's just my luck. I mean I don't even know him.

Still!