The short story is dedicated to amenity. Thank you for participating in my ink lottery, I hope you'll continue to enjoy my future creations.

All the things unsaid

A florist should never distract from his flowers, Elliot. This sentence had become a second nature for the young man even before he inherited his grandmother’s flower shop. Words easier said than done for him. Even though Elliot decided to dress in black, his looks still managed to catch the eyes of the customers. It wasn’t due to his shoulder-length reddish hair, nor to his facial structure itself. Simply the fact he greeted the people with a green eye and a blue eye monitoring them sufficed to get a lot of attention. 

As he checked his looks in the small mirror in the staff’s room, he led out a single sigh. Maybe he should consider wearing contact lenses after all? But in that case, for which color should he decide? The blue or the green eyes? It probably wasn’t necessary to go to such an extent. After all, the shop wasn’t running that bad after he started to look after it. Still, Elliot had never been someone to stand willingly in the spotlight. He tended to get nervous easily. No matter how much he tried to avoid it, it also happened a few times with customers in the shop, just because they kept staring into his face for a moment too long. 

The bell chimed, beckoning him to leave the staff room and head to the salesroom instead.

“Welcome to Bellfleur flowers, how may I help you?” His eyes searched for a new costumer and found a face of the past instead. He blinked a few times as if he didn’t trust his eyes to show him the truth which clearly stood in front of him. Victor. 

How many years had it been? They had gone to school together, but Elliot had lost sight of him soon after. There he stood, tall enough that he had to put his head back to actually watch him in his face. How could he have grown any taller within these five years? Some things hadn’t changed, though. He still wore his curly black hair in the same undercut he got in the last two years in school. 

And unlike Elliot, his clothing style didn’t lack in color. He had always been impressed by how natural Victor managed to combine them. The blue jeans he wore today went along great with the orange shirt he wore. A single look at him was enough to command his heartbeat to race within his chest. Even after all the time, the yearning hadn’t stopped the slightest. 

Victors brown eyes focused on him, lit up instantly.
“Elliot? Is that you?”, he asked, approaching fast. He remembered my name? Never had he expected he did. They hardly interacted with each other due to Elliot's shy nature, he mostly watched him from afar. 
Victor came even closer before Elliot had a chance to react to the situation at hand. Close enough, so his eyes could focus on all the small freckles on Victor’s face as the fragrance of his cologne reached his nose. Fresh and enticing, like it had always been. 

“Oh, yes, it’s me. It’s good to see you, Victor.” He finally managed to speak up, before the meeting could turn uncomfortable. “It’s been a while.”

“Indeed, it has.” Victor smiled brightly, as if he was actually happy to see him again. But was he? Why should he? Don’t get your hopes up for naught. He surely just feels nostalgic, Elliot reprimanded himself. 

“So, what can I get you today?”, Elliot asked, setting up a charming salesman smile. Hopefully, he wasn’t here to get some flowers for a girlfriend. No, he shouldn’t think like that and rather hope he had someone to poison a bouquet to, right? 

“Actually, I am looking for a spray of flowers”, Victor admitted, his smile darkening slightly. Elliot felt a sting in his chest. 

“I’m deeply sorry for your loss, Victor. Do you want to talk about it?” He wasn’t sure why he even asked the question. Why should the man confide in him, of all people? A strange he just met once in five years? There were surely a dozen friends ready to comfort him. 

“Thanks for your condolence, but it’s actually not for an upcoming funeral”, Victor explained. “My mother already dead last summer. I just wanted to get something nice for her first memorial day, you know?” 

So, it wasn’t a fresh wound, yet something still seemed off. Did he overlook a hint? As far as he knew, Victor and his parents had always been on good terms. Maybe it was just the distanced way he talked about her death? People mourned in different ways.