About Flower Money [Lana]

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Sometimes when she looks at herself, she wonders what it would feel like to peel her skin away.[break][break]

Lana scoffed. So, we’re referring to ourself in the third person now, are we? Lana leaned forward over the sink to get a better look at herself in the mirror. The dying, yellow lights of the employee bathroom reflected with the red of her hair gave her skin a gross orange color. She didn’t recognize the woman staring back at her. Each hour passed and her invisible microbiology shifted. Each hour, her skin got older, her heart grew more fatigued, and her brain failed to make new neural connections. The science was beyond the woman who barely graduated high school, but she saw the effects with each passing year. Focusing in, Lana could see the pores along her nose like little freckles except not as cute. With her finger she pulled down the lower lid of her eye. She could follow the jagged pathways of her veins from the bottom of her eyelid and toward her iris. Maybe I’m allergic to the plants. The thought came and then was gone, followed by a miserable chuckle.[break][break]

When the bell in the front rang to announce a customer, Lana’s pupils dilated. No one else was here to cover her absence, but she stayed in the bathroom, looking at her washed out face with contempt and resignation. She took her time washing her hands, hoping the customer would get annoyed and leave. When she heard the voice muffled through the door, she thought she recognized it but it was hard to tell. Lana dried her hands on her jeans, leaving dark marks, before she exited the bathroom and made her way to the front.[break][break]

To her surprise, it was Ryan standing there, water dripping from his fingertips and hair and onto her floor. She didn’t realize it was raining. Her eyes moved passed him to look out the large windows and into the hazy downpour outside. Her eyes widened and without saying hello, she dashed to a window by the store counter. She leaned out and yanked the window closed, nearly slipping on the wet floor. What good are weathermen anyway? ‘Today is a gorgeous cloudless day in Chicago, people. Grab your sunglasses and enjoy the arrival of Spring!’[break][break]

With an exasperated sigh, Lana faced the man she managed to convince to give her his money. Without looking, she grabbed a 2 small towels from behind the counter. She tossed one on the floor below the now closed window. The other one she handed to Ryan when she closed the distance between them. “Trying to impress a date with some expensive roses?” she asked with her usual deadpan tone. “Isn’t that a bit of a dated tactic?” He wasn’t here for flowers though; Lana knew that. It was probably just business. Everything was just business. It’s not personal, just business, toots. A reality played behind her eyes as she waited for Ryan to explain his unannounced visit.

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Results? Lana wanted to roll her eyes. It didn't make much sense to own a flower shop and be skeptical of the reasons people bought them, but here she was mocking the very notion of buying flowers for a special someone. It may be resentment. No one ever bought her flowers... well, except once. It was one of her mom's boyfriends when she was 14. He came over knowing her mother wasn't at home. He offered her flowers and then a fuck. Testosterone poisoned men were all over the city, thinking they could take whatever they wanted. With a bat, Lana escorted the prick out. She tried telling her mother about the incident, but she continued to date him. In fact, she blamed Lana for what happened. You slut! she said. Instincts told her that Ryan was never such a man and that he was incapable of it, but experience said anyone could be a disappointment. Lana needed to put her cynical nature behind her. "Be careful, I hear women are getting smarted." Lana wanted to break herself of her antisocial behavior. She found that cracking jokes was one of the easiest ways to put others at ease.[break][break]

Ryan was quick to jump right in. Lana was fine with that. She crossed her arms and shifted her weight on her hips. When he asked if they could speak somewhere else, Lana nodded. She went to the front of her store and replaced the 'Open' sign with 'Be Back in 15 Minutes'. She turned and motioned for him to follow her. "Sure. Back here." Lana led him to the back of her store. There was a rose patterned curtain that separated the back of the shop from the front and she held it open for him. She kept reminding herself she needed to invest in a door or something. The back of the shop was dim with sparse furniture. In the far left corner was a small round table with three chairs around it. There was a shelf immediately to their left with plant food, vases, sheers, stones and all the makings of botany. From the back alone, it was obvious that few worked here. It was for the best considering who Lana had recently aligned herself with.[break][break]

Lana went to the small employee fridge and pulled out a water. On the way to the table, she picked up another towel for Ryan. His clothes were sopping wet. A good look, she thought with a spark of humor. "Do you want a change of clothes or something?" she asked. Having worked in the shop for a few years now, Lana knew there were some things you could just never prepare for, so it was best to have a bit of everything. "Help yourself to whatever you want," she added and motioned to the fridge. She took a seat at the table and cracked open her water.

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