her mother had a bad morning. she's been doing well these past few months. it's a steady decline, the doctors said, but being at home would help keep her grounded. and usually she's sweet as pie when she's confused. very rarely does adelaide need her help managing, but this morning was different.

so she's in a sour mood and she's trying to keep it together while she's running late for the flower shop, but it just so happens she'd also dropped the ball and had completely forgotten to set aside some arrangements for a party her neighbor is throwing today. 

so she works furiously with stems now, fighting back tears, as some out-of-towners try to arrange delivery for candle nights parties that are coming up.

she doesn't remember ophelia, or writing back to her. not in this moment. she just stares blankly at the girl. and then she pieces it together, grabs a pair of gloves, and shoves them in her direction. 

"i need the blue mini roses with the roses and pink lilies. six bouquets. accent with a bit of baby's-breath. tie the vases with burlap like you see over there." she waves in the general direction of the bouquets on display.

"when you're finished with that, you'll work on some wreaths for miss. grace."

Ophelia Reyes

☉

For a moment, she is stunned into silence and fear. What Willow is asking of her isn't difficult by any means. But the manner in which she asks is overwhelming and alarming.

Fortunately, Ophelia doesn't crumble. Instead, she takes a deep breath and steps forward, nodding in acknowledgement.

"Yes, of course, miss Willow."

Filly steels her nerves and puts on a brave face. It almost looks as if she might cry, but she pinches herself awake, encourages a smile, and gets to work. Under her breath, she whispers the instructions given to her.

"Blue mini roses with the roses and pink lilies. Six bouquets. Accent with a bit of baby's-breath. tie the vases with burlap like I see over there."

At first, her fingers are slow and clumsy. But once she finds her rhythm and once her heart stops beating out of her chest, she even stops pricking her fingertips with the sharp barbs. The lilies are beautiful and the roses smell heavenly. In the end, her bouquets are put-together and extraordinary. Some are a little lopsided, and they're lined up in order of first to last.

You can literally see each one get better and better as they go down. She is on the third bouquet because it doesn't really occur to her to organize each one at the same time. Gently, she tucks a strand of hair behind her ear and hums along to some tune. On the first bouquet, she adds the finishing touches of burlap, tying it neatly in a similar fashion to the ones miss Willow has put on display.

Gently, she thumbs the soft petals and moves onto the fourth.

willow atkins

☉

her regulars come and go and willow has to apologize over and over again because she doesn't have time to chat. and she hates that she doesn't. because she loves these people; they've been through thick and thin together. and because they support her family. they look out for each other. it's because of this, too, that they understand graciously and can move along with smiles, but she can't fathom that much right now. 

all she can do is keep her head down and her back turned while elisabet exchanges flowers for money.

once, a client requests after their pokemon. she glances over at ophelia, who seems lost in her work, and leaves the shop to gather up the sleeping skiploom. the pokemon's still dozing by the time willow comes back through the door. 

"she'll be resting more this time of year, but don't worry. she's on track to evolve this coming spring."

with that settled, and another pickup not for another two hours, and the rush dying down, willow finally has a moment to breathe. 

by the time she approaches, ophelia has just finished her fourth bouquet. the last two are marvels. the first, not so much. so willow tidies them quickly and finishes the sixth while ophelia works on the fifth. 

after handing the bundle to elisabet to store them in the cooler with some water, she grabs herself and ophelia a couple of refreshments. 

"sorry about that. i'm not usually this disorganized, though it feels like it more often. that's kind of why you're here." she laughs. "you can just call me willow. thanks for your help there."

Ophelia Reyes

☉

She can't help it, but she is painfully observant. Stolen glances over the slope of her shoulder, through the burlap fabric that she uses to wrap each vase. She can see that the woman is hurried and in great distress. Several unfamiliar faces come and go, as well as a lovely, sleeping Skiploom.

In all honesty, even in spite of the confusion and the panic, Willow manages to keep the shop in order. Frankly, it gives the young teenager hope and relief- that maybe not every day is quite as intense as this one had already shown to be.

That, and she hadn't yet been scolded for doing something wrong, though that may just be because Willow was busy. Filly's cheeks grow rosy when Willow eventually stops by to tidy up her first bundles and begins to speak.

"Of course! I really am honored to learn under you.. Willow. This place is beautiful."

She removes her hands and folds them in front of her. The teenager offers a shy smile, but she seems to be positively brumming with awe. So much so that she doesn't even notice the bottle of water. Willow has officially taken the position of Ophelia's role model.

willow atkins

☉

ophelia's certainly welcome to stay and learn under her as long as she keeps her attitude up. willow is incredibly thankful the young girl showed up when she did. drowning had turned into treading water. and she's pleased to see the girl unphased, and better yet, all the more eager to get to work. 

she will, of course, have to teach her about speed when it comes to the bouquets, but they'll get to that down the road. she's already putting out good enough work that willow's sure it won't take more than a couple days to properly get her up to standard. 

"thank you," she says and takes a swig of water. "i've worked very hard to make it so." the store empties out and now that the mid-afternoon rush it out of the way, she knows they'll have a stretch of time where no one will enter the shop. elisabet can man the front just in case, anyhow. 

"so tell me about yourself, ophelia. you already have the job, by the way. i just want to get to know you a bit." she smiles. 

Ophelia Reyes

☉

Ophelia smiles shyly as the woman takes a sip of water. She nods, listening intently and taking another quick glance around.

"Have you done all of this by yourself?"

She quiets quickly, however, as she's just interrupted Willow's question with her own. The girl blushes and glances down at her shoes, apologizing meekly below her breath.

"Wh-- I do? I, uhm.. Well.. I was born in Sinnoh and grew up in Snowpoint city. I'm sure that sounds a bit strange, given no real flowers grow in the cold and snow. But I've always loved gardening and flowers, so I studied botany and the like, anything related to flowers. I loved travelling, too, outside of the bleak white of my city. There is a lot of green when everything isn't covered in snow."

She giggles, lifting her gaze.

willow atkins

☉