one
Across the street from The Leafling, a coffeeshop had recently opened. Jamie was a bit disappointed that her favorite teashop had closed down and was now being replaced by a place where they sold the dark monstrosity that was coffee. At least it was a small, private-owned one and not another Costa or Starbucks. Personality was something that this Hackney street still had.
London hasn’t always been the northerner’s home, but it was the city that most felt like it. She had moved all across the UK, but finally found peace and settled down in the south. Well, it was mostly peaceful. She rented a nice flat above a pub, so noise she had had to be accustomed to. She couldn’t complain that much, she actually found herself downstairs, having a drink quite often. Usually to blow off some steam and look for some company.
She wished to have a garden, but that’s not exactly easy to find in London. She was thankful to at least have a balcony, where she could offer her darling plants some fresh air and sunlight. The young woman had always preferred plants to people, much less demanding, a quality she cherished a lot. At home she grew mostly herbs and various assortments of wildflowers she’d picked over the years and brought with her from home to home.
The previous owner of the former tea shop had been an old little lady who’d so gladly accept Jamie’s flowers as payment for a brew. The lady was a widow with no children, but always seemed chipper and glad to talk about whatever arrangement Jamie had just worked on. They used to chat a bit about flowers and tea, Jamie genuinely liked her company and was sad to hear when the lady sold the shop and moved out to the countryside.
She had never been one for coffee, couldn’t understand how people enjoyed drinking bitter sump water. When it came to drinks, she wasn’t picky and would drink everything with a high percentage of alcohol. She could order an Irish coffee if it was cold and she was already drunk, but it would never occur to her to go get a coffee in the middle of the day, sober.
She wasn’t necessarily bitter, she thought, just over all a bit displeased.
The florist couldn’t help but think badly of the workers across the road, she took it rather personally that they had replaced her favourite shop on the street, other than her own. She didn’t want to go over there to say hi, especially not welcome them. Maybe she was a bit harsh, but to be fair they had taken away her precious tea and instead sold coffee.
The owner was probably some stuck-up wanker, hating on tea for some reason. No, she was not stuck on the whole ”tea vs. coffee” debate, she just liked tea. And mildly disliked coffee. That was it.
With her back turned to the entrance, she heard the door open and bell ring. She turned around with a vase in her hand to greet her first customer of the day.
”Hi.” A blonde woman with a nervous smile said across the counter.
”Hello there,” Jamie replied. ”What can I do for you?”
She immediately heard the woman was American and it made her wonder what business she had in England.
”So, my boss just sent me over to buy some flowers for decor,” The American started ”Uh, I work just across the street, we opened up earlier this week.” She gestured out the window, towards the new store.
Of course. The coffee people were American.
”Well aye, if you’re looking for flowers you’ve come to the right place.” Jamie looked at the woman and then across the street. ”So what are you looking for, eh?”
”Oh, I’m not sure,” The American awkwardly chuckled. ”I was hoping you could give me some recommendations. I just want something that looks pretty, something that my boss will be pleased with me bringing back.”
Blimey. Apparently American coffee-people don’t know anything about what they want. This one was a lot less forward then the yanks she was used to meeting, and that was a good thing.
”You plan to keep them on the tables?” The English woman hoped her customer would know that at least.
”I think so…”
This is going well, she thought.
”Well, if you’re going to, then you need vases as well, eh? Let me show you which vases suits which flowers.” The florist was good at doing her job, whether she supported the cause of the flowers or not.
”Thank you.”
The blonde bit her lip and looked around the shop. She anxiously fiddled with the hem of her sweater. Starting a new job is always scary, she didn’t want to disappoint anyone, let alone her boss. While shopping for flowers may not be the most important task, she still felt like she was doing something essential for the store. She just wanted to do well.
”So is selling coffee and buying flowers what brought you to England? Is there none of that in America?” Jamie asked while deciding what colour flowers she’d show her buyer.
”Oh, not really. I’ve been doing substitute teaching for a while now, but I was looking for something more permanent. Back home I worked as a teacher, love kids, I’ve also had a couple of nanny-jobs that were lovely.” The, apparently former teacher, smiled.
”So you just Mary Poppins-ed your was across the pond with an umbrella and landed in a coffeeshop?” She snorted and put various coloured tulips into a tall vase.
”Something like that, yeah.” The American looked over to her own shop to see if anyone were waiting for her to come back, she didn’t want to take too long.
”Here you go then, Poppins, what do you think about these?” Jamie turned around and held up the vase for her customer to see.
She thought the woman in front of her was pretty, maybe a bit too pretty to just serve people coffee.
”I love it!” The pretty coffee-server said. ”I was thinking about twelve sets of those.”
”Then I’d have to get more flowers, I’ll put in an order. Twelve sets you said?” The florist noted as she scribbled on a piece of paper. ”In what name?”
”Danielle Clayton.”
”Hm, sounds American.” Jamie looked up at her.
”People just call me Dani.” The other woman responded.
”Still American. Right then, Dani, come over on Friday and I’ll have your order ready for you.” The Northerner said and put down her pen. ”You can take these back with you, to show to your boss, I’m sure he’ll like them.”
”Thank you.” Dani said with a smile and accepted the vase of tulips. ”I’ll see you Friday, then.” She looked at the flower shop owner one last time before she opened the door and exited.
Maybe she had been wrong about the people in the new shop across the street, Jamie thought. Maybe she had been a little too quick to judge them, she was after all one to judge others. Surprisingly, the American she had just met was not obnoxious and loud at all, she was actually rather sweet. And definitely pretty, Jamie thought.
Definitely.