Jamie
The brunette is grinning before the bell even chimes, the odd pair of girls chatting enthusiastically outside her open widow alerting her to their presence, and she refocuses her attention on wiping down the front countertop.
“How’re you two today?” She asks, when they tumble into the doorway, and their grins match when they look up at her.
“Perfectly splendid, Miss Jamie. Mrs. Grose’s watching Miles today, and Dani took me on a girls day! We got ice cream, and we painted our nails,” She shoves her bubblegum pink fingertips in Jamie’s face, “and look!” She blinks exaggeratedly, “Dani let me wear makeup!”
“Well, it sounds like quite the day you two’ve had! Let me guess, you got chocolate?” Flora’s eyes widen in awe, “How did you know that?” She looks around, like she’ll see cameras around the blooms, and Jamie just laughs softly, and brushes a chocolate smudge off of the girl’s cheek.
When she finally glances back up at Dani, the look on the taller blonde’s face makes Jamie’s cheeks heat up, one of admiration and curiosity, like she’s looking at a painting. Flora’s skittering footsteps are what make them look away, and Dani quickly catches the sugar-high seven year old before she knocks over a pot of lily of the valley.
“Sorry,” She says to Jamie, who just laughs and gives a little shrug.
“‘S’okay, no worries. Come on back, I’ll show you the seeds.” Flora claps her hands, and Dani lowers her back down slowly, keeping a hand on her shoulder to guide her.
The back of the shop is like walking into a forest, shelves spilling with greenery, in-season flowers blooming plump, ready to be arranged into the pictures that rest in vases in the displays. It’s warmer than the rest of the shop, and Dani notices the staircase leading up to, presumably, a flat. The air is damp, earthy, and she breathes in deeply, the scent reminding her of the way it smelled back home in Iowa, when it would rain.
Jamie watches as Dani closes her eyes, breathing deeply, and she admires the gentle slope of her eyelashes against her cheek.
“Are these them?” Flora chirps, and Jamie snaps her eyes down, to where the small girl is fiddling with the peanut-shaped seeds.
“Um, yes!” Jamie leads the girl over to a large pot of soil near the window. “Here, take these,” She places the damp seeds in Flora’s palm, who cradles them gently. “Now, you have to dig one inch deep, and sow the seeds with a quarter inch of potting soil, like this, here,” She buries the tips of her pointer and middle finger in the soil, and guides Flora’s hand to place the seeds in the nestled cavity. She looks up, her bangs falling loose from the clip, and finds the au pair leaning against the cast iron shelf, her blonde hair tangling in the hanging eucalyptus bush, a fond smile stretching the corner of her mouth.
“Wanna plant one?” Dani’s eyes jog with curiosity over her dirtied fingers, and she nods, pushing up from the shelf.
“Yeah, sure.” She accepts a small, damp seed from Flora’s outstretched grip. Jamie buries her fingers again, showing Dani where to go, and smiles to herself when Dani’s fingers brush against hers in the muggy soil.
“And how long until they sprout?” Dani’s voice is a little grainy, her American accent still a bit foreign to Jamie’s ears, endearing, nevertheless.
“In about four to fourteen days, so, if you’re free next Thursday,” She coughs a little bit, “I mean, we’re slow on Thursdays, so you could just come ‘round then, check up on their progress?” Dani grins, almost relieved, and Flora squeals.
“Thank you, Miss Jamie! I’m so excited, they’re going to be so perfectly splendid!” Jamie laughs, and pats the smaller girl’s hair.
“Me too, buddy.”
The visit is over soon after that, time slipping quickly through her soil-dampened fingers, and she waves goodbye from the front counter, fresh soil spattering her coveralls. The seven year old squeezes her tightly before they leave, her skinny arms barely wrapping around Jamie’s hips, and she gives an indulgent grin to the au pair, who smiles back just as widely. And she lets her mind linger on the way Dani had leaned sweetly over the counter, her blush-colored nails curling on the glass, and she lets herself imagine a place where she could close the distant, feel the rough patch that Dani’s teeth worry subconsciously, ghost her palm over the curve of her waist.
She shakes her head, and pulls a cigarette from the box in her back pocket, making sure to shut and lock the doors of the shop before lighting it, climbing the steps to her small flat, and swinging a thin leg onto the fire escape. There’s always next Thursday.
Another puff of smoke, and the air is nippy with the oncoming fall. She finishes the cigarette, dropping the butt and crushing it under her heel, before picking it back up to place on the ashtray, positioned on the small table she’s placed out there, for warmer nights, when Owen visits, and they sit out smoking and drinking, until they’re hiccuping with laughter, and have to lean on each other to get back inside. Wait, Owen, Hannah… Mrs. Grose…
“Hello?” He picks up on the first ring, and Jamie winces at the voice, gravelly with sleep.
“Hey, sorry to bother you so late, I hadn’t even looked at the time.” She hears the rustling of sheets across the line. “No, don’t get up, nothing’s wrong. Just a question, in fact, go back to bed, I’ll ask you tomorrow, don’t worry about-”
“Jamie. What’s up?” He cuts off her ramble, and she blushes in embarrassment.
“Oh just, those kids you cook for? Is there a new au pair staying with you lot?” She rubs her forehead.
“Yeah, Dani Clayton. Why?”
“They came into my shop the other day. Well, today as well. Just mentioned you and Hannah, I figured it was you.” Owen grunts in comprehension. “Right then, let me get out of your hair. Sorry for waking you.”
“S’all right, James. Will Hannah and I be seeing you this Monday?” She nods, before realizing that he can’t see her.
“Yessir. I will be on your doorstep at eight P.M. sharp.” Owen chuckles, before yawning a goodbye, and she hangs up the phone with a click.
Small world.