Lilacs
Lynn went back to the flower shop whenever she had the chance. Ashley was there almost every evening. In fact, Lynn had only gone once and not found her there. She sometimes worried that it was a bit weird to show up that often, but Ashley didn’t say anything. Not until one night, when Ashley was closing up and Lynn was still browsing the flowers in the window.
Lynn was focused on the buckets of flowers, finding the perfect sprig of lilacs, and didn’t notice Ashley standing next to her until she spoke. “Hey. I don’t mean to be rude, but is there a reason you’re here every day?” Ashley blushed. “Because… well, if you’re here for, um, something other than flowers…”
Lynn’s face went red. “You’re really cool and I like you. This is embarrassing, but I guess I just like it here. I like seeing you.” Lynn realized that as much as she liked Ashley and as much as she hoped Ashley liked her, they barely knew each other. Ashley was probably weirded out right now.
“Wait, really?” Ashley’s face was only slightly less red than Lynn’s. “I was asking because I was hoping-” Lynn grabbed her hand.
“Ashley.”
“Yes?”
“Would you like to go out with me sometime?”
“Yeah. I would,” she smiled. Then she leaned over to Lynn and kissed her on the cheek before handing her a piece of paper. “Call me. But right now, you have to leave because I was supposed to close the shop five minutes ago. And the lilacs are on the house.”
Lynn left the store with a stupid smile on her face. The flowers in the vase on her table reminded her of Ashley, and she couldn’t wait to call her the next day.
The next morning, Lynn woke up late. She figured Ashley was probably up by then, so she made herself a cup of tea and found the piece of paper with Ashley’s number and her phone.
“Hello?” Ashley answered.
“Hey, it’s Lynn.”
“Lynn! Hi.”
“I was just wondering if you were free anytime next week, if you wanted to go somewhere with me.”
They made a date for the next Thursday, and talked for almost an hour before Lynn had to go to work. Lynn headed off to her job still smiling from their conversation.