Before meeting her
❀。• *₊°。 ❀°。Chapter one ❀。• *₊°。 ❀°。
Lily is awoken by the gentle harmonising of a trio of speckled song thrushes, a routined whistle floating down her street. As she rubs her eyes and groans, Lily begrudgingly checks the time - 6:15, she should be leaving in approximately an hour.
This spring is a good one: warm with a soft breeze, more flowers blooming and fresh fruit ripening. Procrastinating getting out of bed, Lily gazes upon her room. Pearly mesh curtains sway softly in a calming breath of wind, the glowing sun illuminates the space - casting bars of gold on the crisp bed sheets. She then shifts her gaze to the polaroids strung about her ivory walls; the corners of her lips turn up at the sight of her friends. A tall, olive-toned boy with amber freckles and dark hair beside a beaming girl with platinum hair and crimson lips. Her girlfriend stood beside her, long black dreadlocks embellished with golden accessories flowing over her shoulders, onyx eyes gleaming in the camera's light.
Once Lily had decided she'd had enough digressing, she finally heaved herself out of bed, resisting the urge to clamber back in again. She set her floral sheets neatly on the bed and shuffled to the bathroom, running the water. In the shower she deeply cleansed her skin and brushed her teeth - enabling herself to wake up a bit more.
Her pale hand clutched the door of her wardrobe and she pulled out a denim skirt and a white babydoll top with a powder-pink lace trim. Following her getting dressed, she headed to the mirror to clean her skin and apply makeup -some concealer, blush, lip gloss, and mascara- before gliding a brush through her flaming hair and spritzing her perfume in abundance. Lily then headed to the kitchen and opened the blinds and window, sweet-smelling air circulated the room, bringing freshness in its swirls. She breathed in deeply, cherishing every last second of serenity.
At the door, lily slipped into some pink flats and grabbed her bag before abruptly leaving the house and pocketing her keys. Shoes clicking on the concrete, she headed to the cafe for a fresh breakfast.
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“Hiya alice,” announced lily, striding through the glass doors of the cafe. Calm music drifted from the speakers, humming graciously to the customers. The short haired brunette greeted lily warmly, beaming with glee at the sight of her friend.
“The usual, Lils?” she queried, raising her soft eyebrows and tilting her head. Lily nodded, making her way to the other end of the counter, waving to a dark-haired boy with pewter eyes.
“Hey reg,” she began “what are you doing up so early?”. The boy huffed, sipping his black coffee exhaustedly.
“We’re visiting Andy today and this idiot over here-” he jabbed his finger at his brother “says we need to get up at the crack of dawn to make the most of the day”. Regulus rolls his eyes and rests on the oak table, before rising again and asking “lily, have you seen that new girl?” When his friend shook her head confusedly, he followed up with “Well…i haven't either, nor do i know her name, but pandora says she's nice.”
“Well it's a small town, im bound to see her around at some point, anyways, sorry reg but my drink’s ready and I should go, catch up soon? You can tell me how Andy is, I haven't seen any of your cousins in ages.” And with that, she waved and turned back to the counter where Alice was placing her food and beverage.
“Oat iced matcha and raspberry croissant for Lily!” she spoke through a pearly smile. Lily thanked and paid her, once again waving, and then walked outside with her breakfast in hand.
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She walked to the bike-shelter and unlocked the padlock on her blue bicycle, placing the food and drink in a basket at the front whilst hopping onto the seat.Crisp wind wafted her hair and cooled her skin, her bike went smoothly down the pavement as she waved to Peter Pettigrew- who lived a few streets from Lily with his partner Sybil.
As soon as she saw the blooming windows of her flower shop, she began to put on the brakes and stopped directly before the door. Laying the bike on the rack and locking it once more, she opened up the shop door and flipped around the wooden sign to read ‘open- welcome in!’. She then went outside once more to fetch her breakfast.
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Lily tugged open the blinds and let the early morning light shroud the room and set the food and drink on her pine-wood counter near the till. It was routine to check and refresh any flowers and water before customers arrived, and ,after putting the record player on, that's just what was done. With all the flowers being healthy and well-arranged, lily sat at her counter and ate the croissant, washing it down with some matcha (she’d sip the rest throughout her morning shift before lunch).
She had her usual customers, with relatively easy orders. Fleamont Potter had come in at around 9:30 for his weekly bouquet to go to the Potter's house. He asked for a colourful spring mix, with the creative choices up to lily. She produced a blooming bouquet with light yellow tulips and mellow-orange chrysanthemums, embellished with sweet peas, cosmos, and baby's breath. The bouquet smelled heavenly and was tied in newspaper with a pink satin ribbon. Pandora Rosier and Charity Burbage came in together, each receiving separate bouquets; Charity went all pink with her cherry blossom, calla lily, honeysuckle, and gerbera daisy bunch, wrapped up in old musical papers with a cream lace ribbon. Pandora on the other hand, went all out and got a cacophony of colours that were still in perfect harmony with each other. Hers was wrapped in paper splashed with pastel watercolours, and tied with some brown wool. Many others came in and out, purchasing things from bouquets to brown notebooks decorated with hand-pressed flowers, and handmade jewelry.
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Lily was just about to go on lunch break when a girl came in. A girl Lily had never seen before. Dark chestnut ringlets bobbed around her shoulders, shimmer from the sun reflecting off of her glossy hair. White, heeled cowboy boots clicked on the wooden floor and her white dress swayed softly around her smooth knees. An abundance of golden rings and bracelets glistened against her chestnut skin, a necklace draping over her collarbone. Golden and pearl earrings dropped from her ear lobes, small rings shining all across her ears.
Her soft red lips curled into a friendly smile, revealing a small gap between her front teeth. “hi..is this the florist?” asked a soft voice.
“Hm?...oh sorry uhm yes!” replied lily, stumbling over her words. The curly-haired girl watched lily, hazel eyes twinkling kindly, soft lashes framing them. Upon closer inspection, lily noticed that the girl had gold glints in her eyes, like she was the sun herself. Suddenly catching herself, lily blurted out: “sorry, pardon my asking, but are you the new girl? sorry...that sounds rude, i meant are you…have you-”
“Yes , I am,” chuckled the girl, “and no, I don't mind you asking,” she smiled, revealing her small tooth gap. “I'm Mary, nice to meet you..?”
“Lily!” lily replied, perhaps a little too enthusiastically, “um, Lily, that's me.’
“Lovely to meet you, Lily,” replied Mary, in an exceedingly polite and understanding manner. “It's a beautiful shop you have here. You see, I'm obviously new here so im trying to have a good look around and your shop was recommended by that girl in the cafe so..here i am!” Mary spread out her arms as a way of demonstrating what she meant.
“That would have been Alice,” replied lily “the girl in the cafe, she's the best honestly.” lily attempted to nonchalantly chuckle but it came out as awkward and odd. Godthis is embarrassing she thought to herself as Mary nodded and smiled. This isn't fair, i wish I was like her