First Encounter
It was a fact, Rose wouldn’t be pretending to have found faith after coming to mass once. She didn’t listen to anything Father Bryant said, and instead used that time to mourn, even if only for an hour, the friend that she’d lost. It wasn’t the first time someone she knew had died on the job, but it happened so close to her that she hadn’t been able to stop thinking about it. Rose knew that her presence that night wouldn’t have changed a thing, but shooting Poindexter in the head when he was delivering her potted trees could’ve. She would’ve had to disappear after that, give Daredevil’s case to someone else, but did it really matter when her friend could’ve been alive ?
But she didn’t shoot him when she had the chance, and it was too late for regrets. Instead, she decided to step up her game and find a way to lure her target out. It was about time they met, she thought, and at least she’d have come to mass before doing things that weren’t very catholic.
Rose’s business meeting went particularly well, however. Father Bryant had been impressed with the plans she’d already made and, faced with such commitment, he’d had no other choice than to accept Rose’s very generous offer.
“What’s over there ?” she asked, pointing at the next building. “Looks like yours, too. Is that where the inside doors lead ?”
Father Bryant nodded. “It’s Saint Agnes, the orphanage.”
“You have a- wait, I didn’t know. I’ll work there, too,” she immediately replied.
He smiled but stopped her from running there just yet. “Miss Parsons, do you realize the amount of work you’re offering to do for free already ? You need to feed yourself, and taxes aren’t cheap around here. We can’t accept that.”
Rose slowly nodded, very disappointed in his reaction. She didn’t care about taxes, because she’d be gone by the time she’d have to pay them. It wasn’t even her own money she was spending. And since when people had been refusing charity ? “Did you know,” she started, very seriously, “that a 2004 study showed that children who grew up surrounded by flowers were significantly happier and more caring ? And it’s been proven times and times again that happy and caring children rarely grow up to become criminals, something that would strongly benefit this city if you ask me.”
Father Bryant looked at her with wide eyes. “Well, I guess its-”
“Science, Father,” she insisted, smiling at him. “If it makes you feel better, I can promise you that I won’t do anything that takes food out of my mouth, and I promise to pay my taxes on time. But whatever’s left, you’ll let me help you.”
“Aren’t capitalists supposed to want money for themselves ?”
Rose gasped and turned to face Matt, who she wasn’t expecting to meet here, calling her a capitalist in front of Father Bryant. She called herself that, but it wasn’t during a business meeting. It was also a joke. If she’d wanted money that much, she’d have chosen another job. “I like money, and I like making money, doesn’t mean I don’t like helping people when I can,” she calmly replied. “I didn’t know you were coming, I’d have offered you a ride.”
“I like to walk. Keeps me in shape.”
Rose, in front of a man of church, still decided to look and wondered how much walking would keep someone in that kind of shape. She quickly threw that thought away and turned back to Father Bryant. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to keep working this afternoon. Take pictures from the place and work on the plans. I need to check the exposition and-” She stopped and smiled at him. “I don’t need a guide, just to be allowed to stick around a bit.”
“Miss Parsons, consider yourself at home here,” he said, holding his hand out to her.
She gladly accepted his hand and physically refrained herself from jumping around the second he’d turned his back to her. The muscles in her cheeks were hurting from how much she was smiling.
“Rose Parsons, benefactor of New York City,” Matt said, nudging at her.
She turned to him and laughed. “Sounds great, uh ?” She led him to the nearest bench, happy to rest after the most stressful business meeting she’d ever had. “Did you know there’s also an orphanage ?” she asked. “I would’ve started working on it if I’d known, it looked like I didn’t care about orphans.”
“I did, yeah. I grew up there.”
“Sorry, what ?”
“After I lost my father,” Matt explained. “Blind and too old to be adopted.”
Rose didn’t know what to say. When she’d been preparing her arrival to New York, she’d focused on Karen. She knew every detail of her life, even the ones she was probably still hiding her friends about, but only vaguely skimmed through Foggy and Matt’s lives. She was, for once, genuinely surprised by what she was hearing. “So you’d lost your mother too ?”
“She left when I was a baby.”
“Oh, wow.” Things were going from bad to worse, Rose thought. “That’s uh… I kind of get it.”
“You do ?”
“No,” she laughed. “I mean, I wasn’t a baby when my mother left, and my father’s still alive, so yeah, no. I don’t know why I said that. I’m sorry it happened to you, though.”
He laughed along for a second before arching a brow at her. “Why did your mother leave ?”
“Lies, mostly,” Rose scoffed. “I was 16, and one day I came back from school and she was gone. Parents can be weird.”
“See, I get that,” Matt laughed.
This was the kind of backstory Rose was never supposed to share. It was the kind of information that could lead any relentless person on Fleur Penquist’s path. Telling this to someone that Rose was already suspecting to lie about a disability and to have bugged her apartment was not her most brilliant idea. She’d felt the need to talk about it, did it, and she was now regretting it.
“Anyway, it was a long time ago. I’m done wondering what she’s doing and why she left me behind. But since you grew up here… how old were you, by the way ?”
“9.”
“Good. Well,” she quickly added, “not good, you know. But do you think you would’ve grown up to be a happier and more caring individual if you’d been surrounded by flowers ? You know, the kind of individual who doesn’t become a criminal.”
Matt didn’t say a word and simply faced Rose, waiting for her to realize what she’d just said. But she didn’t, and he cleared his throat. “I’m a lawyer, Rose.”
“And ? Criminals have lawyers, too.” She knew enough about them to know that they’d already worked with criminals, and big ones at that. She looked back at the buildings behind her and sighed. “You know, it’s not money I’m worried about. It’s time.”
“Are you planning on leaving soon ?” Matt asked. “What about your dreams for New York ?”
“Yeah. Well, I should get to work, then,” she said, standing from the bench. “Do you need me to walk you back ?”
“I thought you had a car,” he replied with a smile.
“I walked. You know, you’re not the only one who wants to exercise.”
She didn’t wait for Matt to be out of sight to start working. She didn’t lie when she mentioned the time restraint on her promise to charity. She could very well be gone before she’d even start planting anything.
She was well aware that she was getting too involved in a shop that was meant to disappear soon. Rose had thought that maybe, in time, she’d be able to find someone to take over Bees’ Paradise. She was wrong. The money used to buy the place had never been hers, and Bees’ Paradise was meant to be sold as soon as Rose left. As for the eventual profit she’d make from it, it would be used to cover for the insane expenses it had already caused.
Far from any concern about how much money she was costing her bosses, Rose spent the rest of her day planning what the church could become. With a mix of strong scents and bright colors, people would slowly forget what had happened here and come back. The children would enjoy outdoor activities and a nice environment. People would be, she knew it, much happier.
Rose almost missed her time to leave. She was however lucky enough to be working with undistracted people and put everything aside when she received the text confirming her date. And soon enough, she walked away from church and back to her place.
It was dark already, and Rose was satisfied with her day. With everything she already had, she’d be able to get most of the work done from her place. She turned around the corner after leaving church, and heard footsteps behind her. Like any woman would’ve done, she walked faster. She crossed the road, turned left, then left again, tightening her grip on her bag.
The footsteps were still there, faster than Rose’s. She spotted a dumpster in the back of an alley. There was no light, but she’d be able to hide. She ran as fast as she could to reach it. It wasn’t fast enough.
The man, masked and strong, grabbed her arm and pulled her back. Rose screamed as the back of her head hit the ground. She tried to crawl away, but the man hit her face, taking another painful scream from her.
***
The voice was familiar. It was also coming from somewhere dangerously close to Clinton church. Matt was sure that Rose had left. It was late, and she couldn’t have stayed all day to work on her charity project. And yet, he’d recognized her voice, begging for help.
He kept running in her direction, jumping from one roof to the other, almost hoping that she’d use the gun she was sleeping with. It would take him another minute to get there, and he knew the kind of things that could happen in only a minute.
Rose was still there when Matt reached the back of the alley. He didn’t wait and jumped from the top of the pawn shop to the ground, landing right behind the man who was trying to drag her further, holding her ponytail in his fist.
The man dropped Rose onto the ground when he heard something behind him. He turned around, but not fast enough to avoid Matt’s fist. He flinched, holding his bloody nose for a fraction of a second, but quickly hit him back, almost breaking his hand on the horned helmet. Matt stepped back, dodged another hit meant for his jaw, and grabbed the man’s arm. He twisted it hard enough to get the man on the ground, and for Rose to hear it break from the dumpster she was hiding behind.
On the ground, Matt punched the man once. On the second punch, the man moved his head to the side and kicked him in the stomach before standing back up. He rushed to punch him again, but Matt threw his baton at the man’s leg. The string wrapped around his ankle, and he fell backwards. The man’s head hit the ground, and Matt immediately ran to Rose.
She tried to move away from him, staring at the man lying a few feet from her. “Oh my God, you killed him,” she shouted, her face drenched in tears and blood. “Is he dead ?”
“He’s not,” Matt calmly replied. “Go, run.”
Rose didn’t wait and moved away from her hiding spot, painfully wincing at every move she made. She held onto the wall for support, but quickly started running in the opposite direction, disappearing around the corner.
Before Matt could make sure she was really gone, the man hit his back and jumped on top of him, forcing him to turn around. As soon as he was in control, the man used one arm to press onto Matt’s throat before using the other to pull on his helmet. Matt kicked him in the back of the knee, confused as to how that man was still able to keep fighting. His victim was gone, there was no reason for them to keep going.
He rolled over and took the man’s place on top, holding a knee onto the man’s throat. “What do you want from her ?” he asked.
Instead of replying, the man grabbed Matt’s ankle and twisted it. He kicked him twice in the abdomen and left him on the ground. Matt painfully got back on his feet, but the man was already running away from him. He thought about running after him, but didn’t. Instead, he rushed to the emergency staircase and reached the roof, hurrying back to the flower shop.
***
Vanessa had had a good day. Early in the morning, Dex stopped by to let her know that the delivery had been made, which made him climb a few places on her personal ranking of Wilson’s men. Thanks to him, her husband knew about their son. She, for once, had been feeling quite hopeful and had decided to go shopping.
Her entire day had been spent wondering about her son and the kind of life he’d have. She thought, for only a moment, about a world where Wilson would’ve been with her to pick a name, prepare for the baby’s birth, and enjoy their first steps into parenthood together. She knew these things would never happen and that, in reality, Wilson’s imprisonment was what was best for their son. She was ready to do it all by herself, with the help of everything Wilson’s money could buy.
As she was hanging the onesies in the dresser she’d had security put together in the baby’s future bedroom, another kick let her know that her son was awake for the night. She smiled softly and placed a hand over her belly, letting him know that she was there, always.
And then, after such a good day, Dex’s name appeared on the screen of her phone. Vanessa’s smile vanished instantly.
“Yes,” she said, taking the call.
“The flower girl has been attacked.”
“Was it you ?”
Dex didn’t mind the accusation of her words. “No, but I saw it. The man who attacked her was waiting for Murdock to show up.”
Vanessa quietly closed the door of the baby’s room and walked back to her office. “Someone else is after him ?”
“Someone trained to fight,” Dex replied. “They could’ve killed her ten times, but she got out only with minor injuries. They must’ve known he’d come for her.”
“Or they hoped for the best,” Vanessa muttered. “Keep an eye on them, and be careful. If a third party is watching her, they mustn’t know about you.”
“Yes, Ma’am,” Dex said before hanging up.
At her desk, Vanessa opened Rose’s file again. There was something very intriguing about the flower girl. The possibility that she’d been working with the people who put away her husband was still lingering in a part of her mind. Even more after the attack on Dex by people who took care of cleaning his mess only a couple days after they’d put her under surveillance. But at the same time, that girl had now been the target of someone waiting for Daredevil, and another thought came to Vanessa’s mind. Dex had been sent to protect her from Wilson’s former enemies, but who would protect her from Dex’s ?
She considered the fact that the issue might have never been the flower girl, who seemed to be getting more innocent by the minute, or Matt Murdock and his friends who’d let her be for months, but the one man she was supposed to trust with her son’s safety. A man who had also made a lot of enemies as Daredevil.
***
Karen had been waiting for a sign that Matt had come back for a long time now. He’d told her that he’d be gone when she’d come back from her Sunday work, which considered in taking care of her personal business, but she now had information of the highest importance to give him. If the homicide case had been a dead end from start to finish, it hadn’t been the same about Vanessa Fisk.
She finally heard something coming from his apartment. She grabbed her set of keys and crossed the hallway between them. She turned the lights on and ran to meet him as he was getting rid of his suit.
“Shit,” she gasped. “What happened ?”
Matt sat down, relieved that he wouldn’t have to take care of his wounds by himself, and let out a long sigh. “A man attacked Rose on her way back from church.”
Karen froze. “Is she okay ? Who was it ?”
“I don’t know,” he replied, taking the ice pack she was handing him. “Something was off.”
She sat next to him and rolled her eyes. “Don’t. She’s just been-”
“Not her,” he quickly added. “Him. The man who came after her, he tried to take my helmet off twice,” he explained. “And it’s been a very long time since I’ve met someone who fights like that.”
Karen rested her back on the couch, now concerned for two of her friends. “You think someone’s after you ?” Matt shrugged. “Fisk wouldn’t put Vanessa in danger. Are you really sure Rose is okay ?”
He nodded. “I went back to the office after he left. A few bruises and cuts but she’ll be fine. She was calling the police to report the assault when I left.”
“So she’s got nothing illegal to hide, then,” Karen concluded. “You think it’s a coincidence if he went after her ? Did anything happen between the two of you that you forgot to tell us about ? Has she ever met with Daredevil before ?” she asked, already listing all the possibilities of the attack. Matt only shrugged again. “Did she ?” Karen shouted.
“He may have… lurked around her shop a few times at night,” he admitted.
She punched his arm. “No more of that. She could’ve died. If someone’s after Daredevil, he’s gonna stay away from her shop from now on. And if someone’s after Matt Murdock, you’re going to also stay away from her and be very careful.” She took a deep breath. “Foggy and I know what we’re doing, but she doesn’t.”
She walked away from the sofa, only to get him an aspirin. Whoever came after Matt didn’t hold back.
He turned around to face her. “Were you waiting for me ?”
“Yeah.”
“Why ?”
She came back, placed the aspirin and a tall glass of water in his hands, and sat back down. None of it seemed to be of any importance anymore. “Vanessa’s pregnant.”
Matt immediately sat up. “Since when ?”
“When do you think,” she sighed. “I’d say 7 months, since Fisk’s arrest. I’ve seen her, she’s very pregnant. It explains all the doctors she’s seen.”
“Wow, I wasn’t expecting that,” Matt scoffed before coughing from the pain in his chest. “You think she could be behind this ?”
The thought had already been through Karen’s mind. After all, Vanessa was one of the few people who knew about Matt and if she’d ever thought that he could be interested in Rose, it made her a target. That thought was now, in both of Karen and Matt’s heads, the only possible explanation as to what had happened that night.
***
What no one, from Vanessa and Dex to Matt and Karen, had thought of, was that Rose knew exactly who’d attacked her in that alley. For the good reason that she’d planned the whole thing herself.
When she woke up from a terrible night of desperately trying to find a comfortable position to sleep in, she still had mixed feelings about getting herself in that position. She knew that her job sometimes asked for strong measures to be taken, things that weren’t sitting right with her conscience, but they were always necessary.
At first, her conscience told her that she may have taken Hell’s Kitchen’s most famous protector away from someone who really needed his help. She could’ve lived with that, even more after looking into the most recent police reports and no deaths had been reported on the previous night. But then, just as she was starting to think that it didn’t matter that much, she’d met Foggy.
The horror in his eyes when he saw her, the way he offered to close his office for the day just to get her to the hospital, the obvious worry in his voice, and the anger at the crime rate in New York, it all made her feel like she needed to close shop and go for a well deserved confession. The worst part of it all wasn’t even the assault in itself, which would've been fine by her if she wasn’t having any contact with anyone. No, it was lying about how scared she was, when she was not. When real women out there were.
Rose would’ve had no issue at all with any of it, if only she’d gotten something from what happened. But she was nowhere near finding out who was behind that mask. Worse, she almost got William killed. For a second back there, she thought that he was dead. She knew that he would most likely hold it against her for the next 10 to 15 years, and that it was best to avoid the print shop for a while.
As Rose was once again telling a customer that she’d be fine and wishing them a good day, Karen quietly entered the shop with a concerned look on her face. “Foggy told me,” she said, taking her into her arms as soon as they were alone. “How are you doing ? Are you sure you should be working today ?”
“I’m… I’m good,” Rose replied, focusing on the job she had to do. Not working wasn’t an option, and she wasn’t thinking about flowers anymore. “I mean, I got lucky. It’s only a few bruises, right ? Could’ve been worse if… Well, I’m sure Foggy told you about how I got out.”
“He did, yes. What matters is that you’re alive.” Karen forced Rose to sit and walked to the back of her shop to get her something to drink. “Do you know who might’ve- I’m sorry, is it okay to talk about it ?”
Rose nodded. “It’s like I told the police,” she replied. “He had a mask on, and it was dark. I didn’t see much of anything. They asked me if I had any enemies,” she added with a huff.
“Do you ?”
“Karen, I’ve been in New York for two months. Who makes enemies that fast ?” She took a deep breath and ran her fingers through her hair. “I’m sorry. I know it’s your job to ask, I didn’t mean to-”
“Don’t apologize for anything,” Karen quickly stopped her. “Anything you want to feel is okay. Are you sure there’s nothing we can do for you ?”
“I’ll be fine,” she replied with a smile. “You know what the worst thing is ? Foggy told me to get a gun, for my own safety.”
“That’s… yeah, that’s an option to consider.”
“I already have one,” Rose scoffed. “I just didn’t want to get it to church after what happened over there. And I wanted to walk, and I… I could’ve prevented this,” she finished, wiping the tears off her face. After this, she thought, there would never be enough charity work to do to cleanse her soul. She looked back at Karen and let out a long sigh. “I haven’t been able to push the carts out yet. I guess I need help ?”
“On it,” Karen immediately said. She stopped by Rose’s side and squeezed her hand. “There’s only one person to blame for this, and it’s not you. Never you. You did nothing wrong.”
Rose smiled through the tears, wondering if Karen would still be pushing the carts out if she’d known the truth. At the same time, she was very impressed with her friend’s ability to lie, too. She’d heard her coming back to her apartment not long after she was done cleaning her face from the blood, and she was talking to herself about what happened. Foggy didn’t tell her anything, and Rose was only disappointed that Karen hadn’t invited her masked friend for coffee after he surely called her to tell her about their encounter.
***
Far from any assaults and flowers thoughts, Jessica Jones woke up, late as usual, after a long night of work. She’d easily admit that the night also involved quite a lot of drinks, but that had never been an issue. She was waiting for a call back from that print shop upstate where she’d traced Edward Penquist working there years ago, and decided to skip a trip to the bathroom in favor of checking her emails. They might have found someone who remembered the guy or even better, checked for his employee file and sent it to her.
She entered her living room, still in a haze, and gasped at the sight of the two men sitting there. She grabbed a half full bottle of whiskey and threw it at the first one. The second shot the bottle mid-air without blinking an eye. The other didn’t move either, and Jessica was now very much awake. She threw her fist through the wall and tore a large portion of it away.
“Miss Jones,” one said, “there’s no need to destroy your own apartment here.” She stopped her hand. “If our intentions were to hurt you, we wouldn’t have waited for you to wake up.”
“We brought you coffee,” the second one added. Jessica looked at her desk, where a cup of warm coffee and a bag of fresh pastries were waiting for her. “Why don’t you take a minute to put some clothes on ?”
“I’m sure seeing a woman in her underwear is new to you,” she snapped back before glancing at her panties. “We all know why you got your big gun out.
One and Two, as she had just decided to call them, didn’t reply. It wasn’t hard for her to know who they were. They were the call back she was waiting for from the print shop. She considered staying in her underwear, but eventually decided against it. Now that they had mentioned it, she was painfully aware of how exposed she was.
She dropped the part of her wall she was still holding in her hand and hurried back to her bedroom. She grabbed a pair of pants from the floor and threw them on before taking a deep breath and walking back to the men in the other room. She knew that if they hadn’t killed her yet, it was because they wanted something from her. Something she’d already decided not to give them.
She sat behind her desk and took a croissant from the little brown bag. “We could play 20 questions,” she said, taking a bite from it. “Who do you work for ?”
One crossed his legs. “We’re going to need you to stop looking into things that don’t concern you, Miss Jones.”
“That’s not how the game works,” she replied. “You tell me something, I tell you something.”
“Let me guess,” Two scoffed. “We tell you who we are, you tell us to fuck off.”
“Sounds like we’ve known each other forever already,” she agreed with a smile.
“You could do as we say and save yourself a lot of trouble.”
“Trouble’s my middle name.”
“You have no idea,” One told her, throwing a file at her.
Jessica pushed it away. “I’ve seen bigger.”
He smiled at her. “This is only about the times we’ve had to intervene in your favor, Miss Jones. See, we don’t care about small arrests by the local police. We leave that to your expensive lawyers. But when you prove yourself to be able to resist mind control, when you blow up a building in the middle of New York, deal with things far beyond your understanding, and still manage to get out of it without a scratch, that’s when this country starts to think that you might be a problem. That’s when we take over and get you out of trouble.”
Jessica wasn’t a trusting person. Needless to say, she neither trusted or liked these men who’d watched her sleep for maybe hours. But they seemed to know things about her that they shouldn’t have known. Worse, they’d been keeping tabs on her for longer than her research on that Penquist guy.
She grabbed the file, opened it, and frowned. “It’s blank.”
“Precisely,” Two replied. “That’s how much trace we’ll leave behind when we decide to lock you up for life if we think that you’re more of an inconvenience than useful.”
“Who the fuck are you ?” she asked, throwing the blank pages back at them. “And how do you know about Midland Ci-”
“No police reports don’t mean that we don’t have eyes and ears,” One stopped her. “Think of us as your friends.”
“You have a shitty definition of friendship,” she snapped back. “Where’s the girl ? Is she threatening people with breakfast too ?”
They ignored her question. “You are going to stop looking into a business that isn’t yours to look at.”
“Or what ?”
“Or nothing,” One said. “You’re going to stop because we’re going to do something for you if you do.” He pulled a document from the inside of his suit and handed it to her. “Take your time.”
Jessica was getting tired of their games. She’d just woken up, and she hadn’t expected to have to deal with super secret government agents on a Monday morning. It was way too early for that.
She however took One’s document and unfolded it. She immediately recognized the form. She’d filed a dozen herself before turning to her lawyers for help. That one was that month’s request, similar in all points to the ones she’d seen before. Similar, at one single exception. The ‘Denied’ stamp hadn’t been applied yet. These men, whoever they were, were ready to use Trish only to shut her up.
“It is our understanding that you wish to see your friend, Patricia Walker.”
Jessica slammed her fist onto her desk. The wood gave up and broke under her hard touch, sending the content of the desk rolling down on the floor. “Don’t you dare threaten her.”
Two laughed. “Have we done such a thing ? Miss Walker has been nothing but an example of good conduct ever since she surrendered. There’s no reason for us to threaten her. We’d actually be more than happy to override the previous decisions you’ve received, and to let you have contact with her.”
“You do something for us, we do something for you, “One added.
With everything that she’d found about these people so far, Jessica was starting to think that they, in fact, had that kind of power. “Gotta give it to you boys, that’s good blackmail.”
“Only an incentive,” One argued. “You seem to think that your kind is entitled to the same rights normal people have. You’re not. Everyday of your life, you walk a very fine line that you don’t even know exists. You’re very fortunate that the people who want you in the Raft aren’t in charge.”
“What for ?”
“For being what you are, Miss Jones,” he calmly replied. “But looking into Mr Penquist makes you a problem. Our superiors have their own way to deal with problems. For now, we’re in charge of you. And we’re using that to offer you a way out of being a problem, with a gift.”
She arched a brow at them. “So I stop looking and I get a visit ? Not just a phone call, I want to see her.”
One nodded. “On top of not being a problem anymore.”
Jessica shrugged. “I’m a problem to myself, dude, I don't give a shit about that.”
She kept looking at the document he gave her. She didn’t like them, but how many times would she have to face rejection from the people in charge of Trish’s case again ? They told her she’d been complying. There was no reason for anyone to deny her the right to meet with her family. But again, she’d just learned that neither Trish or herself had any rights anymore. There was definitely something for Jessica to uncover about these people, and she didn’t mind being ‘a problem’. But this little piece of paper was making her reconsider everything she’d decided before even talking to One and Two.
“When can I see her ?” she finally asked.
One smiled. “As soon as we get greenlit. Looks like you’re interfering with an ongoing case, we’re waiting for it to be dealt with.”
“Tell them to hurry the fuck up.”
“I’ll forward the message.”
They stood up, looked at the mess in the room, and walked away. “Hey,” Jessica called before they reached the door. “You’re shit friends.”
One, the one of the two she’d decided to like more, scoffed. “Take care of yourself, Miss Jones. You’re a good one.”
She took one last look at the form that would let her see Trish and sighed. She’d just woken up. She wondered if people would comment so much on her drinking if they knew what she had to deal with so soon in the morning.
***
“Yeah, sure I’ve seen her,” the young man replied.
“You have ?”
Eva couldn’t believe it. She’d spent days asking all of the flower shops, greenhouses and flower related businesses in New York if they remembered her daughter. She’d hoped that a picture from 16 years ago would be enough and now, for the first time, it had.
“Yeah,” he repeated. “She’s the Hell’s Kitchen delivery. Tuesdays and Fridays. She’s got the shop with the funny name and a crazy small car,” he added with a laugh. He took the picture from Eva’s hands and frowned. “She’s older than that, though.”
“Wait,” Eva said, her heart pounding in her chest, “you’ve seen her recently ?”
“Just told you, twice a week,” he replied. “She tips me even if my grandfather told her I don’t deserve it.” He looked up and winced. “Is there confidentiality or something for greenhouses ? He’s gonna kill me if I told you anything and I wasn’t-”
“I won’t tell anyone, I swear,” Eva immediately said. “Thank you so much…”
“Tommy.”
“Thank you Tommy. You’re an angel.”
She ran back to her car, tears already showing up in the corners of her eyes. Her hands were shaking when she drove away, in direction of Hell’s Kitchen.
It took Eva 35 minutes to get to Bees’ Paradise. 35 minutes she used to think about what she’d tell her daughter, how they’d both react to seeing each other after so long, if Fleur even agreed to meet her at all. She opened a flower shop, Eva thought. After all, was she really taking after her father’s work ? All kinds of questions were buzzing in Eva’s mind.
She parked on the other side of the street. Bees’ Paradise. That was a pretty name. Eva smiled at the color her daughter chose for the facade. Sunflowers had always been her favorite.
Two women got out of the shop. A blond one, tall and smiling, holding a large coffee pot. Eva gasped at the sight of her daughter’s face. The bruises and cuts were making her almost unrecognizable. What happened to her, she thought, her hands firmly grasping at the steering wheel. The two women hugged each other, and the blonde walked away and left by the door right next to the shop, leaving Fleur to rearrange a few things on the outdoor stands.
Eva finally decided to leave her car, ready to beg her daughter to accept her help, no matter what had happened between them. It was in the past, and Fleur needed help. She was surely in a lot of pain. Together, they’d find a way to move on, Eva was sure of it.
She was about to cross the street when two hands grabbed her from behind and pulled her back.