It was in the middle of the afternoon, the usual dead times for the floral shop. She had a few orders to fill for the evening, and, not having anything better to do, was in the back snipping the ends of flowers, and pruning them in general so they could be arranged later. The bell rings in the front, and she sets down her clippers. Wiping her hands on her apron, she approaches the register. A man stands, his eyes wandering over some potted plants. She clears her throat and smiles.
"Can I help you?" She asks. He turns, looking somewhat startled.
"Oh, yeah, yeah." He steps forward, his eyes wandering down to the small assortment of candy bars stacked at the register. He grabs a couple bars and lays them on the register. "I'll just take these." He says, digging around for his wallet. "This place is closer than the convenient store, so." He shrugs.
She rings them up. "You like the Cassia fistula?" She says, trying to make light conversation.
"I'm sorry?" He says, blinking in confusion at her.
"The golden showers tree. You were checking it out?" She nods her head, gesturing to the potted flowering sapling. His neck cranes around to look at it too.
He makes an 'Ah' sound and turns back to her. "They're alright. They used to grow at a house down the street from us. I used to walk past it every day on my way to school. It made me sneeze a lot." He waves his hand dismissively and takes out a couple dollars before sliding the wallet back into his pocket. She's lived in this neighborhood her whole life, and she can gather that he isn't from around here.
She nods and tells him the price. They exchange money and she hands him a receipt. "So, did you just move here?" She asks as he pockets his change.
"Yeah, from Mexico City." He says, saying it like "Meh-hico" and gives an easy smile. He seems to relax a little. "Got here... like, a few weeks ago or something."
"How're you adjusting?" She asks, taking an interest. Fellow immigrants should support one another.
"Uh, alright, I guess. There's a lot to learn." He says, like he's trying to hint at something more. And she gets that, she really does.
"I know what you mean. My parents moved here when I was six, from the Philippines." She says, clarifying. "I think the hardest thing was learning to speak english."
He nods. "Yeah, I mean, we learned english in school. They passed some... legislation thing, where it's mandatory to teach english to students now." He shrugs, his expression one of distaste. "I was like, ten when they started doing it in schools sort of informally I guess."
She shakes her head. "That sucks. Well if you need help trying to adjust I'm here... a lot, actually. My parents own the store, and I help out as much as I can."
He smiles again, and she thinks it's probably really easy to trust that smile. "Thanks, I'll probably be in here a lot too. My younger brother eats this stuff like all the candy in the world will be gone tomorrow." He holds up the bars for emphasis.
Her eyebrows scrunch up in thought. "I think I met your brother, he was in here the other day. He wanted me to make a bouquet with some candy he brought in."
He looks incredulous for all of two seconds, but he throws his head back and laughs loudly. "That sounds like Raul to me. If he found this place, you might want to start buying more of that stuff, he'll be in here every day, pretty much." He points to her candy rack.
"I'll tell my parents to prepare themselves." She says, and it seems like he'll leave. But his eyes squint at the potted plant, and he glances at her and he gets that 'I'm totally buying more things.' look on his face that she recognizes so well.
"You know, I think I will buy this actually. My sister really likes flowers, and there's a space in the back yard where it'll grow." He steps over to it and brings the pot to the counter.
"Alright." She rings it up, and they exchange money again.
"What'd you call this, a golden what?" He says, a smirk on his face.
He shakes his head. "It sounds dumb like that. 'Golden showers'. We called it 'Lluvia de Oro'." His expression is wistful, and he seems to be thinking of something else. "Not that it's much better, meaning 'rain of gold'," He explains, coming back down to earth. "But at least it doesn't remind me of--nevermind."
Her eyebrows shoot up and she leans over the counter. "Doesn't remind you of what?" She asks, giving him a cheeky grin.
His eyes narrow and he waves a finger at her. "No, no. I'm not falling for that. I have a siblings, I know exactly what kind of stuff I'm getting into."
She laughs and leans back. "Alright, fair enough."
His head shakes at her again, and he grins. He takes the pot and wraps his arm around it, preparing to leave. "I'll be leaving now, before I get in trouble--what's you name?" He asks.
"Luciano." He says, backing over to the door, pushing it open with his foot. "See you around."
"See you around." She watches him walk down the street, then returns to the back room.
