I really wonder how you feel on these nights so alone

“if only you could see”

Baby, aren't you hungry? I could give you codeine. (part eleven point five)

Dec 14, 2020 || 10:40 PM || comment?

The ambulance flew down the street, siren announcing its presence to the public. The driver called over the radio a status report. Aleksandra stared out the passenger window, forehead pressed against it. The streets blurred by. The words spoken were garbled. Time was moving in slow motion.

It would continue to do so for the next few weeks.

Aneurysm. It happened so suddenly. Painlessly. Nothing to be done.

Calls from relatives, well-wishers, and old friends poured in. The words fell on deaf ears as they all mumbled the same, meaningless sentiments.

"He was a good, honest man."

"Lived a quiet, fulfilling life."

"He didn't deserve this."

The funeral was no different, considering her father had arrangements made well in advance, much to her relief. A number of people attended the funeral, many of whom Aleks recognized as relatives or loyal customers, though their faces blended in the sea of bodies clad in black. Had she paid more attention, she might have noticed the piercing blue eyes standing at a distance from the rest of the crowd.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

It felt like a slow dance as Aleks tended to the shop day in and day out the weeks following her father's death. The bell that jingled in the doorway was now a constant reminder that her father would never step foot in the doorway again. The flowers she trimmed reminded her that he would never smell them again, never see such colors again. As much as she hated being in the shop, the painful reminder of loss that it was, she couldn't let it die too. Then he would truly be gone...

The doorbell jingled and Aleksandra didn't bother to look up. She couldn't bare the sight of another pair of eyes gazing upon her with pity. Eyes that weren't her fathers.

"Ahem."

The deep sound of a man clearing his throat shook Aleks from her thoughts.

"How can I help...?" Aleks started, and as she looked up, a pair of piercing blue eyes were looking back down at her. A tall man, painfully handsome, was standing before her, just on the other side of the counter she was standing at. Those eyes...

"I need a floral arrangement. Something that says... 'I love you', perhaps?" A slight smirk rested on his face as he spoke. His voice was deep. Calming. Somehow...familiar? Aleks couldn't take her eyes off of his. She felt as though he could see right through her, that maybe he somehow knew what she was thinking. And just as she was starting to get lost in his eyes, it hit her. Or rather, she hit him.

That day.....running through the market, running into the beautiful couple. It was he who had stepped aside, let her keep going. Taming the wild beauty that was with him. No doubt the flowers would be for her...

"Or at least, something she thinks means 'I love you'," he clarified, a chuckle escaping his lips. Aleks merely nodded at his remark, and quickly turned away before betraying herself. She could feel her cheeks begin to flush as she thought about the man before her, and the woman she saw that day. What sort of relationship they might have.

Her mind raced as she walked among the flowers. Anyone could get a dozen roses, but that was too obvious. Too common. She felt an inexplicable need to impress him. To say with flowers what words cannot. She pulled poppies, mini carnations, and just a few garden roses, in a variety of deep reds and cream colors. She pulled some silver ragwort to accent the blooms. She walked back up to the counter where the man was now leaning, his grin seemingly gone and now replaced with a look of curiosity. Under the counter itself were two shelves with different vases. She grabbed one made of crystal, with intricate starbursts all around. The light catching the vase threw small prisms on the counter's surface.

As Aleks laid the stems gently on the counter, her hands began working deftly. Cutting the stems to a roughly an even length with each other. Quickly picking off dead or otherwise unwanted leaves and thorns. Taking the vase and filling it with cool water and adding a drop or two of bleach. Plunging the freshly cut stems in. Subtle tweaks here and there as she perfected the placement of blooms in the vase and in relation to each other. Tucking the ragwort in small gaps between the flowers. Her hands were conducting a symphony of colors as she beckoned everything into place. She slowly spun the vase around, looking over her own work, a sense of satisfaction coming over her. She looked up at the man once again, who was still staring at the vase.

"How's this?" Aleks asked, her voice nearly catching in her throat. She couldn't hide behind the flowers anymore. The man finally looked back at her, a bemused look on his face.

"I'd say it's perfect," he said, the familiar cool grin replacing his temporary awe. He pulled a wallet out from a back pocket, and with a single motion of his wrist, opened it and withdrew two bills using his free hand. She watched as he set them on the counter; it was more than enough to pay for the bouquet. As Aleks reached for the bills, he placed two fingers on them, preventing her from taking them. She stopped and watched him as he pulled a business card from the wallet and placed it directly on top of the bills. He then grabbed the vase and without another word, turned and left, the bell jingling as it marked his departure.

Aleks picked up the card, running her fingers across gold embossed letters that spelled the name Viktor on the front, with only a phone number on the back.

Labels: fiction junction, Viktor's Girls