Элла Франк - Exquisite

Two weeks went by very slowly when you were waiting for some kind of sign that you hadn’t messed up the single best thing that had happened to you, Lena discovered as she walked into Precious Petals Monday night. Last night she’d sat through a very awkward dinner with her parents where they tiptoed around her and tried unsuccessfully to get her to go with them on Sunday morning to visit Carly’s grave. She just wasn’t ready and for some reason they just wouldn’t leave her alone about it. This just made her even more annoyed when added to the fact she was still pissed off that Mason hadn’t called her back.

Really she should’ve been happy he’d had never called. She’d wanted him gone from her life only days before that disastrous interview and he’d done it for her. However, she couldn’t help but hate the fact that she’d called and left that horribly embarrassing, soul bearing voice mail. She could just imagine the great laugh he’d every time he thought about it. Asking to be number 34. What had she been thinking? Or worse, he probably kept it and hit replay just so he could remind himself what an absolute moron she was.

Sighing she moved into the store walking through the flowers. Lena hadn’t seen or heard Catherine when she walked in and she was happy just looking around being alone with her thoughts. Eventually she knew Catherine would pop her head out and come help her because the chimes had sounded above the door. She was bending down to smell a beautiful red rose when she heard a familiar voice behind her.

“Can I help you?”

Mason watched Lena spin around so quickly he thought she may just loose her balance, but right before she toppled over he reached out and steadied her with his hand. She quickly moved back a step wrenching her arm free from his touch and he immediately dropped his hand down by his side. He had to admit he was surprised and a little bit taken aback to see her. He’d forgotten his mother had told him she was a frequent customer of her store and as he stood there in front of her, wearing one of his mothers work aprons, he could tell she was trying to work out what the hell he was doing there.

She looked around him then frowned as she tipped her chin up to look at him. “What are you doing here?” she finally demanded of him.

Not so much as a hello or how are you, just typical Lena style, get right to the point.

“Working.” he answered in a way he knew would grate on her nerves. He was right because as he stood there he watched her jaw clench and her eyes roll.

“Working? Here? At Precious Petals?”

Sighing he lifted his hand to run it through his hair. It’d been a horrible week for him. His mother had been rushed to the hospital last Tuesday after suffering a mild heart attack. He really thought he’d been going to loose her and he hadn’t quite known what he would do about it. Rachel had been a mess not being able to cope with the thought of losing their mother so quickly after their father, so he’d been consumed with trying to hold it all together.

Not to mention the shit storm that had hit after that horrible magazine article. So even though he’d wanted to call Lena a hundred times to explain, he just didn’t have it in him and honestly he wasn’t even sure she would care. Right now as she stood in front of him he was starting to think that may be the case.

“Yes at Precious Petals. My mother owns the store.” he watched her suck in a deep breath as her eyes widened and everything seemed to click together into place for her.

“That’s why you were delivering flowers that day?”

Nodding once he crossed his arms over his chest. She stood rigid with her hands by her side looking as though if he touched her she would crack.

“Where’s Catherine then? I don’t think she’s ever taken a day off in all the..” she trailed off toward the end of the comment when she realized she must have given away more than she wanted to. See that was the problem right there, Mason thought shaking his head slowly, she had to many secrets and didn’t want to share. She was like walking through a room full of minefields.

“She’s in the hospital at the moment.”

The only way he could explain the look that came over her face was one of pure horror. Her hand flew up to cover her mouth as she gasped in a deep breath of air. Then she asked quickly. “Is she ok? Which hospital?”

“She’s doing fine Dr O’Donnell. I assure you she is in the best care at St Luke’s.”

She blinked twice seeming to digest that. “I know I don’t have any right but can I ask what happened?”

Mason finally felt himself relax a little. It was obvious that Lena cared about his mother. After all she’d been coming to her store for a little over nine years, if his memory served him correctly.

“She had a mild heart attack last Tuesday here in the shop.”

Her eyes start to water and suddenly he found himself taking a step closer and reaching out to cup her arm. This time she didn’t pull back but he watched as her bottom lip started to quiver. It looked as though she was going to burst into tears. Over a virtual stranger? As far as he knew they were just employee and customer but apparently there was a lot more going on here.

“Hey, it’s ok. We were all shocked and worried about her but she’s a fighter and she’s recovering. Luckily she had her cell phone and called 911 when she started to feel ‘funny’ as she tells me.” he ended with a slight grin.

Lena seemed to be trying to blink back her tears then she swallowed and nodded. “Good, that’s good. I’d hate anything to happen to her.”

“Yeah me too.” he said with a kind of ironic tone.

She seemed to gather herself up then.“Well of course. She’s your mother after all.” she paused and shook her head, “What a small world. I can’t believe she’s your mother.”

Mason didn’t know if he should be insulted or complimented. “Why? Is it so hard to imagine I have a mom?”

“No, no. She’s just so warm and comforting. I’d always wished she was my own mom.” she stopped and looked at him with an almost sheepish expression. “I know that must sound ridiculous.”

He finally gave way and grinned down at her. Who was he kidding? He couldn’t help himself and she was standing here in his mother’s shop, who he loved with all his heart, telling him that she loved her too. How could he fight that?

“That doesn’t sound ridiculous Lena. She’s an amazing woman. I don’t blame you one bit.” he looked around the small space. “I’ve been coming to this store for years, since I was a little boy. I don’t have one memory of her in this shop without a smile on her face. Only an amazing woman can be that warm all the time.”

Lena couldn’t believe that Catherine was Mason’s mother. She’d been coming to this store for nine years. How had she not run into him before that day with the roses? It was almost unbelievable how often their lives must have come so close to crossing over, intertwining and yet just missing each other by a small fragment of space in time. Focusing back on the man in front of her, who kept surprising her at every turn, she said softly.

“Your mother, Catherine, has been doing something for me for years.”

She watched him nod. “The sunflowers.”

Lena narrowed her eyes and felt her heart squeeze tight in her chest. “How did you know about those?” she asked in a more accusatory tone than she was expecting. She just couldn’t fathom the idea that he’d known about her all along, all her deepest most private issues and not said anything to her. She hated feeling like someone was digging behind her back but that was exactly how she felt at this moment.

“Sheathe your claws Lena.” he said with, what seemed like, great patience. “I was telling my mother about the doctor who’d made such an impression, that I’d taken her to my kitchen and cooked for her.”

Lena swallowed but didn’t back down an inch. “I don’t like people discussing me.” she watched as he visibly stiffened and saw the temper flare in his eyes.

Once again he crossed his arms. “She wasn’t discussing you. I was and all she told me was that you’ve been a wonderfully loyal customer and you liked to by sunflowers. Jesus Lena! You would try the patience of a saint.”

Lena reached down and clutched the strap of her purse, she was about to say something when she heard the tinkle of bells and knew someone else had come in. Mason looked over his shoulder then back at her. “I’ll be back to help you in a minute.”

He walked away from her with what she could only describe as a pissed off march. Turning back to the roses she picked up the red one she’d been looking at earlier. She didn’t understand her need to lash out at him, but that was what she was doing. She needed to get it under control, reign in her emotions. Try to remember the poor man’s mother was in the hospital. However, all she could think about was the fact that he’d known about her all along and not said anything. He’d known about her weird little coping habit and just left it. He hadn’t bothered to ask her about it, hell maybe he didn’t care and now she was standing here being a raging bitch because she was also upset he hadn’t called her. She had serious issues.

Moving further down the aisle she saw the happy sunflowers in their usual aluminum can. She stopped in front of them and crouched down to look at the seven flowers standing tall. They were flawless as always. Catherine always picked out the ones that had no blemishes on the bright yellow petals. Standing back up she walked over to the counter where Mason was finishing up with a little old lady.