Counting Blessing

Chapter 3

Jenna Cox the Florist

Katie was walking back and forth anxiously for a couple of times already. She was barely concentrating on her work today. Jenna had definitely noticed that. Katie wanted a favour, and she was afraid to ask.

           “You want something, Katie?” Jenna finally asked. Her finger was tapping on the calculator while her eyes focusing on the figures on the bills. November was advancing towards its very last day in a steadfast manner. That means is it the time to do the month’s closing balance.

           “Er, yes, actually,” Katie replied in a shilly-shally manner, sounding as if she had done something wrong. It might be she had given the wrong price to the customer, or taken a wrong order or something. Jenna had started to get attuned to her careless mistakes. After all, she was only nineteen. You just have to forgive her, Jenna told herself.

Jenna likes Katie a lot actually. Firstly it was because she was hardworking, submissive and a humble person. Secondly, she has a flair for flower arrangements and decorations. All you need is to tell her a rough idea, and she turns it out into a masterpiece just like flicking a wand.

           “I am wondering if I can go back just a little earlier? Only today,” she carefully ventured, like a frightened little girl. “I can work for an extra hour on Thursday (her off day), if you don’t mind.”

           “Is it something urgent?” Jenna asked, a little concerned.

           Katie bit her lower lip, her eyes darted around the shop anxiously. “Well, I won’t say it’s urgent to be honest. It’s just… my boyfriend is coming to see me. He works in Leicester and he is on the way here. He’ll be here for the weekend.”

           “Oh, I didn’t know you have a boyfriend,” Jenna said, she was tad surprise. Not because Katie was unattractive or anything, it’s just that she was very much a daddy’s good girl.

           “We started seeing each other two months ago, actually.” Katie’s cheeks flushed red. That made Jenna even more curious. Katie comes to work and goes home. She wasn’t into any club, or sports, or party. So how did they meet each other? Jenna reined in herself to question more. It won’t be nice to scare sweet little Katie, sounding like a disapproving mother.

           “Well, okay. To be honest, I’m pretty tired as well. All these figures are hurting my eyes. I think we can wrap up half an hour earlier today,” she said, and winked at Katie. “And… don’t tell Edna.”

           Katie’s face beamed with happiness. “Hee hee… I won’t.”

           “Tell Emma and Claire we are closing at half past four.”

           “Sure. And thanks, Jenna. You’re the best!”

           “Anytime.”

           Jenna watched as Katie skittered with delight to relay the good news to the other two girls. Smiling to herself, and thinking how happy a person can be when in love. Jenna had been single for six years. The last guy she dated was Simon, a bar owner. Apparently, Simon was labeled as a contemptible block by Jenna. He was the worst guy she had ever dated. Okay, Jenna didn’t mind going Dutch all the time when they go out for a meal. She didn’t mind that she had to pay for her own drinks in his bar either. One thing she couldn’t understand was that when it comes to partying, boy, he could really splash out, even on his friends’ bills. That was when she realized that she worth nothing in his eyes, and it is not worth it to invest her time in this relationship. Simon wasn’t the man whom she wanted to spend the rest of her life with.

           It had come to off season for weddings as fall quietly giving its mandate to winter to be in charge. They had a frenzied spring and fall, because those are the popular months for weddings, and weddings require flowers and decorations and balloons, and that means business.

Jenna Cox couldn’t believe that she had already settled in this place for six months. She had quit her job at an upscale Montessori School in London to help Edna, her aunt, to manage the flower shop. Edna was in her fifties, divorced, no children. Recently, she was dating with a man of her age, and they were on a steady relationship. She moved to York to live with him, which is why she asked Jenna to mind the shop for her.

           Managing a profusion of flowers of every kinds and colours wasn’t something new to Jenna. She had worked for Edna years ago while studying her degree here. The main purpose of taking the part-time job was to save up money for travelling. It was just so nice to be able to travel to European countries when you are in England. Once, she managed to get a spiffing deal from budget airline a return flight to Rome for as low as thirty quid. Not to mention the easy access to France, and from there, you can basically travel to lots of countries nearby like Luxembourg, Italy, Germany, Austria and many more.

           They do have tour agencies in England where you can choose your desired package, and pay certain amount of money which usually includes the accommodation, food, and transport. Then they will take you to places on a bus. The one that Jenna paid for was to visit eight countries in twelve days. It was such a rushing schedule and she spent a lot of time in bus going from a country to another. It was nice though, to see many places and take pictures, but the time was too short to actually see everything. She fell sick the next day she got home. The journey was too much of a tension for her.

Fortunately, she was living with Edna at that time. She took care of her and made her breakfast and lunch before going out to work. Edna would wake up earlier to prepare those meals for Jenna so that she could just heat them up with the microwave whenever she feels like eating. Bless her kindness. Jenna really enjoyed her days staying with Edna that three years of her university, she was like a second mother to her.

Edna simply loves Jenna working for her. She often tells Jenna that she would make a good artisan if she had stayed longer there. Jenna wouldn’t consider herself the artistic kind of woman. The key to her success was to be curious all of the time, and the willingness to learn. After spending some time at Olive’s Flower Shop, Jenna started to actually enjoy working there, fiddling with the flowers. Edna had taught her how cut and snip, how to choose the right colour of ribbons and papers, and how to deal with customers. She even took her along to function venues to set up flowers and balloons for events such as birthdays or weddings. At times, Jenna would have to do delivery when they got too busy. It was a priceless experience for Jenna. She had learned firsthand to finesse all procedures of running a business.

           Home was about fifteen minute walk from downtown. The three-bedroom terraced belongs to Edna, old but cosy inside. The area was usually resided by transient university students, and the passing cars were the only noise that disarrayed the tranquility of the neighbourhood. Jenna hardly sees any of her neighbours, the only person she knew in that area was Mr. Will Smith, a bachelor who lived next door. Yes, no kidding. His name really is Will Smith.

Dinner with Edna was like a feast every day. She guessed Edna did enjoy her company. Edna must be feeling lonely all these years living by herself after Jenna left to work in London. But Jenna was happy for Edna that she found her love. Edna’s boyfriend, Mr. Jameson was a solicitor. They met when Edna brought the girls to set up the banquet hall for someone’s wedding. Mr. Jameson happened to be the bridegroom’s uncle. He came all the way from York to attend the wedding. He was just passing by the hall with his nephew to check on the preparation a day before the wedding takes place. So they met. And talked. And fell in love with each other.

“Sometimes you just can’t help it when you meet the right person, at the right time,” Edna told Jenna.

Without Edna, Jenna usually goes for quick and simple nosh - throws one or two potatoes into the oven and have them roasted, or boils two big potatoes to get them mashed later on. She had decided on the way back, that the exciting menu for tonight is going to be roasted potatoes sprinkled with cheddar. Sure she knows that too much of starchy food isn’t good, according to mom’s health advice. Potatoes are versatile food, like eggs. No matter how you cook them, they taste excellent. Since Jenna isn’t much of a meat lover, so sometimes a big bowl of salad was able to satisfy her appetite when she ran out of potatoes.