CHAPTER 7: BLACK PETALS
1373 Words
VESPER'S POV
I changed the sign on October 13th.
`ASHVALE & THORNS`
`BLACK PETALS`
Smaller letters underneath. But they were there.
Maren cried when she saw it.
“Finally,” she said. “You’re not hiding anymore.”
I wasn’t.
The shop wasn’t a bunker now. It was a name.
Mine.
October 14th.
6:00PM.
Elias came.
He looked at the sign. Didn’t say anything.
He just nodded. Like I’d done something right.
“Hi,” he said.
“Hi.”
We sat in the greenhouse.
The tea was still terrible.
He still drank it.
But something was different.
After the storm. After the kiss.
We didn’t pretend anymore.
At 7:00PM, he said, “Can I take you out?”
I froze.
“Out?”
“Out of the shop.”
“Why?”
“Because six o’clock is ours,” he said. “But I want one hour that’s not here.”
My chest tightened.
“I don’t do dates, Elias.”
“I know.”
“Then why—”
“Because I’m not asking for a date,” he said. “I’m asking for dinner.”
Dinner.
Food.
With him.
Not here.
“I don’t have anything to wear,” I said. That was a lie.
“Wear that,” he said. Pointing at my black shirt.
“I’m covered in soil.”
“Then wash.”
I stared at him.
“Is this a yes?” he asked.
“No,” I said.
His face fell. Just a fraction.
“But,” I said. “It’s a maybe.”
He smiled.
A real one.
“Maybe is enough.”
October 15th.
6:00PM.
He came early. 5:55PM.
With a coat.
Not his.
New. Black. Wool. My size.
“Don’t,” I said.
“It’s not a gift,” he said. “It’s a loan.”
“For dinner?”
“Yes.”
I took it.
Because I was cold.
Because I was tired of saying no.
We walked.
Ashford Bay at night was quiet. White buildings. Closed shops.
We stopped at a place on the corner.
Small. Family-owned. Not fancy.
“Can you afford this?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“Then you pay.”
“Okay.”
We sat.
He ordered soup. I ordered bread.
We didn’t talk for ten minutes.
It was okay.
“Why here?” I asked.
“Because no one knows us here,” he said. “No one from the council. No one from the city.”
“Just us?”
“Just us.”
I ate.
It was warm.
“I like this,” I said.
“What?”
“Not being a fight.”
He nodded.
“Me too.”
We walked back at 7:30PM.
He stopped at the shop door.
“Thank you,” he said.
“For what?”
“For saying maybe.”
I took off the coat.
“Keep it,” he said.
“It’s a loan.”
“Then you owe me dinner.”
I looked at him.
“Okay,” I said. “I owe you dinner.”
October 16th.
I opened the shop at 9AM.
For the first time, I put a sign outside.
`BLACK PETALS OPEN`
Three people came in.
Three.
One bought a rose. $40.
One just looked.
One said, “I heard you won against Calder.”
“Yes.”
“Good,” she said. “This place is better than white.”
She left without buying.
But she smiled.
At 6:00PM, Elias came.
“I heard you had three customers,” he said.
“How?”
“Town’s small.”
I laughed.
“I sold one,” I said.
“Good.”
He sat.
We didn’t kiss.
We didn’t touch.
We just sat.
And it was better than dinner.
October 17th.
Maren dragged me to town.
“You need to be seen, Ves,” she said. “Not just hidden in here.”
“I don’t like people.”
“I know. That’s why you’re coming.”
We went to the market.
People stared.
“Black Petals,” they whispered.
“Calder’s girl.”
“Elias’s girl.”
I stopped walking.
“Don’t call me that,” I said.
Maren grabbed my arm. “They will. Let them.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re not hiding.”
Elias was there.
He wasn’t with me.
He was buying coffee.
He saw me.
He didn’t come over.
He just nodded.
Once.
I nodded back.
That was enough.
October 18th.
6:00PM.
He came with a box.
“Don’t,” I said.
“Open it.”
Inside was a stamp.
Wood. Hand-carved.
`BLACK PETALS`
“For your tags,” he said.
I pressed it into ink. Stamped a piece of paper.
It looked real.
“It is real,” he said.
I looked up.
“Thank you.”
“You don’t have to—”
“I know,” I said. “I’m saying it anyway.”
He sat closer tonight.
Not on the floor.
On the cot.
Next to me.
Our knees touched.
Neither of us moved away.
October 19th.
I sold five roses.
Five.
I made $200.
I hadn’t made that in a month.
I put the money in a jar.
`FOR SEEDS`
At 6:00PM, Elias came.
“I heard,” he said.
“Who told you?”
“Town.”
I rolled my eyes.
He smiled.
“You did good.”
“I did.”
We sat.
He reached out.
Took my hand.
Not a question this time.
An answer.
His fingers were warm. Mine were cold.
We stayed like that until 7:00PM.
Then he left.
October 20th.
It rained again.
Light. Not a storm.
I sat in the greenhouse.
Alone.
At 5:58PM, I realized I was waiting.
Not for six.
For him.
The door opened at 6:00PM.
Elias.
Wet hair. No umbrella.
“You didn’t bring an umbrella,” I said.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I like the rain with you.”
I didn’t answer.
Because I did too.
October 21st.
Maren said, “You two are disgusting.”
“Why?”
“Because you don’t kiss. You don’t fight. You just... sit.”
“And?”
“And it’s working.”
She was right.
It was.
October 22nd.
6:00PM.
Elias came.
He didn’t sit.
He stood in front of me.
“Vesper,” he said.
“Yes.”
“I want to kiss you again.”
My breath stopped.
“Okay,” I said.
He didn’t.
He just looked at me.
“Why didn’t you?” I asked.
“Because I want you to ask.”
I stared at him.
“I don’t ask,” I said.
“I know.”
“So?”
“So I’ll wait.”
He sat down.
Next to me.
No kiss.
And somehow, that was more intimate than one.
October 23rd.
I woke up and wrote something on a piece of paper.
`DINNER. FRIDAY. 7PM. MY SHOP.`
I gave it to Elias at six.
He read it.
Looked up.
“Is this a yes?”
“Yes.”
He folded it. Put it in his pocket.
“Okay,” he said.
October 24th.
Friday.
7PM.
He came.
With food.
Not from a restaurant.
From his hotel.
He cooked.
“Can you cook?” I asked.
“No.”
“Then why—”
“Because I tried.”
It was terrible.
Worse than my tea.
We laughed.
For an hour.
At 8:30PM, he said, “Can I kiss you now?”
“Yes.”
He did.
Slow.
Sure.
Not rain. Not fear.
Choice.
When he pulled back, he said,
“Black Petals.”
“What?”
“That’s what you are,” he said. “Rare. Real. Mine.”
“I’m not yours.”
“Not yet,” he said. “But you’re not his either.”
He meant Calder.
He meant the town.
He meant the past.
“Okay,” I said.
October 25th.
I changed the sign again.
`BLACK PETALS`
`OPEN 9-6`
And underneath, in my handwriting:
`SIX O’CLOCK IS OURS`
Elias saw it at six.
He didn’t say anything.
He just kissed my forehead.
And sat down.
Next to me.
Like always.
*END OF CHAPTER 7*
- Writer
