Melissa shoots me a smile of encouragement before going into the back, leaving me alone with him. My palms grow sweaty, and I rub them on my denim shorts. I wasn't expecting to be serving a customer this soon. I thought I would have until Tuesday to rehearse what I'm going to say.

Now I've been put on the spot my mind is blank. His expensive cologne filling my nostrils isn't helping me with that either. It's very distracting.

Come on, Madison, get a grip. You need to prove yourself to Melissa. You need to prove to yourself that you can do this.

I tilt my head up so my eyes connect with his. He looks to be around nineteen and, by what he's wearing, he must have a very serious job. Everything about him is intimidating. Not to mention he's towering over me, making me feel smaller than I thought was possible.

"How can I help you?" I do my best to keep a smile on my face.

"I'm looking for something for my boss." His eyes wander around the shop, looking at everything there is to offer.

"Anything specific?" I ask, following his gaze as they bounce from one plant to the other. I can't help the nerves from entering my voice, so my words falter halfway through. If he noticed, he's either kind enough to not mention it or doesn't care.

"I need something that says, 'I'm sorry you're an asshole and I quit'" My eyes grow wide, shocked by his honesty, and he continues with a chuckle. "Without being too harsh."

I gape at him. "You're quitting yet you're giving your boss flowers?"

Normally people buy them when it's someone's birthday or they've achieved something or maybe just because they appreciate them. It's unusual for someone to give them to a person they hate unless they spray water in your face of course.

"I'm a gentleman," he bows jokingly. I roll my eyes with a giggle. "Flowers will cushion the blow of me quitting."

I ponder over his words. "That does make a lot of sense," I admit causing him to grin. "Okay, well, you're my first customer so you're going to have to be patient with me. I'm still trying to learn where everything is." I try to send Melissa a call for help with my mind, but she doesn't receive it. I don't know nearly enough to do this right now.

"Take however long you need." He reassures me.

I take a deep breath as we wander around the shop, looking at everything on the shelves. The only ones that spike my interest are the ones that I like the look of. I just roll with it. I'm not experienced enough to know what goes with which situation yet.

"How about these?" I pluck out a few random flowers and bunch them together, inwardly cringing at myself. I don't even know what these are called. The only thing I could tell you about them is that they're white.

"These smell great." I plaster on a convincing smile before shoving them towards him.

He examines them in my hand and then curtly shakes his head. "You're right, they do. But they're too bland for her. I can't even walk into her office without being blinded by all the colours." He squints his eyes to emphasise his words.

"Okay," I hum as I put them back in their place. "These?" I grab some pink flowers and continue my act. "They're more colourful," I state despite him being able to see that already.

He plucks it out of my hand, turning it slightly as he admires it. "It's definitely brighter, but I don't think these are the ones I'm looking for."

My gaze drops to the floor at my two failed attempts. He leans down slightly, giving me a reassuring smile. I take a deep breath and muster up all of the positive energy that I can. I can do this.

My eyes latch on to more that look appealing to me. "I think I know exactly what you're looking for." Confidence is evident in my voice contrasting with the lack of confidence I feel inside.

"Please, go on." He urges me.

"Does your boss like the colour purple?" Please say yes, please say yes, please say yes.

"Most definitely. She wears it all the time."

I refrain from doing a happy dance in the middle of the shop and instead settle on fist-bumping the air by my side. Thank God luck is on my side today.

"You should give her these then." I grab a couple of the unknown yet pretty flowers, bunching them together as I did with the others. Florists do this, right?

He leans down a bit to get a closer look at them. I keep my gaze glued to the flower rather than focusing on our proximity. My face heats up slightly and I release a breath before his gaze returns to me.

"These are the ones." He agrees, satisfaction swimming in his eyes. I can't keep the triumphant smile off my face.

He follows me over to the counter and just as we get there, the bell rings above the door. Melissa comes rushing out from the back but halts once she sees what I'm holding.

"Those are expensive, are you sure you want them?" He doesn't seem to mind the price as he nods curtly.

It isn't like someone to try to stop a customer from buying a product simply because it's expensive, but I get the feeling that Melissa isn't like most bosses.

I take some of the string that was lying on the counter and wrap the flowers in it, tying it into a little bow. I can feel his eyes on me as I do so.

"Do you want them to say something? Your name? A message?" I hold up a slip of paper.

He shakes his head. "My name's Adrian but I don't need you to write that down, I'll be giving them to her myself."

He told me his name, but he doesn't want me to write it. That must mean that for some reason he wants me to know it. I stop myself from overthinking it too much like I always do. Overthinking never gets me anywhere.

I hand the bouquet to him. "Let's hope your boss takes you quitting well." I give him a tight-lipped smile.

I place my hands on the counter and then in my pockets and then by my side. I have no idea where to put them or what to do with them.

"I doubt she will but it's okay because I have these." He tells me, raising the flowers. I giggle and bid him a farewell, telling him to have a good day. "You too," he starts but pauses for a second.

"Madison." I finish for him.

"Thank you for your help, Madison." He gives me a slight nod of his head. I return the gesture.

He starts walking towards the door before stopping in his tracks and turning around. I furrow my eyebrows when he grabs a flower from next to the counter and stands in front of me. He reaches out, placing it in my hair behind my ear.

"What's this one called?" His fingers linger on my skin.

I gulp, unable to focus on anything else but his touch. Luckily, Melissa answers for me before I can embarrass myself further with my lack of knowledge. "That's a snowdrop."

His tongue darts out to lick his lips. "Perfect, it suits you." I blush instantly but he doesn't notice as he walks out of the shop.

*

I sit on my bed after managing to escape Sophie and Henry's persistent praises. They seem happy that I'm settling in so well here. All I was thinking about the whole time was how much I wanted to go to my room and call my dad.

It's been a couple of days since we last spoke. I'm starting to miss him and Sadie. I pick up my phone and dial his number. "Hi, Dad," I say after he picks up.

His reply comes seconds later. "Hey, darling. What's up?"

I cross my legs as I sit on my bed, switching the phone to my other ear. "I have something to tell you-" I start but he cuts me off before I have a chance to finish.

"You're not pregnant, are you? Please tell me you're not." I pull my duvet up to my face and groan into it. I'm glad that I didn't have him on speaker or I'm sure the whole house would have heard.

"No, I'm not pregnant," I shake my head in amusement. He sighs in relief. "I got a job!" I reveal, unable to keep the excitement out of my voice.

I explain to him that I'm working as a florist for two days a week after school and tell him all about how kind Melissa is. I'm surprised no one applied for the position earlier. She mentioned that she thought no one was going to apply which makes no sense to me. She seems like a great boss. Not to mention, her little shop is the perfect place to work. What more could you want?

"Your mum would be proud." He states, his voice laced with pride.

A tear slides down my cheek, but I wipe it away, managing to prevent more from pouring out. "I'm proud of you." I can picture him now with a huge smile on his face which causes mine to grow.

I hear commotion on the other side of the phone before a high-pitched voice. "Hi, Madi." Sadie squeals, startling me. I regain my composure before replying.

"Sadie!" I beam. I wish I could just wrap my arms around her right now and never let go. "Where did dad go?"

"I stole the phone." She admits with a mischievous laugh. "But I had a reason."

"And that is?" I wait for her answer, resting my head upon my hand.

"An important reason."

Her vagueness only makes me more interested. "Hurry up and tell me then," I demand eagerly.

I can already picture her cupping her hand around the phone as she whispers, "I talked to a boy."

I jump up off of the bed, pacing around my room. "You did what?" I shout, my eyes are wide in shock. She protests that I didn't need to be so loud and a sheepish smile tugs at my lips. "Sorry, you did what?" I repeat quieter this time.

"I talked to a boy." She announces with more confidence.

"Who is he? Where? Is he nice? Tell me everything."

"He's friends with my friend, Holly. He told her he'd sit next to her in class but then he didn't. He sat next to me instead." Excitement grows in her voice as she tells me.

"He did not!" I gasp in disbelief.

"He did. We talked for nearly the whole lesson until the teacher noticed and gave us both detention."

I choose to skip past the fact that she got detention just this once. I don't want to say anything to threaten her happiness right now.

"Someone has a crush." I sing, teasing her. She denies it repeatedly which makes me laugh even more than I was already.

"I told her that she has to stay away from him until she's at least twenty-five," my dad shouts so I can hear him. "He's a bad influence!"

"No way, dad." She protests with a groan. "That's too long." I hear him gasp in the distance and bite my lip, stifling a laugh that is threatening to come out.

"With that attitude, I'll add on another five years, young lady." He warns. Sadie drops the topic after that. She hands the phone back to him not long after.

"We'll have to speak later because I promised your sister that I'd watch a movie with her. Duty calls." We say our goodbyes before ending the call.

Barely two minutes later, Penny opens the door to my room, without knocking, and sits at the end of my bed. "I take it you got the job." She says eyeing my hair. I pat it wondering why she's looking at me like that. It dawns on me when my fingertips come in contact with the snowdrop that Adrian gave me.