She looked like a business woman of some sort. Her brown hair was in a nice pin up style, her petty coat a professional shade of blue, and her slacks opened up at the bottom to a pair of heels.
“Oh, no. I was here for a meeting. I’m Sasha Hallows.” My eyes widened in shock. Could it really be her?
She was the only reason I am at this school. Her scholarship fund was paying for everything. Room, board, books, tuition. My grades earned it, but she definitely made it possible.
“Whoa, I’m one of your scholarship recipients.” I gushed. She smiled as if she knew, but that would be a little too creepy.
“How wonderful…you planted all of these?” she smiled, gesturing to my small cube of flowers.
I had pretty much everything currently in season. Dogwoods, winterberries, heathers, paperback maples, and firethorns. I was still working on getting the camellias to grow right, but they were at least budding.
“Yes, I did. I study botany here.” I took after my dad in that sense.
“That’s delightful,” her eyes strayed past me, “are those winter jasmines?” My breath froze. I couldn’t talk about winter jasmines, I could do nothing but water them every day.
“Um, yes.”
“You could sell these flowers, you know. They’re beautiful.”
“Thank you. I sell them during Valentine’s Day and Christmas, but I never did otherwise.”
“Well, you could. I would definitely buy some. Those jasmines are beautiful.” She stepped closer to them, and I all but blocked her from coming any closer. Her smile quickly faded and I struggled to explain myself.
“The jasmines are…private. W
ell, they were my mother’s favorite flower and she passed away.”
Her hands crossed over her chest as her face softened.
“Oh, I’m so sorry. Was it recent?”
I shook my head. “No, when I was twelve. But…it happened today.”
I wondered why I was giving a complete stranger all this information, but something made me feel like I could trust her. Perhaps it was because she was older, and kind of reminded me of my mother in a way. Her eyes had wonder, hope, and believed when others didn’t.
Just like my mother.
“That is so unfortunate, she liked flowers?” She guessed.
“Yes, she loved them. I suppose I grew to love them too.” I offered a sad smile.
“Well, you grow them so beautifully. You should be very proud of yourself.”
“Thank you.”
“Since it is fate that we’ve met, with you being one of my recipients and all, I would like to buy some flowers from you. Are two bundles of alyssums okay?” I nodded eagerly.
“Yes, of course. I’ve never charged by the bundle before though.” I felt like I sounded clueless, not knowing how to price my own flowers. In my defense, it wasn’t something I did often. I gathered the bundles, measured out by the twine, and then wrapped them in the parchment paper.
“That’s fine. Just take this, I insist.” I didn’t look at the folded-up bill she gave me before thanking her.
“Thank you. I hope you enjoy them.”
She lifted them to her nose, sniffing them delicately as she smiled. “I will, they’ll look beautiful in the window seat of my den. I’ll be seeing you later…. oh, I didn’t even get your name!” She spun on her heel before she left.
“Emilia.” I answered.
“Emilia, a beautiful name. See you soon.” She waved, leaving the green room.