Page 54 of He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not

‘I’m Celeste Graham. My closest friends call me CeCe. I’m from right here in Ocean Beach, Cali. I run The Flower Patch, a cute little organic floral farm outside town. If you have time, I’d love for you to check it out.’ Her gaze lands on mine momentarily as if she’s inviting me and me alone.

Never gonna happen, sweetheart. I glance at Hollyn, who’s intently listening to Celeste speak.

‘This is my little sister, Genevieve. I’m so excited to be here amongst so much talent.’ She applauds herself, her hands close to her chest.

‘Celeste’s flower farm is adorable,’ Jillian says. ‘I had the pleasure of visiting yesterday when I flew in. Just darling.’

‘I appreciate that,’ Celeste says, beaming with pride as if it’s the first time she’s heard it from a mouth not her own.

‘Onto you, Dax.’

My insides flop over, reminding me I was too nervous to eat this morning. Hell, I was practically too nervous to sleep. Now I’m starving, exhausted, and nervous.

‘I’m Dax Hartley.’ I raise a single hand. ‘I’m from a small suburb outside Portland, Oregon. I run The Flower Boy out of a delivery truck for now. This is my childhood friend Hollyn who is acting as my assistant.’

‘Childhood friends,’ Jillian says with a coy smile. ‘That’s fun! Do I sense a rekindling of something?’

Hols’ eyes go wide. I know if I don’t speak now and clear this up, she’ll ramble on about whatever half sentences are running through her head, and we’ll probably both regret it later.

‘We’re just reconnecting as friends after a time apart. We grew up next door to one another. Her brother is my best friend.’

‘Ah…’ Jillian’s face is very much the face the woman at the airport had when she heard the brother’s best friend thing.

My eyes land on Celeste, who winks my way. She’s a little ballsy. I have a feeling that’s going to be a problem.

‘Marley. Tell us about you,’ Jillian moves on.

The woman to our left takes a step forward. ‘I’m Marley Sterling. I live in Eugene, Oregon. I run The Plant Shed. I do both florals and houseplants. I’ve been focusing more on the houseplant side lately and running a social media account dedicated to them as hashtag houseplant life. Got to grab ahold of those trends while they’re happening.’

‘Hashtag excellent idea,’ Jillian says. ‘Who’s with you today?’

‘Oh!’ She laughs, glancing back at her partner still standing in her place. ‘This is my best friend, Emily.’

‘Nice to have you both with us. Onto Allie,’ Jillian says to the last contestant.

‘Hello!’ Allie says in a bubbly voice. ‘I’m Allie Rhodes, from the rainy city of Seattle. My shop is called Happy Petals. Flowers are just happy! Aren’t they?’ She lets out a giggle. ‘With me today is my ex-coworker, Nina. We’re former lawyers turned florist and novelist.’ Allie says everything like it’s brand new, supremely exciting news.

‘Wonderful!’ Jillian says, matching her excitement. ‘Such talent standing before me. Did you all have fun with your first challenge?’

Hollyn and I stand silently as our competitors chatter about how much fun they had. I’m really out of my element here. I like to talk at times, don’t get me wrong, but mostly I save it for the folks in my tiny circle of loved ones or clientele. Thank god Hols is here with me because if she wasn’t, I’m not sure I’d be able to do this.

‘I won’t make you wait any longer,’ Jillian says. ‘We’re going to give you rankings on the website. Viewers can either bump you up or eliminate you based on what they see while we’ve filmed and I’ll announce the results on YouTube live every Friday. Ready?’

‘Let’s do it!’ Celeste claps her hands with a wide grin.

‘Two of you stood out to me this week.’ Jillian pauses dramatically, looking at each of us. ‘Celeste and Allie, would you take a step forward.’

Celeste’s sister lets out a little squeal, the two of them embracing before she does as she’s told.

‘Unfortunately, your teams are in my bottom two this week.’

Damn, that was brutal. I didn’t expect that. Their faces drop as though they’ve just watched someone kill a puppy. But the massive knot in my gut loosens a bit. We’re not in the bottom two. Hallelujah. Hollyn glances up at me, a nervous yet adorable smile on her face. I can barely push away the nerves to even grin back, but I manage.

‘Allie,’ Jillian says, her tone now serious, ‘I felt like you played it too safe. Your centerpiece didn’t blow us away. To tell you the truth, I found it kind of generic.’

Allie nods as if she understands, words now apparently not her friend. You could almost see her previous excitement hitting the ground like a plane in a nosedive.

‘You haven’t yet lost; viewers could decide to keep you so don’t let my thoughts bring you down. Your wedding was beautiful just not whatI’dhoped for.’

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