Page 12 of Iris
Chapter Four
Since Noah has to work the overnight shift the next day, we schedule the date for three days later. When we decide on the day, little butterflies are threatening to come out of my stomach. I have my girl’s night tonight.
When Dorian left, we’d made plans to meet in the afternoon tomorrow so I could see where I’d be setting up the flowers at town hall. I'm also going to meet the guy in charge of security while we are there.
My Mood Tea is cooling on the counter as I go through the mail I picked up after grabbing the daily pastries. Igor is in a mood today, so I'm ignoring her as she threatens all amounts of bodily harm to me if I don’t let her man the register.
“We tried that one time, remember?” I don’t even look up from the mail. “You ended up shredding all of the cash, the customers credit cards, and you, somehow, made the flowers all wilt when I got sick for just one day.” I take a sip of my tea.
“I was sick, too! You forced me to watch it!” She throws some cut flowers onto the ground.
Setting the tea and mail down, I look straight at her. “Pick up those flowers right now. Stop being a baby. I don’t know why you’re in such a mood today, but you don’t get to try to make me feel bad for something I didn’t do.”
it's like living with a three year old sometimes.
Igor grumbles as I go back to the mail. By the time I’ve gone through the stack, the flowers are back in place and she is sitting in front of me. Her leaves are down.
“I’m sorry. I’m just a little sore you didn’t let me say hi to your new guys last night.”
That’s what is wrong. I have to remember that Igor loves to make waves with anyone who comes into the shop, but she also enjoys it because she likes people.
“Ah, Igor,” I pat the top of her mouth, “I’m sorry. I’ll make sure you get to talk to them before we go on our date. Okay?”
She snaps at my hand, but she isn’t serious about it. “Fine. Deal.” Her leaves come up again. “When are you getting rid of that hideous uniform?”
And we go right back to normal. The day passed with customers coming and going. I even have a visit from Ford, the man who sneezed and shifted into a pegasus. I’ve been very careful with him in my shop. The spell that allows my home to expand, it gives several feet of width between him and any of the vases, just in case.
He wants some flowers to give to his vampire mate, Sapphire. He says she is obsessed with anything ice cream related. He leaves the store with a small bouquet of cherry pie flowers, which actually smells more like vanilla, some pineapple sage, and a few of the brown boronia I have that smells like raspberries. Also, the dark chocolate macarons I have left. A girl would never say no to chocolate or macarons. Unless she is a gnome. Gnome’s hate chocolate. They think chocolate will be the end of their civilization as they know it.
Noah hasn’t come in because I’ve forgotten to order something for the first time in forever.
My feet are tapping at the end of the day. I don’t even wait a minute when closing time comes. Everything is locked up quickly as I race to my bedroom. Igor is already on my nightstand when I get there. I really wish I knew how she travels like that. I’ve never caught her in the act of moving and she won’t tell me how she does it.
“What are you wearing?” She sounds distracted as her leaves open up the sealed bag of flies that came in this morning.
“Probably black. That’s what most people wear to Vee.”
There’s the sound of her crunching down on bug guts as I step into my closet.
“You’re not just anybody. Do something fun for once. Wear that dress you bought two years ago for the Christmas party you chickened out on.”
I know exactly what dress she is talking about. I initially bought it because I heard Noah was going to be at the party, but when he’d said he had to work that night, I didn’t end up going.
“That’s a little...sexy...for going to hang out with the girls, Igor.”
“So?” There’s a burp. “Who knows who will be there? Just do it.”
Finding the dress, I sigh. “You’re not going to let this go, are you?”
“Noopppee. Do it. Do it. Do it. Do it.” Now she is chanting.
“Alright! Fine! Stop bugging me!”
The dress is sleek, a dark royal purple, sleeveless, but has a lighter purple mesh that runs from where the skin is exposed to my neck. There are gaps in the length with the mesh showing through as a peek-a-boo look. Even as a plus size woman, this dress makes me feel beautiful and powerful.
It also isn’t the dress to wear for a night out with the girls. To Igor’s disappointment, I grab a black dress that requires tights because it stops right above the knees. It does have a flower pattern embroidery along the side in hot pink, so I figure the pop of color would be enough to appease Igor. I disappoint her again when I choose to wear my ankle boots that have a fuzzy lining. Hot, yes? Comfortable? Not when I sweat but I need mental comfort, since I can’t exactly wear fuzzy slippers to Vee. I leave my blond hair loose around my shoulders.
When I pull up to the parking lot, I notice the other girls’ cars. Looks like I'm the last one to arrive. Rose would have been here anyway. The bouncer, Reg, has his signature sunglasses on, even though it's nighttime. He waves me through. I offer a wink as I walk into Vee.
