Page 97 of Late Bloomer
“Ugh” is all she says, cupping my cheeks and giving me a deep kiss, transferring that smile right to me.
We head downstairs, stopping first in the lobby. The space has been transformed into a buzzing garden to showcase the individual flower entrants. Pepper told me earlier that there are awards for everything from petite blooms to the most giant-ass dahlia someone can grow. She explained it in much more technical terms, but I got distracted by how cute she is when she’s excited about a topic.
We weave through a long hallway holding the small-construction bouquets before moving to the lower floor to scope out our direct competition before we’re scheduled to be in our booth for judging.
“Opie!” My sisters’ voices echo across the room, and a moment later, I’m body-slammed by both, tripping backward as they hug me.
“Hi,” I wheeze as they squeeze me tighter.
“Hi, you little superstar,” Ophelia says, pinching both my cheeks.
“We’re so proud of you,” Olivia says, pulling away to greet Pepper with a similar hug.
“You haven’t even seen ours yet,” I counter.
Olivia waves my words away. “Doesn’t matter. I know it’s amazing.”
My blush is embarrassingly bright. “Are Tal and Diksha here?” I ask, turning to Pepper. She checks her phone.
“Yeah, they’re here. Diksha said Tal is deep in florist talk with some colleagues and they’ll catch up with us when judging starts.”
“Cool.”
“No more stalling, let’s go quietly heckle the other contestants.”
I smack Ophelia on the shoulder.
“I meantadmire. Gosh, sorry. Freudian slip.”
I roll my eyes but follow them into the line of stalls.
The first few stations are nothing special, lots of predictable uses of hearts, a few others that seemed to take the theme as a mere suggestion and used the space to show off their ability to arrange a whimsical-looking flower arch with accompanying bouquets.
“Not sure why we were so nervous,” I whisper to Pepper out of the corner of my mouth after staring at a particularly bland display of only roses. She elbows me in the ribs.
“You’re going to jinx us.”
Pepper appears to be right, because the next row of displays ups the game a bit.
“Shit,” she mumbles as we take in a particularly detailed scene.
A man made of flowers holds a standing microphone crafted out of woven pussy-willow branches. He has on hot-pink pants made of ranunculi, and a magenta vest from a variety of blooms. The whole thing creates a vibrant energy thatfeels somehow familiar. I read the plaque every participant got to draft up for the work and see it’s Harry Styles during his Love on Tour tour. After another glance, the resemblance is undeniable.
“I don’t mean to be aggressive, but I would make sweet, sweet love to that flower man, no questions asked,” Ophelia says, Olivia nodding in agreement.
“I told you the celebrity flower moment is a brilliant idea,” I grumble at Pepper.
“I want you to know I’m ignoring you,” she says, moving on to the next display.
This one is a giant human heart centered on a wall. It’s made of blood-red dahlias and zinnias, rose petals suspended from the ventricles like drops of blood. It’s so large and imposing, it almost appears to be expanding and contracting, the effect making me queasy.
“It kind of reminds me of theMidnight Sunbook cover,” Olivia whispers as we step away.
We pass through another unremarkable row, the only standouts being one entry that made tons of different birds and a swarm of bees from blooms, and a second that spelled outLOVEfrom suspended blooms that morphed into a giant flower if you viewed it from a different angle.
One of the flashiest displays in the next row is a replica of a ballroom wedding reception. The floor is in a checkered pattern of tightly packed baby’s breath and hyacinth so dark, they’re almost black. A similarly deep color was used for a piano in thebackground, while a couple in wedding attire is placed directly in the center. They’ve utilized mannequin heads and arms for the newlyweds, but their outfits are created from flowers too, his navy-blue suit appearing fuzzy from the pom-poms of petals, the bride’s dress a cascade of white in a stunning silhouette. What’s so astonishing is the amount of motion they’ve infused, creating a sense that the groom just spun the bride close for a kiss, her dress swirling around their ankles.
Well… shit.
