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The most surreal part is seeing the name in bold, pink, block letters on the front window.
Thornes In Bloom.
Fitting that a girl named after the harshest part of a rose is pedaling roses. Ironically, I remove the thorns for safety and customer experience. The beauty and the pain are the perfect balance in one simple flower.
In so many ways, this shop has helped me bloom. I may never be a rose, I might always be a thorn, but at least I am growing. Did you know it takes rosebushes three years to reach maturity, to produce consistent and beautiful flowers each year? According to my math, I should be hitting full maturity right about now, and standing in front of my new shop feels a whole hell of a lot like that.
It's a delicate balance - making the shop look modern to fit my style while also adhering to the whole vibe of Main Street. Darren helped me paint the front trim in the softest pale peach the hardware store could manage. My goal was to make it look like it belongs here while also standing out and being unique. That's where the vibrant yellow overhang comes in. The building is subtle and sophisticated, and the awning shouts this is a place you simply can't walk by without coming inside.
With the flowers now filling the windows in a thoughtful yet random display, the whole thing is coming together exactly like I envisioned it. I pull my phone from the hidden pocket in my dress and snap the first of many pictures. This must be what new parents feel like, dying to fawn over the thing they brought into the world, desperate to tell anyone who will listen.
This opening event will be exactly what I need to attract the right clientele who will hopefully spread the word to their friends and boyfriends. And if I am really lucky, some will be hosting upcoming events that require floral embellishments I can provide.
The wedding in Costa Rica last month was a fluke. The bride found me on Instagram and the stars just happened to align. But now it's up to me to take the commissions from that, the money from my dad, and invest it into this launch.
"You just gonna stare at it all day? Or are you going to let me be your first customer?" Bryn has been here practically every day, helping medo the worst parts of renovations. Painting the ceiling has destroyed my shoulders, replacing the floor has left my back feeling like it's made of broken glass, and the two of us still can't agree on which should be closer to the register - the roses or the daisies. At the end of the day, Thornes In Bloom is my shop, it's my name in the title, but Bryn might as well have been its egg donor mother.
"As if I would let you pay a dime for anything in there. If anything, I should be paying you every time you walk in to make up for all your free labor." I don't say thank you again, she has heard it at least forty-nine times from me in the past week and the fiftieth time seems redundant at this point. She knows how much I appreciate her.
I pull her into my shoulder, giving her the biggest one-armed hug I can muster. My words of gratitude may not say enough, but maybe this hug will do the trick.
"I love you too, Dee." she says in a muffled tone, my body squishing hers against mine. I am lucky to have such a supportive friend who isn’t afraid to speak her mind - even if it means that she tells me the shit I don’t want to hear. At the end of the day, she is my biggest cheerleader and I love her to death for it.
"Don't you forget it." I keep my embrace tight as we admire the work we have put into our flower shop baby. I think she might be right, we should move the roses next to the register.
Ten tablesperfectly arranged with the best view of the smallest table at the front. This is where my flower shop flourishes or fails, it all comes down to these tables. The bunches of flowers add a pop of color to the plain wood, a well curated balance of feminine and modern. Thirty people will be here in less than an hour to see what all the hype is about. Those thirty people at these ten tables will decide how far this goes. I hate to admit it, but I am nervous as hell, my hands damp and clammy, my mind racing to all the things I could have forgotten.
"Okay, I think that's everything. Anything else we can do?" Ella's melodic voice breaks through my inner turmoil.
I shake my head at Ella. "Nothing more that I can think of. You guys are amazing, thank you for coming out to help." I owe so much to my brother and his incredible girlfriend. If he hadn't found her in the airport on the way to Costa Rica, it's a very real possibility that my career would have drowned in that ocean. She was a huge part of my success there after a crazy flower mishap. My brother has always been a huge part of my support team, and the two of them together are the epitome of a hype squad.
Bryn is a huge part of that squad too, with her determination to book every single seat at the opening class. I'm pretty sure she signed up the cashier from the grocery store because she had a floral scrunchy in her hair.
"Sorry I won't make it tonight, Dee, but don't you worry, I know Ella will tell me all about it in excruciating detail." My brother rolls his eyes as he puts his arm around Ella, the smile on his mouth not matching the attitude in his eye roll. She shoves her tiny elbow into his side as he pulls her tighter into him. The two of them are adorably nauseating with how much they love each other.
"He's having a bonding night with my brother. Not going to lie, I don't trust them together one bit. But while they are pounding their chests at each other, or whatever it is that guys do when they are alone, I have been tasked with entertaining Carter. She is so excited to meet you but I told her we can't monopolize you with their wedding plans."
Carter is Ella's brother, Brett's fiancée and she does some amazing work in Ovis magazine. I can't believe I will finally be meeting her tonight. Even with this news, my shoulders sink knowing that Darren won't be here tonight to see the culmination of all my hard work.
"I will forgive you this one time Dare, but only because I get to have Ella for the night. Sorry bro, I think I might love her more than I love you." We exchange a knowing smirk. Darren may not have told Ella how he feels yet, but the way his cheeks light up when she is around speaks volumes. He is in love and it's a look I have never seen on my brother. It looks great on him and I am chomping at the bit for him to finally spill to her that he is not only crazy about her, but irrevocably in love with her,too.
The pair leave the shop, their arms tangled around each other's backs. Darren plants kisses on her head while they stumble along the cobblestone sidewalk and now it's all up to me, but I got this.
I stand back, taking in a final look of the space before it becomes filled with excited patrons and I let out a sigh, my hands on my hips as I admire it all.
The soft pink lemonade with lavender glistens in the pitcher on the makeshift bar. Sprinkled along the table are a variety of edible flowers perfect for adding to seltzer water, of which several bottles sit in an ice bucket to stay cold. I can't wait to hear the reactions when they taste the frosting on the cupcakes. Secret ingredient: rose petals.
One of my goals with this shop is not only to spread the beauty and love of flowers in a visual sense, but to open up our community to how many other things flowers can be used for.
To most it's only flowers. But to me, it's beauty and joy.
Bryn is the first one to burst through the glass door, singing "let's get floral" to the tune of Let's Get Physical a la Olivia Newton-John circa 1981. All she needs is a sweatband around her forehead to complete the look. Her form-flattering jumpsuit is reminiscent of workout gear from the era. She has a whole vibe.
"Crap, I should put on some music." I muse aloud.
"What, you don't like my singing?"
"It's not that I don't love your singing, but I would prefer my customer base to have more faith in my taste and I don't know that your singing will do that." Her playfulpshtand hair flip come right as the door chimes. A group of four women in their mid-twenties make their way into the studio, looking at the lighting and soaking in the atmosphere.
