Burning Flowers - Page 29/56

Joe looked back and forth between them before quietly taking Vince's order. It was a miracle not hearing the petty insults or attempts at convincing her he was the best guy to date. Maybe she should have bought a guy coffee there sooner!

His coffee was ready pretty quick, and she headed for the door. But Vince sat down in a window seat instead, so she froze, wondering what he was thinking. "Don't you want a break form that place to sit down for a moment? How about we enjoy our coffee?" He raised his cup as if in a toast before beginning to sip at it and look out the window.

Clarke sat down cautiously across from him, her leg shaking and jiggling a little. She was anxious to do something, but she knew there was really nothing she could do other than wait for him to be done and watch him work again. Deep down she knew she should just let him do his job until it was ready to reopen, but she wasn't good at relinquishing control at all.

"So, why a flower shop?" he asked after a few moments. She looked at him almost surprised at the question.

"I guess because there's a lot of opportunity there. You can do a lot with flowers. I thought it was a good investment." Once she said it out loud, Clarke realized how pitiful that was, and he probably thought the same thing.

"Uh huh," he nodded. "So, other than sell flowers, what do you do?"

"Well, I help make plans for events like birthday parties and weddings. I meet with clients a lot."

He started laughing; practically squirting coffee out of his nose, and Clarke wasn't sure what to make of it. Did she have a bug on her face or something? "No, I meant what do you do outside of work for fun?" he clarified, still choking on some coffee.

It was another tough question because her work was her life. "I don't know. I guess I read sometimes or look for ways to make my business better." She shrugged and looked out the window, not wanting to make eye contact and see what he was thinking about her. That's why she didn't really have any friends. There was nothing to talk about with them.

"It sounds like you are in desperate need of a hobby," he said, flatly.

"Well, what do you do for fun?" she asked defensively.

"Well, I go fishin and shoot some pool sometimes. Oh, and I just love playing horseshoes at my brother's trailer park." He faked a really bad red neck accent and then let out a snort. "Sorry, I couldn't help myself. That's just usually what people assume when they look at me. Really, I like to learn new things. Sometimes I read or I just go out for a walk and talk to people or look at things. I take martial arts classes sometimes; nothing major. I don't know, I'm just one of those people that enjoys everything."