Forget-me-not

Cynthia

It was probably the dumbest idea Cynthia had yet, but she had to get out of the apartment somehow. She couldn't stand the impending feeling of doom. The walls felt like they were closing in on her. The stagnant air was compressing her lungs together and slowly smothering her. 

She slipped on her shoes, grabbed her phone, and left the apartment. Ever since she had the phone, she became more and more confident. With a GPS in her hands, she was sure she wouldn't get lost this time. She knew when she had to be back home, so Flora wouldn't catch her. 

At the end of the hall, she was torn between the elevator and the stairs. Flora never taught her how to use the elevator going down. She decided to take the stairs because she knew she'd eventually reach the bottom floor. 

Her footsteps echoed in the empty stairwell. Her pair of chunky pale pink shoes thudded along each step. She gripped the handle tightly and made her way down the tile steps. Around and around she went down until she made it to the first level floor. 

She quickened her pace and headed out the set of double glass doors. Outside, her breath grew a little lighter. The weight on her shoulders began to fall off. The further she distanced herself from the building, she felt like she could breathe again. 

She struggled with the relationship she had with Flora. She was thankful that Flora was helping her get back on her feet, but she was also annoyed. It was frustrating trying to relearn and grow when you had someone breathing down the back of your neck. There was never a moment of peace. 

She didn't want to risk upsetting Flora or making her mad. If something happened and Flora booted her, she had no idea what she'd do. There was only so much her brain could keep track of at this moment. She wasn't sure she'd even be able to find her way to the doctor without Flora. 

She kicked a pebble beneath her foot and let it go flying across the sidewalk. It clunked unevenly until it came to a stop. When she got to it again, she pulled her foot back and let it fly once more. She kept doing that over and over again. 

She stayed off to the side of the sidewalk, so she didn't run into people. She ignored the businesses on both sides of the road. It's not like she had a reason to go to them anyway. She couldn't purchase anything without money. 

With a scowl, she kicked the stone again. That made her mad too. After Flora explained the concept of money and the simplified version of capitalism, Cynthia asked if she had money. Apparently, all of her money was in Flora's hands. 

Flora was keeping it safe until Cynthia could use it again. She had her cash and her debit card. It worried Cynthia because she was worried that Flora would use it. Flora reassured her that she'd keep it safe. How was she supposed to know that? How was she supposed to trust her? She let out a sigh and sent a weak kick to the rock a final time.  

Plunk! 

Her eyes went up to find a metal bucket filled with bouquets of flowers. Her face lit up and she began to focus on the area. Multiple metal buckets were outside the building. Each one had multiple kinds of flowers in them. 

A wooden white door was propped open by a rubber door stopper. Unable to stop herself, Cynthia took a step inside and glanced around the building. Buckets hung from the sides of each wall. Flowers were strung everywhere; from the tops of the walls to a few inches from the bottom. 

"Welcome to Woo's Wisterias," a voice called from the back. "Take a look around and see what you like. Don't worry, we sell many more flowers besides wisterias. Wisterias just happened to be my favorite when I named the place." 

She glanced around in shock. The floral scent hanging in the air was warm and inviting. The man, whom she assumed to be the owner, was arranging flowers in a vase at a counter. Behind his golden rimmed glasses, he was focused on the vase of water in front of him. 

"This place is amazing." 

The older man's head shot up at once. His eyes widened in shock. He practically sprinted around the corner towards her. "Cynthia! You're back!" He outstretched his hands towards her and grabbed hers in his. "I knew you'd come back to me!" 

A grin exposed his perfectly aligned teeth. Coffee breath hit her face as he continued to speak. "Gosh, I've been waiting for you to remember! I just saw your boyfriend the other day. That band is getting pretty big, isn't it?" He laughed. "Remember when you showed me his band? You were so excited to get me hooked. Did you like the flowers?" 

The information was overwhelming for her. She blinked trying to process his words before she shook her head. "I'm sorry, I don't think I understand. Do I know you?" 

"Oh," his face fell. "Oh, I just assumed that since you were here alone that you..." He trailed off. He gently lowered her hands and pulled away. "I'm so very sorry, I apologize. You must not remember yet." 

"Remember what?" 

"You used to work here." The look on the man's face was one of sadness. He tried to smile, but he struggled to turn up the corners of his mouth. "You were here all the time. This was your home away from home." 

"Are you serious? I worked here?" She glanced around the room again. "Here?" Her eyes met his. He smiled and nodded his head. "Did I like it?" 

"You loved it." 

"I wish I could remember. So that must mean you were m-" 

"I was your boss, yes." He nodded his head and folded his hands in front of him. "I was hoping I'd get to see you again soon. I'm sorry about the accident. That was a very, very, very awful day for all of us. Your boyfriend brought some of his band members with him a while ago." He frowned and continued. "They seemed very solemn when they were here." 

Cynthia nodded her head and started to wonder if the man was lying or not. Flora would have, should have, told her if she had a boyfriend. She couldn't imagine keeping something like that from Flora if the roles were reversed. If that was true, where was he? 

"While you're here, let me make you a bouquet. I'm sure you don't remember the meanings of all the flowers. I'll have to teach you all over again, but that's okay. Just by the way you're looking around, I'm sure you're very interested." 

A timid smile appeared on Cynthia's face. 

"Come along, sweet child, the flowers are waiting for you." He waved her towards him and headed to the back. "They've missed your melodies and muse. They always grow faster when they hear you sing." 

Cynthia followed, but she had a feeling there were a lot of missing pieces to the past, and for whatever reason, Flora refused to tell her about them.