Kent arrived earlier than usual at work the next morning. He didn’t mean to, it just sort of happened because he didn’t want any empty time to dwell on the failed date. Even though he focused on trimming the plants and filling the orders for the flower shop, he couldn’t help but play out how the rest of the evening would have happened.
She would have influenced him, he would have brought her back to his place or hers. They would have made out, clothing would have been removed, and then the shock of his “inner glow” would have snapped her out of her concentration and he would suddenly find himself mostly naked in front of a girl he actually thought he had a chance with.
It was better just to leave, he made the right decision. He aggressively gathered the red tulips he needed and wrapped them in twine to be sent to the store. After checking his list, he moved to the roses. He focused more intently on work than he usually did, just so that he could get the pretend image of Bliss’s horror of discovery out of his head.
“Kent, those flowers ready yet?” Dave called from across the greenhouse.
He turned. “Nearly.”
“I need them in 10 minutes.”
He nodded then refocused on the flowers.
By the time Kent arrived home, he was exhausted from trying to keep busy enough to not think about how he’ll probably die alone in his apartment, surrounded by his seventeen cats. If he was going to be alone, he might as well be a crazy cat guy as well. He grabbed his last bottle of beer from the refrigerator and sunk into the couch. He had just leaned his head back and closed his eyes when his phone rang from his pocket.
He answered it without looking who was calling. “Hello.”
“So, you are talking to me.” Imogene sounded apologetic. “I told her not to, Kent. I swear, I did.”
“I know.” That made it worse somehow, that Bliss could see that she would get nowhere with him unless she influenced him. “Just promise you’ll lay off the matchmaking for a while?”
“I swear.” She paused. “If I came with beer and a bad movie, would you let me in?”
“You’re outside my building, aren’t you.” He couldn’t help but smile. “Come on up.”
“See you in a few.”
He walked to the door and opened it as Imogene came down the hall. She held up the beer and movie as a peace offering and he ushered her into the apartment.
She popped open a beer and leaned on the kitchen counter. “Do we need to talk about this further?”
“No.”
She smiled, a hit of mischief under it. “If it’s any consolation, I might have encouraged her to forget there was a lamp post as we were walking back to the car.”
“Imogene.” He sighed and tried not to smile.
“She wasn’t hurt.” She went over and put in the movie then joined Kent on the couch.
Everything was the way it had been before, and if he tried hard enough, he could almost forget what it felt like to be so happy that he forgot how unusual he was. The one thing he was looking forward to was the next meeting of the E.A.A.
Even if he still didn’t really know the other group members and wasn’t sure that he fit in with them, it was still a group of people who had lives closer to his than most other people he knew of. He approached the community center Tuesday night with much less trepidation than the previous week. He even smiled and said hello to some of the Weight Watchers as they passed.
He helped DJ set up the chairs and cookies as the other members came in. They all sat in the same seats as before, Kent was directly across from Violet who still had the giant headphones around her neck like a scarf.
“DJ? Can I move the plant?” She gestured to a sad looking potted plant in the corner of the room. “He won’t shut up about missing the sun and the window being soooo close.”
“Of course.” He shrugged like it was a common occurrence.
She got up and pulled the plant over in front of a window. She looked at the plant for a moment, like a silent warning, and then returned to her seat.
It took Kent a moment to process what happened before he remembered Violet’s talent of communicating with plants. She flashed him a smirk when she caught him staring. It was one of those moments when a person gets caught staring at another person, and then can’t help but continue to glance at them only to be more awkward each time their eyes meet. His thoughts were everywhere but the meeting, and mostly about Violet. Did all plants talk? What did they say? Did they know she could hear them? Do seeds talk? Does she have a boyfriend? She’s beautiful. Her eyes are amazing. When did she know she could hear plants? Could she always do it? She seems so comfortable with herself.
Violet cornered Kent by the coffee maker at the end of the meeting. “You were staring at me.” “I didn’t mean to, I just…I don’t know. I’m sorry.”
She looked up into his eyes as though she could see what his thoughts were. “You know the coffee shop on 7th? Meet me there tomorrow at 4.” She smirked and left him.He watched her slip her giant headphones on her ears and turn on her music. Her head bobbed in time with the music and then she was gone.
Kent looked at the plant she had moved and wondered if it did actually look a little healthier, or if he was just imagining things. He shook his head and left the room. He tried to ignore the hope that tomorrow would go well, if things went well then she would eventually find out exactly what he meant when he said his but glows. In theory it seems sort of interesting, and then someone actually sees it and the interest is replaced by awkward staring and sudden excuses to leave.
He walked home and realized he smiled the entire way, like one of those poor , love-struck guys in the romantic comedies that Imogene made him watch for blackmail purposes. If he couldn’t guarantee that Violet wanted to like him as much as he liked her, then he could guarantee that Imogene would know nothing about the situation until all the cards were on the table. Besides, once Imogene knew, he was certain to be pulled into a double date with her and Dex.
Kent woke the next day with the unfamiliar pang of nervousness in his stomach. Not the usual ‘please don’t let anyone see my butt’ paranoia, but definitely more of the ‘please let Violet think I’m funny/charming/somewhat attractive/nice/not a total freak’ paranoia. He took a slow breath. What had he gotten himself into?
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