"Whatever you do, don't ruin these."

You stared down at the bed of roses as his words repeated in your head. Actually, it was now a bed of dirt where roses used to grow.

"Jesus, how am I going to do this?" You looked to the stack of rose bushes you had bought from the gardening centre. You had only a few hours before your crush—no, your boss—came home.

You heard a bark from the back door and saw your boss's dog scamper out. "Minnie, shh!" You held a finger up to your lips but the dog your face anyway. "You're the one who pushed me into these roses but I'm the one fixing it, huh?" You patted her big head as she nuzzled your hand.

"Why are you here so early, dear?" You looked up and saw your crush's—your boss's—mother walk out to the garden in a robe.

You stood and covered the pile of roses as best as you could. "I just have some last minute work to finish, ma'am! I want to make the garden perfect before your son comes home."

She gave you a suspicious look. "I see. Well, I'm glad my son hired a hardworker to tend to his garden." With that, she walked away.

You sighed in relief. Hopefully, she wouldn't rat you out. "I hope you don't tattle on me either." You wagged a finger at Minnie and then went to work.

Why did I have to ruin these flowers? you thought as you dug into the wet dirt and worked. You managed to ease out the crushed plants with their buds just beginning to form. Out of all the freaking flowers in the entire freaking garden, why did I have to fall on his favourite?

You shot a glare at the dog again but she was busy chasing a bug. You looked down at your arm and found a few new scratches that you hadn't noticed last night. When Minnie's weight had pushed you into the rose bushes, the needles had pricked but the pain wasn't so bad until you woke up this morning. Then the stinging came whenever you moved.

You wiped your forehead as the sun rose and the day got warmer. You would have to cover these new roses somehow or else the sun would add more shock to the transplant. You ran over to the shed, determined to find a big patio umbrella to stick in the dirt.

You sifted through the array of unused hoses, buckets, and spades until you found a small umbrella at the very back of the shed. It would have to do.

"Achoo!" you sneezed as the umbrella opened and blew out a cloud of dust. Wiping your nose on your short sleeve, you skipped back to the roses, feeling proud about your work.

You stuck the umbrella into the ground and then stood back. It looked...strange but it would have to do. You reminded yourself to remove the umbrella before he came home in the evening.

Suddenly, exhaustion hit you. You had barely slept last night from fear of what your crush would say. You liked this summer job because you got to see glimpses of him everyday but what if he fired you for your stupid mistake? This morning, you had set out early to find the exact roses he had planted and finally found them at a gardening store way up north.

Working in the sun through entire morning with barely any breakfast wasn't a very good idea either but you were now too tired to drive. Your crush's mother was still at work so you couldn't ask for any food either, not that you would. You didn't want to feed off of your employer's family.

You sat down by Minnie who had been resting in the shade after doing absolutely nothing throughout the day. "What's so special about those flowers anyway?" you asked while rubbing Minnie's tummy. "It's not like..." you trailed off when you had meant to say, It's not like he has a special girl to give them to.

But maybe he does. Maybe he was saving these particular ones for a girl that he likes. You didn't know much about his personal life apart from the conversations the two of you had in the afternoons (which often lasted into the evening). Maybe this "business trip" he was on was actually spent to see his girlfriend overseas.

You dozed off, thinking about this exotic girl and how lucky she was.

-

You felt something rubbing your nose, and opened your eyes, hoping it wasn't Minnie in front of you. "Wake up, sleepyhead."

You sat up quickly and had to blink a few times from the rush. "Jesus, what time is it?" you asked in a groggy voice. It would've been smarter to keep quiet.

The sky was dark and your crush was just kneeling beside you, chuckling. Great, he thinks I'm a joke. "It's not time for bed yet."

"Sorry," you muttered as you tried to discreetly wipe away any possible drool. But how discreetly could that really be?

You glanced over at him, hoping he hadn't noticed the roses. He just knelt there, staring at you with that stupid smile that made you blush. "I see you took good care of my roses," he said with a quirk of his eyebrow.

Was he being sarcastic? You couldn't tell so you merely nodded in agreement, avoiding eye contact. "Yeah..."

He laughed and sat down. You noticed a bottle of water behind him along with a towel and a first aid kit. "Yeah, such a good job that you hurt yourself," he remarked.

He dampened the towel and handed it to you. When you weren't sure what to do with it, he pointed to your face.

"Wipe," he ordered.

Oh, of course. You covered your entire face in embarrassment and tried to scrub off whatever grime was on it. The white towel was pretty dirty when you looked at it again.

"You missed a spot." He took the towel from you and gently wiped your cheek. You didn't breathe in that moment; you were too scared that breathing might be too embarrassing.

He held your bare hand and placed it in his lap as he poured water over the wounds on your arms. "I guess you're going to have to wait a little longer for your birthday present," he said casually.

"Huh?"

There was a smirk on his lips as he glanced up to meet your eyes. "I was going to give those roses to you, you know." He shrugged as he rubbed an ointment into your scratches. "But I guess I'll have to find something else."

The blush on your face was almost as deep as the roses...if they had bloomed by then.

---

 

i don’t plant flowers (only vegetables) and i really don’t know anything about them ;A; am i the only one who doesn’t like it when people give me flowers? i mean, you just look at them and then they’re useless v___v
but i’m sure you guys get lots of flowers, am i right or am i right ;)