Title: A Rose is a Rose is a Rose (taken from Gertrude Stein's poem Sacred Emily, which I do not own)
Warnings: none
Summary: Jack thinks he's found The One, and he goes to buy her flowers.
Length: ~ 2,400 words
Notes: Third person point of view, past tense. Genre is romance.
A Rose is a Rose is a Rose
“See that girl?” Jack said, nodding to a slim blonde woman by the counter. “I’m going to marry her some day.”
Steve didn’t even glance at her before rolling his eyes. “Not another one, man,” he groaned. “If you married every girl you said you were going to marry ‘some day,’ you’d break even King Solomon’s record for polygamy.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Jack protested. “Solomon had hundreds of wives.”
Steve raised an eyebrow at him. “Exactly.”
Jack did his best to ignore his friend and glanced back at the woman. She was stirring her Coke with a straw with one hand and reading a book with the other. Jack couldn’t pinpoint what it was about her that made her seem special, but she had… something.
“I’m think I’m going to buy her flowers.”
“Dude! Seriously!” Steve finally glanced at the woman and then turned back to Jack. “Alright, so she’s hot, but really, Jack, don’t do this.”
“Fine. I’ll think about it.”
And Jack did think about it. For about three seconds.
See, here was the thing. Jack did tend to fall in love with girls pretty often. He also tended to label any woman he saw walking down the street “The One.” His friends knew that about him, and he knew that about himself. What his friends didn’t understand was that every woman could be the one. How would he know unless he pursued every girl like she was his soulmate?
“She seems nice,” Jack said eventually. “And even if she’s not The One, that’s no reason not to date her for a while. I’m still going to buy her flowers.”
Steve blew out a breath exaggeratedly, puffing out his cheeks. “Your funeral.”
“No,” Jack countered. “My future wedding.”
Maybe.
Jack went to Roses and More the day after he saw the girl (whom Steve had imaginatively dubbed ‘Blondie’ – he’d gotten her phone number but not a name, weirdly enough). Being the sensible romantic that he was, Jack had been to Roses and More quite a lot. But that didn’t make the task of choosing the perfect flowers for Blondie (the nickname was catchy, alright?) any less daunting.
He wandered through the aisles, breathing in the heavily scented air and looking all around. There were flowers of all shapes, sizes, and colors. Peonies, violets, roses, sunflowers, lilies… Red, orange, white, pink, purple… Big and small, irregular and symmetrical – how was he supposed to know which one Blondie would like best?
He needed a woman’s advice on this. Luckily, he knew just who to call. Jack took out his cellphone and called his friend Alejandra, who picked up after the second ring.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Alejandra, it’s Jack. How are you?”
“Oh, hi, Jack! It’s great to hear from you. I’m excellent. What’s up?”
Jack paused by a yellow rose and ran his hand along its petals. They were very soft. But didn’t yellow mean friendship?
“I had a question, and I figured a woman might be able to answer it best.”
“Women always answer a question best, Jack.”
Jack chuckled. “Sure. Okay, so, there’s this girl I saw yesterday –”
Alejandra cut him off with a groan. “Not again!”
“Hear me out,” Jack insisted. “There’s this girl I saw yesterday, and she’s beautiful. I think I might marry her some day. And to start, I want to buy her flowers.”
Alejandra sighed. “Jack, that’s really, really sweet, and I know you mean well, but if you married every girl you said you’re going to marry –”
“I’d have more wives than Solomon. I know.”
“I was going to say you’d have half the female population furious at you, but that works, too.”
Jack sighed. “Can you just help me out, here?”
“Okay, baby –”
“Baby?” Jack frowned. “Since when do you call me baby?”
“Uh – since you… started needing my help for everything! Anyways, Jack – um, baby, heh – let’s get to the point!” Alejandra sounded flustered. Jack could picture her tapping her fingers against her thigh like she did when she was nervous or embarrassed. The ‘baby’ thing was strange, but Jack let it go. He didn’t want to embarrass her further.
“Um, alright… so, this girl, I’m buying her flowers. But there’s so many different types… so I was wondering… what’s your favorite type of flower?”
“My favorite type?”
“Yeah. You’re a woman; I’m sure you can speak for other women.”
“Well, flower preferences aren’t exactly universal, Jack.”
“But if you just tell me ones you like… I mean, you have good taste.”
“You would say that, wouldn’t you,” Alejandra muttered lowly.
“Huh?”
“Yeah? Oh, forget it. Just – I like roses. You can never go wrong with roses.”
Jack nodded. He was still in the rose section, so he glanced around a bit. There were a lot of different types of roses. “What color roses do you like best?”
“Pink or red are classics. But you know what I think’s really cool – a lavender or an orange rose.”
“Different, but still classy ‘cause it’s a rose, right?”
“Exactly. And purple means ‘love at first sight,’ while orange can mean ‘let’s get together.’”
Jack grinned. “Perfect! I hope Blondie knows her rose color meanings.”
“Blondie?” Alejandra scoffed.
“Steve’s nickname, not mine.”
“Right. Anyways, is that all the help you needed?”
“Yeah. Thanks so much, Alejandra. I owe you one… Hey, do you want to have dinner with me tonight? My treat.”
“Sure!” Jack could hear the grin in Alejandra’s warm voice. He could also hear the scowl in her next words: “Try not to future-marry any other girls between now and then, m’kay?”
“Alright, alright.” Did his friends have no faith in him? “See you at six at Arties?”
“Okay. Bye!”
“Bye.”
After he’d hung up, Jack walked around the roses section, searching for purple or orange roses. He wasn’t sure which one to go with – it had essentially been love at first sight, no matter how much his friends scoffed at the idea. But he also wanted to signify the desire for action – so maybe sending a message with orange would be best. Or maybe Blondie wouldn’t know rose color meanings at all, and he should just go for the one that looked the best?
Eventually, Jack found a bouquet of mixed purple and orange flowers. Figuring that more is always better, he brought it up to the cash register. Sophie, the main florist, was staffing the register.
“Hi, Jack, it’s nice to see you again. Is this for any special occasion?” She asked as she punched in the price.
He smiled ruefully. “Nothing overly surprising – just wooing another girl. Hopefully she’ll be The One.”
Sophie smiled. “You never know,” she said. “Brian met a woman a few weeks ago, and they’re dating now, and he says he thinks it might last.”
“How are things with Brian?” Jack questioned as he paid. He had come to Roses and More often enough to know the personal lives of many of the cashiers, and Sophie was no different.
Sophie smiled. “He’s good. We’re talking a lot now. Let’s see… here’s your change. $3.50. Good luck with the girl.”
“Thanks. I’m sure I’ll see you soon – whether it’s for this girl or another one.” Or maybe I should say another One, Jack thought wryly. Sometimes it was hard not to become cynical about himself. But how could he find the One without dating everyone?
“Alright. See you!”
“Bye!” Jack took his bouquet and walked out the door. The next step was to call up Blondie and arrange a date with her, or someone find out where she lived. He needed to give her the flowers.
By the time Jack was done at Roses and More, it was practically six and time to meet Alejandra for dinner. Jack decided to swing by Arties without dropping his stuff off at home. He didn’t want to keep Alejandra waiting.
It was dark, but this part of San Francisco
His friend’s constant doubt of his love life – or love search – got him down sometimes, as did his constant inability to actually find The One. Maybe there would end up being nothing overly special about Blondie. But Jack didn’t have any better options, so he’d give Blondie a shot.
Ten minutes later Jack walked into Arties. It was five after six and Alejandra was already there, sitting at a booth. She glanced up at Jack and waved. Her brown eyes absolutely lit up, and Jack looked in confusion towards the direction of her gaze. She was staring at the bouquet.
Oh, no. Did she think –
“Jack!” Alejandra rushed up to him and threw her arms around him. He staggered back a step, trying to stop himself and the bouquet from being squished. “I knew it! Once you asked me what my favorite type of flower was… aw, Jack, you’re so sweet!”
“Oh, no, this wasn’t – these are for – I didn’t mean –”
“Wait ‘till I tell Steve! He thought I was a fool for liking you, but now you like me back! And these flowers – they’re beautiful!”
Jack stayed silent as Alejandra took the flowers from his limp hands. She was sparkling with happiness and energy, her skin aglow and her smile perfect and wide. She leaned in to kiss him on the cheek, and Jack gave in.
He didn’t want to hurt her. And she was beautiful.
“I’m glad you like the flowers,” he said.
The next day, Jack was once again at Arties, but this time with Steve, trying to make sense out of everything that happened.
“We stayed and talked for a bit after I gave her the flowers, and we kissed a few times. We didn’t go any further than that, but… I think she thinks we’re a couple now. And honestly, I don’t really mind. I lost my flowers for Blondie, but Alejandra’s probably a better bet than Blondie anyway.”
Steve shook his head slowly. “I don’t like it,” he said.
Jack frowned. “Don’t like what?”
“Listen, Alejandra’s a great girl, and I do want you two to hook up, it’s just – maybe you should tell her the truth.”
“The truth? What, ‘I actually bought the flowers for someone else?’ That’s not what she wants to hear.”
Steve leveled a look at Jack. “That’s what she needs to hear, dude.”
Jack ran his hand through his hair in frustration. “When did you get so wise?”
Steve laughed. “I’ve always been wise, man, you’ve just never listened until now.”
“I’ll think about it.”
And Jack did think about it. For a while.
Alejandra was a really good friend of his. A really good friend who’s apparently had a crush on him for a while. Jack had kind of written her off as a resident of the Friend Zone, but now that he was viewing her in a different light he had to rethink things. Alejandra was funny, nice, clever, and pretty. They got along well. Did he really want to embarrass her by telling her the truth?
Steve was right, though. If he wanted this relationship to have a chance – and this one had way more of a chance than any of this previous ones – he had to clear the air.
But first, he had to stop by Roses and More one more time and get some black roses and maybe some yellows ones, too – for rebirth, new beginnings, and apology. Then he’d be ready to face Alejandra.
Later that night, Jack had his bouquet (after being reprimanded by Sophie for being back so soon) and he was standing at the door to Alejandra’s apartment. He knocked on the door and waited, fidgeting with the bouquet. Finally, Alejandra opened the door.
“Jack!” She said with a smile. She really did have a beautiful smile. “You didn’t have to get me more flowers…”
“I know, but I have something to tell you and you probably won’t like to hear it. So before I do that – here, have these.”
He thrust the bouquet at Alejandra, who took it and placed it on her table, inviting him inside. “Black and yellow, huh? Death and friendship? Yeah, I don’t think I’m going to like this.”
Her smile had dimmed, and Jack already missed it. He perched on one of her chairs and explained, “Actually, it was supposed to be rebirth and apology. Because, you see – that first bouquet that I gave you… it actually was for a girl I met the other day. What I’m trying to say is… It wasn’t for you.”
“Oh.” Alejandra sat down across from him, keeping a careful distance. Her expression was guarded. “So… why’d you go along with it?”
“Well… I realized how much sense it made. I realized that this whole time I’ve been chasing all these girls who could be The One, and I never noticed that The One was right under my nose.”
Alejandra gave a weak smile. “I’m your One, now? Do I get to join the list of future wives?”
Jack crossed the room and took her hands, staring into her eyes. “Maybe,” he said. “Or maybe you get to start a new list – a list of people I can actually see myself with.”
Alejandra smiled, but then sighed, glancing at the older purple and orange bouquet in her vase. “Now I don’t really want those flowers,” she said. “Since they’re actually that whore Blondie’s.”
“Whoa, who said she was a whore?”
Alejandra raised her eyebrows. “Come on, baby. Like half of your ‘The Ones’ have turned out to be whores.”
“Not true!” Jack objected. “It was really more like one fifth.”
Alejandra laughed. Jack wondered how he never realized how musical her laugh was.
“Anyways, that’s why I got you a new bouquet,” he said. “To start over without any of the confusion or misunderstanding, but still with all of the emotion.”
“I like the sound of that,” Alejandra grinned. “But they still represent death and friendship to me.”
Jack shrugged. “You’re the expert at flower meanings. I just looked it up on my iPhone.”
Alejandra shook her head. “You’re an idiot.”
“You love it.”
They kissed, and Jack thought that maybe he finally had found the One – or she had found him, or they had found each other.
Sometimes misunderstandings turned out to be the best things of all.
The End! J
I liked the misunderstanding - made it more interesting than a typical love story. Might have been good to flesh out the conflict a little more though - it seems like they resolved it pretty quickly. It was also really nice to check back in with Sophie and Brian. Maybe you can do a book sometime about Sophie and the various customers she encounters at her flower shop!
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