Blue Irises

“So what time do you want Greg and I tonight? When do you think you’ll be ready?”
“Oh I prepared most of dinner yesterday,” Joan’s friend replied. Joan paced as she held the phone against her ear. “I’m just doing salads tonight, I hope that’s alright.”
“Oh yeees yes that’s just fine. I was a kilo over at the weigh-in this morning; I need to get back on track.” Joan flipped through the pages of her diary on the kitchen bench. “Greg has some meeting today, so I don’t know when he’ll be home exactly. I’m just going to say maybe expect us around eight.”
“Yeah alright.”
Joan held her phone between her head and her shoulder. With both hands free, she poured a glass of water. “If he gets home earlier, he’ll probably want a chance to freshen up anyway.” She walked over to the flowers on the dining table and poured the water into the vase. “You know he gave me flowers the other day?”
“Oh did he?”
“Yeah, they’re blue ones, irises I think.” The edges of the petals were curled and brown. Joan took the phone in her left hand.
“Are they doing alright? You said he bought them the other day?”
Joan picked up two stray petals that had fallen onto the table. “Yeah they’re gorgeous. He’s such a charmer, Greg, taking the time to buy me flowers after work. He’s always buying me these flowers. He’s been doing it for a while now, it’s nice.”
Joan’s friend was quiet. “So, I’ll see you around eight then?”
Joan took a deep breath, “Yeah, yeah I’ll see you tonight. I’ll bring a bottle of wine.”

--

The florist took notes on her note pad with one hand and the phone in the other. “Yes, so we’re going to need more of those, they’re becoming more popular, so we’re going to need more stock… yeah, no that should be it, thanks… Yeah, you too, alright bye.” She watched the man in the suit browse her store as she hung up the phone and put her notepad aside. There were other customers browsing, but she was most interested in the man in the suit.
Her co-worker emerged from the back room. He stood beside her, following her gaze. “Is that the guy you were telling me about?”
“Yup, that’s the one.”
“He’s browsing though, I thought he always buys the same flowers?”
“He does,” the florist confirmed, not looking away from the man in the suit. “But he always browses for a few minutes first, like he might buy something else, like he’s going to change it up a bit. He never does though.”
“How long has he been coming here?” the florist’s co-worker asked.
“Weeks.”
The co-worker smiled. “The wife is a lucky lady with a man like him. I need to find a man like that.”
The florist chuckled. “Yeah, but if he wanted to surprise you, he’d have to buy flowers from another florist.”
He laughed, “True, but then again, we wouldn’t want to lose that business.”
The man in the suit approached the counter. “Morning! Just these, please.” He placed down some blue irises.
The florist smiled. “You know, one day I’ll have to ask you why you bother browsing when you always end up buying the same flowers.”
The man in the suit returned the smile. “Until then, I’ll work on my answer.” He payed for his flowers and left the store.

--

The girl picked at her fingernails as she watched the world rush by through the train’s window. She struggled to ignore that her view was impaired by graffiti etched into the glass. She couldn’t even decipher what it said. Some sort of tag.
“Hey beautiful…”
The girl lifted her head, ready to retaliate against some pervy freak, but the man sitting across from her was on his phone.
“Are you all ready for tonight?”
The man was wearing a suit. He appeared put together and successful, which put the girl’s usual nerves at ease. It helped that he had flowers with him, and he seemed to have a wife.
“You know, I don’t want to wait to see you.”
The girl couldn’t help but think that it was cute, that this middle-aged man was still happy in his marriage. It was a rare sight in her opinion.
“Can I come over? I have the time… I told her I have a meeting.”
The girl frowned. To her, this was sounding less like a conversation with a wife.
“You said you have it covered, I’ll be gone before he comes home, and I’ll go home before dinner.”
The girl sighed.
“I have something for you.” The man placed a hand on the flowers beside him. “Alright, I’ll see you soon.” He hung up.
She looked back out the window. She watched the buildings go by through the scratches.  

--

The woman pushed aside the clothes in her wardrobe along their hangers. Her left hand held her phone to her ear. “Hey babe, yeah I know, don’t worry you didn’t forget anything.”
She pulled out the dress she planned to wear. “No, I just have a question. It’s about the flowers.” She threw the dress on her bed. “No, I love them! Really! It’s just about something you’ve done before.” She placed the high heels against the wall by the door. “She doesn’t have the same ones does she? You haven’t given these to her?”
The woman walked out of her room and to her kitchen. “I really think she would notice, women notice these sorts of things.” She opened the fridge and pulled out a platter of salad. “This happened with the necklace, I nearly wore it to brunch you know, it would have ruined everything. I can’t believe you just bought two of the same necklace.”
The woman placed the platter on the dining table before walking back to the fridge to grab another platter. “You know that’s why I’ve done salads tonight. I’m not cooking steaks or anything for you after that debacle. Hence the chicken and mango salad.”
The woman finally set out bowls of dips and crackers. She sighed. “Fine. If you’re positive she won’t make the connection, I’ll leave them out. For you.”

--

“Hey! Good to see you!” Barry’s voice was loud as he greeted his friends at the door. “Come in, come in! Julie’s set up the dips, we can sit in the lounge.”
The music grew louder as the group walked down the hallway. “I hear you have the Norah Jones on,” Greg teased.
“You mean ‘Snorah’ Jones,” Barry mocked a secretive murmur, but Julie called from the kitchen, “It makes for good background music!”
“Oh it’s very relaxing, Julie,” Joan teased.
“Oh shush.” Julie put some bowls near the sink.
Joan placed her bottle of wine on the bench. “Here, let me help you,” she said as she moved towards the kitchen.
“No, no,” Julie shooed her away. “Sit down in the lounge, I’ll be there in a minute.”

The men were sat on the couches chatting when Joan noticed the flowers on the table by the window. “Oh aren’t those lovely!” She walked over to the table to have a closer inspection as Julie followed her. “These are just like mine.”
“Are they?” Julie asked. “That’s lucky. After you described them to me this morning, I thought they would look lovely in the living room.”
“Mmm.” Joan looked at the fresh petals, brightly coloured. “Yes, they are nice.”
“Jules,” Barry called from the couch. “That necklace,” he pointed to Joan, “the one Joan’s wearing, it looks familiar doesn’t it?”
Julie looked at Joan’s necklace and felt a stone form in her gut. “Yes.”
Barry grinned, “I knew it! It’s just like yours isn’t it? I thought I recognised it.”
Joan silently looked between Julie, Barry and Greg.
“You don’t wear it so much these days though,” Barry commented. “Which is a shame, I quite like it.”
Joan looked at the blue irises as Barry kept talking. “It looked really good on you Jules, you should start wearing it again.” Julie looked at Barry then at Joan. Barry took this as a hint, “Oh! Joan, don’t get me wrong, it also looks very good on you. I was just saying it also suits Jules.”
“Yes.” Joan looked away from the flowers and smiled at the still grinning Barry. “Yes, I imagine it would.” She looked back at the blue irises. “Did you know Greg gives me blue irises every week? It’s nice. They’re gorgeous. He’s such a charmer.”