Abby looked on as a sturdy-looking man walked into her shop. He looked like someone who was in a hurry to get what he wanted, not ready to linger and waste her time. In short, he looked like her ideal client.
He walked towards her with the gait of someone confident and full of himself. She prepared herself, reaching deep within to call the most lady-like voice she could muster.
“Good day, young Sir. Welcome to the Flowery Nebula, nice spectacles you’ve got there. What can I get for you today?” She greeted him.
“Good day, I would like to get some white roses,” He said, ignoring her compliment.
“Oh shoot! I ran out of white roses last week” Abby thought to herself.
She had to find a way to take control of this situation and get him to buy what she had at the moment.
“Wow,” she answered, “That’s a nice pick. Love is beautiful, who’s the lucky lady receiving that?”
“Lucky lady in love, lucky lady in love”, the multi-coloured parrot on the stall called out with a sharp voice.
Both of them looked at the bird and exchanged looks.
“You see, Ben, my pretty parrot also senses the love in the air,” Abby said laughing out loud.
“I am a funeral director, I came to get flowers for a funeral which will hold this evening,” he said, giving her a straight face.
“Oh, my bad” Abby said, flushing red with shame.
“I presently don’t have white roses. But I have red roses, fresh and scented. Should I get those?” She asked.
“The victim was killed in a gang shootout, he lost half of the skin covering his lower jaw, and some of his teeth. The colour red would be traumatic to his loved ones.” He replied, gently stroking his gold-plated wristwatch.
Abby looked at him trying her best not to show her disgust. Who was this? Did he intend to make her puke or what?
“Oh sorry, yes, red would be a bad choice. Can I get you a bunch of mimosas? They are yellow.” she said, “Yellow signifies happiness, that should work”
“Roses are red, mimosas are yellow, roses are red, mimosas are yellow,” the parrot said repeatedly, interrupting the conversation again.
The man stared at her. Abby couldn’t bear to meet his face anymore.
“Wel, it seems you use those lines a lot. Your bird reminds me of the parrots I saw when I visited the Amazon rainforest, so I will take the mimosas” He said to her.
She packaged the flowers in silence, thinking of how best to deal with her nosy parrot. She handed the bouquet to him and collected the money. He walked away towards the door without even saying anything. What a fellow!
“Are the parrots in the Amazon beautiful?” She called out at him.
“Yes, they are and they also taste really nice too,” He answered looking back, “If I stay any longer, I might have to find out the taste of yours.”
Abby cringed when she heard that. Goosebumps rose all over her skin. He walked out the door after taking one last look at Ben and giving her a smirk.
“Did he just threaten my parrot? What a weird and creepy person.” She thought to herself.
“ Well, thank you for getting him out of here,” She said to Ben, handing him his favourite cracker, “You’re a good boy.”
“Ben is good, Ben is good” he replied, in his loud cawing voice. Abby laughed loud and returned to arranging her flowers.
Leave a Reply