Glower Among the Flowers

Story Submitted by Gerry:

Aimee and I had already had a nice lunch, and we were walking through a small town's main street when we passed a flower shop.  She stopped and asked if we could go inside.

Once inside, she made a bee-line right for the display case with the lilies.  She stared at them and said, "I love lilies," then turned to me and repeated, "I love lilies!"

"They are beautiful," I agreed.

"Especially these," she said, then asked the shopkeeper, "How much for the lilies?"

The shopkeeper, a short girl in overalls, replied, "Five dollars a stem."

Aimee turned to me expectantly.  I said, "Get them, if you want.  Just so long as you don't mind carrying them around."

She wrinkled her face and said, "Eww," at me, then turned to the shopkeeper and said, "We might be back."

We left the store and Aimee was clearly upset.  I asked her, "Do you want to get some coffee?  Dessert?  Take a walk by a nearby stream?  Hit up the arcade?"

She turned to me, clenched fists, and yelled, "I want those lilies, damn it!"

I yelled back, "So go get them!"

She rolled her eyes, turned away, and said, "Never mind.  You're an idiot."

I knew, of course, that she wanted me to buy them for her, but, not being an idiot, I wasn't about to spend more money than I already had on lunch for the two of us.

She was walking away, but I caught up with her and said, "Aimee, I'll make you a deal.  I'll buy you a dozen of those lilies."

She frowned and asked, "For what in exchange?"

I said, "There's a video game that I've wanted to play, and there's an electronics store nearby.  You buy me the game, I'll buy you the lilies."

She said, "That's stupid.  Video games are like, sixty dollars."

I replied, "So are a dozen lilies."

"No they're not."

I reminded her, "They were five dollars each.  Twelve would be sixty."

Again, she rolled her eyes and said, "That's a stupid idea," and walked away and said, "Whatever.  Forget this."

I wasn't sure if the date was still going on, because of her dismissive tone.  So it could be that she had expected to continue spending the afternoon with me despite the lily incident.  However, I don't know why, but at that moment, I took it to mean that the date was over, and I walked away.  Never did hear from poor, sweet Aimee again.