ll Shranal SS: My Secret Admirer..? *Part Seven Preview Pg 11*ll

Five...

Four...

Three...

Two...

On..

The door swung open, causing a fresh gust of hot air to blow in to the shop.

The climate was raising up even higher, especially since summer started.

Children were still in their last month or so in school, some graduating to the next grade, while some going off to college.

It was going to become busy once more around here as mother's day and father's day were around the corner.

"Welcome!" a loud voice came from the store front as Kittu has probably popped a huge smile onto her face.

There were some childish voices, girlish, but then again it sounded as if they were in between 14-16 years of age.

There was three of them as the modulation of voices was deeper in one, lighter in another, and one that was more shrill.

"Shraddha! We need another batch of daffodils, at least a dozen!" Kittu yelled.

"Okay." I said while smiling and I carefully placed the broom on a small corner in the back of the shop that I was trying to clean up.

I quickly dusted off my hands, pulled on my apron, and headed towards the front of the shop and soon I started touching the flowers, smelling some of them, while the group of girls began chatting to Kittu.

I continued to smell and soon I finally found the one I was looking for.

I picked it up and sniffed it again and then placed it back before I picked up a dozen and headed towards the back to package it and at the same time to place a small name card on it.

I then headed back to the front of the shop and scrunched up my eyebrow in confusion when Kittu's voice couldn't be heard but she sighed and I smiled as it was obvious as she was annoyed as the girls started to break out in argument.

"Here." I said handing it to Kittu and she took them from my hands and she muttered a deep thank you filled with so much gratitude and relief.

Based on her tone and her reaction she was happy to have anything to usher the girls out of the shop.

The cash register chimed open and soon coins and cash was being exchanged and the girls soon exited the shop.

This continued until the late afternoon, perhaps close to around five before Kittu sighed and headed towards the back.

"Shraddha, can you please just watch the shop, I have to go upstairs to use the bathroom?" Kittu asked.

I nodded and smiled.

Since Kittu and I owned and operated a flower shop downstairs in this three-story building, it was a lot easier and cheaper as well and more so convenient more so for me.

I walked over to the front of the shop and went behind the counter where the register was at and a small fan that was slowly blowing a breeze of cool air that was starting to mingle with the cool air that was starting to be carry inside the shop with the tiny window that was halfway opened.

I was going to pull out a book in the small shelf that was behind where I was when it felt like someone tried to open the door

Five...

Four...

Three...

Two...

On..

Like clockwork the door finally opened inviting a rush of cool breeze inside, causing some of my hair that was out of my ponytail to blow across my face.

I used my hands to take the strands away while at the same time quickly straightening myself and quickly spread a smile on my face.

"Hello. Welcome. What can I do for you?" I said with a cheery voice despite how weary I actually was.

There was silence and soon I thought for a moment I might not have heard correctly.

No...

I counted...when I count...

The door always opened.

The front door at times become stuck for a few seconds and I timed it perfectly to know how long it took before someone was able to successfully open the door.

Kittu noticed the delay but I talked her out of her fixing it.

"It helps as well when I know we have a customer." I said while smiling.

She immediately understand what I meant and just patted me on the shoulder and squealed on how we could use the money to spruce up the apartment even more.

"We can easily just by a chime for the door." She said.

"No need it will become obvious especially to some customers that might visit the store regularly. I would hate to think it but it might bring unwanted people trying to take advantage of my handicap." I said.

I mentally shook myself out of my thoughts and paid attention towards my current surroundings to discern as to what or rather who was there.

Soon some shuffling could be heard I became alarmed as there was someone that was here and was purposely not talking or speaking.

Did they know?

Not possible.

I answered myself.

"Hello?" I answered again in a more stern voice.

There was a mumbled reply and soon my senses that were starting to go off calm down.

Instead I could feel my heart starting to pick up in its beat, my palms starting to become sweaty, and I could feel my cheeks starting to become warm and rise in temperature almost as hot as the hot air that always gusts in here every early morning.

There was no way it was him.

It was the same boy or guy that always came in once a week, sometimes twice, and in rare cases at least every day of the week.

Sure it seemed stalker-ish in some cases but the person meant no harm by it.

He instead would ask about flowers, different flowers every day, sometimes he would buy them and instead give it to me for me to keep it as he doesn't have anyone to really give it to.

But that defied his logic in buying one in the first place...

I crooked my head to the left slightly, hoping that I was able to catch a sight a glimpse of how he looked but I knew better than not, that that was completely impossible.

There was nothing but a dark narrow tunnel that was deeming and deeming in light.

Even the small glimpse of light I could see, it was hazy, blurry, and impossible to see anything through that small gleam of light.

The tunnel wasn't so bad when I was younger.

In fact, it never existed in my vision at all, instead it was always just hard to see and make out things that were around me and naturally my parents just got glasses for me.

However, as I got older, my prescription became higher for my lenses, higher, and higher to the point that I couldn't see things around me.

I couldn't use the corner of my eyes to see as the dark tunnel began to build and build to the point where it just didn't block out only the vision out of the corner of my eye but to the point where I couldn't see even with glasses.

Things became hazy until it became pitch black and the small light that was able to enter was nothing but a constant reminder of the world that I was leaving behind.

The world of light, the world of sight, the world where I could see and become amaze at the simplest of things was becoming impossible to reach in the tunnel.

There was no readable cure the doctors said and it was only assumed that by the age of 15 that I was going to be completely blind.

But I was already 24 and still the small glimmer of light remained without me being fully encased into darkness.

I sighed and instead tried to focus on the person in front of me and instead tried to be attentive of the slight movements he made.

"I'm sorry but we are about to close. Is there anything that you need sir?" I asked in a controlled voice.

"I'm...I'm...I'm sorry ma'am, I didn't mean to startle you, I mean I didn't mean to...I mean I wanted to know something that would be a good gift for a girl...I mean for an older woman." He said while stuttering.

His voice cracked at the end and I couldn't help but smile and I could hear myself giggle and he stopped moving and I giggled even more.

"Why are you asking me?" I asked amused and subconsciously cocking my head to the side.

***********************

"Why are you asking me?" she said and she cocked her head to the side.

I gulped.

She was really beautiful.

Actually more so she was gorgeous and reminded me of a cute fairy.

I blushed even at that and how corny it even sounded in my head even worse how more so if I said it out loud and she was staring at me.

Would she laugh?

She would be entirely beautiful if she did so, her smile was one thing but her actually laughing...it would be amazing even if it was more so at my expense.

I saw her almost two months ago when my friends and I decided to try out a new arcade gaming area that was supposedly around here.

She was busily giving a little girl a flower, carefully placing it in the little girl's black coiled hair.

The little girl seemed as if she was crying but as soon as she smiled at her and said something to the girl the girl instead stopped crying and stared at her in wonderment and in awe.

I followed suit with the girl.

Her hair for once was hanging down on her arms as the wind slowly picked up a few strands. Her smile that spread across her face brought out a dimple that was hidden in one of her cheeks, the left one to be precise.

Her eyes...

They were a beautiful brown, actually a light brown.

The first time I saw her I was only attracted towards her physical appearance but after finally talking myself into it, I finally visited the store.

Yet I started to slowly noticed that something was wrong.

Maybe I was over thinking it but for some reason when she talking to the little girl no matter how much her movement and actions were concentrated on the girl and at that I thought it was just a lack of being attentive on my part, it seemed as if she was never really looking at her.

Even when I visited, she would never squarely look at me as if she saw me but ratherknew that I was there.

Maybe I was over thinking it but her movements were never hindered but it always seemed carefully as if she was afraid of bumping into something, more so into me.

I sighed.

You are just over thinking something...leave it alone and let it go...

I sighed once more.

I first visited the store just to "look around" but the other woman that was sometimes with her chased me out of the store.

"No loitering! This is not a museum, just a flower shop! Look at something, select it, and buy it!" she yelled at me.

I didn't have money at the time, spend it all in playing video games at the arcade and at pigging out our a favorite restaurant that was by our college.

Eventually I was able to convince my dad to increase my allowance so I was able to at least attempt to buy at least one flower under the pretext of trying to find the right one.

But then one day she was the only one at the shop so I was actually able to hand it over to her under the pretext that I didn't have anyone to give it to.

It was a really stupid excuse.

What was the point of entering here the first place?

I sighed again and I looked up and she was smiling at me as she patiently waited for my next movement or statement.

"I'm asking...because...because...I don't really know any older woman." I said quickly and could feel my cheeks starting to flame.

Her eyes widened at that and she smiled even more.

"There is no way...the way you are...you must have plenty of girls more or less women around you." She said bemused.

It was a lie.

I had plenty of female friends and even in some occasions did go out on dates with women that were older than me...but they were never anything serious.

I never really cared on buying a gift for them under the pretext of seeing them.

This was an entirely different ball game that I was dealing here.

"I never bought them a gift before." I mumbled and I didn't know why but I felt myself blush.

She smiled and instead of responding she bent down and for a while I was confused as to what she was looking for until I saw she picked up a white rose.

She brought the rose close to her nose drew it away, brought it back, and drew it away before she smiled.

I thought for a second that she was ignoring me and was going to just hang my head down and just leave.

"Here." She said.

I looked at her and she had a single white rose in her right hand that she had outstretched towards me.

"Is it for me?" I asked confused.

She chuckled.

"You asked my opinion for a gift and when I hand it towards you, you don't know what to do." She said while smiling.

I blushed and quickly grabbed the flower and I cut myself on one of the thorns.

"Eiiissshh." I said drawing back in pain.

She scrunched up her eyebrow in confusion.

"Be careful...are you okay...did you prick yourself with the thorns?" she said confused.

I nodded.

"What happened are you okay?" she said confused.

"Yeah...yeah...yeah...yeah...sorry." I said quickly and carefully took the flower from her hand, more carefully while I stuck my injured index finger in my mouth to suck on the small glob of blood that was forming.

She still looked confused but she smiled.

She lifted herself up.

"That should be a great gift for the one you are trying to give it to." She said.

"You might not understand but the white rose has a lot more sentiments tied towards it. Sure it might be more common to have someone you love a couple of red roses but something about the white one has more uniqueness. Plus if its someone very special towards you, they would actually think you spent some consideration in buying them something different." She said while laughing.

I smiled at that and gripped the flower towards my chest but stared at her and felt myself blush again.

"Thank you." I said.

She smiled and she didn't say anything and I just stood there unsure of my next movement.

"Is that all sir?" she said.

I stared back at her and she was smiling even more and I blushed yet again.

"Ye..yes...yess...yess..." I said while stuttering.

"Very well have a great day. I hope the girl you give it to will appreciate it." She said while smiling.

I nodded.

"Thank you...good...good...good bye!" I said before I waved goodbye and she quickly raised her hand and waved goodbye as well.

***********************

"Hey Shraddha!"

I was busy drying my hair with a towel until I heard Kittu's voice call down from the shop below.

I was busy still getting ready in the apartment while Kittu busily started setting everything up for another day at the shop.

"Yes Kittu!" I called back out.

"You got something!" she yelled back.

Something?

Before I could go back downstairs, Kittu came back up and rushed inside my room.

"Hey, someone dropped this at the front of our door for you...it has a letter as well on it as well." Kittu said confused.

At that I arched my eyebrow.

"What is it?" I asked curiously.

"It's a rose." She said.

At that I smiled but quickly let it fall away before Kittu caught on.

"Color?" I asked.

"Its white and there is a note...right here." She said.

"Can you read it for me?" I asked as she handed me the flower and I quickly took a sniff of the rose, the same rose that I selected the previous day.

"You said the flower should be given to someone that was special towards me...I don't have anyone like that in my life at the moment, so it would be best to return it back to you. By the way, my name is Kunal." Kittu said.

"What the heck? What stupidity is that? I hope he is not going to ask for a refund? That is stupid especially since it's just one freaking rose." Kittu ranted on.

I smiled.

So the stalker boy/man name was Kunal...

"He is being cute, he is just saying that he is single and is not dating anyone." I said while sighing and continued onward in drying my hair.

Before I could finish Kittu grabbed my shoulders, shocked.

"So wait a minute, are you secretly dating someone without me knowing? Does he know about your eyes? More importantly when did you see him last? Was it yesterday? Dang!" Kittu argued.

I chuckled and flicked my finger against Kittu's forehead.

"Owww!" Kittu squealed.

"I won't kiss and tell." I said.

Kittu drew in a sharp breath.

"You kissed him too! How! When! Where..! Why didn't you tell me..." Kittu continued and instead I ignored her.

"I don't kiss and tell like I said...its almost time to open the shop Kittu." I said.

"But Shraddha..." Kittu whined.

Instead I walked out of my room to a sulking Kittu who was most likely chasing after my heel.

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