Page 3 of They Love Me Knot (Starsfalls Omegaverse #2)

Daphne

I watch as the newspaper delivery person rides down the street on their bicycle, flinging papers as they go.

I duck behind the curtains when they get close so they don’t catch me staring.

Once they ride off, I peer out again to observe the early morning street.

One of my neighbors grabs his newspaper on the way out the door.

I press my face against the glass to see if I can figure out where he’s going.

He’s wearing a business suit and walking toward the town hall and other services buildings, so I’m guessing he works for the local government.

I crunch through my toast and sip some water as more people trickle past. Parents wrangle their two young kids into the car before driving off, a food delivery truck trundles past, and someone zooms past on a motorcycle, going so fast all I can make out is a dark blur.

When my coffee cup is mostly empty, I stretch my legs and stumble back to my bedroom to get dressed.

I won’t have to pack up the flowers at the end of the bonding ceremony, so after we set things up, I can come home and nap.

I pull on my dark green corduroy pants and a black shirt.

The pants match the green of the Queen of Hearts exterior.

Not that Anicka makes us wear a uniform, but I think it’s nice to be recognizable as the florist.

Now that I’m as awake and prepared as I’m going to get, I lock up and walk to work. It’s a beautiful morning with a light breeze, the sky just lightening up as the planet spins us around to face the sun for another day.

I go directly to the back of the shop to start loading the delivery van.

But Poppy is already there, hard at work, and I join in to get the rest of the florals moved into the refrigerated van.

It only takes us twenty minutes, ending with the van about two-thirds full.

This bonding party didn’t order as many arrangements as some of them do, but it’s still a sizeable amount.

I grab the notes Anicka wrote for how the florals are supposed to be set up at the venue. Poppy gets in the passenger seat, and I start the van, driving us to the old Virilis Bank where the ceremony and reception will be held.

We get there exactly on time and have everything unloaded with plenty of time to arrange things.

We keep the bouquets and boutonnieres in a cold box until the bonding party is ready for them.

I start winding the garlands around the pillars on one side of the gazebo while Poppy starts on the other.

After we meet in the middle, we go back for the larger flower garlands to wind around the columns at the front where the bonding party will stand during the ceremony.

I use a handkerchief to dab away the sweat as we work.

It’s still cool outside, but the moving around and heavy lifting makes me sweat regardless.

I offer a clean handkerchief to Poppy, but she says she doesn’t need it.

She does look remarkably perky. I’m not sure how, because she’s been moving as much as I have, yet somehow she managed not to get sweaty.

Poppy has told me before that she doesn’t need caffeine to get going in the morning, and that actually she doesn’t drink caffeine at all .

It must be some type of witchcraft to wake up ready for the day before the sun is even out, be this peppy without caffeine, and not get sweaty when lifting heavy things. Meanwhile, I’ve already had two coffees (I drank a second one on the way over) and can feel sweat dripping down my stomach.

We scatter the remaining flowers around the chairs set up for the attendees. Just as we finish, a petite, brunette omega flits over to us followed by three women, a tall omega and two betas.

“The flowers are amazing! Thank you so much—and you did this on such short notice! It’s magical! The perfect backdrop for my bonding ceremony,” the smaller omega says enthusiastically.

“I’m glad it fits your vision. We have your bouquets too if you want to check them over,” I say to who I assume is Maisie, the omega getting bonded.

“I’d love to! I’m sure they’re perfect, but I want a peek before I get ready.”

Her friends follow, and we show them the flowers for the bonding party, the women oohing and ahhing over our work. I bask in their admiration.

This is one of the best parts of the job.

I love plants so much, how the flowers spiral out in a new geometry each time, how the leaves grow perfectly from the stem, unfurling slowly to give you time to admire the hard work it takes to grow them.

How amazing it is that you can start with a pot of dirt, a seed, and with a little water and sunshine you can grow a whole new thing.

Beyond the wonder that is plants, I enjoy sharing them with others so they can enjoy them too.

It’s also fun to be involved in other people's special days, even tangentially, and share in their happiness as they get bonded or married, or buy flowers for their sweetheart, or celebrate the birthday of someone special. I don’t consider myself to be very good at socializing, and I’m introverted anyway, but it’s nice to get out there sometimes.

Now that I’m all about the single life, work is going to be where I get most of my socializing, so it’s a good thing I enjoy it.

Although it doesn’t have to be I suppose. I should find some local friends. I’ve been so busy working on my career, and after moving away from my college friends, I never made much effort to develop new friendships, and got enough social interaction from my exes.

But just because I won’t date again doesn’t mean I can’t have a social life outside of work.

Since I moved to Starsfalls, I’ve been preoccupied with settling in and have made no effort to find friends here.

I need to change that. I could try one of those friend finding apps, like FindAPal.

Or I could hang out somewhere after work or pick up a hobby that involves other people.

In college, it was easy to find like-minded people to befriend. As an adult, I’m only now realizing it might be difficult to find someone you have something in common with. It's not like we’re starting on common ground because we’re in the same biology class or something.

The hobby thing sounds better than looking for friends at a bar.

Now I just need to come up with a hobby.

A lot of my free time is spent on plant-related things, and I don’t have much else going on.

I guess that means I’m open to trying anything until I find a hobby I like.

Maybe there’s like a cake-eating competition I could join. I’ve always loved eating and cake.

Speaking of cake…

“These pink peonies are the exact same shade as the cherry buttercream frosting on our bonding cake. It’s like you coordinated with our baker. You didn’t, did you? I don’t know how you would have, I don’t think we mentioned our cake decorator when we ordered the flowers,” Maisie says.

“No, we didn’t. It sounds you did a good job coordinating things if the colors match,” I say.

Now I really want to see the cake.

“Maybe you’re right. We requested a chamomile and lemon chiffon cake with fresh cherry and flower garnishes, and it looks amazing. You have to see it!”

Yesss.

“I’d love to! I can take a quick look if I won’t be in the way of setting up the reception.”

“You won’t be in the way at all. The cake is inside in the fridge. It’s safer to keep it hidden away until we’re ready for it, otherwise Laurence, one of my alphas, would be sneaking peeks at it during the ceremony instead of looking at me,” Maisie says, and her friends laugh.

“Laurence has more of a sweet tooth than any of us,” her omega friend agrees.

“He hasn’t seen you in your dress, though. There’s no way he’ll be able to take his eyes off you,” her other friend says.

Maisie grins. “It is a great dress. Come on, I’ll show you the cake.”

We follow her inside the building to the shiny steel industrial kitchen. Maisie has us line up in front of the fridge before she stands to the side and dramatically pulls the door open to reveal the cake.

We all gasp and Maisie smiles, pleased at our reactions. She doesn’t even look at the cake, instead watching us admire it.

The cake draws me in, and without realizing it, I’ve taken several steps forward to get a better look.

The three-tier cake is covered in light pink frosting, with columns piped up the sides and edged with scalloped frosting.

Small chamomile, apple, and lemon flowers are tucked in between whole cherries and slices of pink pearl apples.

It’s not just the looks that drew me in. The scent of sugary peonies on top of the other floral, fruity scents, lured me like a sailor to the sea. As soon as she opened the door, I could smell it.

“It smells good, doesn’t it?” Maisie says, and I realize my sniffing wasn’t so subtle after all.

I make myself step back and clear my throat so I can concentrate without the scent distracting me. “Yes, it smells lovely. What kind did you say it was again? ”

“The cake is chamomile and lemon, and the buttercream is cherry flavored. I think the apple pieces on top are just there for decoration.”

That still doesn’t explain the sweet peony smell, but maybe some petals were used to help color the frosting or something. I can’t ask about it again since I was already sniffing her cake, like, a weird amount. I don’t want them to think I’m a cake freak or something.

“That sounds delicious. Well, if you’re happy with the floral arrangements, we’ll get out of your way so you can get ready,” I say, trying to distract them from my cake lust.