Flowers Day 2 (Cecilia)

[Adelaide]

Adelaide, begrudgingly, showed up at the flower shop she had tried the other day. None of the other shops had a bouquet that felt right. She sighed and walked into the Floral Shop.

[Cecelia Riddel]

"Good afternoon." The greeting was habit by now, the moment Cecelia heard the chime over the door go off. She looked up from the bouquet she was working on, and though the smile didn't leave her face, the warmth had when she saw who had entered.

"How may I help you?"

[Adelaide]

"Hey..."

She would say nervously.

"I'm, uh... sorry about the other day..."

[Cecelia Riddel]

"Oh?" Again the very polite tone with just a slight tilt of her head to one side. "What, exactly, are you apologizing for, miss?"

[Adelaide]

"Listen I know a screwed up the other day with you and your friend. I'm sorry, there's no need to rub it in, ok... I just... Need your help please..."

Adelaide said as a tint of red hit her cheeks as she flicked her head to the side to avoid eye contact.

[Cecelia Riddel]

Cecelia's eyes bore into Adelaide as if she'd found a deep stain on a white dress. Unsatisfactory and wrong. She blinked a couple of times and the expression vanished, returning to her polite customer service expression.

"Apology not accepted, certainly not if you can't even name what your apologizing for." She paused, disliking the girl's readiness to put a casual apology to personal insults. But Cecelia did work here, so it wouldn't do to turn away a customer, even if her actions would have marked her back home.

"But I can certainly help you with finding a bouquet. You mentioned she liked yellow best, yes?"

[Adelaide]

Adelaide turned her head and stared at Cecilia with daggers in her eyes.

"Ya know what. No. Fuck that, you don't just get to stand there and be fake as fuck. You got a problem then fuck step up and say it. Or let it go. I don't know your customs but standing there all hoity toity and shitting on mine doesn't make you a stand up person, you're just a bitch."

She would say folding her arms.

[Cecelia Riddel]

The smile stayed, even as Cecelia stopped in place and turned to look at Adelaide.

"Well, that is part of the problem now, isn't it? After all, you are a customer. It's my job to help you. And you've certainly called me worse than that. What was one of the other words you used? 'Floozy,' I believe? And yet you can't even manage a proper apology.  I am supposed to just graciously accept because you gave an insincere attempt.  Not to mention insulting a dear friend of mine.  So why expect different in return?" The smile faded, her face a porcelain mask.

"I do hope your apology to Cillian was more sincere." Unless that was an absurd notion in this world, too.

[Adelaide]

"I have not seen nor know how to get a hold of your friend."

She would say and then sigh.

"I am sorry for calling you a floozy, and insulting your friend. Honest. I'm not attempting to half ass an apology. I just... I'm not good at these things ok? Now if you don't want to deal with that's fine I'll leave. I'll just make do without the flowers."

She said turning around to leave.

[Cecelia Riddel]

This world was maddening. How was she supposed to be held at fault for this girl's lack of decorum? At least Adelaide had the decency to admit it when it was presented to her in a simple manner, but it didn't hold much hope for Cecelia if this is what most of the world was like.

"Thank you." She lifted her chin slightly, but nodded at the apology when it finally came. That was something to work with. She wasn't quite read to forgive Adelaide, certainly didn't like her, but for now, the question of bouquets was at hand. Punishing her girlfriend when she was trying to do something nice meant there was a spark of something, somewhere. It just also meant that Cecelia wasn't keen on someone who called every meta they mentioned coming across a bitch.

"Now then, if you're ready, I can help you try to find something for you."

[Adelaide]

Adelaide would stop and turn around with her arms folded.

"Well, are you going to be this passive aggressive the entire time? I realize I upset, so if you don't want to deal with me, then don't force it."

[Cecelia Riddel]

Did she really not understand. Cecelia had to force her mind to stop trying to figure out the mental acrobatics that had to be going on to keep up with Adelaide's hostility. Perhaps she needed to make things a bit more simple for the other girl to understand where they stood.

"Very well, seeing as my culture has no merit to you, I will put this in a way that you can hopefully understand." She smoothed her apron before speaking, an old habit that lost some of its effects with the fashion in this world. "I do not like you, miss Adelaide, as I am sure you would not like me even with an apology if I insulted a friend of yours as well as you - let alone your girlfriend." The girl's hands had balled into fists at the very idea of an insult to whoever the other girl was, and Andelaide herself had done far more.

"Our first conversation leaves me to doubt this won't happen again. It seems a habit for you to throw out insults, and in polite society, that has consequences, even with an apology. People remember. But I am willing to accept that you are trying, and regardless, your girlfriend shouldn't be punished when you are trying to do something nice for her.

"So this is my reaching out to you, by helping you with the needs you had when you came by the other day. I would also be more than happy to share the theater Cillian works at so you can apologize to him when he was also willing to help you.

"So if mistrust and caution are passive aggressive, yes. This place is my home, and within a couple of years it is already under attack; your words have told me I am not welcome here, only to apologize and wonder why I react the way I do to half measures. So I accept that your apology has merit and that you are trying. I am willing to accept that you probably don't think much of apologizing for your actions and believe it's the other person's fault to begin with.

"I hope that will change."

[Adelaide]

"You wanna know something that bothers me? Yeah, I fucked up my interaction with you and your friend. I'll admit that, fully. I jumped to conclusions about him unfairly and that's due to some bullshit from my past. Now, you standing there saying shit like, 'It seems a habit for you to throw out insults' is just as presumptuous and insultin' as I was towards your friend. In fact, remind me, but you and I were having a pleasant conversation before your friend showed up weren't we?"

She shook her head, and looked off to the side for a moment before looking back at Cecilia.

"Ya see, thats my issue with your 'polite society' types. You have the 'Proper' stance to stand there all nice like and use your pretty words to tell me how beneath you I am, while being just as rude as the behavior you're condemnin' me for."

She walked over to Cecilia.

"One more thing. If I don't like you, it's because of your 'holier than thou' attitude. To be completely frank I've come to befriend several meta's they've all been really kind and understanding individuals. Hell, even your friend fit that profile he never snapped back at me despite every right he had. So, maybe I will go apologize to him for my behavior. But you. You are quickly proving to not be worth the attempt."

With that, Adelaide would turn around and walk out.

[Cecelia Riddel]

"We were. Until you called him a fuckboy and assumed he was like all other types you assumed he would be." Cecelia still refused to accept anything else until she had apologized to her friend. If blowing up and telling her she was being rude helped her feel better, than so be it. Hopefully her friends were treated better.

"Have a nice day." Her tone sweetened to the point it was disgusting, like sweet tea with so much sugar that it could stand on its own.

She did nothing to stop Adelaide from walking out.