fandomtownies | Covent Garden Flow*rs, Thursday

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Covent Garden Flow*rs, Thursday

Today, the E in the sign was made with wire and lilac-pink tea-roses, and Eliza, pleased enough with the effect to forgo her crossness with 'regrettably unavoidable shipping delays,' was behind the counter partaking in a cup of complementary beverage. There was a full pot ready, in fact, and she was perfectly willing to share.

Covent Garden Flowers

Eliza Doolittle, prop.
Fresh flowers from nosegays to bouquets!
Delivery available upon request.

~~~~Now Hiring for Friday position~~~~

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Or have a cuppa!

Mary turned up at some point with her list. She hadn't been in the new flower shop yet, but was happy to see another local business that would save her a trip to the mainland.

"Hello," she said. "I was interested in getting a few flower arrangements for the hotel lobby."

"Hello, how do you do!" Eliza stood up with a wide smile, surreptitiously brushing tea-cake crumbs off her skirt. "For the week-end? I'm told we'll be getting quite a few visitors."

"More than just a few, if the numbers are anything like last year," said Mary, smiling. "And I like to have fresh flowers to greet them in the lobby, plus a few more arrangements for some special guests."

"I can certainly help with that," Eliza replied with a brisk nod, pulling out a note-ledger and a pencil. Moving her teacup aside reminded her that there was still a half-full pot on the counter as well. "Would you like a cup of tea?" she offered.

"Oh, that would be great. Thanks," said Mary. "I love how bright and colorful your store is. The sign is an especially nice touch."

"Oh, that's-" Eliza stopped herself sharply, inspiration, or rather the ability to capitalize on an unfortunate situation rather than wallow in it, striking her like a bolt from the blue. "-very kind of you," she finished. "Why not use the wares to advertise themselves, I thought."

About thirty seconds ago she thought it, yes. "Milk and sugar?"

"Yes, please. It's a brilliant idea, and very eye-catching," said Mary. "I could use a nice splash of color to brighten up the lobby. What would you recommend?"

"What colour is the room to begin with?" Eliza reached for the tea strainer and poured another cup, adding milk before asking, "One lump? Three?"

"Just one lump is fine. I have to watch my figure," said Mary. "The lobby itself is painted in off-white, with wood paneling and hardwood floors. Oh, and there's also a collection of towel animals, all in white, and I have some decorative knives on the wall."

Eliza was of a mind that the lady probably wasn't the only one watching that figure, but it was a thought she didn't voice. "Towel animals?" she repeated, instead.

"Yes. They're really fun to make," said Mary. "It's kind of like origami with towels. They're kind of fun to leave in people's rooms, but one of my former employees really got into it and made a whole zoo of towel animals."

"A whole zoo?" She didn't know what or-ee-whatsis was, but Eliza got the general idea. "And they're white." She grinned. "You should have some wee bachelor's buttons to tuck in the folds. A flower behind the elephant's ear."

"Oh, that would be adorable!" said Mary. "I definitely have to pick up some of those."

"They come in quite a few colours," Eliza said, making a note, since she had the ledger to hand. "And perhaps... if the room's white, you'll want something bright and warm. Harvest flowers? Reds and golds, and you could have them mixed in baskets with fresh apples."

"That will look so pretty," said Mary, making a few notes of her own. "I can put that out instead of the fruit bowl that's usually on the front desk."

"Chrysanthemums are lovely for that." And hardy, if they were to stand up for a weekend without wilting. "And there's a sort of a yellow daisy..." It wasn't really a daisy, but it wasn't an English flower either, so Eliza hadn't yet memorized the name, for all that she had two pots of them in the back room.

She looked up from adding a few more things to the list and said, "...I've done it again, haven't I. Not introduced myself. I'm Eliza."

Mary chuckled. "I'm guilty of forgetting to do the same. Mary Connell, owner of the Arms Hotel. It's nice to finally meet you, Eliza. I'm always excited to see new business arrive in town."

"Thank you," Eliza answered. "I'm glad to meet you as well. This place isn't quite what I was expecting, but I can't say it hasn't been an adventure so far."

You don't know where those tea leaves have been. Besides presumably Sri Lanka.

A rose by any other name
Would get the blame
For being what it is
The color of a kiss
The shadow of a flame.

A rose may earn another name
So call it love.
So call it love I will
And love is like the sea
Which changes constantly
And yet is still the same.

*obscures*

*finds this months later while pillaging fandom_townies for stuff to read*

TANITH LEE.

SILVER METAL LOVER.

*loves and is 17 again*

Who can tell where love will lead us,
Love the color of the rose.
Love, the ever-sounding bell.
Does she summon to a close?
To the gorgeous gates of hell?
Ah, who knows, who knows.

Jane, Jaen, Jain. The sound of falling rain, like a chain.

... Must pull that out and read it again.

I cheated on the previous one, though - it's actually from Sung in Shadow. Which, her blog tells me, she was writing at the same time as SML, and it totally shows.

Aha! Heeee.

I still can't decide if I like the sequel or not. Most of the time, not. But then again.... hmm.

Tales from the Flat Earth stuck with me loooong after I finished reading it though.

I didn't like the sequel, yeah. It wasn't so much disappointment in what was done with events or the larger story; it just didn't grab me at all in the same way. It felt way too flat and... eh. I didn't care about the central character or identify with her, unlike Jane.

Yeah, and that story-- well, that story felt like it was done. It didn't need a sequel, you know? Jane-Jain-Jaen was going to go off and have a great life that wasn't designed by her mother; anything else, who knows. Silver was gone. That was the stopping point.

The second one ... I don't know, it's like she pulled in too much about the politics of that world, and too little of the personal, and keeping the heroine's secrets for a good chunk of the book meant you kept your distance from her, so... yeah.

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Covent Garden Flow*rs, Thursday

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