𝐑𝐄𝐃𝐀𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐘

𝐑𝐄𝐃𝐀𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐘 - 𝟎𝟏𝟎

Although my mother was so graciously kind to give me her leftovers, I was in the mood for something different so I asked Flynn to make me dinner, which she gladly accepted.

We didn't have any ingredients at the house so we decided to go to the farmer's market. I prefer coming here to going to the grocery store, everything is fresher.

We went to the grains section to get rice and a few other items. Flynn said that she wanted to make kimchi fried rice with shrimp. I walked over to the produce, grabbing what was needed.

Flynn was over at the bakery stand, leaning over the display and pointing to the things she wanted. Her back's gonna get big before summer and when it does, I don't want ANY complaints.

I paid for the ingredients before walking over to the flower stand. An elderly lady was sitting there, listening to the radio but turning it down when I walked over.

"Hello," I greeted with a smile, looking down at all the flowers she had presented. They were all beautiful, some having multiple flowers, some sticking to one kind. They were all in different colours, some sticking out more than others.

" Is there something specific you're looking for?" The lady asked, getting up out of her chair.
"No ma'am," I said, eyes skimming the flowers but landing on one. They reminded me so much of Dahlia. It was a bouquet with dark pink tulips, hydrangeas and some small white flowers. She would love these. I thought,

"May I see those right there?" I pointed to the flowers, watching as the lady followed my gaze and picked them up, handing them to me.

Would it be too soon to get her flowers? Maybe.

" Rae! You have to come to look at this, the guy over there has little turtles!" Flynn shrieked, bouncing up and down pointing to the stand like a child.

I sighed and handed the flowers back to the lady with a smile, " I won't be getting them, they're beautiful though."

"Thank you, you have a good day dear." She placed the flowers back in their spot and sat back in her chair.

"You too."

Flynn grabbed my hand, dragging me towards the turtles.

☆ ☆ ☆

"Flynn you are not getting a turtle. You can't even clean your room for Christ's sake." She frowned at me, folding her arms.

"Why can't you ever let me be happy, I do so many things for you." She huffed.

"Oh really," I questioned. "Name one thing."

"Um.."

" Exactly. We still need to get the shrimp, come on." I grabbed her by her arm, pulling her towards the seafood section.

We were looking at the shrimp trying to decide what size to get.

"Get the small kind, I'm gonna go look at the pumpkins," Flynn said, but before I could respond she was already gone.

I need to put that girl on a leash. I thought before looking down at the shrimp.

How do I determine what kind is the best? I know nothing about picking up groceries.

"Need help?" The guy working the stand asked, raising a brow.

"Yes please," I laughed nervously. "How do I know which shrimp is the freshest?"

"It depends on what you're making."

I felt eyes on me but I ignored it as the guy explained to me, pointing to all of the different kinds of shrimp. He ended up picking the shrimp out for me before bagging it up. I paid and grabbed my bag when I felt my arms wrap around my shoulders.

Startled, I turned around only to see it was Flynn. She told me what happened while she was looking at the pumpkins causing us to burst into a fit of laughter.

After fully embarrassing ourselves in public, I felt a weird sense shoot through me. Out of instinct, I looked around to see someone who looked exactly like Dahlia turning around and walking towards the parking lot.

It can't be... right? Surely she would've come up and said something...

Oh.

"Why do you look like you've seen a ghost, what's wrong?" Flynn snickered.
"Remember that girl I told you about?"

"Yeah , Dahlia right? What about her?" she asked, a confused look on her face.

" I don't know if I'm overthinking it but I think I just saw her. If that was Dahlia, wouldn't she have come up and said something? What if saw something she didn't like?"

"What would she have.. oh." She said, realization finally hitting her. "Maybe that wasn't her."

It looked exactly like her though. I shook it off and we went back to the car. The whole ride home was silent. I couldn't stop thinking about Dahlia. I hope that wasn't her.

☆ ☆ ☆

Flynn was making us dinner, and I sat on the couch contemplating whether to text Dahlia.

Should I? What if it wasn't her and I looked like a creep hallucinating about her in public? I sighed, placing my phone on the coffee table.

"I'm gonna go shower," I said, getting up from the couch. A nice hot shower would settle my nerves for a bit. That's exactly what I needed.

"Ok, food will be ready for you when you're done," Flynn said, looking up from the pot she was stirring.

I went to the bathroom and turned the shower to a decent temperature. Not too hot but not too cold either. Just right.

What am I, goldilocks?

I undressed and stepped in after about a minute, letting the steam surround me and letting out a sigh of relief.

☆ ☆ ☆

The shower was nice but it didn't do what it was supposed to. I was supposed to be relaxed though the more time I spent in the shower, the more time I had to think about what happened.
Maybe my dinner would help.

I walked out to the kitchen to see a plate already made and sitting on the counter for me. I smiled and thanked Flynn before sitting at the table.

The food was good, based on the three bites I took. I can't even enjoy my food, everything is filling me with more and more guilt. I grabbed my phone and sighed before sending Dahlia a text.

Me
Can we talk?

It took a few minutes for her to respond, as always.

Dahlia :)
About?

Me
Today. Was that you at the farmer's market?

Dahlia :)
Maybe.

Me
Are you busy tomorrow?

I waited for around 10 minutes when I finally got a response.

Dahlia :)
I have work tomorrow but I'm available at around 7- 7:30ish

Me
Great, can I take you out to dinner so we can talk?

Dahlia :)
Sure.