The Price Of Love

Agatha hadn't heard from Ellis for months, and she found it only fitting that she should visit her beloved rival and see what had become of her.

Admittedly, the business had been slow since Ellis’ arrival, because why would you buy flowers at a fine price when this other lady goes about giving them away for free?

Although Eustace had no room for two florists, which Agatha had made sure of, she couldn’t help admiring the hope Ellis wandered the street with, handing out flowers to those who needed them most.

"What have you brought today?" Agatha had asked Ellis the last time she visited her store on Friday.

"Three petunias for the Berkshires, calla lilies for Mrs. Abbot, and a few others for unexpected customers; I feel prepared for a fresh day of business," said Ellis, meeting Agatha with an obnoxiously optimistic smile.

"Only you wouldn’t truly be selling anything."

"You can’t put a price on love, Aggie," Ellis had said, affectionately placing one of her prized magnolias in Agatha’s flawlessly asymmetrical hairdo.

"And that’s why I’m rich and you're not," she had declared.

However, as she stared at the state Ellis was now in, lying on her lone sickbed with no one by her side, not even her beloved customers, Agatha felt a twinge of mortification.

She never realised that Ellis's petals were falling to the ground, that soon the last petal would follow, and yet the seeds she had sown in everyone she met would continue to grow.

After years of giving away pieces of her heart to aid others in reaching their full potential in the form of flowers, Agatha never realized that no one had ever bothered giving her any. When Ellis saw her friend, perhaps for the last time, she still managed the same optimistic smile that Agatha despised so dearly. "This is for you," said Agatha, placing the magnolia Ellis had gifted her between her friend’s cold fingers, which she accepted in an instant.

No amount of money could satisfy her heart's desire; what she truly wanted were flowers; someone to grow and treasure them for her, just as she had done her entire life.