Clarke scoffed, feeling ready to throw up at the idea of working at the office of a plastic surgeon, which is what she knew he was from Facebook. She also knew he could use a little plastic surgery himself. "Mother, I own a flower shop. I do not need a job," Clarke explained, feeling annoyed. Her mother had never had the confidence in the idea of her running her own business much less a flower shop. She didn't see any money or security in it. Nor was it a practical job like hers.
"I thought you might be ready to give that up now, but I can see you're still in denial."
Clarke felt her face getting hot as she reached the street to turn on to get to the shop. She was on the home stretch. It would give her a good excuse to hang up on her mother. "My business is doing very well, Mother, even if you haven't noticed.. And why would I think of giving it up? If I did then I'd be a quitter, Mother. You know, like Dad was?" Clarke said harshly. How could that woman be so contradictory?
The conversation couldn't have ended sooner as Clarke hit the end button on her dashboard and looked up in horror as she approached her flower shop. She pulled the car to a screeching stop and got out, her hands on either side of her face with her mouth open in a silent scream. Through the glass she could see flames rising, destroying her flowers and her shop. She looked around as she felt a tug on her sleeve as Katie pulled her back. Another associate; Rita and a couple of customers were standing next to her. They retreated to the front of a costume shop across the street as Clarke heard the sirens that meant the fire department was close by. The fire hadn't spread over to other businesses yet, but they were beginning to evacuate too, and she felt like she was the center of attention in the worst possible way.
As she watched her hard work and the last way she had to earn her mother's love and pride go up in flames, she felt Katie rubbing her back to comfort her.
Luckily, it didn't seem to take long for the firemen to stop the fire, and the chief came out to speak to her with soot still on his face. "Are you the owner?" the man asked with a deep southern drawl. Clarke nodded and stepped forward.
"Can you tell what in the world caused this? Did somebody do it on purpose?" Clarke asked, feeling dread pushing down on her chest. But she couldn't think of anyone with any reason to hurt the business other than her mother. But her mother was a lawyer and wouldn't dare to get her hands dirty that way. Or would she?