Work Text:
The doorbell chimed, and Steve felt a rush of cold air hit his back. He suppressed a shiver and a sigh. He'd wanted to close the shop in time today to spend the evening lazing around on his couch, a slice of pizza in one and a can of coke in the other hand, but it seemed as if he was out of luck.
He turned around, a professional smile in place, and rubbed his wet hands over his apron to dry them off. “Welcome, how can I help you today?”
In the middle of his small flower shop stood a man, and the blonde florist felt himself blush.
Steve knew him. He had seen him before - sometimes while getting breakfast from the bakery around the corner, buying the newspaper across the street, and at the nearby subway station - but hadn't managed to approach him.
The man was undeniably handsome. His dark hair was styled to look like a fancy mess, and his complicated goatee never failed to amaze Steve. Laugh lines and the first gray hairs near his temples betrayed his age. He was shorter than Steve, but judging by his statue in good shape. He held himself upright, and his dark eyes were sharp.
He pushed all of Steve's bisexual buttons in exactly the right order.
Even though it was a cloudy and kind of gloomy day outside, the man wore expensive looking sunglasses that matched his tie. Steve may have overheard some of his phone calls and knew that he was a businessman, but his nerves had prevented him from even asking the guy for the time.
Having his secret crush in his shop on Valentine's Day inflicted a whole new level of nervousness in Steve.
“Hi, er, I wanted to buy flowers. Obviously. I need them for something very important," the man said casually. He took off his glasses and looked first at Steve with his big chocolate colored eyes before he let his gaze wander over the many vases, bouquets, and potted plants.
“Obviously.” Steve repeated with a genuine smile. He stepped aside to grant the man a better view at the flowers to the left of the counter. “Did you have anything special in mind? Would you like a potted plant or a bouquet?”
“I think I'd like to keep it simple. Maybe one of those?” He stepped closer to join Steve and gestured at the vases with the roses. The florist caught a nose of the man's aftershave. It was rich and dark.
“A rose?” Steve inquired.
The man nodded. "Which would you recommend?"
Steve smiled and started to list the names of the rainbow colored beauties. “The yellow one is called Penny Lane, and the pink one Lola. White Mondial and Pink Mondial. I got an orange rose called Twilight, and the classic red one is called Red Paris. Which one would you like?”
The man looked a bit unsure at first, but after a few moments of thinking, he pointed at a red rose. “This one, please. Can you wrap it up so it looks like a present?”
“Of course, no problem at all.” Steve picked one of the dark red roses from the vase and went over to his work table.
His stupid heart clenched painfully in his chest. The handsome man without a ring on his finger bought a red rose on Valentine's Day. Steve knew what this meant. He was about to meet his lover. You didn't gift your colleague or friend this kind of flower on this kind of day.
His anonymous customer would, opposite Steve, not spend the evening alone.
He shook his head at himself while his hands worked. He'd been single for too long. His daydreams would get him into trouble one of these days.
Way too fast was he done with wrapping the rose up. He'd added some baby's breath and a dark green aspidistra leave for good measure. It was pretty. He congratulated himself before he turned around to face the man who waited on the other side of the counter. “All done. Here you go.”
“I'm Tony,” the man blurted. Steve blinked at him, taken by surprise. The guy - Tony - looked kind of nervous all of a sudden. “I see you a lot, so I thought it might be nice to, ah, have a name? And you are..?”
Steve's stomach did a backflip. Tony had noticed him as well. It was small and stupid, but it made him happy. He gestured to the nameplate on his shirt.
“I'm Steve. It's nice to meet you, Tony. I've also seen you around quite often lately.” He cleared his throat awkwardly and pointed at the flower. “So, you got a date today? It's Valentine's Day, after all.”
“Huh?” Tony blinked owlishly at him before he looked down at the red rose that Steve still held out for him to take. “Oh, sorry...well, I hope so. Roses are supposed to be the language of the heart, right?”
Tony smiled dreamily at the flower when he took it from Steve and placed some coins on the counter. “There's a special someone I want to ask out to dinner today, and I hope they will say yes.”
Steve bit his tongue to keep his sigh in. He knew it. He swallowed the lump in his throat and put the money away. “I'm sure everything will be fine. No one in their right mind would say no if asked on a date by a guy like you.”
Tony blushed at his comment. It was adorable, and Steve was suddenly very jealous of the person who would be able to spend the evening with Tony.
“Thank you, Steve. That means a lot to me.” He held the rose in front of him and looked at it for a moment before his brown eyes caught Steve's blue ones. Then he held the rose out for Steve to take back. “So, I assume this is a yes then? I kind of already booked a table for two, and going on my own would be quite embarrassing after telling the staff it was a first date kind of thing.”
Steve stared at Tony for a few heartbeats, not really able to follow. On autopilot, he accepted the rose.
"What?"
Tony shrugged. "You, me, spaghetti, and a bottle of wine. All the clichés."
Steve's face began to burn.
This situation was taking a turn that he would have never expected. Wasn't this something that only happened in those cheesy Japanese comics that he totally didn't read on a regular basis? When he took in Tony's nervous expression, he couldn't help but crack a smile. “I do happen to like Italian pasta.”
“So this is a yes?” Tony grinned at him with sparkling eyes.
Steve smiled shyly at him. “Yeah, it's a yes.”