The champion of our latest Short Story Competition appears in the July|August edition of Irish Country Magazine, now available on newsstands. “Say it with Flowers” by Christina Hession secured second place.
Christina’s entry can be read below:
Lara tried to recall the last time someone had gifted her a bouquet.
An ex’s attempt at making amends for cancelling a supposed romantic weekend, accompanied by a towering arrangement of red roses. Lara had never been fond of red roses. Even less so after that episode. Another ex who forgot her birthday and thought it would be hilarious to send an extravagant bouquet to Trim Courthouse. Fortunately, she intercepted the florist before he stepped into the courtroom, where she was defending a hapless young driver. Men and their grand gestures, she mused.
Lara was presently single. Building her criminal-law practice consumed most of her days. When her doorbell rang on a pewter-gray Wednesday morning and the Petals by Chloe delivery driver stood at her threshold, presenting a gorgeous bouquet of cream freesias, white lilies, and baby’s breath, Lara was certain it was some kind of candid-camera stunt.
“Delivery for Lara Lally,” she announced, smiling.
“There must be some mistake.”
The driver checked her docket. “Number 46?”
“Yes, but …”
For someone whose career hinged on argument, Lara found herself unusually mute. She cradled the bouquet as the Petals by Chloe driver smiled and waved, then drove away down the driveway and out onto the lane. Lara went back inside and breathed in the fragrance. A tiny card nestled among the blooms caught her eye.
“To my gorgeous Lara, I should have sent these years ago.”
There was no name.
Lara reread the message.
Gorgeous Lara? She rummaged through her memory for plausible suspects. The handyman who’d quietly slipped his number through her door? Perhaps the neighbor two doors down who had helped when she’d locked herself out of her Audi once? Lara hoped the bouquet came from that barrister she’d met in the Criminal Courts of Justice a few years ago. They’d met socially a few times since, but it seemed they would forever stay in the friend zone.
Ridiculous, Lara thought. She ought to ring the florist. Instead, she pulled out a Galway Crystal cut-glass vase from the dining room and arranged the bouquet on the island in her sunny kitchen.
In the courthouse’s consultation room, Claire from Larkin & Co. Solicitors greeted her.
“You’ve got a spring in your step today. A new man in your life?”
Lara laughed. “I wish. A bit of a long shot, given my hours.”
Throughout the day, Lara found herself thinking about the card and smiling.
“I should have sent these years ago.”
It seemed crazy, yet somehow she felt lighter for the first time in ages.
On her way home from work, Lara ducked into the supermarket. She skipped her usual sourdough loaf and treated herself to a chocolate-topped, cream-filled doughnut instead. After tidying the kitchen after dinner, she found Tenpole Tudor on her Spotify playlist and danced to Swords of a Thousand Men. When had she last done that?
Early Saturday morning, Lara phoned Petals by Chloe.
“I think a bouquet was delivered to me by mistake yesterday,” she said.
“Oh dear, I’m terribly sorry. That bouquet was for Laura Richards at 46 De Lancey Court, not Crescent. We’ll collect it this afternoon.”
Lara watched the mistaken bouquet on her kitchen island as she spoke.
“No problem,” she replied.
However, when the florist arrived later and carried the flowers away, the light seemed to drain from the kitchen. For one day, Lara had felt so special.
Don’t be foolish, they’re only flowers, she chided herself.
On Monday morning she paused outside Blooms, admiring the buckets of chrysanthemums and carnations. Lara went inside.
The assistant looked up from the order book. “Can I help you?”
Lara hesitated.
“Yes. I’d like cream freesias, white lilies and a sprig of baby’s breath, please.”
“No problem. For someone special?”
“For me.”
The florist nodded and smiled, as though every woman bought herself flowers on a whim.
Lara felt a tiny rush of anticipation as the florist wrapped her bouquet.
Nearby, a bucket of bright tulips by the till caught her eye.
“And a bunch of tulips, please,” Lara said. “For Claire O’Malley.”
In the consultation room, Lara handed the tulips to Claire, the solicitor.
“What’s the occasion?” Claire asked.
“No occasion—just thought they’d brighten your day.”
“Lara Lally, you’re one in a million. You know that, right?”
Later, Lara realized that for years she had waited for life to bring romance, flowers, and excitement. Yet one mistaken bouquet had shown her that she’d never needed to wait for joy. Joy was something she could choose, and she would, from now on.
She regarded the bouquet and murmured,
“Gorgeous Lara.”
And for the first time in years, she finally believed it.
Click here for details on how to enter our September competition.
