Poinsettia Lane

Chapter Eight

CHAPTER EIGHT

FRANKIE DOESN’T CLOSE Roasted when Everly shows up the next morning. Obviously they can’t wait to hear how the plant shopping/stalking went, and Everly desperately needs an outside perspective. She is way too in her head about it, and luckily for her, Frankie doesn’t hold back.

Ever.

“Dude, you need to chill.” They are clearly getting exasperated with Everly at this point. Turning away from the espresso machine, Frankie stomps toward Everly and slams their hands flat on the counter. Leaning forward, they look ready to smack Everly on the back of her head. “He gave you his number, he didn’t have to do that.”

The need to play devil’s advocate doesn’t abate, her blood heating for a multitude of tangled reasons. “But what if he was just being polite, or what if he wants a side gig landscaping. Maybe he’s trying to go that direction—”

“No. I’m telling you right now. No .” Frankie slashes their hands through the air in emphasis from behind the counter, turning back around to finish the latte they were making for a customer who is eavesdropping with zero shame just a few feet away.

As they pass the customer their drink, Frankie comes around to her side of the counter and drops their hands onto Everly’s shoulders, making her slump. “You want to know what I think?” they ask her.

“That is why I’m here.” Everly doesn’t intend to grumble a whine, but it definitely comes out that way.

Frankie angles the two of them toward the cozy back corner, the one Everly sometimes hides in.

“I think Asim realized you were having a hard time with him coming on to you.”

Everly gets stuck on his name, and it takes her an extra second to catch up with the rest of their statement.

“Wait, no. I wasn’t having a hard time with that. I was having a hard time with my anxiety getting in the way, it was just a bad day.” Everly clarifies, although she also wonders if there’s more to it than that, and if maybe Frankie’s guess has some merit.

“Whatever it was, I think he saw it. I mean you pretty obviously freaked out, more than once.” Frankie cocks their head, and Everly gives them this one, nodding in agreement. “I think he’s backed off to give you space because you’re clearly an emotional wreck at times—”

“Okay come on—” Everly interrupts, but Frankie cuts her off right back.

“—but that’s okay because you’re human. We’re all a mess every now and then.” Frankie concludes. “So… just think it out. Take some ‘you’ time, and decide if you want to put yourself out there.”

Everly is trying really hard not to get defensive about this, because she does see that Frankie has a valid point. She also sees that Frankie is throwing the same message at her as before, challenging her to think about what she wants, rather than what she should do or what others would expect her to do, as she has typically done in the past. Not for the first time, she wonders if Frankie and Carrie are in cahoots.

“How about some of your favorite tea while you think it over.” It’s not a question. Frankie is telling her in their stern-but-loving way to sit there and think about her choices.

Frankie pats her leg before walking back over to the counter. As usual, Everly listens to them, despite feeling a little bit like she’s just been put in time-out.

~~~

A few days later, Everly decides to give it a go. As she’s thinking back over her conversation with Asim at Magnolia Nursery, she realizes he said he would help with the project, but he also offered to put her in contact with a landscaper he knows. She isn’t sure now what he meant by him helping, so this is her first order of business. She’s going to call and ask what he meant—after writing out a script, of course.

She writes a few lines, then crosses them out and starts over. Tapping her pen against her paper, Everly thinks it over, going for more neuro-typical, less anxious mess.

What would Carrie say?

She tries again, sticking to bullet points, and finally comes up with a couple options that feel feasible.

Everly turns the business card over, the corner of her mouth twitching when she notices his handwriting is neater than she would have expected. She brings the card closer to her nose, eyes squinting as she looks at it more closely.

That is the cutest ‘8’ she has ever seen. It’s a little crooked, with a chubby lower loop. Everly drops the card onto the table and unlocks her phone. She taps in the number, double checks (and triple checks) that she typed it correctly, then hits the green call button. She immediately stands up from the bar stool in her kitchen and starts tracing her usual path around the island as his phone rings.

Just when she thinks he won’t answer and starts to feel a dip of disappointment in her stomach, combined with a swell of relief for avoiding what is sure to be an awkward conversation, he picks up.

“Hello? This is Asim.”

“Asim, hi” Everly replies, and she gets that same tingly feeling in her toes just hearing his voice again.

“Everly?” he asks.

“Oh, right! Yeah, it’s Everly.” And here she goes again, making a fool of herself. She’s surprised he recognizes her voice over the phone, given how little she’s actually spoken to him.

“I was hoping you’d call. How are the plants doing?” Asim asks, bypassing her awkwardness easily.

He was hoping she would call? Everly freezes, one foot hovering in the air mid-pace for a moment as she blinks rapidly and nearly forgets to answer his question .

“Um… huh.” Everly glances around her kitchen, not really seeing it. How are the plants doing? She hasn’t paid them much attention since heaving them out of the trunk of her car. “Maybe I should go check on them before answering that?” Her voice rises at the end, turning it into a question.

His laugh makes her heart skip a beat. It’s full and deep, and warms her up from the inside out.

“I adore how honest you are. Yes, that would probably be a good idea. If you haven’t watered them yet, you might want to do that too," he adds, and she can hear the smile in his voice.

“Noted, thank you.” Everly gives a hesitant laugh in return. She’s never had someone comment on her being honest before. She didn’t realize that was a particularly strong character trait of hers, but maybe he’s right. It certainly could be. If anything, she’s more honest with him because of how open and honest he is with her.

“Could you do my landscaping?” she blurts, then slaps a hand to her mouth as her eyes widen in horror.

How is she already so far off script?! Everly doesn’t want to pressure him into doing extra work if that’s not what he intended, and that is certainly not how she planned to clarify what he meant when he said he would help.

In a rush, she continues, her hand now flapping madly in the air around her.

“I mean, obviously I’m not assuming, and if not that’s totally okay. It’s only that you offered to help but I wasn’t sure if that meant you’d come here yourself or if it meant you’d help me find someone else. I shouldn’t have put that on you.” She’s shaking her head quickly as if that will reverse time. “I can do it myself of course or probably my neighbor can help, he’s always outside in his garden so I’m sure he knows—”

“Whoa, Everly, slow down.” Asim’s voice comes through loud and strong, and she realizes he’s been trying to stop her for a while now. He continues more calmly when she cuts off her rambling. “Slow down, it’s okay. I’m happy to help.”

“Oh my gosh, thank you so much.” She breathes deep in relief, her shoulders slumping before pulling up short again at his next words.

“On one condition," he states.

“And what’s that?” The butterflies are back in Everly’s stomach at the note of what might be mischief in his voice.

“If you’ll let me teach you, if you’ll let me show you how to plant everything and take care of them, then I’ll come over and help you. I won’t do it for you; we’ll do it together.” Asim’s voice feels like a caress through the phone.

He wants to teach her? He wants to do it together? She’s never been one for manual labor before, let alone literally digging in the dirt, but she’s willing to do anything if he’s involved. Getting down and dirty with him sounds like an afternoon to remember.

“That sounds great," Everly replies. “I’d love for you to teach me whatever you want.”

There’s a moment of quiet as the sentence hangs between them.

“Whatever I want?” he asks, and she can practically feel the smirk in his voice as he draws out the vowels.

Her skin flushes hot, and she’s fairly certain he could hear the quick inhale she just took. She has no idea what to say, and she praises all the gods above and below when Asim smoothes it over again.

“Let’s get started now then. I’m guessing you haven’t planted the ones you bought the other day?” Asim moves on as if he didn’t just set her mind reeling with possibilities.

“No, I haven’t done anything. They’re in the driveway.” Everly somehow wrangles her thoughts back into the present moment and gives a fairly coherent reply.

“Okay, no problem. How about I come over this week to help with the design and we can start planting?” Asim asks.

Everly confirms a day and time, and they hang up with one last reminder for her to water the plants before then.

She drops her phone on the counter and stares at it, her mind and body feeling drained and energized at the same time; a fluttering mix of relief, anticipation, and nervous energy for what’s to come .

Somehow Asim makes everything easier. When her anxiety doesn’t get in the way, he’s so comfortable and easy to talk with, to be around. Everly has never felt that way with anyone before; she’s never met anyone quite like him. Someone who makes her feel like a better version of herself—one she wants to live up to—and who doesn’t let her weirdness or awkwardness get in the way. She’s never met someone who can so easily roll right past her eccentricities and seems to accept her as she is, obvious flaws and all, without any judgment. This is entirely new territory for her, and although it’s intimidating, it’s also a bit exciting.

~~~

“Hey Ad, perfect timing, I could use a break.” Everly answers the video call and aims the camera toward her desk, showing Addison the plethora of paperwork stacked in organized piles all across it.

“Wow, what’s going on?” Addison asks.

“Just reviewing end of year reports and comparing our prospective numbers for this year. How have you been?” Everly relaxes into her chair as her sister’s bubbly voice rambles about how nice the weather has been, how they desperately need rain but she’s enjoying the endless sunshine, about her trip to the beach with friends the other day, and her thoughts about some changes she’s considering at work.

Everly is thankful that her sister is more talkative and social than she is, it makes it a lot easier to chat with her most of the time. Everly’s learning that she just has to listen and give the appropriate responses, easy enough to do, until Addison turns it back to her.

“So you never told me, how did it go at the garden center the other day?” Addison asks, because of course she does. She’s also learning that her sister is very thoughtful, and although her head is often in the clouds, she doesn’t forget anything once she deems it important to someone she cares about.

“It… went," Everly says with a heavy sigh, rolling her eyes to the ceiling. “I mean it ended up good, but I’m just such a doofus sometimes. I don’t know why I always end up embarrassing myself.”

“You’re just you. You might be a bit of a dork sometimes, but that’s not a bad thing and you don’t have to be embarrassed about it. It’s cute, it makes you unique. It’s one of the things I love about you.”

“Thanks.” Everly twists her lips to the side, she doesn’t know what else to say to that.

She isn’t one for expressions of love or affection, not really having any practice with it for eight years, and although she appreciates hearing it from her sister, that doesn’t make it any easier for her to figure out how to reply. Addison fills the awkward pause as usual, demanding Everly to tell her everything. Everly shares it all: the tropical plant mishap, the tour, her blunder with the whole landscaping debacle, the cart filling up, Asim passing her his number, how he so considerately loaded up her car, and finally, the follow up phone call. It actually feels good to get it all out, and she’s eager to hear her sister’s take on the situation.

“I am so jealous.” Addison states.

“Wait, what?” Everly is completely thrown. “What in the world are you jealous of? Did you hear what I said?”

“Yes, I heard.” A very annoyed huff comes from the other end, and Everly grins at the memories it brings up. With the bubbly, social side her sister had growing up, Addison was at times an angsty, opinionated handful when she was a teen.

“Okay, so what then?”

“You’re so… you," Addison says again, then pauses and Everly assumes she’s trying to get her thoughts in order. “I’m jealous of how forthright you are and I wish I could put myself out there like that. I feel like I’m always wearing a mask, but you’re actually being yourself.”

Everly has to laugh. If only Addison had the behind the scenes of how it actually went.

“Believe me, I’m also jealous of that version of me," Everly says. “I normally feel like I’m wearing a mask too. It took me ages to work up the courage to take it off, so to speak, and honestly, this whole being outgoing and being myself thing is pretty new. I’m not actually that confident, but I’m trying to be.”

She wonders how much she should share with her sister, then catches herself, and takes a second to reflect on how much she wants to share. In no time at all, Everly realizes she wants to share everything.

“I’ve actually been seeing a therapist and it’s really helpful. Lately we’ve been working on figuring out who I am on the inside, and bringing that person to the outside.”

“I didn’t realize you were going to therapy," Addison sounds surprised. “That’s really cool. I’ve thought about giving it a try, but. I don’t know. I guess it seems kind of intimidating.” She nervously laughs out the last sentence, averting her eyes from the phone

Everly pauses, reflecting on how to move forward. She doesn’t want to mess up what is turning into a very real moment for them.

“I’m happy to talk to you about my experience. Carrie, my therapist, is the best. She’s also kind of the worst sometimes, but in a good way.”

Addison laughs more genuinely at this, and Everly smiles along with her.

“For real though, no one is perfect, so I think everyone can benefit from therapy. It doesn’t mean something is wrong with you. It just means you’re willing to improve yourself.”

Addison nods, “true.”

She gets lost in her thoughts for a moment, eyes unfocused beyond the screen.

“I’d like to hear more, if you’re open to talking about it.” Addison’s voice is tentative but Everly meets it with a smile.

“Of course. I’m happy to.”

Everly reflects on her time in therapy and shares more of her experiences with Addison, answering some of her questions and talking more about what it has been like for her.

After their call ends, Everly sits back in her chair and swivels around to look out the windows over the landscape, admiring the meandering river as it sparkles with sunlight. She replays their conversation with a small smile on her lips. Their connection is growing, becoming almost tangible, and that alone is enough to make any day brighter.