//------------------------------//
// 09: Mallflowers (Pt. 1) 
// Story: Blooming 
// by Bookish Delight 
//------------------------------//

Wallflower had always been of two minds about malls.

On the one hand, they were bustling areas of concession. Almost any desire she had in her life could be granted so long as she had a little bit of spending cash, which she fortunately always did. From a tasty meal to a new dress, to gardening supplies and seeds, if Wallflower wanted it, she knew she would find it in a mall, and she appreciated them for that.

On the other hand... well, they were bustling areas of concession. There were people everywhere, usually talking and laughing together, or playing games, or talking about their chosen shopping subjects, or lining up for the cinema. In other words, they were constant reminders of what Wallflower knew she would never have, and entering any mall meant that they would surround her until she left. 

So she'd simply stopped visiting them. She actually couldn't remember the last time she'd bothered setting foot in one.

Neither of those two main aspects had changed, and Wallflower knew it the second she walked into Canterlot Mall. There were still people, and there were still shops aplenty, and she still almost walked right back out before talking herself back in. 

Once she'd gotten ten feet inside, however, she couldn't stop staring. 

Canterlot Mall itself certainly had changed since she'd been here last. It was glitzier, it was noisier, it had more stores, brand new escalators and walkways, there were more people than she was ever used to, though that might have just been because it was officially the weekend, and— 

Oh gosh.

Was that a Cinnamon Paradise she was seeing?

Wallflower's palms flew to her cheeks despite herself as she gazed at the blue and-white snack stand. She'd only ever had a Paradise Bun once, on a family trip to Vanhoover, but had been convinced that that chain would never come to Canterlot. And yet, there it was! The unmistakable sweet scent wafted past her nostrils, making her drool on contact.

But, no. Not yet. 

Wallflower forced herself to not indulge. To stay on mission. For the first time in as long as she could remember, she had someone to meet in one of these places, and she wasn't going to let that someone down. After consulting the mall directory, she made her way to the cinema.

She'd made sure to arrive at the mall half an hour early, just in case she got lost looking for the theater, but it looked like that wasn't going to be a problem—a simple right turn at the center of the first floor revealed red and pink walls lined with bulb lights, and a box office. 

She stood in front of it, marveling for the second time in fifteen minutes. This was where Juniper worked? It made sense, she just hadn't expected so much... flash. Given Juniper, however, maybe she should have. 

She took a deep breath, then walked inside, putting on a smile. It took effort on her part, but at least, for once, it was genuine.

Upon entering the cinema proper, she looked around for Juniper. It wasn't a hard task—there were only a few customers here and there. Which made sense. 1:00pm was technically still matinee territory. 

Her gaze settled on the concession stand, where she saw telltale green bangs swishing behind the counter. She made her way towards it, and stood at the back of the line. There were two people in front of her, but they were served quickly enough. 

"All right, here's your Nacho Surprise, Candy Mountain, and, uh, diet colas," she heard Juniper say to the couple of girls in front of her—one aqua-skinned, and one ivory-skinned, wearing punk and pop hairstyles and clothes, respectively. Wallflower recognized them vaguely as Canterlot High students. "Enjoy the show." 

Juniper's voice strained to sound enthusiastic, as if she would just as soon throw all of the food she'd just given the two girls. She turned around to fiddle with the fountain drink dispenser as they left, sighing seconds later. 

Wallflower checked—there was nobody behind her. Good. They were alone. She walked to the front of the counter, standing until Juniper turned back around. When Juniper did, Wallflower smiled and waved. 

"Hi, Welcome to Canterlot Cinema, how can I help—" was as far as Juniper got before she saw who was in front of her. She stared for a few moments, then gasped, loud enough to cause the boy playing the catcher machine at the other end of the hall to turn his head in notice. 

With wild eyes and a contorted face, Juniper stretched out her palms in front of Wallflower. "Don't look at me! Don't look at meeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" she cried in a shaky voice.

Wallflower almost jumped back—this was not the reaction she'd expected. "W-wait, what? Why not?"

"What are you talking about? I'm hideous! Hideous beyond all recognition!" Juniper kept up the melodrama, turning to the side and placing the back of her hand across her forehead. "Oh, if only you hadn't seen me at my worst! If only I had been able to keep up my farcical image of a beautiful, jet-setting director for a few more days! But now you know the truth—and lo, as consequence, we must part, forevermore."

Wallflower blinked, doing her best not to laugh. "You're kidding, right?"

Juniper turned back around, relaxed, and grinned. "Only by half. I mean, I did invite you here. I signed up for this." She gestured around herself. "Welcome... to the Day Job." She rolled her eyes, and tugged at her red and yellow striped apron. "That said, I really do hate this uniform. It's... it's all tacky and dumb and clashes with every color I actually like."

"Really?" Wallflower said, casting her gaze to the hat atop Juniper's head, which bore a red-and-yellow design of film reels overlapping each other. "Because I think that hat is awfully cute." 

Juniper blinked, fingering the hat. "Are you serious? I mean, 'Functional,' I'll believe, 'not as bad as the apron', I'll believe harder... but 'cute'?"

"Totally serious." Wallflower nodded. "Not only is it just a cute design, it really does go with your hair." She took out her phone, and showed Juniper a picture of red and yellow tulip arrangements surrounded by grass. "Just saying: if you were a garden, you'd look kind of perfect." 

Wallflower looked up at Juniper with a smile and a shared blush. "Not that you already don't. And I'm glad you're not a garden. I can rarely get my plants to talk back." She winked at Juniper, while making sure not to show how mystified she was at herself. Seriously, just where were these words and actions coming from? Had they been in her all this time?

Juniper took off her hat, holding it in her hands as she looked it over. "Wow. Um. Actually never looked it at that way." She smiled back at Wallflower, slouching and blushing deeper. "Well, thanks. I'll, uh, just think of flowers whenever I change for shifts from now on, I guess?" 

Wallflower giggled. "Hey, always works for me. As for the apron, it goes pretty well with the popcorn popper, at least." She pointed towards said popper behind and to the side of Juniper, which was also red-and-yellow-striped... and currently also overflowing, for some reason. "By the way, is it supposed to do that?"

"Ack!" Juniper said, this time with real panic. She rushed to turn off the machine, then scrambled to contain the overflow in large concession buckets. Finally, she fetched a broom and dustpan to pick up what was on the floor. 

"Ugh, I hate popcorn," Juniper said, rolling her eyes. "I never did until I started working here. But now? Worst. Snack. Ever."

Wallflower winced. "Sorry about that. I guess I really did show up here a little too early, huh?"

"What? Nononononono, no, there's nothing to apologize about!" Juniper smiled again. "If anything, it makes me really happy to know someone's actually anxious to see me. Especially when it's for something other than complaining why their nachos are cold." 

Juniper walked around the counter, placed the contents of the dustpan in the trash, then placed her other hand on Wallflower's shoulder. "I've still got ten minutes left on my shift, but I'll ask if I can get off a little early. Wait here until I get changed back into my good clothes, then it's just you and me. Okay?"

Wallflower nodded. "Okay."

She locked her hands behind herself, finding it impossible to shake the light feeling in her heart as she watched Juniper walk to the back rooms.

She could already tell: today was going to be a good day.