"THERE'S SOMEBODY AT THE DOOR!!!"
"What in Sam Hill was all that about?"
"Nothing....well, of course it was not nothing, but I'm sorry,"
"Uh?" was Jemima's monosyllabic, yet eloquent, reply.
Miriam sighed then continued, "It was a simple misunderstanding between us. I would ask that you not ask anything further as it is something personal and I have a right to my privacy. And now I would rather not talk about it."
Jemima put the sign to 'open' and shrugged. Then, as she walked to the counter, pointed at the flowers in the vase.
"What's them?" she asked with a slight wrinkle of her nose: as if they were not beautiful and fragrant objects, but something ugly and objectionably smelly and ugly instead.
Surprisingly but also thankfully, Jemima did not press the issue but respected the girl's request, Miriam noted. The store was reopened by a flip of the sign and for now things were back to normal. As for between her and Hector, Miriam needed to plan on how to handle that issue differently than the path it had been roaring down. It was going to be all about privacy and that meant no public walk down the boardwalk.
Jemima noticed the flowers and obviously was not much of a fan, "What's them?"
"Flowers, silly. Mr. Pettigrew put them in a nice vase and thought they livened up the place for the ladies. Women love flowers after all," Miriam explained leaving out a key detail.
"THERE'S SOMEBODY AT THE DOOR!!!"
Jemima noticed the flowers and obviously was not much of a fan, "What's them?"
"Flowers, silly. Mr. Pettigrew put them in a nice vase and thought they livened up the place for the ladies. Women love flowers after all," Miriam explained leaving out a key detail.
Jemima considered the blooms with a considered sniff and suspicious narrowed eyes, which she then turned on the rather too bright-as-a-button Miriam.
"All seems pretty queer to me!" she muttered and went through the velvet curtain.
"He is the owner of the shop and our employer, if he thinks flowers brighten the place up then more power to him. I rather like them too," Miriam then decided to go upstairs and sew something....anything just to end this most uncomfortable conversation. She'd make new plans with Hector before Sunday.