"I think you have the better phone." Sal said, chuckling at Arte's almost uncharacteristic giggle. He gave her face a little squeeze between his palms before he put his arm back around her and guided them over to a spot where the advertising banners could be seen behind them. _________________ Butts n' butts n' butts n' butts.
Arte fished her phone out of her bag, dropping said bag by her feet for the photo. Sal wasn’t very much taller than Arte, so she stretch with ease to get them both in the photo before snapping the picture.
"If you make that your background, I'll make it mine." Sal grinned. "But you can send it to me in a bit, right now...can I take you to lunch? Or do you have other plans today?" He asked, going right back to tucking Arte to his side with his arm placed around her shoulders. "I hear there's a really good gyro food truck that frequents this neighborhood." _________________ Butts n' butts n' butts n' butts.
Things had been going well since the museum date to say the least. Arte felt closer to Sal and more comfortable with passing touches and affectionate pets, though it still felt a little foreign and needed getting used to. She would still pink with surprise and certainly wasn’t bold enough to ever make the first move. But she had come to sort of expect it and found herself looking forward to it as they were getting more comfortable dating and being around each other in that way. Emilio was over the moon and insisted he saw a change in Arte and rattled off about it every time he saw her. She supposed he was right, because never before did she wake up to her phone alarm and smile at her phone background. The two of them, huddled in close and cheeks rosy from their first kiss; standing in front of an assortment of pamphlets and an anatomical dummy that half of him was the muscular system and he other just bones.
It had been a muggy and humid day, the radio called for heavy showers and thunderstorms. Arte thrived in rainy settings, she was a night owl who worked best at night but when the rain would bring overcast, it gave her an opportunity to be more focused during the day. She hadn’t planned on going anywhere that day, just staying in and studying; taking advantage of a free day. Waiting around all day, the rain hadn’t come. The clouds circulating in intricate ways, combatting the oncoming storm as the rays from the son fought to shine through. It was evening time now, the sun was setting and Arte could finally see the darkness rolling in and hear the distant waves of thunder on the other side of the city. The house was empty, everyone was off somewhere; Roxanne having been whisked away for the weekend by Jer. So Arte looked out the window over the sink, watching the sky while her leftovers sizzled in the microwave.
After a moment, her phone vibrated and she saw it was her mom calling. Probably to check that she was reheating the leftovers properly (she wasn’t). But instead Roxanne explained with great urgency that a new guy they had hired didn’t return from lunch. The shop had been unattended and not closed down or locked up, she needed Arte to hurry down and assess the situation and close things up. Abandoning her dinner, she raced out the front door and down the pavement towards the shop, being chased by rain clouds. She wasn’t dressed for rain, but Arte hardly had time to worry about it. Her hair was up in a little bun, lots of flyaways and even more springing loose as she ran. She was wearing a Columbia University shirt that her Dad got her for Christmas last year, it was white with an old hot sauce stain on the collar that perhaps could’ve come out if she told Roxanne soon enough. Uncharacteristically, she was wearing shorts. She’d planned on being home all day and it was so hot. They were nice enough, plain jeans shorts that hugged her hips and thighs securely. The bottoms were rolled up a little higher than she would’ve liked but they were comfortable in spite of that. But she was able to step into her rain boots and grab a windbreaker from the mud room, so she wouldn't be totally screwed if she got rained on or had to walk home in it.
She came up to the flower shop just in time. It didn’t look like anything crazy had happened, not at a glance at least. She propped open the doors and started carting in plants with haste as the rain had begun coming down and begun pelting her and the plants. She squealed with surprise at how hard the droplets hit, fumbling with a large cypress plant before regaining her footing and rolling back clumsily with it into the shop. Of course she considered calling Sal for help, but just for a second. She needed to focus on getting the plants in and couldn’t stop to make a phone call. She supposed she would be fine and ultimately not need help as long as she kept her head down on the task at hand.
When Sal first met Artemis, he hardly thought that he would ever engage in any sort of relationship beyond her being his kid sister's bookworm friend, and yet all these years later there he was, cultivating a budding relationship with Arte and enjoying every moment of it.
Things were slow turning at first, Sal had worried that Arte would never come to believe in his intentions towards her, but at some point she had begun to relax around him a bit more. It started with her joking and teasing with him, which then turned to comfortable conversations and time spent together. She still didn't initiate any intimate touches, but she didn't seem to mind it at all when Sal did. Sometimes she tried to act like he was annoying her with his affections, but he'd always catch her blushing and smiling, even if it was to herself. Sal wasn't sure yet, but he was beginning to think that perhaps she liked him, and that maybe he loved her.
Roxanne had called Sal to ask him if he could cover a shift in the morning since it seemed like the new hire was flaking on the job already. He assured Roxanne that he could, but when he inquired who closed up the shop that evening, Roxanne had explained that she had already called Arte before calling him to ask her to close up the shop. Of course Sal knew that Arte was fully capable and responsible enough to take care of the shop on her own, with the weather turning so quickly and night rolling in, he didn't want to leave her on her own.
He had been lounging around in his own apartment all day, enjoying a day to himself, so he was clad in nothing but a pair of grey sweats that were too short on him like most pants and bottoms, and a flannel that looked roughed up from many days helping his dad out with chores despite having been washed and mended plenty of times. As soon as he was off the phone with Roxanne, he hastily buttoned up the flannel, missing a few buttons and surely not lining everything up, and threw on a rain jacket and a pair of running shoes he had just treated himself to recently. He made sure to grab an umbrella, more for Arte than himself as he was sure she wouldn't bring one for herself, before locking up his apartment and heading out.
He lived relatively close to the shop (and his sister's), which was a huge reason why he ultimately settled on that particular apartment, so it didn't take him long at all to come rolling up to the store. He could see that Arte had begun to bring the plants inside and saw her dragging in a cypress plant and getting it settled in it's indoor space. Before she could rush back out, he grabbed the largest and trickiest of racks and began unlocking it's wheels so he could drag it in for her. _________________ Butts n' butts n' butts n' butts.
Arte came back out and couldn’t tell at first that it was Sal unlocking one of the plant racks. His outfit looked thrown together the same as hers, as though he’d just run out in a hurry. Did her mother call Sal too? She decided to not question it right now, rejoining him in carrying plants into the building. They finished pulling all the plants in, the linoleum floor was slippery and wet from them carrying everything in from the rain. The tiny bun Arte started with was wet and unraveled from the heavy rain; platinum blonde locks clinging to her face the same way her wet clothes clung to her body.
She shivered and panted, cold and tired from transporting things in in such a hurry in bad weather. It didn’t make her feel better to hug her wet clothes tighter to her body but it was almost a reflex, grabbing at the windbreaker and holding it closed.
“What are you doing here?” She asked, more of a general question than accusatory like it might’ve been normally.
“Your mom called and told me that you were cleaning up after the flake and I saw the weather was turning sour pretty fast. I didn’t want you to have to pack it all up by yourself in the rain.” As Sal explained, he went around to the other side of the counter where a set of spare towels were kept, mostly to dry hands after refilling water reservoirs and vases. He went over to Arte and pressed the towel to her cheeks, drying her face and some of her soggy locks. “Plus, I knew if I came to help, I’d get to see you.” He added. _________________ Butts n' butts n' butts n' butts.
“Thanks,” She sighed as he dabbed her cheeks with the towel. Also uncharacteristic, normally she’d shrug away or snatch the towel away in embarrassment. But she allowed Sal to take a moment and dote on her, which she appreciated as she was shivering and wet. “There’s still more to do, I haven’t checked the til yet to make sure we weren’t robbed, if you can call it that.” She said then.
“If you want to do that, I can finish locking everything else up and do the nightly cleaning.” Sal suggested, taking the towel then and draping it over Arte’s still dripping locks. He gently dried her hair for her, his knuckles occasionally brushing against her cheeks. “You didn’t bring an umbrella I bet.” He said to her. _________________ Butts n' butts n' butts n' butts.
“I didn’t, but I’m guessing you did?” Arte asked, turning to look up at him. That was very on brand, to say the least. Sal would be the type to come running in the rain with an umbrella, but couldn’t even button his flannel evenly.
“That hardly matters now.” Arte chuckled a little before pulling away from his hand, somewhat reluctantly. “I’ll check the till, we’ll probably need to mop.” She said then, moving past him to approach the counter.
“Okay, but after we’re done, did you have plans? I wanted to let you study since it’s your day off too, but since we’re both already here, that hardly matters anymore, I figure. My apartment isn’t far and we could order takeout or something.” Sal suggested, reaching out to grab the bottom of Arte’s windbreaker to give it a soft tug. _________________ Butts n' butts n' butts n' butts.
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