There are three things Emily excelled at: caring for plants, arranging flowers, and caring for her family. Flora Lane, a gift from her grandfather, was her pride and joy. She honed these skills by tending the flower shop. 

Saturdays meant her brother was available to help her around the shop, but her mind was elsewhere. 

"...or maybe we can get a connection to the Mystic Grid..." the teen said, but Emily wasn't paying attention. Neither was the teen, it seemed, since he was still busy tapping away on his phone, but the sound of each tap was only fuelling her irritation. 

She had been awake since 5 in the morning, getting herself and the shop ready for the first few clients coming in at 7 in the morning. They were mostly her regulars: an old man who brought white roses to his wife's grave.

"Fresh as always, thank you dear. I'm sure my wife would have loved them," he always said as he looked at the flowers, nostalgia evident in his eyes. Then, there were a few random teenagers buying flowers for the girl they were wooing; a woman who would always get a bouquet every few days to decorate her workplace. And a lady who ordered flowers from her nearly every day, emailing her the details of how she wanted them and that she was sending someone to pick them up. Emily wasn't a morning person, but catering to these people who only wanted to appreciate the ones they loved made her eager to come and work in the morning. 

Today, however, she was especially determined to work, since there was a foreboding sense of dread that overcame her after her conversation with her best friend and benefactor, Joshua Reed, just a little after opening the shop. 

'I'm sorry, Em. I really wish there was another way out of this.' She recalled what Joshua said this morning. Emily felt a spike of indignation and briefly wondered if Joshua didn't trust that she would be able to pay back her debt. Was that why he had been bringing it up at an increasing frequency?

'Yes, Josh, I will pay everything back. I'm just not in a good financial standpoint at the moment, but I promise you, I will pay you back.' She may have snapped at him, but she felt like a cornered animal: there was only fight or flight and there was no way she can escape this, so she fought. Albeit in the worse way possible: lashing out at her best friend. 

Emily nearly gripped the flower stems tightly, but caught herself. It wasn't the flower's fault, so she really shouldn't take her frustration out on them. She knew Joshua meant every word he said--they had been best friends for so long, but his family business was something that seemed like a boon in the beginning but now it was posing great risk for her family and shop. The last time someone failed to pay their debt to the Reeds, she had witnessed the consequences first hand.

She wouldn't let that happen. Not to her family. Not to her home or this shop. But the Reeds had been patient for too long now, and sooner or later, they would come knocking. 

Michael turned his attention to her again and tilted his head, "Em, are you really okay?" But Emily only waved at the younger but the tightness in her chest betrayed her. Her hands, still shaking slightly, hovered over the delicate petals of a ghost orchid. The flower was soft and fragile, just like her own emotions. It was hard not to feel the weight of the world bearing down on her. 

The tap of Michael's phone filled the air again, and Emily's irritation flared. "Did the collector come earlier?" Michael asked, his voice cutting through the tension in the room. 

Emily groaned in response, trying not to snap. When Joshua came this morning to remind her that their debt had  grown into a massive sum, but what else could she do? Her family's debts were piling up, and the flower shop was struggling to stay afloat. She had to keep it together. For herself, for the shop, and for the memory of her grandfather who had given it to her. The teen inched closer and stood in front of her, arms folded on the countertop. 

"Mikey, can't you just get a job so we can pay off our debts?" The words slipped out before she could stop them, and she immediately regretted them. Michael was still young, and his future was complicated. He was stuck between the expectations of their mother, who wanted him to follow a safer, more lucrative path, and his own ambitions, which had little to do with the family's financial troubles and his guilt for not being able to alleviate the financial burden of the family. 

Michael frowned at her suggestion. "You know I still can't. Mum wants me to join one of the Angeles' companies, which means I--"

"--need to finish your degree, I get it," Emily interrupted, her voice flat. She paused in her arrangement, her fingers brushing against the flowers with more force than necessary. She didn't mean to sound harsh, but she was so tired. So tired of the constant pressure, the mounting debts, and the endless feeling of helplessness.

It wasn't Michael's fault, and yet she couldn't help but feel angry. Her brother didn't deserve to bear this burden. She didn't want him to feel like it was his responsibility to fix everything. Besides, why should he be the one fixing what she had brought on to them? Why couldn't things be simpler? Why couldn't they just focus on making the shop work without worrying about the looming threat of Joshua's family? 

She glanced at the clock and it read 8 a.m. The bouquet she was preparing for Mrs. Cruz needed to be picked up soon. It was always the small moments like this that made her smile. Though she only saw the lady once and she always sent her assistant, she was still the most loyal customer, and her assistant always mentioned how she always appreciated Emily's work. Maybe it wasn't much, but it was something she could hold onto when everything else felt like it was slipping away. 

As Emily finished arranging the flowers, her lips curled into a small smile. She glanced up just in time to see Mariko, Mrs. Cruz's assistant, come in to pick up the bouquet. When Mariko handed her an amount that was well above the agreed price, Emily hesitated. 

"Stop," Mariko said with a gentle smile, pushing the extra money into Emily's hand. "We've been doing this for so long, Emily. Just keep it, okay?" 

Emily couldn't help but a tinge more grateful "Thank you, Mariko." She smiled, her heart lightened by the gesture. 

"Thank you," Mariko winked and left the shop, the door chimes ringing softly as she disappeared into the street. 

When the shop was quiet again, Michael leaned against the counter, his arms crossed. "Maybe you can try that job Mum keeps talking about?" he suggested

'One of her children' meant her. Emily's stomach churned at the thought. Her mother had been bringing up the Angeles' company more and more lately, suggesting that Emily might have a shot at one of their internal positions. The Angeles Group of Companies was a giant corporation that controlled nearly every aspect of Lunaria's economy. Their influence was overwhelming, and Emily wasn't sure she could stomach working for them. But her situation was becoming more and more desperate by the day. 

With Joshua's family on her back like this, she's very tempted to take on whatever job it was. Her mind was racing as she looked at her brother. Is this the only answer?

With a heavy heart, Emily sent a quick text to her mother, asking for more details about the job. The response came quickly, but it wasn't of much help: "Go see for yourself." 

The decision weighed heavily on her, and as the morning wore on, she couldn't shake the feeling that things were about to change, one way or another.