Miller and Sons was a beautiful florist just on the outskirts of Lima, Ohio, it was a small shop with a blue canopy hanging over the pavement in front of it. It was decorated with deep purple walls and rows upon rows of flowers in water which made the shop have that distinct florist smell. The shop was split in half, the front half being the main shop floor where all the customers would come to discuss their floral needs, and the back half being the workroom where every order was created and finished to perfection, a glass paneled door splitting the two.

Kurt Hummel had inherited the florists when he was 18 years old, it had been left to him by his mother in her will when she had died when he was 8. His Aunt had looked after it for him in the interim, presenting the keys to him once he had graduated high school. The florist had been in the family for over 100 years, passed down through the generations, and it was well respected in the community. Kurt had originally found the whole experience of owning and running a business extremely daunting, but now, 7 years later he had found his stride and was loving his job.

The main thing he loved about his job was the variety of customers he got, and also the variety of occasions he catered for, from birth to death and every occasion in between. Today was a beautiful July day, and the shop was busier than ever, finding Kurt rushing between trying to serve and make the flowers. He had hired a young girl as a server, but to be honest, she had no clue about flowers and he often ended up jumping in and taking the order himself. The stress levels of the job were high, and it wasn't the glamourous job a lot of people thought it was, in fact 90% of the time it was just cold and wet.

"Santana! Can you help me with these buckets please?"

"I would, but then health and safety guidelines say I shouldn't lift anything whilst the floor is wet and there is a potential that I could slip"

Kurt gritted his teeth, if he always followed health and safety nothing would ever get done around here, that was the trouble with having staff of any kind, they always wanted to play things by the book, and that was not exactly good for business.

"Okay, well, if you can't do that, can you at least start sorting through the orders for tomorrow? There is a big funeral going out in the afternoon, so I need to know what else I need to do tomorrow so I can prepare it all in advance, okay?"

Santana nodded at him, she looked completely uninterested, but Kurt had to admit, that when she did bother working, she actually was good at her job, and the customer loved her, especially the male ones. You see, Santana was the type of girl that turned heads, beautiful mocha coloured skin, long dark hair and a gorgeous body. Even though Kurt was about as straight as a pigs tail, he could still appreciate the beauty of Santana and her latin looks.

Kurt hauled the tubs of flowers he needed across the shop, it wasn't pleasant work, and it was by no means easy work, but someone had to do it. Just as he was turning back around, a familiar customer made their way into the shop.

"Mrs Pascoe! How are you? How's that adorable little dog of yours?" Mrs Pascoe was an elderly lady, who smelt of mould and wet dogs, but she was the kindest woman you would ever meet. The only problem was, she was also the town gossip, she loved to know everything and anything about anyone, and the fact that the town florist often knew a lot, meant she was in here a lot.

"I'm fine thank you, Kurt, and Snuffles is fabulous as always, now, I want some of your gorgeous gerberas, I'm having some family over tomorrow night and need something to go in the middle of the table"

"No problem, Mrs Pascoe, any particular colour you would like?"

"Any is fine, whatever you think is best, I'll leave it to the professional" This was the statement Kurt always hated getting, if he were to get the colour wrong, she wouldn't be happy, and yet, if he reminded her that she told him to choose a colour, that would be wrong too. So instead he played it safe, a nice pale pink. He knew from one of his many conversations with Mrs Pascoe that he living room was pink and green, so these would do perfectly.

"I'll just wrap them up for you, that will be $10 please"

"Those prices keep creeping up, Kurt! You'll lose my business soon!"

"I wish I could charge you less, but the supplier keeps upping their prices, and I need to make a living!"

Mrs Pascoe had made this comment every single time she bought flowers, and it wasn't a surprise to him anymore, and he always gave the same response, despite the fact he hadn't actually changed his prices in two years, pick your battles and all that.

"So, anyway, tell me, what do you know about the italian restaurant next door? Have you met the family that will be running it yet?"

About two days ago a big pickup truck had pulled up outside their row of shops and started to offload equipment for the italian restaurant next door. The restaurant had always been there, but had swapped owners so many times that Kurt had lost count. He hoped this new owner would have some more success.

"I've seen them briefly, but nothing more than a friendly wave, I have no idea what their names are or anything like that, but as soon as I do, you will be the first to know, Mrs Pascoe!"

Kurt winked at Mrs Pascoe, he knew full well she would know everything there was to know about them before he could even have the chance to introduce himself, that was just the type of person she was.

"Right you are, Kurt, well I best be off, need to get home to Snuffles before he gets hungry! I'll see you next week!"

"Bye, Mrs Pascoe, see you soon"

He watched as the old lady made her way back onto the street, as soon as she was out of sight he ran to the back room to grab the air freshener he had stored there, he always needed to 'de-Mrs Pascoe' the shop after her visits, to say she left a particular scent was an understatement. Once the shop was once again smelling like normal, he put the small can away and turned to see how Santana was doing on the orders she was supposed to be sorting out.

"How's it going Santana?"

"Good, we've got four orders for the morning, plus the funeral work in the afternoon, so if you get started on that, I'll go and get us some coffees from down the street."

"You do know we have a perfectly good coffee machine here don't you Santana?"

"I know, but it always tastes better from a shop don't ya think?"

"Hmm, and this has nothing to do with the Barista who works there on a Wednesday afternoon then?"

He smirked as Santana blushed, he knew she had a massive crush on the Barista, a pretty blonde haired girl who had only recently started working there, and he loved nothing more than to tease her about it, especially seen as he had no love life of his own to focus on.

"N-No! It's just good coffee okay?"

"Whatever you say, Santana!"

With a huff she stormed out of the shop, he couldn't help but chuckle at her outburst, young love huh? His laughter was cut short however when he thought about his own 'love life' being a gay man in Ohio didn't exactly have men falling at his feet. You would think being a florist would be the sort of industry you would find lots of gay men, but alas, no, they were mostly middle aged women, or the customers he thought might be gay were in to order funeral work, not the greatest time to pick someone up.

He had never had a proper boyfriend before, sure he'd dated a couple of boys here and there, usually meeting them at the local gay club, scandals, but they never transpired into anything more than a quick dance and a kiss goodnight, something he was desperate to change anytime soon.

He tried his best to snap out of his funk, he had a lot of work to do after all. Maybe his prince charming would be just around the corner? He could only hope anyway. The phone rang before he could have much time to ponder though.

"Miller and Sons, good afternoon, how can I help you?"

"Kurt? Buddy? It's your Dad"

"Oh, Hi Dad! How are you?"

"Good, good, listen, Carole wants to know if you want to come over to dinner on Saturday night this week instead of Friday, Finn has met some girl that he wants the rest of us to approve of."

Kurt's heart sank slightly, he would therefore be the only non-couple person there, just what he needed to reminded him just how single he really was.

"Sure, sounds great Dad, what time do you want me?"

"Um, 7pm?"

"Okay, I'll be there, send my love to Carole! Love you Dad!"

"I will, love you too son"

Hanging up the phone, he clutched it in his hand for a few seconds, feeling that familiar feeling of loneliness creeping over him, he let it rest in a dark cloud over his head before putting the phone back on the holder and making his way to his work bench, picking the order up as he went and seeing what had to be made.

Yep, hopefully his prince charming would be right around the corner.