typical

Solveiga had made the decision to mind her own business and let the grouchy man have his space. But it seemed that he was putting forth an effort to be polite, and to care a little about what she was doing. First he introduced himself, to which she simply responded, "Nice to meet you. I'm Solveiga." But then she looked up at him and laughed a bit when he commented on the smell of the lavender.

"Yes, it does," she said. "Lavender has a lovely smell. Relaxing." She leaned down to take another whiff, letting it soothe her senses and bring another smile to her face.

"You can come closer, if you want," she said, "See for yourself. Or, smell for yourself, I guess." With a good natured shrug, Solveiga set to work cutting a few samples. Lavender smelled lovely and was soothing, but it could be used for much more than that. Solveiga had recently learned that the pretty flowers could be consumed to help with depression, as well as anxiety and insomnia. It had been good to know, back when she was losing sleep over the loss of her mother. Solveiga herself had used lavender during some of the worst nights.

Was this stranger interested? Or would insinuating that he needed lavender only tick him off more? Solveiga couldn't help pondering it. Maybe she could figure out a subtle way to offer it to him. But here, take a bite of this flower seemed suspicious enough, not to mention coming from a stranger. He might think she was trying to poison him or something.