Through the Grapevine

The bright white envelope stood out starkly against the dark oak wood desk it laid on, and the contrast drew Jui’s eye immediately when he walked into the berry shop that morning.

He almost ignored it as he was clocking in, thinking it to be a bit of mail for the boss lady; it was her shop, after all, and most mail was usually addressed to her and of the business variety, with the occasional ad or personal letter from one of her family members. But it was just a single envelope, set haphazardly on the reception desk, like it was tossed onto it without a second thought. Anything for the boss lady would at least have more than two letters, and it would be set a lot neater than that

 (she was a stickler for that sort of thing)

which made him even more confused. Jui wasn’t what you’d consider the curious sort, as most mysteries usually involve investing a level of energy he just wasn’t interested in providing, but… something about this was weird.

Choosing to not resist the urge, Jui scooped up the letter and held it up, inspecting it closely. There was nothing written on it, which increased the weirdness factor by a solid 20%, and nothing about the envelope itself gave away what the contents could be. Curiouser and curiouser. Jui wasn’t about to just open an unmarked mystery letter, of course, because… well he wasn’t exactly raised to not do that, per se, but he does understand the basics of common sense.

…nothing wrong with asking the boss about it, however.

Mind made up, Jui set the letter back on the counter and proceeded with the opening duties, tying on his apron before turning the sign to ‘OPEN’, sweeping the floor of any lingering debris and plant matter from the day before, checking the shipments and orders for the day… that sort of thing. He was halfway through topping off the water of the calla lilies when the front door jingled, and he turned to see his boss push through the door, huffing slightly as she carried in a few small boxes.

Jui set down the watering can before jogging over to take the boxes from her hands, tutting quietly. “Didn’t the doctor tell you no heavy lifting?” chided Jui, pushing the door open wider with his hip so she can come through. She simply laughed.

“Aw, hon, they were barely a few pounds,” Kiane replied, Kalosian accent lilting in amusement, gently placing a hand on her rounded stomach. “Nothing that’ll strain me or my boy. The post office was right down the street from the house, anyway! It was a quick trip.”

“Regardless, I’d still wish you would let me know if there’s something to pick up. That’s literally what I do, and you’re hitting the third trimester soon, aren’t you?”

Kiane smiled gently, patting Jui’s cheek. “You’re so sweet. Don’t worry, love, if there’s something super large to carry, I’ll flag you down!”

“You better,” Jui mock threatened, causing her to laugh again as she waddled deeper into the shop. As she shucked off her jacket and delicately wrapped her apron around her growing child, Jui remembered the letter sitting on the desk. “Oh, Kiane…”

“Hm?”

“I think a bit of mail came for you earlier,” said Jui casually, snagging the broom again to sweep near the display boxes in the back (seemed to have missed some detritus). He turned away to focus on his task as she picked up the letter, so he wouldn’t look like he was trying to be nosy about it.

Even though he was very curious about it, which for him said something.

What he didn’t expect, however, was for her to approach him with it, holding it out for him to take. “It’s for you, actually,” she told him, eyes crinkling at the corners in… was that suppressed mirth? Jui didn’t know what to make of that and would have thought to ask why were he not currently dealing with shock.

“…for… me?”

Jui… got a letter? A letter addressed to him? He doesn’t get letters; he doesn’t have people in his life to get letters from. There were a few times the people from the soup kitchen sent him a ‘thank you’ note, but that was about the extent of it. At the risk of sounding socially inept, Jui didn’t have a lot of people he’d consider friends, close or otherwise. Namid could count, but he visited her damn near every day for work purposes (and for the occasional tea and scones after) that a letter seemed a bit redundant. He also didn’t think she was the letter giving type; whenever she needed to put in an order, she’d just send him a text, or call him if it was something more complex, like ingredients for her spells.

So she was out. 

Her cousin and her cousin’s brother were out, as well, as he saw them a lot less. In the few instances they needed to contact him for something, they would give Namid the message.

“…are you sure it’s for me?” Jui asked, eyebrow beginning to rise. “It… didn’t have a name on it.”

“It is,” confirmed Kiane, confident. “Because I was told to give it to ‘the delivery boy’.” Her tone turned sarcastic. “By process of elimination, and as you’re my only worker, I was able to deduce it must be for you.”

…Well damn, guess it was for him.

“Who is it from?”

Kiane just smiled. Jui blinked.

“…anyone I know?”

She put a finger to her lips in the universal ‘shh’ gesture. Jui squinted at her suspiciously, his eyes narrowing more when she giggled. Well then. That just made Jui more curious about it, if Kiane was deliberately withholding information.

Leaning the broom handle against his shoulder, Jui took the letter – slowly, cautiously almost, like he was expecting it to blow up in his hand. He looked at it for a moment or two, still processing the fact that he even got a letter, and then with a swipe of his finger, he peeled the envelope flap open and pulled the paper free.

Unfolding it, he noticed the letter was handwritten (who manually writes letters nowadays??), the hand not one he was familiar with. His eyes skimmed over the copious number of paragraphs, not fully taking in the contents at first. Then his eye caught on a… peculiar group of words further in. He blinked. Blinked again. His face started to get warm.

He started from the beginning of the letter, reading through more carefully. The more he read, the more his face warmed, to the point his cheeks began to color an interesting shade of red. The curiosity he felt morphed into confusion, into incredulity, and finally into realization.

Was…

Was this a –

Jui was frozen in place as the gears turned in his head. He, uh… this wasn’t a… situation he ever experienced, so he… didn’t have a point of reference for, uh… what one does here… Considering this was a thing that was happening, anyway; he might not have the greatest of social education, and sometimes the more subtle nuances of interacting with people went right over his head, but he probably shouldn’t jump to hasty conclusions, right? Maybe he was misinterpreting somewhere??

Kiane – who Jui completely forgot was also in the shop – had moved closer to him, and was silently reading over his shoulder while he processed (were he not trying to figure things out, he’d tell her off for how very rude that was). After a moment, she let out a dreamy sort of sigh, reaching out to pat Jui’s shoulder.

“Aw, how romantic… you don’t see love letters much these days. This person must really be sweet on you!”

…holy shit.