Page 14 - It Ends with Us

He smiles . “It’s R yle, ” he says. “R yle Kinc aid.”

I sigh, sink ing int o mysel f. “That’s a rea lly grea t na me. ”
“Why do you sound sad about it?”
“Bec ause, I’d give any thi ng for a grea t na me. ”
“You don’t like the na me Lily?”
I tilt my hea d and cock an ey ebrow. “My last na me . . . is Bloom.”
He’s quiet . I can feel hi m trying to ho ld back hi s pity.

“I kno w. It’s awful. It’s the na me of a two-yea r-old little girl, no t a
twent y-three- yea r-old woman. ”
“A two-yea r-old girl will ha ve the same na me no matter ho w old she
get s. Names aren’ t somet hi ng we ev ent ually grow out of, Lily Bloom.”
“Unf ortuna tel y for me, ” I say. “But wha t makes it ev en worse is tha t
I absolutel y love gardeni ng . I love flowers . Plant s. Growing thi ng s. It’s
my passion. It’s always been my drea m to open a florist sho p, but I’m

afraid if I did, peo ple wouldn’t thi nk my des ire was authe nt ic. They
would thi nk I was trying to capitalize off my na me and tha t bei ng a
florist isn’t rea lly my drea m job.”
“Maybe so,” he says. “But wha t’s tha t matter?”
“It does n’t, I suppose. ” I catch mysel f whi speri ng , “Li ly Bl oom’s”
quiet ly. I can see hi m smiling a little bit. “It rea lly is a grea t na me for a

florist. But I ha ve a master’s deg ree in busines s. I’d be downg rading ,
don’t you thi nk ? I work for the bigges t market ing firm in Boston. ”
“Owni ng your own busines s isn’t downg rading ,” he says.
I raise an ey eb row. “Unl es s it flops.”
He no ds in agreement . “Unl es s it flops,” he says. “So wha t’s your
middle na me, Lily Bloom?”
I groan, whi ch makes hi m per k up.

“You mea n it get s worse?”
I drop my hea d in my ha nd s and no d.
“Rose?”
I sha ke my hea d. “Worse. ”
“Violet ?”
“I wish. ” I cring e and then mutter, “Bl ossom.”

There’ s a moment of silenc e. “Goddamn, ” he says softly.
“Yea h. Blossom is my mother’s maiden na me and my parent s
tho ught it was fate tha t thei r last na mes were syno ny ms. So of course
when they ha d me, a flower was thei r firs t cho ice. ”