"So after I water the plants, I need to pot the thyme and put it out front for the customers to see." Randal Barlow thought hurriedly as he unlocked the door to the apothecary shop. Taza was out of town for the week, and she had put him in charge of the business! Randal was determined to do his best- he owed Taza everything, it was the least he could do to help her. "I also need to make sure that the opium in the basement is packaged discreetly, we have a client coming to pick some up today."
Upon entering the shop, Randal's nose was assaulted by an overwhelming smell of flowers. Pots of colorful plants were on every surface that could hold them, and the walls were lined with jars of dried herbs and spices. Sunlight flooded into the room from the windows in the ceiling, giving the impression that one had just entered into a garden rather than a store. Randal loved it here- it was the first place he had ever truly thought of as being "home".
As he approached the main counter, Randal noticed a sheet of parchment that hadn't been there the day before. Upon picking it up, his heart nearly stopped- Taza had left him an entire checklist of chores he needed to do while she was gone. "B-but... she told me what I needed to do before she left! She never said anything about these jobs!" he complained to the empty room. Reading through the list until he reached the bottom, he saw Taza had written something that made Randal's hair stand on end.
"Continued on other side"
Groaning, Randal stormed off to the backroom to find the water pitcher. "Do this, do that, don't forget these fifty other things too!" he muttered angrily to himself as he found what he was looking for and began to water the hibiscus. "And I'm supposed to take care of customers on top of all this?" As if on cue, Randal heard the wind chimes that had been tied to the doorknob jingle- the shop had a visitor.
"Oh, come on- I'll be right with you!" he called out. Putting the pitcher of water down, he would rush to the front of the shop to greet the guest. "This is going to be a long seven days."