Ben's date plan wasn't too complex or outrageous. Moon Lake's diner was a good spot to go and he and Kenya could easily go on to other things from there. Though, while it wasn't a super "fancy" date, he did make sure to dress well, as jeans and a tee-shirt probably wouldn't go over well for anything other than meeting to hang out. After his meeting with Frances on his family past and the thinks his biological parents had saved for him, he showered, dressed, and then made his way out. It lead to some thoughts on how things would go and made him want to know more about his family, but for the moment his thoughts were more focused on the mocha skinned werepanther he had met the night that Yvette had been caught.
Kenya had made a fairly good impression on him and despite the age difference between them had done well with regard to meeting with Frances and Samantha. It had really served to set things up for a good relationship between them and was changing how he looked at a lot of things in his life. Up until this point in his life he had enjoyed many of the same things that had related to pack life, yet in the brief time he'd had with Kenya, many of those things weren't as interesting anymore. Orgies were fine and fun, but in many cases they also tended to be impersonal, even if some of his partners in the past had been friends or at least had been good terms with him otherwise. There had simply been nothing besides the sexual pleasure in those cases. His time so far with Kenya, though had made that feel very different. They hadn't jumped right into sex and so far, their interaction had felt closer and more personal. That felt good.
"I... I think I might be falling in love," Ben thought to himself as he pulled into the parking lot for the flower shop and gardening center that Kenya's Aunt and Uncle ran together.
It was located on one of the various spokes that made up how Moon Lake was laid out, which put it more toward the edges of the town, but it wasn't a bad position. It was a newer building when compared to some of the older buildings toward the center of town, many of which dated back to the 1800s. It was a rectangular building with a stucco front with a pair of decent viewing windows to its front, and Ben could see a few shelves from the the outside of the building. Ben could see that they held packets for things like fertilizer or various other gardening hand tools. Ben made his way forward toward the door and and opened the door while reached for the door handle, ignoring the present sign that read that the store was closed at present. He moved to open the door that was the main entrance to the store and was soon made aware of the fact that the store was closed. The door was locked and there was a loud "click" that was made as Ben tried to open the door.
The attempt to open the door failed, but Ben found that there was success of a different kind. While there was a success of a different kind. True the door didn't budge as Ben reached twisted at the knob, it did have effect of raising a noise that was heard. There was a clicking noise that was heard and Ben soon heard inside and there was an answer that Ben soon heard as well. After a few moments, the door actually opened from the inside to reveal Kenya standing in the doorway. She was well dressed, as if expecting a date, but was also prepared to deal with some "work" as well. She was presently wearing a pair of yellow gloves and was holding a set of gloves.
"Hey," Ben said to her as she smiled at seeing him, "I'm not too early, am I?"
"No," Kenya smiled, "I was almost done and we'll be ready to get started."
Kenya took a step back to allow Ben entrance to the shop the Adaezes owned. She smiled to him as he entered. Once he was in, she shut the door behind him and locked the door again.
"Get started?" Ben wondered.
"On a lovely night," Kenya smiled, "though I have a bit of sweeping left to finish up, if you can wait."
"I can," Ben commented as he looked around the shop and noted the tile floors and the products that one would typically find a Walmart garden center. This puzzled him a bit, as from what Kenya had told him, was that her aunt and uncle, Barry and Tanya Adaeze, ran a florists shop. Yet he didn't see any flowers anywhere. Now, granted, it was getting toward the time of year when most flowers weren't blooming naturally in this part of the country. "Though... I have a question."
"Oh?" Kenya glanced back to him as they walked along with her in the lead.
Ben followed Kenya to a spot not to far from front door where a lone counter and cash register was set up. There was a dustpan on the counter and near the area on the floor were there was a smile pile of dust and dirt that Kenya had already swept up. All that remained was to sweep it into the dustpan and throw it away.
"There are no flowers here, didn't you say that your aunt and uncle run a florist's shop?" Ben asked.
Kenya gave a giggle in response, "This part is a front lobby, where they do sell some small time garden supplies. Things for potted plants or small areas as well. Nothing super big or seriously labor intensive. Once I get this swept up, I can show you the green house part of the building."
"Green house?" Ben wondered, "You aunt and uncle sell FRESH flowers?"
"Some fresh flowers," Kenya answered, "the green house is pretty much the next big room going from the front to back. It's well insulated and has a glass roof and an automatic sprinkler system to automatically water the plants being grown there and what stock they have that they do buy from other growers... You can buy the seeds out here, though."
Ben gave an amused whistle. He'd done okay as a "gardener" with regard to caring for the plants that either he or his moms had planted at home, as well as for the lawn, but that was all something of a hobby and to keep things looking good. He'd never really thought about it as a business.
"They must do fairly well..." Ben commented.
"My aunt and uncle do," Kenya nodded, "people come from outside Moon Lake to buy flowers or get tips and suggestions for their garden projects as well. That will include designing gardens, that sort of thing."
Ben nodded as Kenya finished up her sweeping. Once she did so, she then lead him back to the green house area with lots of racks with potted plants in them. There were also a few stands with other flowers as well. The sprinklers for the flowers being grown hung from wires that held the pipes they were suspended on. The floor here was concrete and angled slightly toward the center of the room where Ben noticed there were a few drains that would allow water to go into the storm drains and pipes that would allow the floor to remain reasonably dry. They also found Barry checking a few switches and buttons on a panel on the back wall.
"Hey... Uncle Barry," Kenya called to him, "Ben has arrived..."
Barry pushed a last set of buttons to set the sprinklers so that they would go off at times that would keep the plants healthy. With that, he turned to Ben and Kenya.
"Do you two have anything special planned?" Barry asked them.
"Well just to start with the diner," Ben answered, "from there... things are pretty open."
"I see," Barry commented and looked to Kenya, "did you finish getting the front area swept?"
"Yeah," Kenya nodded, "you and Aunt Tanya should be ready for the weekend."
"Just the way I like it," Barry smiled, "and she and I do have some plans of our own. Have fun, you two."