I’m quite proud of my apothecary. Out of all the apothecaries in our gardening club network, mine is not the largest, or the most modern, or even the prettiest. But it is the most well stocked.
It’s very rare that a customer comes in and can’t find what they’re looking for. When I had to call another store and ask them to teleport the blue tomatoes over for my customer and her daughter, I was so embarrassed that I vowed to never let it happen again. I would sooner direct customers to the website of a shop in my strip to buy rare vegetable seeds online before I had nothing to give my customers when they asked.
Look, I know what you’re thinking. I’m a good person for supporting my fellow business owners in the strip where I work. Many of the owners are hundreds of years old, and I’m only in my thirties. Many of them have had plant magic in their families for centuries, but I am a first generation shop owner.
I know the others think of me differently, no matter how nice they try to be in the notes that accompany the flowers they send in the teleportation jars. Just a few weeks ago, the apothecary owner in Sydney sent me a note advising the best hybrid tea rose varieties Australia has to offer this season. Oh, how my cheeks flame at the memory.
Hybrid roses were one of the first things my mentor taught me. They offer basic level healing magic, such as fixing toothaches and strengthening fingernails, depending on the power of their fragrance. I did my first assignment on hybrid tea roses and I know their varieties inside and out. To be offered guidance is almost an insult! But I know my place. When I received the note in the teleportation jar, I bit my tongue and composed a polite reply of gratitude. That was when I vowed to increase my stock.