Eat the Ones You Love

A twisted, tangled story about workplace love-affairs, and plants with a taste for human flesh from the acclaimed author of Spare and Found Parts and Other Words for Smoke . During a visit to her local shopping mall, Shell Pine sees a 'HELP NEEDED' sign in a flower shop window. She's just left her fiance , lost her job, and moved home to her parents' house. She has to bring some good into her life, so she takes a chance. And flowers are just the good thing she's been looking for, as is Neve, the beautiful florist. The thing is, Neve needs help more than Shell could possibly imagine. An orchid growing in the heart of the mall is watching them closely. The beautiful florist belongs to him, and he'll do just about anything to make sure he can keep growing big and strong. Nothing he eats- nobody he eats-can satisfy him, except the thing he most desires. Neve. He will stop at nothing to eat the one he loves. Infused with wit, heart and horror, this is a story about possession, monstrosity and working in retail. It is about hunger and desire, and other terrible things that grow.

A twisted, tangled story about workplace love-affairs, and plants with a taste for human flesh from the acclaimed author of Spare and Found Parts and Other Words for Smoke . During a visit to her local shopping mall, Shell Pine sees a 'HELP NEEDED' sign in a flower shop window. She's just left her fiance , lost her job, and moved home to her parents' house. She has to bring some good into her life, so she takes a chance. And flowers are just the good thing she's been looking for, as is Neve, the beautiful florist. The thing is, Neve needs help more than Shell could possibly imagine. An orchid growing in the heart of the mall is watching them closely. The beautiful florist belongs to him, and he'll do just about anything to make sure he can keep growing big and strong. Nothing he eats- nobody he eats-can satisfy him, except the thing he most desires. Neve. He will stop at nothing to eat the one he loves. Infused with wit, heart and horror, this is a story about possession, monstrosity and working in retail. It is about hunger and desire, and other terrible things that grow.

"Do you mind me asking--what kind of help do you need?" After losing her job and her fianc? and moving back from the city to live with her parents, Shell Pine needs some help. And according to the sign in the window, the florist shop in the mall does too. Shell gets the gig, and the flowers she works with there are just the thing she needs to cheer up. Or maybe it's Neve, the beautiful shop manager, who is making her days so rosy? But you have to get your hands dirty if you want your garden to grow--and Neve's secrets are as dark and dangerous as they come. In the back room of the flower shop, a young sentient orchid actually runs the show, and he is hungry . . . and he has a plan for them all. When the choices are to either bury yourself in the warmth of someone else's fertile soil, or face the cold and disappointing world outside--which would you choose? And what if putting down roots came at a cost far higher than just your freedom? This is a story about desire, dreams, decay--and working retail at the end of the world.

"Do you mind me asking--what kind of help do you need?" After losing her job and her fianc? and moving back from the city to live with her parents, Shell Pine needs some help. And according to the sign in the window, the florist shop in the mall does too. Shell gets the gig, and the flowers she works with there are just the thing she needs to cheer up. Or maybe it's Neve, the beautiful shop manager, who is making her days so rosy? But you have to get your hands dirty if you want your garden to grow--and Neve's secrets are as dark and dangerous as they come. In the back room of the flower shop, a young sentient orchid actually runs the show, and he is hungry . . . and he has a plan for them all. When the choices are to either bury yourself in the warmth of someone else's fertile soil, or face the cold and disappointing world outside--which would you choose? And what if putting down roots came at a cost far higher than just your freedom? This is a story about desire, dreams, decay--and working retail at the end of the world.

"Do you mind me asking--what kind of help do you need?" After losing her job and her fianc? and moving back from the city to live with her parents, Shell Pine needs some help. And according to the sign in the window, the florist shop in the mall does too. Shell gets the gig, and the flowers she works with there are just the thing she needs to cheer up. Or maybe it's Neve, the beautiful shop manager, who is making her days so rosy? But you have to get your hands dirty if you want your garden to grow--and Neve's secrets are as dark and dangerous as they come. In the back room of the flower shop, a young sentient orchid actually runs the show, and he is hungry . . . and he has a plan for them all. When the choices are to either bury yourself in the warmth of someone else's fertile soil, or face the cold and disappointing world outside--which would you choose? And what if putting down roots came at a cost far higher than just your freedom? This is a story about desire, dreams, decay--and working retail at the end of the world.

"Do you mind me asking--what kind of help do you need?" After losing her job and her fianc? and moving back from the city to live with her parents, Shell Pine needs some help. And according to the sign in the window, the florist shop in the mall does too. Shell gets the gig, and the flowers she works with there are just the thing she needs to cheer up. Or maybe it's Neve, the beautiful shop manager, who is making her days so rosy? But you have to get your hands dirty if you want your garden to grow--and Neve's secrets are as dark and dangerous as they come. In the back room of the flower shop, a young sentient orchid actually runs the show, and he is hungry . . . and he has a plan for them all. When the choices are to either bury yourself in the warmth of someone else's fertile soil, or face the cold and disappointing world outside--which would you choose? And what if putting down roots came at a cost far higher than just your freedom? This is a story about desire, dreams, decay--and working retail at the end of the world.