Leaves [gxg]

8

8

The drive back didn't feel quite as awkward. They had found a common ground with the music and singing, and, interspersed with the sing-a-long, they managed a few conversations. Most of those conversations revolved around tea, for River, and with business, for Celeste. River loved Celeste's passion for the business side of things.

That was a complete contrast to herself. Truth be told, she despised the boring, everyday details of running a business. Ordering was fine, so long as she could use the internet. When it came to speaking to people, she found little tolerance for her wayward fashion of talking. Her constant, unending dribble of words that hedged around what she wanted, veered into strange, dark territories and then, only after hearing notable frustrations at the other end of the line, her actual order.

Taxes, she could do without. The long, blinding stream of numbers. Money in, money out. VAT. All that stuff were like a foreign language to River. She muddled through, paid more than she calculated and felt like she had annoyed someone when she received her usual refund. She enjoyed making tea. Making tea and seeing people enjoy it. That made her happy. Actually running the business made her miserable.

Celeste, River didn't doubt, would revel in the intricacies of tax law. Languish within the ins-and-outs of business to business relations. The woman beside her seemed to love every part of that kind of thing. She liked Celeste and she hoped that Celeste liked her. Only, she showed little sign of her feelings either way, which left River feeling a little despondent.

As Celeste's enormous car pulled up outside River's shop, night had started to fall. Streetlamps beginning their slow brightening to enlighten the street. The lights within the shop a welcoming, warm invitation to slip back into her natural environment. Celeste turned off the engine and sat back, leaving a pregnant silence within the car.

"Well, that was ... It was ... Marvellous? I'm going with marvellous. Or something else?" Releasing her seat belt, she let it roll back into place, over her shoulder and sat there a little longer than she felt comfortable. "It started out sort of 'eek', but, yeah, that was good. Fun. Funny good. It was nice. Did you think it was nice? I thought it was nice."

River could feel warmth rising up her neck, the choker tickling. She didn't want to check, but she felt certain her armpits were now soaked with sweat. If this were a proper date, any date at all, it would come to the moment of deciding what kind of kiss to end it upon. A peck? On the cheek? The lips? Not the forehead. A proper, breathy, slow, sensuous kiss that would have her rushing for the shower?

"It was nice." Celeste raised her hand and River wondered if the woman meant her to hold it, but the hand moved to the touch screen, switching off the map. "We should do it again sometime."

"Yeah. Sometime. What are you doing for the Bank Holiday?" She laughed, nervous and apprehensive. Hoping that Celeste took it as the joke River almost meant it to be, she laughed again. To make sure. "So, umm, yeah. Thanks for that. I'd best be getting in. Mother worries."

She had tried to avoid looking into the shop, knowing that Erisa would try to catch her eye, trying to receive telepathic details of the date/not-date. The sound of the boot automatically opening reminded River that she had brought some tea home with her. Stepping out of the car, she showed the shop her back, and moved to the rear, where Celeste had already taken out the packets of tea.

"Right. I should be off home myself." Closing the lid of the boot, Celeste drummed her fingers upon the black painted metal. She gave a couple of slow nods and then spun on her heels. "Okay. Bye. I'll text you. Or call. It depends on how busy things get. Ciao!"

"Oh. Right. Bye." Clutching the bags of tea to her chest, little backpack falling to the crook of her arms, dangling against her knees, River stepped backwards, back towards the shop. "Au revoir. Arrivederci. Sayonara. Ooh! And auf wiedersehn, pet! It's been lovely. Y'all come back now, ya hear!"

Even as Celeste stepped back into her car, River couldn't stop talking. Fingers pressed into the tight packed, paper bags of tea and she turned around, rictus grin refusing to fall from her face as she realised she had talked too much. Again. She reached the door of her shop and almost tripped over the threshold.

Inside, Erisa glared at her, with that look that said, in no uncertain terms, that River was about to tell her everything. Everything! She did frown at River's taut grin, that she could not, for the life of her, stop making. Only when she had dropped the bags of tea on the counter did the grin fall as she rested her forehead upon the countertop, bending almost double.

"She hasn't driven away yet." The whisper made River jump upright, spinning around, with that grin returning to her face. "Stop grinning!"

"I don't think I can!" Through gritted, bared teeth, River hissed from the corner of her mouth. "I think it's stuck."

Within the car, cabin light falling upon her hair, Celeste appeared to type something upon her phone, then tossed it onto the passenger seat. With a look back at the shop, she gave a little wave and started the engine, before pulling away. River continued returning the wave until long after the car had passed from her sight.

Her legs almost collapsed from under her and she pulled a chair from a nearby table and fell upon it, struggled to remove her backpack and then dropped that to the floor beside her. She placed both hands flat against the surface of the table, then followed that with her forehead. The table felt cool and soothing, allowing the wrinkles, she had felt she had worn all day, to smooth out, releasing tension.

"So, what was it like?" The scraping of another chair's legs against the floor reached River's ears and the sound of a cup, saucer and spoon rattled as Erisa placed tea before her. "I want to know everything."

"It was fine. Yep. Fine." Sitting bolt upright, River brightened, smoothing her hands across the tabletop. "The farm, not an estate, not a plantation, a farm, was wonderful. They had so many varieties and you could taste the difference due to the different environment. The entire process, from beginning to end was absolutely fascinating. Fascinating!"

"Don't play dumb with me." With a snap to her words, Erisa almost scared River with her intensity, causing River to sit back, far from Erisa's inquiring eyes. "You know exactly what I mean. What was it like?"

Erisa spoke those last four words with a very deliberate tone that brooked no prevarication. River wondered if this was Erisa's 'Court Room voice'. It felt more than a little intimidating and River couldn't help but worry for anyone that came across Erisa's questioning. River had no choice. Erisa had the way to the flat, upstairs, covered. Running wasn't an option, she would only have to return some time and she knew Erisa would be there. Waiting.

"Awkward! It was so awkward! And then we sang and the traffic jam had six miles and unhelpful, but well-meaning signs, and the motorway would have opened if I had drunk tea instead of coffee, I think. I'm pretty certain that may, or may not, have been my fault. And it was awkward and ..." She allowed her voice to trail away as her hand reached for the tea, her fingertips pulling the saucer closer. She turned the teacup's handle around and nudged the spoon with her little finger. "And I don't think she's at all interested. I was right. She is straight. She has a ring, on a chain around her neck. I think it's a wedding ring."

"On a chain? Well, that could mean anything. Right?" Reaching over, Erisa stopped River from fiddling with the tea cup, making her hold it properly and urging her to drink. "Did she have a ring on her own finger? Maybe she was married, once. It doesn't mean she's not interested, or available. You might have a chance?"

"I'm pretty certain it was a man's wedding ring." She took a sip of the tea and felt the refreshing taste slip over her tongue and down her throat. Tea was certainly a heavenly concoction. "I just have to accept it. It was fun. A day out, and I don't get many of those. So, yeah, awkwardness and unavailable, gorgeous women aside, it was good. And I got new tea to review."

She swept a hand towards the packets of tea, still sat upon the counter. One had toppled over and River could understand how it felt. She had stood beside one of the most beautiful women she had ever known and nothing had come from it. She had no other option, but to put it on the shelf of life experiences and move on.

As her hand returned from pointing at the tea, Erisa caught it and squeezed River's fingers. She rubbed the back of River's hand with her thumb and smiled in that way that said 'never mind'. River appreciated that, and, as she sipped her tea, brewed to perfection by Erisa, she felt glad that she had at least tried.