“And that should do it.” Mr. Pulsifer says a while later after the will has been read. “They want the house and tea shop sold, and the proceeds go towards their favorite charity, setting up a Greenfingers Garden for the local hospital.”
“Oh, how wonderful!” Tracy exclaims, having overheard. “We’ve been pushing to get one here in Eden for years! Me and my boyfriend go to budget meetings every chance we get to bring it up!”
Then she gets sad for a moment, “Well now with Adam and Eve gone, it’s just us two.”
Aziraphale’s suddenly hit with an idea, “Ms. Tracy, why don’t you buy the tea shop? I’m sure they wouldn’t mind if we let you in on the deal.”
Tracy immediately shakes her head, “Oh no no no. I could never. Me and my boyfriend are going to be up to our knees in paperwork getting the Greenfingers Garden planted for the hospital.”
Crowley lifts a hand, “I have some…associates that are willing to help find buyers for both the store and house. Is that agreeable to you, angel?”
Aziraphale flushes red, but just says, “I think that will do just fine, Mr. Crowley.”
Newt sighs in relief, “Good. Now all I need is signatures from both of you.”
This surprises Aziraphale, “Oh! Really? I would’ve thought from all the papers it would be taking much longer than that.”, but quickly just grabs the papers with a pen and begins to sign. “What a nice surprise to be wrong.”
Of course that’s right when his phone rings, and Aziraphale chooses to pointedly not answer it, and of course Crowley notices and points out,
“Work trying to reel you back in already, is it?”
Aziraphale attempts to defend himself, “I told them I was doing something I couldn’t get out of, which is true.”
Crowley lifts his teacup to sip his warm beverage, “And apparently they’re already drowning without you.”
Aziraphale waves this off, “I own my own bookshop. Just started something where I get little bakeries and cafes to let me put some of my collection on their shelves.”, shuddering as he hands the papers back to Newt.
“Alright, I think I’ve finished.” he says, starting to get up.
Newt, however, is quick to stop him, “Not so fast, there’s one last thing.”
Aziraphale sits back down, right as Newt holds up an envelope.
“Who would like to have the honor?”
Crowley just finishes signing his end of the contracts as he offers, “Angel?”
Aziraphale reaches for it, “Oh. That’s kind of you.”
Crowley just snorts, then snips, “Oh shut up.”
Aziraphale takes no notice of this, just opens the envelope and begins to read, a note of surprise in his voice as he begins,
“ Dear Aziraphale and Crowley,
Thank you for agreeing to be our co executors. So sorry for you to be brought here under such unfortunate circumstances, but though we’ve lived so many wonderful years full of new friends and a community we all built from the ground up, our own children still refused to have any part of the tea business, therefore could not be asked to take on this task. Neither of us regret being childhood sweethearts, even if it did from time to time get us referred to as old fashioned. ”
Here Aziraphale pauses to laugh, despite the slight choke in his voice, “Oh, that’s so wonderful.”
Then he continues, “ But we couldn’t fathom having this done by someone we didn't love. Crowley, we will never forget our endless summers playing in our garden. And Aziraphale, even after we outgrew our childhood games, we never lost or threw away your toy sword. You were the first friend that didn’t get mad at us when we asked questions, and even had some of your own. ”
YOU ARE READING
Tea For Two
RomanceAziraphale Fell is living his life in the big city when he's summoned to the sleepy town of Eden to settle the affairs of two beloved family friends.
