Leaves [gxg]

29

29

The district was as lively and colourful as before and River actually saw people take up the services offered by the ladies parading themselves behind windows. Curtains, or blinds, were drawn and River didn't want to think what pleasures the clients would enjoy beyond those doors. She wasn't a prude, but to see it all on display, without any batted eyes, made her a little uncomfortable. She preferred that sort of thing to occur in privacy.

None of the women could hold a candle to Celeste, however, and River allowed her friend to guide her through the streets as though she had visited many times. Which, of course, she probably had. Celeste was a woman of the world, only needing the map on her phone to find the little flat of her friend's friend. She walked as though she owned the entire city. Confident and secure in herself.

River did not feel secure in herself, and confidence only ever lasted for short bursts, followed by long hours of wondering what she was thinking and how could she possibly feel confident about anything? A bag of anxiety and worries, wrapped up in long skirts, baggy jumpers and hair that seemed to attract the strangest of objects.

After a few twists and turns, Celeste stopped and waved her hand with a flourish towards a café. A pretty little shop, with picture postcard seats and tables with umbrellas outside, tea candles upon the tables and an air of louche abandon. All the outside seats were taken, but, inside, River could see a couple of free tables, beside other tables that had more smokers than she had seen in some time.

"This is one of 'those' café's, isn't it?" She took an involuntary step back. "I mean, I'm not against it. I went to university, after all, but, you know, it's not really me. I tried it once and I did nothing but empty a friends fridge and cupboards. I swear, I put on five pounds after that night."

"It's alright. They do other things here. Trust me." Celeste held out a hand, wiggling her fingers and giving River a lop-sided smile. "You do trust me, don't you?"

River did. Of course she did. After a fashion. In so much as River trusted anyone. She trusted Erisa, implicitly. She trusted Celeste mostly. Up to a point. The woman had already kept important things from her, such as the nature of the trip to Scotland. Except, she hadn't. Not really. That mass of miscommunication was more River's fault than Celeste's.

She reached out for Celeste's hand and felt those long, elegant fingers curl into her own. She tried to ignore the little thrill that shot through her due to the contact and allowed Celeste to lead her through the door. She only held back a little, Celeste gently tugging her along, into the café.

It wasn't a smoke-filled as she had expected. Busy extractor fans whirred, drowned out by the pleasant conversations and the clinking of cups and spoons. Little bouts of laughter and soft jazz music all added to the continental atmosphere. Celeste pointed out a table, indicated that she would go to the counter and River sat, eyes bulging as she looked around at the other customers.

It didn't smell as bad as she thought it would. The cannabis that her friends in university had smoked stank. A truly awful, clinging stink and, when her friends smoked, they soon looked half-sick, half-asleep. Here, everyone looked normal. No heavy eyelids. No slumped shoulders. As normal as people looked in any café, albeit a little better dressed.

Moments later, Celeste returned, carrying a tray and River leaned forward to see if there were any cigarettes upon it. Even though she absolutely did not want to smoke anything, she felt a little disappointed that she could only see a pair of cups and saucers, sugar sachets and a little pot of milk and a teapot. Celeste had bought tea without even consulting River. It almost felt sacrilegious to contemplate.

"So, we travel to a different country, get caught in a baggage handler's strike that stops us travelling on to an even more different country, where we'll be obsessively dealing with tea, or I will, at least, and we have ... tea?" She didn't want to be pompous. She was being pompous, but she didn't want to be, but tea was her thing. She doubted this café, as lovely as it was, could compare to her own. "It seems a bit redundant. Am I really this narrow minded? I mean, yes, I know I am, but I'm fine with drinking the occasional coffee. Pop. Hot chocolate. It doesn't always have to be tea. Well, it does. But not really. Not always. Alright, yes, I'm obsessed! I'm a tea monster!"

"River. River!" Celeste had noticed the growing panic, evidenced by the stream of barely connected words emerging from River's mouth, and clasped her hand again. "Just try it. It's not something you can sell in the UK. At least, I don't think so. I'll have to do some research about it. I just thought you'd like to try it."

"What is it?" River leaned forward and lifted the lid of the teapot, trying to catch a hint of the contents. "It doesn't smell bad, at least."

"Cannabis." With a chuckle, Celeste replaced the lid on the teapot and began to pour the contents into their cups. "It's a type of cannabis with most of the active ingredient bred out of it. It's no worse than camomile, so don't worry. You won't get stoned."

Celeste finished pouring and pushed the cup and saucer in front of River before interlacing her fingers, resting her elbows on the table and her chin upon her fingers, watching River with a wry smile. That did nothing for Rivers confidence. It felt as though Celeste and everyone else waited for River to taste the tea. A false sense of anticipation that only River felt.

Once again, she leaned forward, dipping her nose towards the cup. A stray strand of hair fell from her hastily tied nest of locks and she managed to pull back before it landed in the tea. Fingers pushed the hair back into place and she diminished even further down into her seat. No-one was watching. Not a single person, other than Celeste, but, to River, the entire shop hovered around her, waiting for her verdict.

Despite the overwhelming weight of expectations, coming from only herself, River desperately wanted to try the tea. It looked normal enough. More akin to green tea than anything else. In fact, as she thought about it, it reminded her more of nettle tea in both looks, consistency and smell. A very strong sense of earthy, green-ness about it. She wouldn't deign to spoil it with milk or sugar. The very thought of tainting anything but black tea with such things abhorred her.

Celeste pressed her lips against her fingers and tried to hide the fact that she had checked her watch. River knew exactly what that meant. She had spent more than a little time hesitating and examining the tea within the cup. Already, others were leaving the café, finished with their own drinks and cigarettes, and others were taking their place.

"And you sure it's inert? Or whatever word you use for a drink based upon a well-known narcotic that makes you all far-too chilled and googly." River frowned as Celeste snorted, hiding a laugh, at that last word. 'Googly' was a word! She thought it was a word. She felt certain she'd heard it before. "If you hadn't said it was cannabis tea I wouldn't have had a problem! It's your fault! It's just ... what if it isn't? You know, inert? What if I do get stoned? You saw what I was like when I got drunk. What if I'm a mean stoner?"

"You had an excuse when you got drunk. You felt out of place and that I'd conned you into something. I hadn't, but that's beside the point." Celeste had had enough of waiting. She pulled her own full cup towards and lifted it in a salute. "You'll be fine. Bottom's up!"

Celeste drank the tea, in one gulp, and River watched for any notable side-effects. With lips smacking, a little raise of the eyes to the side, as though trying to think of the words to describe it, Celeste began to nod. The nod became a loll, then a wobble until Celeste's head cracked upon the table, forcing River to shriek, jump to her feet and rush around the table, hands hovering above Celeste's shoulders.

Shoulders that were shaking and, from under her breath, River could hear Celeste laughing. She was faking. Faking and now every head and pair of eyes within the café were absolutely staring at them both. River thought it a most inconvenient place for Celeste to show her mischievous side and tried to return to her own seat while avoiding the stares. There were no stares. The other customers had looked, seen the joke and returned to their own conversations.

"That was cruel." With a pout, River slumped as low in her chair as she could while Celeste sat up, wiping the tears from her eyes and trying to catch her breath. "At least someone found it funny. Alright, everyone found it funny and, I suppose, if I saw it happen to someone else, so would I. Alright! Yes! It was funny! Cruel."

"Only a little cruel." River couldn't help but notice how beautiful Celeste's smile was. Incredibly, she hadn't seen it that often. Now Celeste gave River a fake pout before smiling again. "Try the tea and then we can see if you can drink alcohol without passing out."

River tried the tea. It was ... fine. Not amazing. A little bland, in fact. After trying it, she decided that, even if it were legal back home, she could only stock it for novelty value. No better than those fruit teas she hated but still stocked.

Then she realised that Celeste had just invited her out for real drinks and her stomach turned at the thought.