Kitchen Witch

5 | Afternoon Tea (Stonebridge-Flashback)

The children had long outgrown play dates, wooden blocks were replaced with cell phones, and some were even driving. The group of women that had bonded over tea in Charlotte's living room, watching their children grow up, still met weekly. They gathered in Charlotte's home, choosing its familiar comfort over the latest trendy coffee shop. Now, instead of sharing stories of sleepless nights and their children's firsts, they shared their more vulnerable selves. It's as if being handed that delicate tea cup, with its little chipped saucer and inhaling those first wisps of aroma steaming from its cup, helped them let go of their armours over the years. Charlotte certainly felt as though she had been flailing since her oldest, Bree, had left for university. There was only so much mothering, Airlie, now in high school, would tolerate. The days were filled with the rhythms of household chores and the nagging texts that marked the coming and goings of her youngest. All set against the backdrop of isolation, as her husband travelled, there was a marked increase in tension when he was home. Charlotte was not alone in her disheartenment; the group of women all held their difficulties close to their chests.

Kelly, the sweetest young mom in the group, had a husband who blamed gluten for every problem. He was a doctor and constantly pushed his ideals on his patients and, most of all, Kelly. So much so that she had confessed over their afternoon teas that she had become a closet binger, hiding away packets of cookies to devour in between household chores. She yearned for his business trips where she and the children could freely eat whatever they desired. Usually, happily on the couch, in front of trash-tv. 

Heather was the group's planner, the one who perfectly arranged their outings and made reservations. She knew not only everyone's birthday but their children's, too. She also ran a very successful Mary Kay business, having just celebrated reaching the director level. Heather's neatly ordered success hid a painful truth, though, a coping mechanism built over the years to hide financial troubles. 

Then there was Martha, she was an interesting one. Charlotte, an all-fuzzy feelings kind of woman, found Martha's hard shell difficult to get close to. Martha had a way of quietly sitting back, taking in the group's chatter, like a judge with a gavel and then firmly inserting her stance on a subject. It could be a topic that she had no personal investment in, and she could somehow turn it into a case of how she would handle it, always mixed with her signature passive-aggressive nature that left you severely doubting yourself. But maybe that was just Charlotte and her need to be liked and her insecurities that left her feeling so exposed around Martha. Even more exasperating was that despite all of that, Martha was fiercely loyal to her friends and had both the social power and money to back them. 

It was Martha who had arranged for Kelly to take a much-needed break when the children were young, with three kids under seven and difficult ones at that. Her children had always been very rambunctious, sometimes almost aggressive in nature; rules and order didn't seem to do much for them. Later in life, Kelly would learn that the middle child had oppositional defiant disorder and the oldest ADHD, which explained a lot and yet didn't change the pure exhaustion that ran through sweet, loving Kelly. Maratha was the one who devised a "winning ticket winery getaway," allowing Kelly the irrefutable excuse to take a mini vacation. Martha even arranged childcare for Kelly so her husband had no reason not to support her. When Heather was struggling to get her business up and running, it was Martha and her connections that helped build Heather's initial clientele. It was a lifesaver for Heather as they were struggling financially, not that she would have ever dared share that. Martha had a way of being there for them when they needed it most. She may not have been the one offering a shoulder to cry on or a warm embrace, but she was unwavering in her support. So it didn't come as a surprise when Maratha initiated Charlotte taking those first hesitant steps to build a little side business selling her personalized tea mixes.