hourglass | h.s.

ii

"Europa! Europa, how much for this hat?"

At the sound of one of one of her customer's bellowing, Europa paused her sweeping and peered over the counter.

"For you, Mr. Paget?" she laughed, wiping her brow with the back of her hand. "It'll be £5."

"I'll take it!" Mr. Paget decided, making his way over to the counter and pulling out his wallet and placing down a £10 note.

Europa smiled at his boisterous personality, placing his new peaked cap in a bag for him and getting his change.

"Keep the change, love." the old man insisted, waving a hand.

"Mr. Paget, you know I can't do that."

"And why the bloody hell not?"

"Because it's your money, Mr. Paget."

"It's five quid, Europa."

"Your five quid, Mr. Paget."

"Europa, I'm too old to be arguing with you like this," he spoke sternly. "Take the five quid. You've been good to me these past few years. Use it to buy a frock. Maybe some new ribbon for your hair. Either way, I'm not taking it back, and that's final!"

The young woman laughed and nodded, thanking the grouchy man that she loved so much. After all, he was one of her best customers.

"Thank you, Mr. Paget. Have a lovely day, alright?"

"You as well, love." he spoke, cracking a small smile. "I'll see you soon."

"I'll be waiting!" she laughed. "And Mr. Paget?"

"Yes?"

"Your wife isn't going to be able to keep her eyes off of you in that hat."

And with that, Mr. Paget took the hat out of the bag and placed it on his head, flashing a toothy grin before exiting the shop. Shaking her head, the young Europa picked her broom back up, and got back to work.

This was pretty much the daily routine for Europa.  Wake up, get ready, go downstairs to her little shoppe, work, go back upstairs, and repeat.  Often times she'd have tourists come in, but it was mostly her darling Kentford natives that kept her little storefront afloat. 

She lived simply, and she liked it.  She had a business, a home, a lovely little cat, and everyone knew her and treated her as family.  Whether it was because she had no family left or because she had won the hearts of even the toughest people in her little town was unknown, but she didn't put too much stock in the thought.

Europa was an only child, born to a young couple who weren't all that ready for children.  She was given up for adoption the day she was born, and soon enough, she was taken in by the woman who gave her the things she valued most: the ribbons in her hair, the home and storefront of which she now owned, and lastly, her name.

Europa's mother was an elderly greek woman called Leontine who had no husband or children of her own.  So, when she heard of the little girl with no home nor a name, she wasted no time in taking the infant in and raising her as her own.  And the first thing she did as soon as she was the baby's mother was give her the greatest gift she would ever receive: the name Europa.

Europa — the namesake, that is — was the princess of Tyre, who was blessed with the gift of beauty.  That being so, she quickly captured the attention of Zeus, who was enamoured by the princess.  Acting upon his desire, he transformed himself into a majestic white bull, and went down to Tyre, where Europa and her attendants were down by the seashore.

Zeus purposely appeared as a tame beast, bowing down at the princess' feet.  And although she was frightened at first, she slowly began to adorn the white bull with flowers, and eventually sat on the back of the bull.

Unbeknownst to Europa, however, this is exactly what Zeus wanted.  As soon as she sat down, Zeus charged into the ocean and carried her to Crete, where she had his three sons.  And although she and Zeus didn't last, she became Crete's first queen, and the namesake of the most powerful continent in all of history.

Leontine chose that name for her daughter for two simple reasons: she knew that no matter what, that her child would grow up to be beautiful, and that she would have a lasting impact on all those she came across.

Needless to say, she was correct.

Leontine raised her darling Europa to be kind to everyone she met, no matter who they were.  She was a loving — yet strict — mother to her, but Europa didn't mind.  She had the happiest childhood she could have ever imagined, filled with stories of the ancient greek myths, adventures of the many, and an infinite amount of ribbons that her mother would weave into her hair.

But, unfortunately, as Europa began to mature into the woman she was destined to be, her beloved mother was on the decline.  And within just a few short years, Europa was left alone.

Europa inherited all that her mother had, including their home and the shoppe below it, which used to be her mother's tailoring shoppe.  Her mother was a seamstress, and was easily the best one in town.  But as much as Europa loved that life, she decided that she would open her own place instead.  So, she did.

Her shoppe had many names, depending on who you asked in town.  Some people called it Europa's, some called it the antique shoppe, and some called it by it's logo — which was a white bull.  Europa didn't mind, though, seeing that the town was small enough to the point where it didn't even matter.  But it seemed that she was the only one who knew the shoppe's real name: Leontine's.  But she was perfectly alright with that.  It was like her and her mother's little secret.

"Europa!" a familiar voice called, snapping her out of her thoughts. "How much for this broach?"

"For you, Mrs. Buckingham?" she smiled, looking up at the friendly woman. "It's on the house."