2

River had never understood the calming properties of chamomile tea, but she knew several customers swore by it. The sweet, smoky scent drifted up to River's nose, tickling it with a hint of apple. Placing the cup and saucer before Celeste, River sat in the chair opposite, resting her elbows upon the table and her chin upon interlaced fingers.

Celeste pulled the saucer closer and turned it with delicate, manicured fingers. River glanced at her own fingers, nails bitten down, and hid them beneath the table, clutching her hands together on her lap. Celeste didn't appear ready to talk, not yet. She stared into the cup before her with a wistful gaze. With a sigh, Celeste brushed her short, earlobe length, black hair from one side to the other, but it fell back into place.

"I mean, I can get another job. I could make a call, right now, and start somewhere in the morning. The job, the actual having a job, isn't the problem." Leaning forward, Celeste flicked one side of her coat out of the way. "It's just that, I'm not certain I enjoy the work anymore. The whole thing has lost something. Some kind of ..."

"Joy?" River didn't mean to interrupt, but she found it difficult to remain silent, at the best of times, even though she had said she would listen to Celeste's problems. "I think it's important to enjoy your work. People don't know how I can do this. It's always hovering at the border of failing, but I enjoy it. You know? Joy."

River had waved a hand at their surroundings. It was only a small shop, little more than the size of a living room, with space only for the counter, and the tea making facilities behind it, and three sets of tables and chairs. It wasn't much, didn't bring in that much money, but it was River's, bought and paid for, and she loved it.

Opposite to her, Celeste gave several short nods, looking at River as though she had seen her for the first time. Under that gaze, River could feel heat rising in her cheeks. She tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear and glared at the tabletop.

"Joy. Yeah." Taking a sip of the chamomile tea, Celeste made a little lick of her lips before taking another, longer sip. "I haven't found 'joy' in my work for so long. It's paid well, very well, and some of the things I've accomplished I'm really proud of, but 'joy'? No. Not for a long time."

A tinkling sound came from within the depths of Celeste's coat. She reached a hand inside and pulled out her phone. A few flicks of her thumb, a deep frown and then a few more flicks of the thumb and Celeste dropped the phone onto the table. After a second, she flipped the phone over, turning the screen towards the table surface.

"Maybe you'll find it better at a new job? You say you can get another." Desperate to hold her curiosity deep inside, River's fingers fidgeted beneath the table and she tried not to keep glancing at Celeste's phone.

"That was the boss." Catching River's glances, Celeste indicated to the phone with a long finger. "Apologies. Offers of a pay rise. A bigger office. Exclusive clients. He's giving it all. He can stuff it."

"I see. So, you really have quit, then?" She found it quite admirable. Having the ability to make a decision and stick to it. River tended to second, third and fourth guess every single decision she had ever had to make, and then worry about that decision afterwards. "Any idea what you're going to do? Plans?"

After taking another sip of her tea, Celeste placed the cup on the saucer and sat back once again, her leg lifting and crossing over her other knee again. The way Celeste did that fascinated River. To anyone else, it was only a normal method of sitting, but River saw the little kick of the foot, the pointing of Celeste's toes, the hand brushing the material of her trousers, straightening them out so as not cause a wrinkle by crossing her legs. It felt like watching a seated dance.

Once again leaning back on her chair, Celeste looked around the shop. She didn't seem in any hurry to answer River's question. River felt as though Celeste saw everything, grading and assessing every nut and bolt, every tea leaf and tea bag, every cup, saucer and spoon. Then, after a few seconds, Celeste looked back to River, catching and holding her eyes.

"Do you know they grow tea in Truro, now? And in a few places in Scotland." Rolling her eyes at herself, Celeste laughed, shaking her head and making her hair tickle her cheeks. "What am I saying? Of course you do. This place is a monument to tea!"

"Actually, I didn't know." Looking down again, wishing that her fair skin didn't show her embarrassment so easy, River bit her lip. "I like tea, love it, but I'm not what you might call an expert. I get most of my stock online. I've never even seen a plantation, or an estate. I just thought 'I like tea. I shall open a tea shop'. Then I decided against it and then for it and then ... well, you get the idea. But, no, I didn't know."

She felt like a fraud, presenting herself as some kind of tea guru, holding church at the altar of tea, when, in fact, she only liked to drink it, thinking that was enough experience to allow her to open a shop. Even with her little description boards, her blog about the various teas and her reviews, it all came from the same place. An ignorant amateur that tried and failed to punch above her weight.

Now she had revealed her false face to one of the few people she had wanted to impress. A woman with such sophistication it almost made River cry, and River had presented herself as someone who knew tea inside and out. She gripped the material of her skirt and hoped she hadn't made too much of a fool of herself.

"I see. Do you have days off? Whenever I've come here, you're always behind the counter." Celeste had leaned forward again, tilting her head to try and catch River's eyes. "Do you have assistants? Staff? A partner?"

With that last word, Celeste raised an eyebrow, her tone changing ever so slightly. That made River think. Did she ask whether she had a partner in the business, or a partner in life? If River chose the wrong interpretation, the wrong words to put across her situation, in business and in life, she could embarrass herself even more. If that were at all possible.

"I have someone that fills in for me. She's flexible, easy." Her jaw dropped. Why she had chosen those terms, she couldn't begin to understand. Now she worried that Celeste thought her some sexually acrobatic, tea-ignorant fool. "I mean ... I ... I have days off and a friend does it for me ... I mean, she opens it up ... I mean, I mean, yes, I have days off."

Abject horror! That was how she felt. Now she sounded like a pervert that could only speak in sexual innuendo. Then she considered that Celeste may not have heard the misspoken words as River had. She couldn't help it. Whenever she found herself in the company of someone attractive, her mind always decided to disappear, only to return once she had collapsed in a fit of burning cheeks and stuttered apologies.

But Celeste had an amused look upon her face. Not only an amused look, but a knowing amused look. She had caught the unintended innuendo. That, or she thought River was cute. No! That was unlikely. River had seen Celeste with men before. She doubted the impeccably dressed woman would ever find interest in a woman. Especially not a mess like River.

"Okay then. How about, we go visit this tea plantation in Truro? I have nothing better to do until I decide my future. It'll be valuable research for your business and any expenses along the way you can offset as business expenditure for tax purposes." Celeste picked up her phone, her eyes flickering over the screen as her thumb moved. With her other hand, Celeste pointed to the menu board behind the counter. "Is that your personal phone number? I'm free any time, now. I'll give you a text, then you can call me when you've arranged a day off."

River's mouth opened and closed several times. She blinked at the telephone number, in a tiny font in the very corner of the menu board and then tried talking again. It felt like the exact opposite of what River would do. Celeste had had a thought, weighed up the options and made a decision all within the space of a few seconds. Something River could never do. Never in a million years.

Decisions were only meant to be ever thought about, contemplated, examined and reexamined, weighed against several other options and then placed in a very detailed book of notes. With graphs. Or something. Right now, however, Celeste looked at River as though expecting an answer right this very second.

"Alright. I ... I'll text you. Reply to you. Uh, get right back to you on that ... thing. Yes." She realised she had stood up, swishing her legs and skirt behind the chair, adjusting it to make a barrier between them.

"That's great. It should be fun. Oh! Look at the time!" Puffing out her cheeks, widening her eyes, Celeste shook her head at the time displayed on her phone. She tucked it back inside her coat, rising to leave. "I look forward to our adventure."

With a grin, Celeste swooped past River before she could say anything, laying a hand on River's for the most brief of touches as she passed. Before River knew any different, Celeste had left the shop, striding away into the faint, white, street lamp lit street. She walked with her hands in her trouser pockets. Like some thirties femme fatale movie star.

With nothing else to do, River locked the door, turned the sign to 'Closed' and wondered if she would even bother replying to Celeste. After all, the woman was clearly upset from losing her job. River doubted Celeste would even remember this conversation in the morning.