5

With little option but to see Celeste wearing the clothes she had chosen, River returned to the tea shop feeling more than a little sheepish. She ignored the little tap of Erisa's hand, as she passed her, and the knowing, appreciative look that flickered towards Celeste. Her companion for the day stood with one hand in her suit pocket while she performed some operation on her phone.

Upon seeing River, Celeste put her phone away into the inside pocket of her jacket and gave River a smile, eyes sweeping up and down at River's clothes. Celeste wore similar clothes to what River had seen her wear, in the past. A smart business suit, with a plum coloured, silk blouse, the top two buttons unfastened revealing a delicate gold chain, upon which hung a large, gold ring. The first piece of jewellery she had seen Celeste wear.

"Ah, ready for your first visit to a tea farm?" Clapping her hands, she rubbed the palms together as a sign of implied impatience, then swept one hand towards the door and her waiting car.

"As ready as I'll ever be. Raring to go. I can hardly hold back my excitement." River felt herself almost bowing as she moved towards the door. Rolling her eyes at the words coming from her mouth, River dug her fingernails into her palm. "I mean, yes, I'm ready. And it's called an 'estate', or a 'plantation' for tea. I don't think anyone calls them farms."

Looking away, she cursed herself. Correcting Celeste before they had even got into the car made her look like some kind of tea facist. To the side, she heard Erisa stifle a laugh, pretending to cough. River glared at her, but it did nothing to excise the gleeful smile on Erisa's face. Celeste didn't appear to care, mulling over the difference between a 'farm' and an 'estate'.

"You kids have fun. No funny business." Moving back behind the counter, Erisa leaned on her elbows and pointed towards River with a pretend scowl. "And I want you home before ten. It's a school night."

Raising her head towards the ceiling, River wished the ground would open up and swallow her. She sidled past Celeste and headed out towards the car. Erisa had not lied. The car was enormous. Enormous and black. She could see cream coloured leather seats, inside, that looked more comfortable than her settee. A beep and a solid 'thunk' sound informed her that Celeste had remotely unlocked the doors.

Opening the passenger side door, she slipped in, taking her little backpack from her shoulders and clutched it on her lap as she sat down. The seat almost moulded itself to her and she thought it felt almost sensuous in the softness of the upholstery, the shape and curve of the seat. Celeste opened the driver's side and dropped into her seat, so used to the feel of it, River didn't think the woman even noticed the luxury any more.

"We'll reach half-way in about two hours. There's a services that we can stop at for refreshments." Celeste started the car, tapped upon the screen of her GPS and then fastened her seat belt. "Then about another hour before we reach the estate. I expect about two to three hours for the tour. We can grab lunch at a pub before heading back. Sound good."

"Sounds great. Marvellous. Pub lunch! Yay!" She gave a little air punch before remembering to fasten her own seat belt, scrambling to tug it across her chest and causing it to lock twice, due to pulling too hard, before it clicked into place. "Hours together in a car. What will we talk about? Tea? Friends? Family? What new tv series to watch? But, then, most people stream, don't they? I don't stream much. I'm like some old woman that hates technology."

"I'm sure we'll think of something." Checking her mirrors, Celeste pulled out into the road, the car moving so smooth, River could hardly tell the journey had started. "It'll pass in no time at all."

As they drove away, River turned her head to see Erisa standing in the doorway to the shop, waving like a mother watching their only child going on their first journey alone. In truth, River felt as nervous and as excited as the first time she went anywhere without her parents. Only, instead of on a school trip, on a bus with dozens of others, she was here, in a car, alone with someone she hardly knew.

They tried, several times, to initiate a conversation. Celeste asking non-invasive questions. River using far too many words to finally get to a point where she never actually answered the question. Then they would lapse into a strained silence once again. River found herself acutely aware of Celeste's legs as they moved while driving, each foot pressing the appropriate pedal every so often.

She never thought she could ever find such a thing erotic, but she did. The way Celeste's feet, in gorgeous, expensive, open-toed shoes pivoted upon the thin heels, angling forward as they readied for Celeste to shift gears. River had to turn her head away, feeling her ears burning, and began watching the passing scenery.

Before she knew it, two hours, or so, had passed and they pulled into the motorway services. Though they hadn't travelled that far, she felt grateful for the opportunity to stretch her legs. They bought sandwiches and coffee from the shop and sat outside as they ate. River wanted tea, of course, but didn't want to come across as tea obsessed. More tea obsessed. The attempts at conversation had ended and now they sat in a silence so uncomfortable, River almost felt it as a physical pain.

Once they had finished their sandwiches and coffee, they returned to the car, rejoined the motorway and, within a mile, hit a roadworks that had them diverting from the motorway entirely. At that, Celeste frowned and began tapping on the screen of her GPS. While she did so, River saw cars stopping a little further down the road.

"I think we've hit a jam." Bobbing her head one way and then the other, River tried to see how far ahead the line of cars lay. She couldn't see any traffic lights, only car after car, in one long line.

"I'm sorry. The map software has a roadworks and diversion alert, but I switched it off. It gets a bit annoying in cities. It's entirely my fault." With her forehead wrinkled, Celeste ran her fingers through her short, dark hair while her other hand continued to search for an alternative route. "I'm not usually this ill-prepared."

"It's alright. I'm sure we'll be back on our way before long." She tried to sound hopeful, but the last hour of almost-silence did not bode well for the rest of the trip. "I'm sure it's just a little bottle-neck. Once we pass that, voosh, we'll be on our way. Into the wild blue yonder. Up, up and away. I mean, we'll be fine. Yep, fine."

As the line of traffic trickled onwards, they entered a village, where one helpful resident had written on a large piece of cardboard. River read the words and her heart sank. She glanced towards Celeste and noticed that she, too, had seen the sign. It said they now sat in a six mile tailback. Six miles, at this interminable speed, could take hours.

It was only now, as they both sat back in the plush leather seats, that River could see that Celeste was more affected by it all than she appeared. Every so often, her hand would raise to her mouth, where she would begin chewing a fingernail, before noticing and pulling her hand away. The hands, themselves, had a tremor to them and the frown on Celeste's forehead continued and deepened.

"I have something to confess." Celeste looked to River and then looked away. "When I put the alert back on, it said the motorway road works had ended. Five minutes after we got diverted. If I'd had the alerts on, we'd only have had to stay at the services a little longer and we would almost be at the estate by now. I'm sorry. I've messed this up so bad and I just wanted it to be perfect."

"It's fine. So we'll get there a little later. It won't kill us, will it?" By instinct, River placed her hand on Celeste's arm, to console her, only for Celeste's entire body to stiffen. River jerked her hand away. "Well, I suppose we should just wait it out, eh. If nothing else, we'll know not to do this again."

She gave a little laugh, but Celeste's reaction to River's hand on her arm had disturbed River. She had acted as she would if she were on a date. Automatically reaching out and making the lightest of contacts. A testing touch to let the other person know she felt comfortable with them. She didn't feel at all comfortable, what with the silence and the disaster of the roadworks, but she wanted Celeste to think she felt comfortable.

But Celeste wasn't a date. This entire thing wasn't a date, no matter how much she wanted it to be so. They were two people who, for all intents and purposes, were practically strangers. People who had brief, all too brief, connections in the evenings after Celeste had finished her day's work. The roadworks weren't the only disaster this day. River knew she should have thanked Celeste, but refused the trip.

"What music do you like?" Letting a deep breath exhale through her nose, Celeste turned in her seat to look at River. She had a serious look in her eyes. "I like rock. Old school rock. Like, from the seventies and eighties. Do you like Queen? Bon Jovi? Guns n Roses?"

"I don't mind them. I don't really listen to music much." She thought about it and realised that Celeste attempted to lighten the mood, to fill the void. She forced a smile and nodded. "Yeah. Put that on. We can headbang and air-guitar and sing. Or try to sing. I don't sing very much. Well, I sing, in the shower, badly, but ... okay, I won't sing."

"You can sing. If you want." Tapping on the screen, Celeste called up the music streaming app, and picked a playlist.

Celeste obviously paid for the premium version of the service. The music began straight away, without any ads, and River knew the song. She had gone to a few party bars, in her wild drinking days, and this song seemed a favourite for most party dj's. She knew it started slow, but then picked up. She looked towards Celeste as the song started to hit its stride. She had a little smile on her face.

"Don't stop me now, we're gonna have a good time, we're having a ball."