Total pages in book: 210
Estimated words: 200837 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1004(@200wpm)___ 803(@250wpm)___ 669(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 200837 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1004(@200wpm)___ 803(@250wpm)___ 669(@300wpm)
A tea party, to be exact.
Clara, who is sitting on a velvet cushion that was not here this morning, jumps up from the little coffee table, turning to me with a smile. “You’re home! We weren’t expecting you.”
This is when I notice that Anneeta is also sitting on a velvet cushion at the little coffee table. “What is going on here?”
Clara points to the table. “This, my good sir, is a proper tea party. You see, I”—she places a hand across her chest—“have hosted at least a hundred of these fuckers over the last decade. And I wanted to make sure that our little friend here has a better perspective of what an actual tea party looks like.”
“We got finger sandwiches, Tyse! Do you want one?”
The whole table is set for high tea. Like… I actually feel like I’m back in the Delta god’s tower, being served tea as I wait for punishment because that’s the kind of asshole god he was. He’d soften ya all up with cucumber sandwiches and get ya all loose with hot tea as the scent of lavender lingers from the fresh flower arrangements. So then, when he appeared for your little ‘talk,’ you think he’s a good guy. But he’s not. He’s always been an asshole. And you only make this mistake once. The next time you’re there, you don’t even look at the tea.
But this Clara’s tea party and it’s… delightful. Just like her.
Nothing in the tea set matches. Not the plates, not the pot, not the cups. All the little spoons are every different kind of metal and almost everything is chipped. But the table is dressed up with a yellow cloth that matches the rug, which matches the curtains, which matches the throw pillows.
And she’s wearing… “Oh, my god, what are you wearing?”
“Do you like it?” She spins for me. “This is the dress Rodge gave me.” She pauses to think here. “Or maybe it was Prisha? I’m not sure, but I love it. And it’s perfect for tea. Don’t you think it’s perfect?”
Not only is it perfect for tea, it’s perfect for dinner. I was a little worried about Clara showing up in jeans and boots. But this dress works. It’s a light green color and… well… not slutty. “It’s perfect. In many ways. Because I’ve got us a dinner invitation tonight.”
I’m expecting her to balk at this dinner. Most girls I’ve dated in the past—if you could call it dating—would not be the least bit interested in having dinner with the patrol chief of Tau City.
But up-city Clara Birch was made for dinner parties. And she’s all smiles when this invitation comes out. “Really!” She presses her hands together and sighs. “Oh, I can’t wait. I was starting to feel a little—” But she stops mid-sentence and suddenly remembers we’re not the only ones in the room. She looks over her shoulder at Anneeta.
Anneeta looks crushed. Even I can see this and I’m no expert interpreting the moods of little girls.
Clara steps in to mitigate. “It is OK with you, Anneeta? If we go to dinner in the city tonight? I’ll bring you something back. Something very sweet or something very pretty. Your choice.”
Anneeta goes into a full-on pout mode now, crossing her arms and everything. “What about these sweets?” She points to the little cookies stacked perfectly on a tarnished three-tiered silver tray. “And the sandwiches.”
“We can have another party tomorrow,” I say. “We’ll have it out on the ruin steps and everything.”
Anneeta makes a face at me. “They’ll be soggy by tomorrow, Tyse.”
Clara intervenes. “We’ll get new sandwiches and sweets, of course. And I’ll pack these up so you can take them with you and they won’t go to waste.”
“How’s that sound?” I ask. “Fair trade?”
Anneeta huffs. “I guess.” But she is not happy about it.
Clara takes over, packing up the food and putting it back into a very fancy box that came from the city via runner, while Anneeta starts dumping tea out into the sink. It’s real tea, too. I can smell it. I bet Clara got it hot with her spark. And I kinda wish I was here to see that.
Finally, after several minutes of bustling about, everything is packed up and Anneeta is sent on her way with promises of tomorrow.
Clara shuts the door, then turns to face me as she presses her back against it. “Hi.”
“Hi, yourself.”
“Did you have a good day at work?”
I shrug. “It was… whatever. Good news, though. The job is over. So I won’t be gettin’ up early to go into the city tomorrow.”
“You can sleep in then?” She walks over to me, then takes a seat on the bed.
“Sleep? Sure.” I smile at her.
She points at me. “I missed you today.”
My eyebrows shoot up. “You did?”
“I did. I feel like you’re a tea-party kind of man.”