Page 2 of Welcome to Ero-TEA-Ca: We’re Open!

“Yeah, I mean, the space you found to house us is legit perfect,” Nabi said.

Kevin nodded in agreement. “Have some faith in yourself, Harriet. This is going to be amazing!”

“It is not going to be amazing, Harriet. It is going to be humiliating,” Ronald Kirkwell scoffed. “Our friends and family will pass by the shop daily and know it’s you who has brought debauchery to Oxford.”

“Dad, come on.” Kevin laughed. “That’s a tad dramatic, dontcha think?”

“I do not,” Ronald continued. “Where has all the decency gone?”

“It stayed where it belonged—in the 1800s,” Kevin supplied.

“Kevin,” Patsy huffed, “don’t speak to your father like that.”

Kevin rolled his eyes.

“Look, I only wanted to see if you were coming to the grand opening. I don’t need another lecture as to how much of a disappointment I am.” Harriet sighed.

“We’re all disappointments.” Kevin nodded.

Harriet wished she were as easygoing as her brother. Kevin didn’t give two shits what their parents thought. He never had, whereas Harriet always strived to gain their support.

“No, Harriet, we will not be in attendance,” Ronald stated. A weight of sadness sat heavily on Harriet’s chest.

“You know she’s going to be massive, right?” Kevin blurted. “Harriet is going to have a chain of tea shops around the country by the time she’s finished. She’s going to be the biggest success out of us all.”

Patsy and Ronald both huffed at the statement. Harriet felt her eyes fill with tears. Not because her parents were prudes or had such little faith in their kids, but because Kevin had such unwavering belief in her.

“You really think so?” she choked.

“I know so, sis. And I will be with you every step of the way. So will Diane.”

“We’re not saying we aren’t happy you are finally doing something with your life,” Patsy began, “but couldn’t it be less vulgar?”

“There is nothing vulgar about Ero-Tea-Ca,” Harriet said, feeling her temper fray. “The shop is full of art, not porn. You would know if you took the time to look at what we’ve created. And as for your friends…when they walk past, all they will see is a beautifully classy English tea shop.”

“That sells sex toys ,” her mother whisper-hissed. Harriet wanted to burst out laughing. Patsy and Ronald were the type of people that barely said the words lesbian or gay above a mumble. Uttering the phrase sex toys must have taken a herculean effort to croak out.

“They are handcrafted toys. Made by Kevin and other artists. Same for the teapots and cups—all locally made to the highest standard. The artwork is phenomenal,” Harriet said with pride.

“Face it, guys,” Kevin butted in. “People like sex.”

“And tea,” Harriet added.

“This is going to be amazing,” Kevin declared.

“It is,” Harriet agreed, using Kevin’s confidence to boost her own. “Now, we need to go. The shop opens next weekend and we’ve got to start moving everything in. I’ll leave your names on the guest list, just in case.”

With renewed energy, Harriet left her parents sitting in their armchairs with the TV muted. If they couldn’t see how great this venture was, then fine. She’d just prove them wrong.

“One week, Kev. That’s all the time we have to get Ero-Tea-Ca ready for the grand opening.”

Kevin trailed behind Harriet as they left their parents’ house.

“Plenty of time. Gogo is popping over tomorrow to help move the merchandise in. The van will arrive at the shop at 8:00 a.m. Diane said she’d come over if she could rearrange one of her clients.

I’m pretty sure Nabi has been sleeping on the stockroom floor in anticipation, so I wouldn’t worry about manpower. ”

“She hasn’t, has she?” Harriet wouldn’t put it past Nabi. Her best friend was quirky like that.

“I’m not certain, but she was mumbling about ‘becoming one with the building so their energies match,’” Kevin said, straight-faced.

Hopping on her Vespa, Harriet waited for Kevin to jump on the back. “Then she has definitely been sleeping in the shop. It’ll smell like incense when we get there tomorrow, mark my words.”

Nabi was a strong believer in energy. Harriet had lost count of the number of crystals Nabi had gifted her over the years.

All her friends received rocks of some sort for birthdays and Christmases.

Nabi learned everything from her grandma, who was basically known around town as a Chinese shaman.

Mrs Choi had a crystal or herb for everything.

She was so well known, even the local doctor pawned off his patients to her when he was too busy to see them.

“Do you want to head over to the shop and find out?” Kevin called over the noise of the engine.

Shaking her head, Harriet clipped her helmet in place. “No, let’s leave her to do her thing. I want to order a pizza and try to relax tonight. Because, Kev, come tomorrow, it will be a while before we have a lot of downtime.”

“Agreed. Okay, sis, hit it!” That was Harriet’s cue to hammer the throttle. Which would be impressive on a Harley Davidson or something, not so much on a single-cylinder Vespa. They didn’t exactly look like Hells Angels. To be honest, the bike sounded like a hairdryer on wheels.

At least they were able to zip through traffic with relative ease, landing them at Harriet’s flat fifteen minutes later, cheese and pepperoni pizza strapped to the bike’s parcel shelf.

They fought their way through piled boxes of tea to get into the kitchen.

Having her place back was just another advantage of the shop opening soon.

Weeks upon weeks of climbing over shop inventory was tiring, but as Harriet settled at the kitchen table and looked around at all their hard work, she knew any struggles and sacrifices would be worth it.