Page 7 of Welcome to Ero-TEA-Ca: We’re Open!

Harriet

I t was a brand new day and the sun was shining. Saturday was looking to be much better than yesterday, which Harriet was immensely grateful for. It hadn’t been the best introduction to the street, and no doubt she’d have to deal with Cass again, but that was fine. Harriet could handle it.

No way was she going to let one person bring her down.

There was too much at stake, and Harriet wanted to bask in the excitement of her new journey.

The scary shit would happen next week when they had the soft opening and party.

So, these next few days were Harriet’s chance to perfect the shop and just… be.

She’d waited long enough to reach her goal. This weekend would be her time to enjoy that, no matter who had a problem. It irritated Harriet that her mind kept latching on to yesterday and the way Cass reacted. Surely the idea of an erotic tea shop couldn’t be that distressing?

Well, she’d just have to prove the moody busybody wrong! Harriet would attract new clientele to the street, boosting not just hers, but all the other shops’ sales. Then Cass would have to admit she was wrong, wouldn’t she?

Hm…unless the issue went deeper than that? Could Cass be a homophobe or something? She’d met Nabi, who looked all kinds of queer. Harriet didn’t exactly look straight, or so her brother and sister had told her multiple times.

Why hadn’t she thought of that? It made sense, right?

None of the other shop owners were kicking up such a fuss.

But then Harriet thought of Kendal, and that didn’t seem right.

Kendal definitely didn’t give off bigot vibes, and she doubted Kendal would hang out with someone who did.

But how could Harriet be sure just from first impressions?

Maybe this was a wait-and-see situation.

Harriet would get on with her life and business and see if Cass caused any more issues.

If the woman was a homophobe, she was going to freak when she saw the modern Pride flag decals Harriet planned to stick on the windows, let alone if she ever entered Ero-Tea-Ca and saw all the artwork.

Whatever. Cass didn’t deserve all the mental attention Harriet was giving her.

There was plenty to do, even though it was Saturday, which normally meant cleaning the flat, then meeting up with the siblings for lunch, followed by a movie and a pizza.

Harriet would be alone in the shop, cleaning, organising, and settling into her new role as a business owner.

Nabi had wanted to help, but Harriet made her stay home and sleep.

Nabi may not have been living in the shop, but no doubt she’s spent the odd night or two camped on the stockroom floor, blessing the space and connecting with the shop’s energy.

All that meant Nabi was running on way too little sleep and far too much sugar.

Harriet needed to find where her best friend stashed all those lollipops and destroy them.

Would a fruit smoothie really be so terrible?

The tea shop was looking good. They’d got a lot done yesterday.

A few more shelves needed to be stocked, and Harriet wanted to familiarise herself with the till and the card machine.

Arranging the gift boxes would require a little time.

Harriet knew herself enough to understand it would be a slow process.

She’d arrange them, then rearrange things several times before she was satisfied.

Pouring out her perfectly steeped Ashwagandha, Harriet picked up her personalised teacup and slowly paced the room, taking everything in.

It was fun to watch the outside world pass by without them knowing she was watching.

The frosted windows were a great idea. Who knew one-way frosted glass existed?

Not Harriet, until Nabi mentioned it as a way to get around any privacy issues.

One particular person made Harriet stop and stare.

Cass, to be precise, who’d arrived outside the shop door.

Thank God the roller blind was down. Harriet watched her screw up her very pretty face as she stared at the Closed sign.

As harsh as Cass had been, Harriet still noticed her beauty, which was somehow intensified by her brooding character.

What’s she doing here?

Instead of rushing to find out, Harriet sat down and watched. Cass had one hand balled into a fist and the other gripping a bag of coffee beans so hard she was about to cause a mess all over the pavement.

Cass seemed to be muttering to herself. What on earth was she doing? It took everything in Harriet’s power not to flip up the shade and ask. No, she’d wait. And keep waiting.

Wow, Cass was taking a long time to decide whatever the hell she was trying to decide. At one point, it looked like the woman was going to throw the coffee beans at the door and run.

Harriet had finished her tea by the time Cass straightened herself up and tentatively knocked on the door. Placing her cup down gently, Harriet took her time walking over and unlatching the door.

Like yesterday, Cass had her hair in a low ponytail. She wore plain black trousers and a short-sleeved shirt with The Oxford Beanery embroidered over the left pocket. Her little apron was cute, and she gave off a strong coffee smell. It was nice.

“Can I help?” Harriet asked in her most pleasant and non-sarcastic voice. Cassandra Beaufort wouldn’t make her sink to a level of pettiness. Harriet was better than that.

“He-hello. Um, good morning. Sorry to disturb.”

“No worries. What can I do for you?”

Cass thrust the bag of beans in Harriet’s hands. “Here. As a welcome gift.”

This was so weird. “Right, thanks. Anything else?”

This time it was Cass who shifted nervously from foot to foot. “Yes. Well, I’d like to apologise…if I may.”

“I can’t stop you.” Harriet chuckled. “Would you like to come in?”

Cass’s eyes went wide. “Oh, no. No, thank you. Out here’s fine.” Wow, so even the thought of entering the shop was too much.

“As you like.” Harriet leaned against the door frame and waited. Cass cleared her throat several times. Did she need a glass of water? God, it was becoming painful. “Listen, I don’t mean to be rude, but I have a lot of things to do today, so…”

“Right, of course. Okay, so I wanted to say sorry for accusing your employee of using drugs and living in the shop. I won’t say sorry for complaining about the van or boxes, though. They did cause safety issues and blocked access to the café.”

“And sending an email of complaint to the council? What about that?”

“I may have been a tad premature. In any case, the council won’t be taking anything further without a police report.”

That made Harriet stand up straight. “You’re calling the police ?”

“No!” Cass rushed to voice. “No, I’m not. I wouldn’t. Not unless I was one hundred percent sure you were doing something illegal.”

“Which you’re still not convinced is the case, right?”

“I didn’t say that,” Cass argued.

“No, your face did. I really don’t know what I’ve done to earn this, Cassandra.” Should she be using informal names? Maybe sticking to Ms Beaufort would be better.

“Harriet, I swear, I will not be calling the police. What I think of you and your shop doesn’t matter, does it?”

“Wow. Yeah, sure. Can I ask you something?”

“Um, sure.”

“Are you homophobic? Is this what your campaign of terror is about? You don’t like a bunch of queers moving in next door? Afraid we’ll corrupt your precious street?”

Cass bit her lip and flared her nose. “Yes, I’m a massive homophobe. Just ask my ex-wife—the one I run the café with. You know, the stunning Black woman with legs for days? She’ll tell you how much I hate queer people.”

“Fine, you’re not bigoted. But you do have a problem with Ero-Tea-Ca, right?”

“I didn’t come here to discuss this. Do you accept my apology, or not?”

Harriet wasn’t going to get any further, so she figured it was better to cut her losses.

“Yeah, I accept. I’d like you to promise you’re not going to run off to the council every five minutes with bogus complaints, though.

It’s already stressful enough opening a brand-new business.

I don’t want to have the threat of inspections hanging over me all the damn time. ”

“I plan to stay out of the way. That you can be sure of.”

Huh, Harriet didn’t like the sound of that.

“Fine. But I was hoping you and Kendal would join the other shop owners on Monday evening for a small gathering I’m having.

It’s a soft opening with friends and family.

I think it will go a long way towards squashing any fears you may have about the business I plan to run. ”

Cass was back to looking uncomfortable. “Thanks. I’ll pass the invite over to Kendal. She’ll more than likely attend. Have a good day.”

Harriet watched Cass until she disappeared into the café.

Softly closing her own door and relocking it, she squashed the bag of beans between her fingers.

It was like a fragrant stress ball. Was that it, then?

Cass had apologised. Kind of. And she planned to stay away.

That was a good thing. Or was it? Why was Harriet so hung up on what Cass thought?

Maybe the idea of another person shitting on her dreams was the reason Harriet couldn’t let it go.

It was bad enough she had to fight with her parents over it.

Now she was dealing with her next-door neighbour, too.

Harriet was sure Kendal would love the shop and everything in it.

Call it a gut feeling, or whatever. That made Cass’s reaction even more infuriating.

Kendal and Cass had been married. Maybe they divorced because of how glaringly different they were.