Page 12 of A Spot of Tea
“Oh!” Patty came to the table with her cup of tea. “Tell her about Russell and the song.”
Eliza cocked her head to the side. “What song?”
Sheila didn’t need to talk about this right now, but it was the first time Eliza had wanted to talk about anything in weeks. She clasped her hands together. “Russell wants me to write a song for the movie. But I can’t. It feels wrong.”
“What? Youhaveto! That’d be so cool.”
Sheila shook her head. “No, it’d be nepotism, and that would be wrong. It’s not like they would put the song in the movie because it’s good. They’d only include it because I’m Russell’s girlfriend.”
Patty let out a cackling laugh. “If not for nepotism, nobody would do anything! It’s always what you know.” She paused. “No, wait. I meant it’swhoyou know. That’s what I wanted to say.Whoyou know, and you know Russell. You know who he knows?”
“Idris Elba,” Sheila said in a flat tone.
“That’s right.” Patty nodded, then paused. “Wait, no. Stop teasing me. It’swhoyou know. Doyou remember how I ended up here? I happened to befriend the guy who owned it, and he agreed to sell it at a deal. That’s what’s important, you know. Friends.”
“Very inspiring story, Patty,” Sheila said, and the three of them burst into laughter.
Derby, out of his hiding spot, jumped and put his paws on Eliza’s lap, tail wagging, as if he were in on the joke.
Once they recovered, Sheila turned to Eliza. “How are you doing, sweetie?”
Eliza shrugged. “Not bad.”
“The cupcakes you made were excellent,” Patty said. “Better than mine, I would say.”
“No.” Eliza smiled. “Though I guess they were pretty good.”
Patty went on. “Russell tells me you and Joey are planning to spend some time together this weekend.”
“Russell told you that? What a gossip,” Eliza said, but she was still smiling.
Patty was about to say something, but Sheila cut her off. “That’s nice! It’s good for you to have friends here who are under the age of fifty.”
“Yes.” Eliza laughed. “I love you all, but you do go to bed really early. Actually, speaking of friends, Cora was just telling me she wanted to come and visit soon. Would that be okay, Granny?”
“My home is your home,” she said. She took a sip of tea and cleared her throat. “But that girl did steal a lot of money from you, and I will never forgive her.”
Eliza snorted into her teacup. “I know. She’s not perfect, but she’s still my best friend.”
Sheila shot Patty a look. “None of us are perfect, are we, Patty?”
Patty pursed her lips. “No, none of you are, except me, but that’s takenyears.”
They laughed, Eliza the hardest, and Sheila stood to make some finger sandwiches.
She might not agree with how Patty had handled the Joey situation, but it was the first time she’d heard Eliza laugh in two weeks, so she’d take it.
Six
What were the chances Joey was playing a prank on her? Eliza couldn’t stop thinking about it.
It’d be like one of those 90s teen movies her mom had made her watch. Joey was the handsome, popular guy and Eliza was the nerd he’d made a bet to woo. He’d let her hair down and whip off her glasses and suddenly, the rest of the world would be blown away by her inside-out stunning beauty.
There were a few problems with this theory. First, Eliza put her hair down all the time, even while simultaneously taking off her glasses, and no one had ever stopped her in the street to sign her for a modeling contract.
She was no beauty. That much was true, but it didn’t bother her. Elizabeth Bennet was always second to her sister in beauty, and it didn’t matter. She had her books and her wit – and she’d ended up with Mr. Darcy!
Not that Eliza thought of herself as Elizabeth Bennet. She wouldn’t dare to. As much as she lovedPride and Prejudice,and as close as their last name Dennet was to Bennet, they were short one sister, and every conversation ended with the girls arguing over who had to be Mary.
