20

                                    

                                          
20
The second plantation tour of the weekend passed by in a blur. A young, very efficient woman showed them around the estate, but everything seemed the same as the other two plantations they had visited. Something about the proceedings had lost its fun factor. As though River had become overfed with the intimate details of growing and processing tea and that thought terrified her.
Celeste, of course, took copious amounts of notes, asked pertinent and detailed questions and treated the entire enterprise with the utmost sincerity. River could only tag along as they moved from fields filled with several varieties of tea, to the processing areas and on to the shop. She could almost predict every word the guide would utter.
After the tour, with yet more bags of tea stowed in the boot of Celeste's Lexus, they prepared to make the return journey, back home. Swept along like detritus caught on a tide, River found even her usual runaway mouth had closed. Yes, she talked to Celeste, mumbled several 'oohs', 'aahs' and 'I sees' along the tour, but she could not find it within herself to actually talk.
Neither of them broached the subjects of River's confession, her drunken antics, or Celeste's acknowledgement of River's sexuality. There seemed little more to add. They talked, in pleasant, non-specific platitudes and asides, but not about anything important. And, when Celeste dropped River off, back at the shop, she left with a bitter-sweet goodbye and a minimal wave of the hand.
Erisa greeted River as she entered the shop. The brand new bags of tea became dropped on the rear counter and left to topple against each other and River could only give a blank stare towards Erisa before breaking down into tears she had held inside through the entire journey home.
"Oh!" Erisa's arms wrapped around River as her shoulders shook, wracked by sobs that River thought would never end. "I take it that's the last time you'll be seeing Celeste?"
"No." Her arms hung limp by her side as River buried her face in Erisa's shoulder. "We're going to China."
Somewhere along the journey, the question of where to go next had come up. Before River could stop herself, she had agreed to go to China, to the Hunan province and an island called Jun Shan, where they could find plantations of Camellia Sinensis, or Yellow Tea. A type of tea that Celeste had read about online. A somewhat rare variety of tea that few in the West had heard of.
"You see that word you just used? 'No'?" The young law student pulled out from the embrace and tried to catch River's eye as she tried to look anywhere but at Erisa. "It can be used in lots of ways. You know, like saying 'No, I do not wish to go to China'. If you don't want to go, that is."
"I confessed to her." Now River looked at Erisa. "I confessed and she basically just shrugged. And she won an award. I got drunk and ruined the night, then I slept in her bed and puked in an ice bucket, and I used her mouthwash and ... and ... I've done nothing but make myself look like an idiot."
The look of concern and pity upon Erisa's face was not what River wanted right now. If anything, she wished Erisa would agree with her. Call her an idiot and berate her for chasing after an unavailable woman. Tell her to buck her ideas up and grow a backbone. Anything but pity and concern.
She glanced towards her suitcase, the bag containing the evening dress she had hired and the many bags of tea that she needed to taste and review before putting them up on the menu board. If nothing else had come from the trip, she at least had something to do to take her mind off the colossal mistakes she had made.
"What do you need?" A thumb rubbed against River's cheek, wiping away the stream of tears.
"I need ... I need ... nothing. Thank you. Just, could you close the shop for me?" She saw Erisa's lips tighten, as though she held back what she wanted to say. "I'm just going to go to bed. Do you have any cigarettes? Do you smoke? I smoked once, back in high school. I hated it, but, for some reason, I want to smoke. No? Okay. Then, thank you, you're really the loveliest person I know. Good night."