Sun Siren Croissants de France was a bit overpriced, and the name of the place was woefully kitschy, but Emmeline had to admit, they did make the very best petits fours on the island. Not the best idea for a breakfast food, particularly in a climate that led Emmeline to spend a good portion of her time clad in naught more than a swimsuit, but on occasion she had to indulge. A quick stop at a coffee house not far down the road, and she was fully equipped for a pleasant morning spent in The Garden.
The shop door sent a musical jingling of bells as Emmeline pushed it open and she smiled, closing her eyes a moment to breathe in the scent of a myriad of flowers perfuming the air. It was warmer in the shop, for the benefit of all the beautiful blooms, and Emmeline felt the heat of the two large paper cups she balanced in a carboard carrier pulsing against her side. Careful to balance the pink box of pastry she carried in the opposite hand, she adjusted the multicolored woven bag over her shoulder and let the door swing shut behind her.
"Good morning!" she called cheerfully into the store, pressing onward to find the shopkeeper.
In the back room, Purity was at her desk, flipping through the books of previous customers when her fingers weren't tapping on her laptop to find out more about flowers. Not that she needed too, but the bits and pieces that had come back to her were somewhat hazy, and rather than let the business, no... Her business go down the drain, the witch had made sure to really get involved.
Taking over was a lot easier than she had first imagined, the locals were friendly and she recalled enough to know there names when she saw them. That was the problem, she only seemed to get glimpses of memory when something was right there. When the bell jingled and that cheerful call out was given, Purity stood up and made her way through to the front of the shop. Appearing behind the counter with a bright smile she nodded to the oddly familiar face. "Hey, morning." She faltered for a second then added casually, "You look like you're full of energy."
Curiously she watched the smiling woman and waited to see what transpired. Was this a customer, or one of the friends this other her had? Purity had the strangest sense of deja vu. "Good day so far?" That was neutral right? She'd just have to wing it until something came to her.
Emmeline set the drink carrier on the countertop and used her free hand to push her sunglasses off of her eyes and up atop her head, brushing her long waves of dark hair out of her face as she did.
"As best as can be expected, I suppose!" she responded with a smile. "Harry is giving me a good bit of trouble about diving the reef against anytime soon, what with the Coast Guard poking their noses about and looking for coral poachers. I'd wanted to be in the water before sunrise again, but what can you do?"
She dropped the pastry box beside the two steaming paper cups, and lifted the lid to offer the florist a peek inside. "I hope you don't mind, I went a bit mad this morning... woke with a terribly sweet tooth! Stopped at Croissants de France, intending to take just get a simple braided coffeecake, and the next I knew, I was leaving with a load of pastries! Not that I'd ever have left without at least one raspberry tart, but there you have it. Any news around here?"
Emmeline reached into the pastry box and retrieved a chocolate petits four and bit into it, savoring the taste a long moment. "Your coffee'll go stone cold if you don't start drinking it, Purity," she added.
Gazing at the dark haired woman with the same curious look, the witch realised that this was someone she knew. The relaxed body language, the open conversation, and right at the end. Coffee and her name. Smiling as she listened, Purity clasped her cup and felt the warmth radiate through her palm. Lifting it up, she breathed in the rich sweet smell and took a testing sip. Well, that was a relief, at least the Purity from here still liked the same coffee as her.
Then it started to come back through a fog in her mind, flashes of laughter, of moments spent with... Emmeline. They were friends. One of the vividest things that came to her was a memory of thrashing in the water, taking on tiny sea creatures the size of chihuahuas. Actually capturing one so that the woman could keep it as a pet for a while. Emmeline had named it Brewster.
Which caused a snort of laughter from Purity and she shook her head. Taking another gulp of her coffee, she set it down on the counter and peered into the open box. Something flaky and filled with cream caught her eye and she snagged it without thinking twice. "Mmh careful now, Emmeline, you know Harry will have your head if he catches you." The sentence came out so easily, without any doubt, she knew she was right.
Teeth sunk into a corner of the pastry and the witch chewed for a few moments, waving her free hand around to the rainbow like colours of the flowers carefully stacked around the place. "Well, the window is still in one piece." It was said with a crooked grin as she took another bite, chewing first before adding, "And I think I'll end up with a sugar rush after this." Obviously she wasn't complaining though, and she felt more at ease as time ticked on. "Well we both know I'm going to be here for the rest of the day, so what are your plans?" resting her elbows on the counter, Purity leaned slightly and quirked her eyebrow at Emmeline. "Hmm?"
Emmeline laughed. "I've never been one to keep a dayplanner, have I?" she responded, reaching into the bag over her shoulder. "I assumed I'd spend a good part of the morning here, as I always seem to whenever I stop by, even if I only mean to pop in for a moment! But I do have something for you, and if I put it together just right, it should be a big help."
She retrieved a leather purse small enough to fit in the palm of her hand, and held it aloft for the witch behind the counter. "Finally managed to cut away a piece of the brain coral, so I'm hoping it'll do the trick. I know you've been having a spot of trouble with keeping the Barbados Pride the other tropicals fresh... just a sprinkle of this on the blooms - but only by moonlight, mind - should work. My neighbors keep asking how I managed to bring up a four foot stalk of Sun Siren in my back garden overnight!"
Purity was obviously intrigued, and as she leaned across the counter she carefully took the small leather pouch and held it in the palm of her hand. It hardly weighed anything, and just as she was pulling at the drawstrings that held it closed, she found out what it was. Stopping immediately with a dazzling smile, the witch practically bounced on her toes.
"Emmeline, you are by far a little goddess in your own right, thank you. I don't know what I would do if I had to throw more of them out, such a waste of something so incredibly pretty." As she spoke she looked around, squeezing the small leather pouch with renewed hope of making the shop run smoothly. "You could always tell them you sacrificed an orphan, or maybe a pet of some sort." The look she gave the dark haired woman was amused and slightly wicked. Of course she didn't really mean that, but it was fun to say all the same. "Ooo, say you're part of a coven, The Coral Coven." Maybe it was because she'd met a friend, but Purity was in very good mood. If you cut her, she would probably glow.
Emmeline laughed again, glad to see that Purity was in bright spirits. With everything going on as of late, culminating in the breaking of an expensive window, Emmeline often worried that her friend might take it all too much to heart. At least, she reasoned, she could help in making the flowers keep their freshness a bit longer than they might do otherwise. Garden magicks were new to Emmeline, but they were absolutely necessary to mastering the power of primal Earth; if she had to start from the very beginning to learn it all, she would.
"Oh, they'd never believe it. Except for that awful Cruz woman at the end of the block, always giving me a glare and shaking her cross in my direction. I'm almost certain she eavesdrops on me talking to Sam!" Emmeline said. The fattened grey tabby had arrived on her doorstep only weeks ago, but seemed to fit in quite well, chasing chickens in the yard and quietly watching the witch at her work. There was something more to him than was visible to the naked eye, Emmeline was sure of it; it almost seemed as though he could understand everything she said.
She was even somewhat certain the cat had told her his name, rather than Emmeline naming him at random.
"Would be nice to have a decent coven in the area," Emmeline remarked softly, helping herself to another small pastry from the bakery box. "Heaven knows I could use the company! Not that you're chopped liver there, dear. Just the two of us makes for a bit of quiet, though, doesn't it?"
"You should carry a small cross in your pocket so that when you see her you can shake it back. Maybe it'll confuse her enough to just back off." It still amazed Purity the way people treated each other over beliefs, like it was big competition to see which one would come out as the best. To be honest she didn't really care who favored what, as long as it worked at the end of the day, higher powers were still powers.
Purity brought her cup to her lips, and was about to sip when she suddenly looked up at her friend, "She listens to you talking to your cat?" Ok, that was a little weirder than she liked her weirdos. "I should tell you to ignore her but..." The witch sipped at her coffee and smiled as the warm liquid splashed into her stomach, "You could always talk jibberish when you knew she was around."
The next words out of Emmeline's mouth caused Purity to look down at her self, "Chopped liver, ugh. Though a coven would be nice..." The witch thought about it for a few more seconds and then was shaking her head, "Actually, too many people and suddenly everyone will want to be the boss of the group." There was a light shrug as she sipped from her cup again.
Emmeline mock-frowned and rested her coffee cup on the counter before putting her hands on her hips. "No one's the boss of me!" she said with feigned churlishness, followed with a laugh.
There was something so oddly cheerful about the day, a feeling Emmeline seemed to catch fairly often. There had been a time in her life, in the darker days of her childhood, when it seemed all she ever did was worry. Her father used to quietly joke that she'd have permanent frown and worry lines before she was fifteen, and Emmeline would laugh it off when she could, though more often than not it was just another concern to add to the pile that constantly seemed to yip and snap at her mind.
Things had grown easier with time, the pain in the loss of her mother had quieted, and even losing Bailey to his aspirations was becoming simpler to manage. He had come to her home for Thanksgiving, casting a curious eye on the girl from the beach, but had disappeared back into his travels almost immediately afterward. He wouldn't arrived again for some months, leaving Christmas to be a solitary celebration, should Emmeline's father decide to stay in St. Augustin. The occasional postcard from Brazil or Tanzania or wherever it was the wind would carry her brother would be enough to keep Emmeline's mind at ease.
Emmeline liked to start the day with a smile. Catching up with friends in the early morning was one of the easier ways of managing it!
"Small can be good, I do suppose," she agreed, biting her lower lip. "Still. A few more bodies around might make for a bit more fun now and again."
She opened her mouth to speak again and then paused, a sudden frown overtaking her features. She blinked once, then again, and reached up to fisted hands to rub at her eyes. The sunlight streaming in from the windows seemed to have blurred her vision, making Purity seem suddenly odd; two faces, a misty visage ghosted over the real, tangible features of her friend, both eyes sets of eyes staring back at her intently.
When Emmeline blinked, it went away. "Hmm. I seem to need a trip to the optometrist. Thinking I need more than just reading glasses now," she muttered, more to herself than to her friend. "Alright! I won't keep you dawdling any longer. I have a bit of work I need to get to anyway. Take care, Purity. Give me a ring and we'll grab drinks one of these nights. I've met a nice girl down the beach, I think you'll like her!" She gathered up her coffee and bag and headed for the door, leaving the box of pastries on the counter.