Who: Robin and Jem What: Robin asks Jem about his weekend When: Backdated to early August Where: Remember Yesterday (Robin’s antique store) Warnings/Ratings: Low/None Status: Complete when Posted
The sign on the door stated that Remember Yesterday was open from 9 am to 7pm and for the most part Robin tried to stick to that, although occasionally she became lost in a book or a newspaper article and it was more like 9:15 or 9:30 when she finally unlocked the door. She did try to be on time when she was expecting one of her employees to open the shop with her. That morning she was expecting Jem to arrive and help her tidy the shop a bit and help put out a few new items she had acquired at an auction the week prior. So she had to make sure the shop was open in time.
Monday mornings were always best for a little tidying and doing the mundane chores that owning a shop required. Most hobbyists came later in the week and over the weekend. Only the die-hard collector and most loyal of customers came this early and even then it was rare that more than one would venture into the shop for anything other than browsing.
A pot of coffee ready in the back room and Robin had brought in a couple of bagels from Baxter’s for herself and Jem to gnosh on while they worked. Bagels went very well coffee at this hour of the morning. And the bagels from Baxter’s went especially well with french roast.
At 9:00 am on the dot, Robin flipped her ‘closed’ sign to ‘open’ and unlocked the door. Jem would be arriving any minute now. Just in time for a fresh cup of coffee.
Jem had been feeling better these days, but that didn’t mean that he didn’t still get tired easily when exerting himself too much, but that was mostly on the level of fighting giant spiders or demons night after night, but that was not a super common occurrence so Jem was beginning to feel like his old self again and able to train with Will without feeling like he was going to pass out halfway through. He was still taking more Yin Fen than he had before and he still hadn’t told Will or Tessa about it, but he was sure that everything was going to be alright.
He had stopped using his sword cane to assist him in walking and was currently walking down the street, towards Remember Yesterday to start his shift. He was planning on stopping by Tessa’s bookstore at lunch to bring her lunch since both shops were fairly close together. Reaching the antique’s shop, Jem went inside, “Good morning, Robin.”
Robin looked up from her book when she heard the bells over the door jingle. Seeing someone enter, she closed her book and slid it under the counter.
“Good morning, Jem.” She called back to him. She moved from behind the counter to meet him at the door. Her smile grew seeing that he didn’t have his cane with him this morning. Today must have been a good day. “I’m sorry I called you in so early on a Monday, but I really could use the help. Wait until you see what I have in the back.” She motioned for him to follow her through the little kitchenette/break room that lead to the back storage area. “There’s coffee brewing,” she made a gesture towards the little coffee maker, “help yourself, of course.”
She navigated her way through the storage room where she had her little discoveries tucked away. “Did you have a good weekend?” She asked over her shoulder.
Jem was glad that he didn’t need the dragon headed cane at the moment cause he could only imagine what he looked like to other people when he used it. In his dreams, in Victorian London, it didn’t seem too out of the ordinary for a young man to use a cane, but Jem’s was less for fashion and more for protection since it contained a blade inside it. In the modern world though, guys his age didn’t normally walk around with quite ornate items. So, being able to support himself without it was something Jem was happy about.
As he followed Robin into the back of the shop, he shook his head, “It’s alright. I don’t mind. I’m usually up quite early anyway.” Jem had a tendency to wake up early and practice his violin. As they passed the coffee machine, Jem made a mental note to get a cup on their way back out into the shop, “My weekend was good. We went to a friend’s wedding on Saturday. It was quite lovely. How was your weekend?” Jem thought it was quite impressive that Peter and Caspian had not only been together for ten years, but had met when they were only fifteen and knew back then that they were meant to be. Of course he felt that way about Will and Tessa, but their situation was a little different.
Robin had always been a little partial to Jem’s cane, but she would have agreed with him that a man his age using a cane would appear odd and probably thought as such. She thought Jem could own the look with a few simple fashion choices, but it really wasn’t any of her business. Besides, days that he didn’t have to actually use it were triumphs and she wasn’t about to take that away from him.
“My weekend was uneventful,” she told him. “It was nice to spend some time at home. My mother’s garden needed some tending. Poor thing was neglected for so long the weeds think they own the place. It’s been something of a little war to keep them out.”
She came to a stop by a medium sized wooden crate and lifted the lid. Inside were about a half dozen ceramic chinese vases. “We’ll need to catalogue these for the appraiser,” she told Jem as she set the crate’s lid to the side. “I’ll mark them in the ledger if you would take them into the office.” She picked up the first one to hand to him. “How was the wedding? Did you have a good time? I’m sorry, I think you mentioned who it was getting married, but I can’t remember.”
At times Jem wished that some of the clothes from his dreams would appear in his closet, beause he really did pull off the Victorian era clothing well. Will and Tessa did as well. Every now and then he wondered where one could get such clothes in the modern era. It’d be an interesting choice for Halloween.
As Robin removed the cover of the crate, Jem peered inside and took the vase that she handed to him to set down on a nearby table, making sure that it was far from the edge, “These are lovely. Reminds me of a vase my mother has back home.” Jem’s parents had met while his father was on holiday in China so Jem had grown up around many Chinese influences as well as British ones.
“We did. It was a very nice event.” Jem wasn’t sure if he’d mentioned who was getting married, but he had mentioned that he was going to a wedding at some point before the weekend, “Our friends Peter and Caspian. They’ve been together for ten years, this year.”
“Ten years?” Robin repeated. “Wow, that’s a long time. Good for them.” She couldn’t help the smile. There was something about weddings she liked, although she didn’t really know what. Perhaps it was the excuse to dress up and have a party. Or perhaps it was the notion of two people at one time alone in the world, fumbling around and searching until finally finding that special one they had been searching for, who had perhaps been searching for them. The idea made Robin feel very warm. She herself did not date much - or at all really - but deep down she was a bit of a romantic like that. Regardless of the reason, Robin always had enjoyed weddings.
“I haven’t been to a wedding in….” Oh my, how long had it been? Robin tried to remember the last wedding she had gone to. A few of her friends and acquaintances from school had gotten married in the past few years, she had gone to a couple of those when she’d been able. The last one had to have been about five years ago now, though. She shook her head, “well, a long time. Congratulations to both of your friends from me.” She turned back towards the crate.
“Were you able to get any pictures?” She asked next as she handed Jem the next vase.
Jem nodded, “I know. It’s mad to think that someone close to my age could have been with their significant other for ten years.” Peter and Caspian weren’t too much older than Jem so it wasn’t awkward when they all hung out, but it was still hard to think about being with someone now that he’d known ten years ago. “I hadn’t been to one in quite sometime myself.”
Taking out his phone, he brought up the pictures and handed it to Robin; the first one of Peter and Caspian in their tuxes together. Jem had liked how they had each worn a different tux that suited their own personality and build instead of the exact same one.
Robin set the vase she had been holding back in the crate and took Jem’s phone. Instantly a smile was on Robin’s face. Oh, yes, she loved weddings. The two grooms looked positively radiant in their tuxes, smiling at the camera, at each other. They looked very good together and very much in love.
“Oh, Jem, they look very happy,” Robin smiled, glancing up from the phone. “I love weddings. Its so nice to be able to celebrate love.” She felt some color rush to her face and she laughed softly. She leaned across the crate to hand Jem back his phone. “It looks as though you all had a good time.”
Jem took the phone back and slipped it back into his pocket, "We did. We had a lot of fun. I'm very happy for them." Of course being at the wedding reminded Jem of his own unconventional relationship and how it was highly unlikely that he, Will and Tessa would ever have that. One couldn't marry two people after all. Not that Jem had ever really thought of marriage, but then again until Will and Tessa, Jem had never been in a relationship.
Robin returned to the crate and took out another vase to hand to Jem. Her mind wandered a little bit to what it would be like to fall in love and get married. She had never pictured that kind of life for herself. She was always a quiet sort. She was friendly enough, this was true, but she was rarely very intimate with anyone, either emotionally or physically. There was no real reason for it, it was just the way she was. Her own mother was something like that as well. It had often puzzled Robin that she had become close with anyone to have a kind of relationship that had resulted in a daughter. Robin never knew her father, Olivia had never spoken of him.
Robin also traveled so much, whoever she took in interest in - or whoever took interest in her - would have to love to travel as well. A sudden trip to another state, or even another country, could not phase a potential partner. Wanderlust was also a part of Robin’s nature and like her usual quiet reserved nature, there wasn’t anything she could do to change that.
And speaking of travel…
“Will there be a honeymoon?” Robin asked as she handed the vase to Jem. Honeymoons for newlyweds were traditional, but this day in age they didn’t always occur immediately after a wedding. Some couples waited weeks, even months before taking their first major vacation together. Robin had even heard of one couple she had been friendly with had waited over a year to take their honeymoon.
Honeymoons were romantic. There was something about the magic of a wedding that carried over to that first trip together that made it all the more special. Or at least, Robin assumed.
Jem took the vases as they were handed to him and set them down beside each other, making sure they were far enough away from the edge that they wouldn’t fall, “I don’t think they’re going anywhere right away.” He hadn’t heard Peter or Caspian mention a Honeymoon during the reception, but he assumed they would do something at some point. “I’m sure they’ll do something eventually.”
Robin paused before she handed Jem the last vase, this one a little smaller than the rest. She was a little disappointed, she had hoped to hear of some kind of far off romantic getaway planned for the two happy grooms. But, it wasn’t her wedding. So instead she said, “If and when they go, I hope they enjoy themselves. Do you like to travel, Jem?” She handed him the last vase. “That’s it for this crate,” she went on. She paused and looked around her back room, a little frown pulling on the corners of her mouth. She had more back here than she did out front. This happened every now and then. She needed to pay more attention to the items she had before galavanting off to another auction. She did keep a ledger for a reason, after all!
She put her hands on her hips, “it’s gotten a bit crowded back here hasn’t it?” She asked glancing towards Jem. She chuckled a little bit, “perhaps we can find space for a few of these things out front, what do you think?”
Jem was sure that whatever Peter and Caspian decided to do, they would have a good time so long as they were together. In response to her question he nodded, “I do, but I haven’t done much of it. While growing up we went to China often to visit my mum’s family so traveling from England to China was the extent of it while I was growing up. I came out here because I had a cousin living here.” He wished that Jubilee was still in California sometimes, but he understood why she left.
“Probably. And we should probably go out front in case anyone comes in.” It was still early so even though the store was open, there wasn’t exactly a rush of people coming in that they had to worry about.
Robin blinked and then laughed. She’d gotten so wrapped up in hearing about the wedding (and unpacking the vases, but that had been far less interesting), that she had completely forgotten that the store was open. “You’re right,” she said. “Why don’t you go back to the front for a bit, Jem. I’ll join you as soon as I finish adding these vases to the ledger for the appraiser tomorrow. Then we can spend the morning seeing if we can make some room for a few more items up there.”
Robin placed the top back onto the grate. Later that afternoon she’d push it towards the rear of the backroom and hopefully out of the way. She didn’t have much use for it where it was. “There are bagels, coffee and tea in the break room,” she reminded Jem. “Help yourself, if you’re hungry.”