Sometimes you have to believe before you can see

Is this what people call ‘small talk’?, Sally wondered. She was slightly nervous of saying the wrong thing (as she always was, each time she opened her mouth), but despite that, she was rather enjoying talking to Miss Weathers. And it was proper talking, to boot –not just lending an ear to a frustrated customer in need of venting to a stranger. “Yes, it does happen with some degree of frequency,” Sally chuckled in agreement. “You can’t imagine the amount of times I’ve been beside the actors, just hidden behind the curtain, whispering to them the lines they tend to forget… It becomes almost automatic, later, when sitting in the audience… Though it’s not really useful there, when you’re supposed to be quiet and enjoying the show.”

While her pocket notebook was more to keep check of her expenses, setting herself little reminders and lists of what she needed to do in the day, it had also began to be a place where Sally wrote down the names and numbers of the people she was now meeting, slowly filling his contact list in her phone, writing down ideas for garments she thought for them, or just thoughts and ideas she would like to share with them. She didn’t feel like she knew any of them quite enough to send a text message unprompted, but at least she had the numbers.

“Yes, that would be just perfect!” Sally replied excitedly, with a wide smile. Just as she was new to small talk and making contacts, the seamstress was also still completely new to the world of online shopping –but maybe that could be a good way to buy herself new clothes, too. “I just hope I can manage to understand how the whole… Money transference works, and such,” she thought out loud, looking down at Miss Weathers’ phone. “Please thank Maria for me, by the way. She saved my week.”

Flora smiled kindly at the remark.  While she had been using computers and online payments pretty much since they became available she had to remind herself sometimes that not everyone had used them like she had.  “It’s really quite straightforward once you know what you are doing.  I would be happy to help you with it today if you want.  I know you need that fabric urgently so the order probably needs to be with them by about 4pm in order for it to ship overnight.”

“Makes the competition a bit more fun though, right? You’d want to beat the best,” Nani joked. She nodded in agreement; despite scoffing the bagel in record time, cake sounded far more appetising, if only she had the sense to buy one instead of her coffee. “That is a good question. Depends if you want the satisfaction now, or if it’s more satisfying to wait.”

“Hmm, I think a better question might be whether any of the cafes have a cake that grabs my attention enough or if I should stick with my instinct and go home and make a lemon drizzle.  Now I don’t know if lemon is all that will satisfy my sweet tooth or if fudgy chocolate would also hit the mark?”  Looking at Nani Flora let out a laugh, “Sorry, I’m sure standing in the street discussing cake was not how you anticipated spending the day.”

Rose took a deep breath and bit her lower lip when her aunt said no, she didn’t thought she was asking for much, she was getting older, and it was unfair for her aunties to keep treating her like a child.  She wanted to cry, she wanted to tell her aunt that  she hated her from keeping her locking in that house and storm to her room, but that wasn’t going to prove that she was a young adult, and it wasn’t true, she didn’t hate her aunt, she loved her with all her heart, so she tried to bargain again. “Could we spend a weekend away?” She suggested. “Don’t you miss travelling? Seeing the world?” Rose asked, for what she knew about her aunt she wasn’t one to stay at one place for long, that was until she had to take care of her.

“We could make a fun family getaway? Please?! I would love to actually see a different place instead of just reading about it.” She almost begged, there was no harm in leaving the town for a weekend, right? She wasn’t even asking about her parents, or asking where she was born, she was just asking to leave for two days, the beach, the mountains, snow, anything different. “It doesn’t have to be something very far, a driving distance if you would prefer.” That way it would also not be expensive

Flora didn’t expect Rose to accept her answer easily but her questions about travelling made the older woman think for a moment.  She did miss travelling and always would but it was a sacrifice she had made in order to keep Rose safe, not that her niece knew that of course.  As the student continued to make suggestions about going away for a few nights Flora’s mind was already racing.  There were so many places that she wanted to take Rose and show her.  When the girl had been a baby Flora had held her in her arms and told her all the cities she wanted to show her, the trips to the beach and paddling in the ocean...so many memories she wanted to make with her.  That had all changed and now she had to get permission before she could do anything with her and any time she had asked she had been told no.

“So basically you are suggesting that in order to get you to follow a few simple rules I should dangle a carrot in front of you as an incentive?” she summarised.  “How about we try something different to that and you behave and follow the rules and if I think you have earned a privilege then we can discuss the possibility.   You are old enough to stick to simple boundaries without a sticker chart to keep you on track.”  Flora wished she could say different, with all her heart she wished she could promise the trip that Rose wanted but she needed to buy herself time to investigate what, if anything was actually going to be a possibility without getting the young woman’s hopes up.

Rose got bored very easily, so when she was grounded she needed to keep herself busy, that meant cooking, baking, sewing, talking with the plants in her room, everything, even cleaning when she was very bored. Rose helped her aunt with the groceries, taking advantage of the situation to see what she had got, hopefully chocolate chip cookie or ice cream.

When her aunt asked if she had time to think about her choices, it was like an arrow straight to her heart. “I…” Rose started to talk but stopped, she didn’t want to fight or argue with her. “I’m sorry but…” she said looking at the floor and playing with her hands, since it was what she did when she was nervous, she knew she should have stopped in I’m sorry and leave it at that but, she had to go with but. “There’s so much to see and to do, I know you guys just want me to be safe, but I’m sure you wanted to see the world when you were my age.” She said trying to get some points pointing out she was doing the same thing, Flora probably did as well. “Maybe if I was able to get home a little later, I would manage to be on time?”

Flora sat down, resting her hands together on the edge of the table as she waited to see what Rose had to say.  Nodding slightly in approval at the apology she would have accepted that and moved on given she had no doubt it would happen again but the young girl carried on.  Flora bit her lip as Rose suggested she had been similar when she was younger, wanting to explore.  The older woman had been notorious at Rose’s age for wanting to go out and travel.  Even as she got older she rarely stayed in the same place for more than a few years.  She put it down to her job moving her but more often than not Flora had asked for the move or moved house just to explore a new area.  There was so much of Flora in her niece....but it wasn’t safe for the young blonde and she needed to understand the boundaries.  

She was possibly softening a little but then Rose tried to negotiate and Flora shook her head, “No, absolutely not.  Your curfew is quite late enough.  It is for your own good to be home at that time and a good life lesson in following rules.  There is no exploring that needs to be done late at night.”

Hunter had sat down on the bench hoping to get some peace and quiet. When the woman sat down next to him, he tried not to pay any mind. But eventually she answered her phone and started yammering away with the person on the other end, some kind of scam, no doubt. It was 2021, who the hell was still answering their phones anymore? Everyone knew you were more likely to get a scam call than a legitimate one in this day and age. Normally, he would do anything to avoid conversation but in a state of annoyance, he found himself speaking up. “Y’should just let it go to voicemail. If it’s important, they’ll leave you a message.” That was his favorite way to avoid talking to his employer until he’d mentally built up the strength to do so. There was nothing more satisfying than not answering a call from Guinevere Bach.

Flora turned her head in surprise at hearing the man speak to her.  “I could let it go to voicemail but then if it is important I’ve wasted valuable time and not gained anything,” she pointed out.  She slid her phone into her purse with a sigh, “My niece or my sisters might need something and I like to be available.  I would hate to think I had missed something.”

Sally smiled and nodded in agreement. “Yes, well… I have been in the audience a couple of times, too, and I have to say, knowing just how much work goes into one performance… It helps you value even more all the efforts of the actors, the crew, everyone involved.” The woman had said she had been a businesswoman, but there was something about her that reminded Sally of the professors and teachers she would meet when she went alongside her father to his meetings; something in the clear way she talked, her little gestures, the smile of someone with complete confidence in what they were saying. Perhaps that was what made a professor.

Sally chuckled bashfully when Flora called her ‘sweetheart’; so, apparently even when the interlocutor wasn’t a handsome man, casual terms of affection still made her feel weirdly flattered. That, paired with the gentle compliment on her craft, was enough for Sally to begin fidgeting, wringing her hands. “Oh, I don’t know… I’d have to see what they have done to really be able to judge that. Still… Um…” She quickly opened her messenger bag and took out a smaller notebook, one she used to write down things she ought not to forget, and scribbled her email and phone number. “Well, if you need any alterations done, you can send me a message. During the Hootenanny I made my own dress, and helped a friend with their outfit, so… Maybe we don’t have a lot of opportunities to dress up, but who know; there may be some in the future,” she suggested with a little shrug.

“I’m glad to hear you get in the audience on occasion.  I’m sure it’s a very different feeling sitting with everyone else watching it to even standing in the wings and watching.  I imagine the energy is very different.”  Flora gave a soft laugh, “Although from everything you have said and what I know of those involved in theatre you must pretty much have to sit on your hands to stop yourself watching to adjust things from where you are sitting.”

Stepping back to give the woman space as she reached into her bag  and wrote down her contacts Flora watched and took the paper.  “Thank you.  Indeed who knows but it is good to have gather contacts when you can I always find.”  She slipped the piece of paper inside her purse just as her phone cheeped.  Reading the message Flora raised her head and smiled, “That was my sister Marie.  She is suggesting an online store she has used occasionally.  Apparently they can ship overnight.  Would that be any use to you?”

“Oh, no –I would probably be paralyzed by stage fright,” Sally said quickly. She had never given it a chance, but with as little experience she had talking with others, she imagined that somethiing like addressing a crowd or an audience would be especially daunting. “I like it behind the scenes, though. I like that sort of secret world in which everything is made and prepared to be set on stage.”

“Yes, it’s quite particular because… It’s all pleated, in a way it almost seems as if striped, from a distance… But it gives it a wonderful light movement, like one of those fishes with long tails. It’s especially nice to see in dancing costumes,” she said excitedly. The dress she was making for Ursula with the chiffon was rather simple, and the seamstress was putting most of its value on the way she would drape the fabric. Of course, she would need the fabric first, to begin making a definitive preliminary design. “It should be… Five yards, more or less? Maybe six, just to be safe.” While a good amount of the money Ursula had given her was being used to buying her food (she lived in a hotel room now, and didn’t have a kitchen where she could cook homemade meals) and saving into a fund specifically for her father (whom she still hadn’t contacted, after that night), the rest was all into fabric and other sewing supplies. That reminded her, she should probably buy or make herself some new clothes; she had been wearing the same three shirts and the same pair of pants for almost a week now.

“Um… You know, besides my work at the Community Theater and at Jack’s Holiday store, I’m also… I’m a seamstress, ocassionally, and I’ve begun a small business making custom designs… But if you ever need something mended, or custom fitted, I mean, you could call me,” she suggested with a small shrug. “Of course, if your sisters are good at it, you probably should ask them for help, but… Well, I…” Sally laughed nervously, wringing her hands. “It’s just something I do, that I love doing.”

“Ah you like the being where the magic happens?” Flora teased.  “I must confess I have never been backstage during an actual performance.  I love to be sat in the audience and swept away to another land for a few hours.  Forget your troubles and work and everything and just get sucked into someone else’s imagination for a bit.  I suppose it’s the same as finding a really good book.  You just lose hours in another place and it’s blissful.”  Flora let out a long breath as she thought about it.  Perhaps that was what she needed that afternoon when everyone else was out of the house, a cup of tea and a good book.

“You clearly know your stuff sweetheart.  I often forget that things look different from a distance but it’s quite a skill to know what is what.  That’s a decent amount needed so it’s not just scraps that people might have left.”  Messages quickly sent to both her sisters Flora turned her attention back to Sally, smiling brightly at the woman’s words.  “My sisters are both crafty and can do simple stuff but I don’t imagine either is in the same league as you so that is very helpful to know.  I will keep you in mind should I ever need a gown altered....although since I retired I don’t imagine I shall have many formal dinners to attend very often.  It’s a shame as I do enjoy the odd ballgown.”

“I’ll take an IOU on an iced tea if that’s easier too. In fact, you’re probably better checking out my work when I’m done and then decide what’s better,” Travis grinned, ever the charmer. “Now, do you want just a cut and dry ‘short and tidy’ or do you want me to cut your initials into the lawn or something?” he joked (mostly) before adding- “And how is the lovely Ms Weathers doin’ today anyways?”

“An IOU for the iced tea I can definitely offer,” Flora agreed easily.  Her lips curled at the edges as she curled her fingers around the door frame as she looked out over the lawn, “Oh dear, having to check your work implies that you might disappoint me and I am quite sure that would never be the case, would it Travis?”  Chuckling lightly at his joke she nodded, “I think my initials in the lawn would look quiet spectacular, somehow though I don’t think my sisters would be so keen and FFMW just would look very clumsy.  Perhaps I’ll consider spelling them out in begonias or tulips or something next year instead.”  Flora brushed the curls from her forehead as she smiled at the question, “I’m doing very well sweetheart.  How are you?  Are there enough lawns to cut to keep you out of mischief for a while?”

“You know, I think I’ve had that exact call,” Nani laughed. At this point in her career, she did have someone to do her business taxes for her, but for the good part of her late teens and early twenties she took on that task herself. Nani finished her bagel, wiping her fingers on her napkin. “Oh, Olympic cake eating. I could get behind that for sure. Might have some stiff competition from my sister’s friend though. That kid is a cake eating machine.”

“I feel like there would be stiff competition from so many people I know for that category although I would definitely give it my best shot,” Flora grinned.  “However the problem with all this discussion about cake is I am now feeling hungry and really want a good chocolate cake.  The next question is whether I go and buy one or make my own.”

“My pleasure, Miss Weathers,” Sally said with a smile. And, at Flora’s mention of Jack’s Attic, she finally knew from where she had recognized the woman. “Oh, now I remember you! Yes, I think I’ve seen you a couple times in the store, perusing our Easter catalogue.” Sally wasn’t as present in the store during the springtime, mostly because of her other job at the Community Center, which demanded her attention for the end-of-winter festivities and events. “Have you ever attended any of the Community Theater’s plays?” she asked Flora. In that sense, she wasn’t as familiarized with the audience, since she mostly worked behind scenes instead of on the stage.

“I’m in need of something rather specific,” she admitted. After all, that was the reason she couldn’t just get it second-hand. “Pleated chiffon. I have some chiffon, but I fear it is neither enough for the garment nor that I can manage to hand-pleat it all by my delivery date.”

Flora smiled brightly as the woman recognised her.  “Yes, I decided to go all out decorating this Easter and spring and spent altogether too much time selecting between different bunnies.  It was a strangely liberating experience,” Flora explained with a laugh.  “I was at the last one, I do remember that performance.  The young girl playing the lead was quite exceptional.  Such wonderful stage presence and yet she seemed so young to be so confident.  Do you ever go on the stage yourself?”

“Pleated chiffon,” Flora replied with a nod as she texted both her sisters.  “I must confess I didn’t know such a thing existed.  I assumed you would just fold it as you needed but clearly there is more to it than that.  Do you require a large amount?”

Lifting a brow, Ray chuckled a bit. “Oh please, you ain’t that much older than me. Besides, you’re only what, twenty four, twenty five years old. You’re still a youngin’.” Rays smile only seemed to grow brighter as he spoke to Flora. “As for those phone calls, I’m sure you could get yourself do not call list. Maybe that’ll make them stop.” He suggested, only to sit up quickly in his seat with a laugh. “Oh, do what my grand mama did, she’d pick up the phone and say: Thanks for calling Rick’s Roadkill, you kill em’ we grill em’. What can I get cookin’ for ya?” 

Flora fluffed her hair with a laugh as she listened to the man.  “You are such a charmer Ray.  However it cheers me up no end so feel free to carry on!”  Nodding at the idea of finding a way to block these calls she found herself laughing out loud as she heard his grandma’s solution.  “I love that.  I bet that scared them off the other end as quick as anything.  I’m not sure I would be able to carry it off though.  I’ll just have to get my calls patched over to you and you can start screening them for me!”  Her smile wavered slightly, just for the moment as the idea of allowing anyone else access to her calls was ridiculous.  Cheering right back up again she tipped her head and looked at him, “What brings you out on this lovely day anyway?”

Nani grimaced lightly. She had received the ‘we’re calling about your recent road traffic collision’ call so many times that she practically knew their script by heart. “What were they selling this time?” Nani asked curiously, taking another swig of her coffee. She took a quick glance at her bagel, almost gone in no time at all, and laughed. The consequences of life on the go, she thought. “I’ll be fine. If I’m lucky I can compete in Olympic sandwich competitions one day.”

“The ability to do my taxes for me,” Flora replied with a laugh.  “Total incompetent fools all of them,” she added bluntly.  The older woman looked down at the tiny piece of bagel which remained in the woman’s hand, “Olympic sandwich eating competition, now there is a sport I could get onboard with....although if I’m honest Olympic cake eating might be more my thing.”

Ray chuckled a bit at Flora’s expression, taking a bite out of the apple he’d grabbed for himself on the way out of his trailer that afternoon. “So what exactly is going on?” He asked shifting in his seat a bit as he watched Flora hang up the phone for the second time since he’d come to find her. “Do I need to hurt someone for ya? Cause I will, don’t tell the others but you’ve always been my favorite sister.”

Flora let out a long, frustrated sigh as she put her phone down and looked at the man.  Chuckling at the last comment she shook her head with a laugh, “Your secret is safe with me....and no I don’t think you would be able to find anyone to hurt.  I am just fed up getting calls inviting me to pay vastly inflated prices for some incompetent to do my taxes.  Something that I have been doing perfectly well for a multi million pound company for more years than you have been alive my darling.”  

Alright, so this was a polite woman, who wouldn’t start shouting at Sally for accidental eavesdropping. Sally let out a tiny sigh, and smiled a bit more comfortably. “Oh, that’s a relief then. May I ask, what is it that you do? Or did…?” she said, her voice trailing off as she doubted. Sally cleared her throat immediately, though, to make sure she didn’t come across as too nosey. “I’m Sally Finkelstein, by the way. I’m an employee at Jack’s Attic holiday store, and a costumer and set designer for the Community Theater,” she said, offering her hand to shake. “Hence the need for fabric.” She decided against revealing so soon that she was also a designer.

“No, I don’t think there’s a number…” Sally muttered, turning back to the closed front of the store. It was an old, small sort of place, the lower floor of a two-level brick house, owned by a family, who probably lived upstairs -much like the holiday store itself. It was the sort of little business she would like to own one day, perhaps. All the information available about it was the name of the store, and a little sign with the opening hours. Self-imposed rules they were not currently following, it seemed. Sally turned back to the woman, biting her lip, wringing her hands a bit more. Dare she bother her further? “… I am very sorry, but this is sort of an emergency… I need to deliver a garment by next Monday, and I was counting on this place being open,” Since it always was. Except today. “Could you… I am so, so sorry for being a bother, but could you please send a message to one of your sisters, in case they know of another place?” Unfortunately for Sally, she didn’t know about other people who shared her hobby. Everything she had learned, she had more or less learned by herself.

“I worked for a pharmaceutical company but I was in the business side so I’m very experienced in accounts and taxes, that sort of thing.  So how I ended up on a call list of companies offering to do my taxes at ridiculous rates I have no idea.”  Flora clucked her tongue at the sheer audacity of these companies before she smiled back again.  “It’s a pleasure to meet you Sally.  I’m Flora Weathers,” she explained as she reached out to shake hands.  “Jack’s attic is such a treasure trove.  I just love having time to wander around and see what I can find.  How wonderful to be involved in the theatre group too.  I am sure they value all the help they can get.”

Flora looked down the street as she considered where next to tackle on her errand list, turning back when she heard the woman speak.  “Oh it’s no problem.  Give me a moment and I will see if they can help.  Is it just regular fabric you need or something more specialist?”

“Oh –I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to pry,” Sally said quietly as she moved aside. Sometimes her curiosity just got the better of her, even as she tried to be as polite and respectful as possible.

Just in front from where they stood was the store where Sally bought all the special or necessary fabrics she couldn’t thrift, and for some reason it was closed, on a weekday, on regular opening hours. It was something quite out of the ordinary. Still, she needed a few things before finishing another garment for Di Rossi, and she needed it quick. “Um… I was wondering, do you happen to know where I could find another fabric store, please?” she asked the woman, wringing her hands.

“Don’t worry about it sweetheart.  I just get frustrated with cold callers telling me that they can revolutionise my life when they have absolutely no knowledge of me or my life.”  Flora gave a sharp laugh, “In this case they were trying to get me to pay for a service that I have been doing since I was twenty one so I think I will keep my hard earned money.”  She slipped her phone into her bag before her eyes were drawn back to the woman, her lips pursing at the question.  “No I’m sorry sweetheart, I don’t.  I’m afraid I don’t have any clue when it comes to crafty type supplies.  Now if my sisters were here they might know, they are both creative in their own ways.....but they’re not.”  She looked towards the store, “Is there a number that you could call and ask when they are open?”