Melissa’s Cozy Teacup

TEA CLUB, originally uploaded by Macco Macclesfield.

1. The first rule of TEA club is you don’t talk about TEA club.
2. The second rule of TEA club is you don’t talk about TEA club.
3. The third rule of TEA club is when a biscuit breaks or goes limp, the DRINK is over.
4. Forth rule is one MUG at a time.
5. Fifth rule, no cream, no sugar.
6. Sixth rule, DRINKS go on as long as they have to.
7. And the Seventh and final rule, if this is your first night at TEA club, you have to DRINK.

Ruby rolled over and hit the snooze button on her alarm clock. Six a.m. On the dot. The whining from the box next to her bed, convinced her not to roll over and go back to sleep. She rolled out of bed, lifted the soft bundle of fur out and headed down the hall to the back door of her town home. She set the precious fluff ball down in the grass, ‘potty‘, she commanded. Maxine’s ears had not yet begun to ‘unfurl’ they still bent over towards her face like little flower petals, but she still cocked her head and twitched them at the voice of her new mistress. In a few weeks, they would be standing up tall and proud and when the hair around her ears started to grow and get longer, her appearance would live up to her breeds name, and she would look like her face was stuck between two large butterfly ears. Papillions were notoriously hard to potty train. Maxine was no exception. Ruby knew the minute they went back inside, her little friend would leave a puddle for her somewhere. Ruby was careful not to leave Max out in the open unprotected. She had heard the stories from her neighbors about going into their back yards and finding the only thing left of their pet was its collar. She hadn’t spent all that money on Maxine just to have her end up as a cougar snack. She picked Maxine back up and padded on bare feet into the kitchen and made herself a cup of tea, grabbed a snack, all the while keeping a firm grip on her little bundle of trouble, then headed back outside for another try at, ‘potty‘.

“We don’t have all day, Little One, we have a busy day ahead of us.” Ruby did her best to hold back the tears. A busy day indeed. In a few hours, everything she owned, that she had purchased on credit, was going to be confiscated by the credit card companies and hauled away. Her town home was being foreclosed upon, and she had already declared bankruptcy. All thanks to Amanda Cuttington and the giant knife she had plunged into Ruby’s back. Not only had Amanda slept with Ruby’s boss, and convinced him to fire her so she could have Ruby’s job, but she had told such an outrageous lie tog et her fired, that whenever a potential employer called her former employer’s h.r. department for a reference, they were always told she was not a rehire candidate spelling instant death for any possibility of being hired. Her Burberry days were over and anything not nailed down was being confiscated and sold to pay off her debts. A slight breeze blew across the small backyard as Ruby sat there drinking her tea from a Wedgwood cup and saucer and munching on a scone. Finally, Maxine gave it up and they both went inside to get ready for the coming events. Right after she got dressed, Ruby took Maxine and a few boxes of things she didn’t want her creditors to get their hands on, things left to her by her grandmother, over to her neighbor’s house. She had already made the arrangements to keep the heirlooms and Maxine safe. Her neighbor had offered Ruby her sofa, but Ruby just couldn’t imagine imposing any more than she already had. She had a cozy, if not ridiculous looking and run down trailer waiting for her on the other side of town. ‘There weren’t any trailer parks on this side of town’, she thought as she walked back to her home, for however brief it was still her home, ‘and if there were, I probably couldn’t afford them. I wonder when they’ll show up?’

She didn’t have to wait long. Soon the trucks were jockeying for position out front in the narrow cul-de-sac. Some of her neighbors came out of their homes to watch. ‘Let them. I don’t care.’ The auction began after the items belonging to the credit card companies had been taken away. Ruby stepped outside and sat on the steps of her backyard deck. The table where she had enjoyed her tea and scone, was already gone. It was hard not to cry, but she bit her lip until she tasted blood. She would not break. Not yet.

Soon, but not soon enough, it was over. Everything she had accomplished and collected, gone. Life as she knew it, gone. She waited a full half an hour after the last person had left before getting up from where she sat. She walked to the front door without looking around, closed it, locked it and tossed the keys back in through the mail slot before turning her back on what had been her life, and walking away. She looked around as she left, making sure no one was watching her. She walked down the hill and two blocks over to an old, beat up Buick with peeling paint. She fished the keys to it form her pants pocket and let herself into her car. It was a far cry from the flashy little thing she had been driving, but she had paid cash for it and it was hers. She needed something to go to work in when she finally found a job, ‘God willing’ she added, a throw back from being raised by her grandmother. She drove up to her neighbor’s house and retrieved Maxine and her boxes she had stashed.

“Thank you Carrie.”

“No thanks needed. Are you sure you don’t need a place to stay?”

“I’m sure.”

“See ya.”

‘I doubt it’, thought Ruby as she walked back to the car.

As she drove to her new home in her new part of town, she was no longer able to hold it together. Maxine stumbled into her lap, trying to jump up and lick away the tears.

If you have written a book but are having a hard time getting it published, please use my contact form or leave a comment, and let me know. I have an idea brewing but I must see how many people there are out there who are facing the same issue of over worked and understaffed, disinterested publishers and agents.

Thanks!

Yes, once again, I have changed my blog’s appearance. I still love tea and will post about it, but I’m feeling pulled in a different direction. More on that coming soon. How do you like the new look? Let me know.