[Reviews - 30]
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Microsoft Word Chapter or Story | ePub eBook Chapter or Story | Printer Chapter or Story

Has been viewed 3128 times

- Text Size +




Author's Chapter Notes:
Thank you for the lovely reviews so far.

This chapter was the original first chapter when I first posted this fic back in 2005. Please enjoy.
March 2001
Afternoon Tea
St. James Restaurant | Fortnum and Masons | Piccadilly, England

It was a weekly ritual.

Every Thursday, Lady Katharina Summers and Lady Bianca Halsey met at the St. James Restaurant at Fortnum and Masons for afternoon tea.

The two women had a standing reservation at Fortnum's for as long as they could remember. It was here that both women met for the first time, at the tender age of five, from which a lifelong friendship began. The friendship also stemmed from their mothers naming both women after the two sisters in Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew.

The ladies often attended Afternoon Tea, and on special occasions Champagne High Tea, with their mothers and grandmothers. At first, both the Halsey and Summers families each had their own table at Fortnum’s. But as the friendship between Bianca and Katharina continued to grow, all the women in both families found it easier to share one large table. As the lives of the two ladies constantly changed; school, boyfriends, husbands (one each), children (again one each) and later a shared granddaughter; the one constant in their lives besides each other was afternoon tea.

Dating back to 1705 with the first set of Halsey/Summer women, both Katharina and Bianca hoped to continue the 300+ year-old tradition with Joyce, Bianca’s daughter; and Buffy. Their usual table, a table set for four as often the women would entertain a guest or two for tea, had a perfect view of the exterior as well as the interior surroundings of the tea room, allowing the women to see and be seen as well as comment on all happenings occurring around them.

The staff at Fortnum and Masons knew never to give away this prized table on Thursdays between 2 and 4pm. Even when ownership of the company changed hands this information was also transitioned to new owners. The Halsey/Summers women as much a fixture to the building as the afternoon tea menu itself. Although they would try, dignitaries, or worse actors, would try and demand that spot. All knew that the table belonged to the Halsey Summers clan, close friends of Princess Anne, and would remain so.

It was at the weekly ritual, that the two ladies began to discuss their rarely seen grand-daughter.

“I think it is time, Kat...,"stated Bianca.

"Time for what, Bitsy?" replied Kat reverting back to the nicknames they used for one another since they were little girls.

"I think it is time for Buffy to take her place in British society. She turned 20 this year, and the next two years should be a time in which she is seeking a potential husband so she can give us great-grandbabies..." Bianca trailed off with a smile.

Kat simply shook her head and smiled at the 'Bitsy-logic' that was so often employed by her beloved friend.

"Although, I would like to play with fat great-grandbabies myself," replied Katharina; "I believe the times and goals for women have changed drastically from when you and I and even Joyce were young."

"Hey!" replied Bitsy. "I'm only 5 years older than my grand-daughter."

"And yet, you do not look a day over 60," deadpanned Kat. "Just you remember who you are lying to about your age, Missy. Save it for Lord Wilmington who keeps sniffing around your mansion." cackled Kat in return.

Bitsy just huffed and turned her head from Kat as the other woman continued to laugh.

"Anyway, back to the matter at hand." replied Bitsy as a few sniffles continued to escape from Kat. "I believe it is time that Buffy indeed takes her place in society even if she is not ready to marry. We haven't seen her in since she was 13 - the summer before she started high school." Bitsy sighed.

"I agree with you wholeheartedly Bits," stated Kat as she gently patted the hand of her friend. "My only concern is would London be ready for Buffy? She has spent the most important and formative years of her young adult life in America. She is bound to have instilled in her the free-willing thoughts and mores those Yanks tend to have, and who knows what type of people she hangs out with...," Kat continued on with her tirade.

"I have an idea." stated Bitsy. "Let us send a letter to Hank and Joyce requesting they return home."

"Perfect." replied Kat. "I know for a fact that Hank's tenure as Ambassador is coming to an end, and he has expressed in his letters to me that he and Joyce have both wanted to return to England for some time. The only reason they continue to stay in America is for Buffy."

"Buffy has one more year of college left." commented Bitsy. "Why doesn't she finish her last year here in England? Between the both of us, we can pull some strings to have her admitted into Oxford to finish her work. I know my Edmond and your Henry would roll in their graves, if Buffy becomes the only Halsey-Summers to not graduate from Oxford,” Bitsy mentioned their deceased husbands who the two women still loved dearly. “And if she wants to continue, Buffy can work on her graduate and post-graduate work there as well."

"I don't know, Bits. Maybe we should discuss this with Hank and Joyce?"

"No, no, no... we will guilt trip them into making it so." replied Bits. Kat gave Bitsy a shocked look. "What!?, we are mothers and grandmothers. Guilt tripping our children is a privilege in order to get what we want. Besides, I wouldn’t be sitting here complaining if they didn’t make that last minute switch so many years ago.” Bitsy was referring to sudden change in plans that allowed Hank and Joyce to take Buffy with them to America. “We simply inform them that there has not been generation of the Halsey-Summer family that has not graduated from Oxford, and we do not intend to start now. What is Buffy's major?"

"Art/Art History, I believe. She takes after Joyce." Kat replied with a smile.

Bitsy smiled as well at the mention of her daughter's name. "Then it’s settled. We will send a letter to Hank and Joyce requesting they come home and bring Buffy with them. It is time she became the proper Lady and heir to the Halsey-Summer titles and fortunes that we expect of her. "

The women spent the rest of the afternoon at Fortnum's, drafting the letter which Kat planned to send to Hank.

tbc


Chapter End Notes:
The story will be jumping back and forth thru the years between 1994 and 2001. Please be patient. At the start of each chapter, I promise to let you know which year I referring to.



You must login (register) to review.