Arabelle

Chapter 23 - Tea Leaves and a Kiss

Bella’s POV

I came down the stairs to the living room, I saw mum drinking a cup of coffee, I was sure it was coffee because never drank tea, I found this funny since we were English, I also loved coffee but today I had a craving for tea, I wasn’t sure the last time I had tea but this morning it was the only thing on my mind.

“Good morning mum” I said and sat on the chair opposite to the one she was sitting, I felt tired, it seemed like the events of yesterday had drained all my energy,

Mum took a sip from her cup of coffee, she looked at me weirdly “You look tired” She said,

I exhaled and said “I feel tired actually”

Sofia came out of the kitchen with a cup of coffee, she placed it in front of me with a smile, normally the scent of the coffee would have made me feel a lot better but today, it wasn’t satisfying, I wanted tea,

“I am sorry Sofia, but can I get a cup of tea instead, I am not really in the mood for coffee this morning” I said,

Both mum and Sofia looked at me like I had grown an extra head “Tea?” they both said,

I had to laugh at the expression on their face “Yes tea” I said,

“Okay Bella” Sofia said and walked away taking the cup of coffee away with her,

“You haven’t drank tea in the last 10 years, so what makes today special?” mum said,

I shrugged casually and said “Just feel like it, I guess”

“You have being weird this past few days, I can’t quite put my finger on I but you seem different” mum said and sipped her coffee again,

I smiled as I thought what mum will say if I told her that I was a witch almost 4 centuries old and I was on a mission to punish my former husband and I had a powerful witch after my life for a reason I didn’t know and that her best friend was my mother in the past life and that Ian was also a very powerful witch, it won’t go very well obviously,

I smiled and said “You have no idea mum, many things have changed indeed”

She gave me a coy smile and I knew whatever was on her mind was very far from what I was thinking about,

“And is the reason for this change a certain young man whose name begins with I and ends with N?” she said with a brilliant smile on her face,

Sofia chose this exact moment to walk back in with my cup of tea, she placed it on the table with a smile

“Your tea, Bella” she said,

I gave her a warm smile and said “Thank you Sofia, you are an angel”

She smiled and walked away, I took the cup of tea and sipped a little, it was hot and delicious, I felt a smile lit up my face, I had loved very much in the past, I drank it all the time, drinking it now was like meeting a long friend after many years,

I remembered one time when Richard had gone on trip, he had brought me tea leaves, he had told me he had gotten them from a vendor who said the leaves were brought all the way from India, it was one of my most treasured gifts from him,

A smile crept into my face, not all my memories of Richard were bad, in fact, I had only one bad memory of him and that turned out to be the one that now defined our relationship, I had memories with Richard that were so beautiful they could almost make me cry whenever I thought of them, I still couldn’t believe that our story ended the way it,

“I can’t believe you are smiling just because I mentioned his name, oh my God, you actually like him, I can’t believe this” mum said excitedly,

I couldn’t help but smile, she thought I was thinking about Ian, I guess it was better to let her believe whatever it was she wanted,

“I am don’t like Ian mum” I said,

“But you do like spending time with him?” mum said with a smile,

“I do” I said and this was definitely not a lie as well,

“Does he make you smile?” mum said and her smile got even wider,

Damn, the answers to all these questions were going to make mum believe I was interested in Ian, taking a deep breath, I answered “I guess he does”

Mum’s smile went even wider and I wondered how it was possible that a smile could be so wide, but it seemed mum handled it just fine,

“I have said all I needed to say, I leave you to think about my questions and the answer you gave, I am sure you will stop denying what you truly feel” mum said with a knowing look on her face,

This was getting embarrassing to all parties involved, only in mum’s case, she was oblivious to the embarrassment she was currently putting herself through, I would have been having a good laugh if this was happening to anyone else but me and mum,

Before I could give mum a reply to her last statement, she grabbed her cup of coffee and stood up, she walked away, the smile still plastered on her face,

I watched as she walked away heading towards her room, once she disappeared around the bend, I exhaled and relaxed into my chair,

I raised the cup of tea to my lips, as the warm liquid touched my tongue and travelled down my throat, I couldn’t help but remember an event from the past and with it came a smile,

Sometime in the past…………..

I was sitting in the library reading a book when one of my handmaids rushed in with a bright smile on her face,

I closed my book and raised my head to look at her, it was Ava, my favourite handmaid, she was breathless, it seemed like she had been running, something had obviously excited her, a small smile crept to my face, there was only one thing that could make Ava excited enough to run through the house and come bolting into the library like this, Richard had returned from his trip, I felt a burst excitement inside me.

“My lady……..”

I was out the door before she could complete her sentence, I raced through the corridors and down the halls, my heart was racing, I hadn’t seen Richard for almost two weeks now, our wedding was in 5 days’ time, I had missed him every day since the day he left,

I passed the last hall and then I passed through the front door, I came out just in time to see him drop from the carriage, I felt my heart skip a beat, he was a sight to behold in the black jacket and black breeches he wore, he wore a white shirt inside his jacket, the drawstrings were open at the neck, he wore black boots as well, his hair was scattered in a way that only the wind could have made it so, as he turned to look at me, a perfect smile crossed his lips and I saw love shinning in those captivating pools of grey that sought to consume me whole and in that moment, I fell in love with this man all over again,

I stood waiting for him with a smile on my face as he strode toward me, he was a few steps away from me from me when I slightly bowed my head in form of greeting “My lord” I said,

By the time I raised my head, he was already standing before me with a rakish smile on his face and a naughty twinkle in his eyes, I knew he was up to mischief, before I could process what was happening, he had caught my hand and pulled me toward him, I crashed into a hard wall of muscle, I tried to pull away after all we were in my house and the servants were watching,

“What are you doing Richard? We are at my house for heaven’s sake, my mother could see and there are many eyes watching” I said while struggling to get free of his hold but he wasn’t ready to let go,

With the rakish smile still playing on the corners of his lips, he said “I have thinking about you since I left, and I finally return and that is the welcome I get from you, tsk tsk tsk, you disappoint me my lady ”

A knowing smile crossed my lips “And what sort of welcome did you expect my lord?” I said,

His head came down slowly until his lips were only inches away from mine, the space between our lips was some may describe as being just a breath away,

“This” he said and his lips captured mine in a passionate kiss, I tried pushing him away his hands only tightened around my waist, I was losing my senses slowly and all reasoning flew far away and my struggling eased and the only thought that remained in my was how I wanted him to keep kissing me,

And just when I was about to damn everything to hell and kiss him with the same passion with which he was kissing me, he pulled away, a rakish smile on his lips,

“You forget yourself my lady, many are watching you know” he said,

At that moment, I turned around to see the servants blushing, I felt the colour rise in my cheek, I hid my face and ran back toward the house, his taunting laughter followed me all the way to the corner in which I hid,

I spent the rest of the day hiding away from the servants, it much later when I received his gift, he had sent me tea leaves and a note telling me that said:

my darling Arabelle

Forgive me if I behaved like an uncultured brute earlier today,

but if had not done what I did, then I fear I will not have been able

to stop thinking about you, I rushed over the moment I returned because i

couldn’t bear to stay another moment without seeing you.

I sent you these tea leaves and I hope that they might calm you down,

because I don’t want to be at the receiving end of your anger.

Till we meet again my love.