Camellia (4 page)

The door to her right opened, and Lucy was surprised to see Danny step through. She wore boots, and the hem of a black skirt could be seen under the thigh-length jacket she wore. Danny's attire wasn't perfectly appropriate for the chill outside, but Lucy still wanted to see her in fewer layers. Danny was … very easy to look at. Hopefully the warmth of the room would invite her to make herself more comfortable.

"Danny, you're early," she called to her, and Danny suddenly looked a bit lost when faced with everyone staring right at her.

Danny nodded and shifted her weight in her boots. The sound made her soles squeak against Lucy's fine floor. "Yeah ... Sorry, yes. I am. Want me to come back in a bit? I could go get some coff—er—tea from the front?"

Lucy smiled at her little verbal fumbling. Danny was polite even when she was on the spot, which Lucy appreciated. She fought back a wave of anxiousness as she wondered whether Danny’s messy tea ceremony had improved since last week. She'd been given quite a stack of homework to help her prepare for tomorrow, and part of Lucy was tempted to have Danny show her what she'd practiced right now, to show her little class something exceptional. Now wasn't the right time, though. These weren't the right people, and it wasn't the right place. Tomorrow would be better.

Lucy shook her head and rose from her chair. "No, this is fine. Take a seat here."

"You sure?" Danny asked, even as she took a step forward.

Lucy nodded, and her hand remained on the back of the chair until Danny took Lucy's seat. Lucy poured a fresh cup of the white tea from the delicate china pot and set it in front of Danny. She hardly had any expectations for her, but she was curious to know what Danny thought of the tea. It was far different from the matcha she'd been introduced to before.

"Try this when it cools and tell me what you think. Careful, though, it is a bit hot at the moment," Lucy said.

Emmanuel leaned toward Danny by a fraction of an inch, but the motion was only noticeable to Lucy; the others likely missed the subtlety of it completely. "It's also a bit bland," he said quickly before turning back to the tea in front of him again.

Danny smirked and looked as if she wanted to say something back to him. She didn't follow through on the impulse, which was probably better for Emmanuel. Lucy turned back to the rest of the small gathering, though she did not leave Danny's side. "White tea is one of the finer teas, and because it is so delicate, few companies in the world are comfortable with the process needed to produce it. The beauty of this tea is in its refinement, in its fragility, in its—"

Danny coughed from beside her, and Lucy looked down to see her hastily putting the cup back down on the coffee table in front of her. "Too hot for you still?" Lucy asked her.

Danny quickly shook her head. "Sorry, not a fan of grapefruit at all."

"Is that what the citrus flavor in it is? I'd have never guessed," Leia said to Danny. Lucy was intrigued, wondering how someone with no tea experience to speak of noticed such a delicate flavor. Perhaps she'd been learning about more than just the tea ceremony. Lucy decided to reward her insight, however it came about, and stepped over to the door.

"Dalton," she called out. He appeared a moment later. "Prepare a pot of the Earl Grey, please. The Ceylon and cornflower, not the Assam. And bring a full service for two." He left, and she turned back to her students. "As I was saying, white tea is a tea of great refinement, but it also carries great health benefits. It has the most antioxidants of any type of tea thanks to its minimal processing, and studies show that it can be an effective tonic against certain types of cancer, infections, and viruses. Next week, our first tea will be an exquisite Silver Needle tea from China, so be sure to arrive with your palate cleansed and ready.

"We'll follow it with a sencha," she continued, watching Emmanuel perk up some at that, "for those of you who prefer something more robust. Enjoy your evening, ladies and gentlemen."

"God, finally," the oaf muttered, standing up and cracking his back. "I'd kill for some coffee. No offense," he added in Lucy's direction. She ignored him completely and spoke to Andrea instead.

"You have good instincts with your pairings," she told her. She looked like her face had caught fire with the heat of her blush. "Don't be afraid to follow them." Now, if only Andrea would get better instincts when it came to the men in her life. Her boyfriend was already walking out the door, his eyes glued to Stephani's rear as she left first.

"Thank you, Miss Culpepper," Andrea said. She grabbed her bag and left the room, as did Leia after a polite goodbye. Only Danny and Emmanuel remained, and Lucy had to deal with one before she could devote her whole attention to the other.

"Thank you for your participation tonight, Emmanuel," Lucy said with a smile. He smiled back, waiting for her to say the second part. As remarkable as the strides he was making were, he still did have his little habits that had to be followed in order for him to be comfortable. "I look forward to seeing you next week."

"Thank you, Miss Culpepper," Emmanuel replied. He got to his feet and glanced at Danny, opened his mouth as though he wanted to say something, but then thought better of it and left instead.

Lucy waited for the door to shut behind him before letting herself sigh a little. Sometimes these classes were rejuvenating, but other nights they were trying, and tonight was one of those nights. Hopefully Danny would reduce her stress instead of adding to it.

"So," Danny broke the silence. "This is how you spend your Friday nights. Not quite what I pictured."

"And what was it that you pictured?" Lucy asked as she moved Emmanuel's chair a bit closer to Danny's and sat down next to her.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe you, drinking tea in a dungeon while some leather-clad babe licked your boots."

Lucy eyed Danny sharply, gauging just how serious she was being.

Danny met her stoic gaze for a long moment before tilting her head back and laughing. "I'm kidding! I can't actually picture you in a dungeon, it isn't fancy enough, even though it is kind of British, isn't it?"

"There are many types of dungeons," Lucy replied smoothly. Danny had a nice laugh, rich and throaty like her speaking voice. She wondered how Danny sounded when she sang, or if she sang at all. "Some of them are certainly posh enough for me to be seen in if that's what you're wondering, but no, those are not typically a part of my Friday evenings."

"But teaching is," Danny said, fishing a bit. Lucy decided to give her a little more.

"Teaching is. I enjoy sharing my passion for my work, and there are plenty of people willing to pay for the privilege of learning with me."

"Really." Danny licked her lower lip unconsciously.

"Indeed." A brisk knock sounded at the door. "Come in, Dalton," Lucy called, and a moment later he entered, carrying a tray with the tea service set that Danny had so admired last week. Lucy smiled appreciatively at Dalton's attention to detail. "Thank you." She waited for him to clear the other teapot and cups from the class before turning back to Danny.

"You were in the mood for coffee earlier," Lucy said.

"Oh, no," Danny said quickly, shaking her head. She was probably remembering Andrea's boyfriend. "Tea is fine, really. I've just never been a fan of grapefruit. It was all my grandma had to eat for breakfast when we stayed over at her place, and it got old by the time I was five."

"I think this tea will be more to your liking," Lucy assured her. She poured each of them a cup, enjoying the citrus smell of the bergamot. "Taste it before you add cream or sugar, although this tea is excellent with both." Lucy added a splash of the cream to hers before lifting it to her lips.

Mmm, there was that delicious full-bodied malt flavor, slight notes of burnt sugar and tobacco alongside the subtle orange of the Ceylon. Lucy deliberately didn't look up when Danny first tasted her tea, and her faint sound of surprise and approval was heartening.

"This is great," Danny said, staring at her cup like it was speaking to her. Lucy hoped it was. "Really, really good."

"Thank you. It's one of my favorite blends, I like it whenever I need a little pick-me-up," Lucy confessed. "White teas are absolutely divine for a light breakfast or afternoon tea, but nothing is quite so comforting as a stout Earl Grey."

"Did you need comforting after that class?"

"No. But I did wish to make you comfortable. We have quite a lot to discuss concerning tomorrow, after all."

"Right." Danny took another sip, then set her cup down. "So, I watched all of those videos, and I do mean all of them, even the one that took half an hour before she got to the actual tea part of the tea ceremony. I've gotta warn you, I've been working on it, but I don't think I'll be able to drag it out that long."

"You have to work at a speed that feels right to you, of course," Lucy said. "And that looks right to me. That is where the correction will come in."

"Can we practice tonight?" That was eagerness in Danny's voice, anticipation in her bright brown eyes. Lucy enjoyed it even as she prepared to dowse it.

"No." Danny deflated in her chair. "I told you to practice this past week. Have you done so?"

"Yeah, I already said—"

"And do you feel confident in your ability to perform the tea ceremony adequately?"

"Yeeesss … I guess."

"Then I believe you," Lucy replied simply. "A great deal of the pleasure I anticipate for tomorrow will be in seeing your improvement over last week's efforts for the first time. Besides, we have plenty of other things to go over, starting with your attire." Lucy stood up and walked over to the dresser.

Lucy opened the dresser drawer, and her fingers grazed over the light leather outfit before pulling it out. She waited until she was back beside Danny to speak again. "As you may remember from the job description, our presence in the conference is to help bring attention to my friend's designs. She makes marvelous costumes, all of them by hand. This is an example of her work." Lucy laid it out in front of Danny and carefully watched her expression to see what Danny thought of it.

Though the outfit was intricately detailed, with the straps and brass riggings that would follow along Danny's curves, Lucy knew that it would do little to give her any sense of modesty. She'd made it clear that the model hired would not be required to be naked when she'd contacted the agency, but at the same time Lucy had tried to convey just how open the woman coming to take the job would have to be in regards to the attire she was expected to wear.

"That looks complicated," Danny said, leaning toward it and running her hands over the skirt, nothing more than a series of thick leather straps that dangled down from the bottom hem of the corset.

Lucy nodded and moved away from the outfit so that Danny could examine it. "It is, a bit. My friend will meet us at the conference tomorrow morning to help you into it, should you need assistance."

Danny's mouth pinched. "So she'll be there too?"

"Yes, of course. She and her partner will be running a booth at the convention; they have to be there to make sales," Lucy said as she took another sip of her tea.

Tilting her head to the side, Danny looked up at her. "So if your friend is going to be there, then why are you demonstrating her stuff? Shouldn't she just be doing it?"

Lucy's tight smile eased as another sip of hot tea worked its way down to her stomach. The heat radiated out from her chest, easily making her forget all about Andrea and her oaf, or the way Emmanuel had looked at Danny as if he might be interested in her. That had bothered her, though it was likely only because she knew how wrong they would be for each other. Emmanuel, she knew, was soft and shy, and though she barely knew Danny, Lucy was sure that she was a far cry from Emmanuel's gentle life, full of quiet music and carefully-selected plaid shirts.

"My friend has a ..." Lucy considered for a moment how to describe her friend's relationship with the woman who had been sharing her bed for the last four years. Coming up with nothing better, Lucy decided to go for the truth. "She has a slave."

"Slavery is illegal," Danny quickly pointed out, her gaze narrowing. Clearly, Lucy had chosen the wrong way to introduce such a topic to her.

She backtracked, thinking of way to have this make sense to someone that hadn't spent most of their adult life surrounded by others to whom such things came as naturally as breathing. "My friend, Natasha, and her partner, Lillian, have a special relationship. It isn't the typical one you'd likely find at your Sunday brunch downtown at a fancy restaurant, but it works for them and has done so for quite some time. Natasha is a dominant type of person, much like I am. That dominance is openly expressed in her private relationships. She was fortunate enough to find Lillian, a woman who is naturally submissive. Lillian is sweet and gentle, a caring sort who enjoys being cared for as well as taking care of someone else.

"Natasha believes, as do I, that there is freedom and beauty in the act of giving oneself over completely to another person. To let that person take care of you, to see to your every need, to accept and expect that they will put their well-being above your own. Together Natasha and Lillian have taken this idea to an even deeper level between them, to the point where Lillian has given all of herself over to Natasha. This level of submission is defined by some as slavery, where Natasha, in essence, owns all of who Lillian is, body and soul. Lillian, in turn, exists only for Natasha. In exchange, Natasha cares for Lillian’s needs as her own and gives each of them the same amount of consideration she would give herself."

Having said that, Lucy still wasn't entirely sure that Danny could comprehend such a relationship. It was far more than whips and handcuffs, though even those simplest of bedroom accessories were more than some people could imagine.

Danny took a sip of tea before answering her. "So, most of that went way over my head. Let's back up. Natasha, who designs the clothes that I'll be modeling, is in a relationship with someone named Lillian, and the reason that she can't do it is what now, exactly?"