Miss Enchanter - Ophelia's Story (6 page)

“
Wow, they are
very impressive. I was thinking,” Ophelia said. “Do you think it
would be O.K. if you and I went over to Luna’s house tonight so
that the two of you could continue to tell me more about
everything? Do you think Luna would mind?”

“
Of
course she would not mind. However,
why don’t we ask her here, for dinner? That way we can get an early
start on the stories, and not be in Hugo’s way.” Thelma
suggested.

“Whichever way works
best for the two of you is fine by me. Would you like me to pick up
anything from the Village for you? I am thinking of leaving here in
just a few moments.” Ophelia said.

“No, you go ahead,
dear, I might make it into the town myself a bit later. The wind
that was so strong last night has seemed to have settled down this
morning. Shouldn’t be too cold, but make sure you take a throw
blanket with you for your ride in the wagon.”

Thelma stood on
the large wraparound porch and watched as Zippy took Ophelia to the
hill.
She has only
been here for a day or two and I already see an improvement in her
attitude. Just asking me if she could pick something up in town for
me said a lot.

Ophelia drew the
throw blanket around her shoulders. She had on a winter coat that
she had found in the bedroom closet, gloves and even a hat. Still,
the wind coming off of the water was chilling her to the bone. When
they arrived she petted Zippy and then made her way up the
hill.

By the time she
arrived on Main Street, Ophelia was ready for something warm to
keep her going. She went into Thelma’s Chocolate Shop and walked up
to the counter. A very pretty young lady with blond hair and blue
eyes greeted her. “Welcome to Thelma’s Chocolate Shop, what can I
get you?”

“
You must be
Catherine.
” Ophelia
said.

“Yes, and I take it
that you are Ophelia?”

“
Guilty as
charged. How about a large mug of some of that special Chocolate
Coffee and
a croissant?”
Ophelia said, finally deciding between that and a blueberry muffin
that she was having a problem tearing her eyes away
from.

“
How are you
enjoying your time in Enchanted?”
Ophelia asked as Catherine poured Ophelia and herself a cup of
coffee and motioned Ophelia to a table.

“
We, that is to
say, my son Cody and I, have found a home here. We have not been
here all that long, but I can’t imagine us ever leaving.
Are you thinking of coming to work
here, or managing this shop?”

“Oh no, I would no
doubt eat up all the profit and weigh a ton. No, I have been
thinking of maybe taking over The Spa. My mother owned it.” Ophelia
said. “By the way, I met your husband the other day in the
restaurant when Thelma and I went in for breakfast. Nice looking
man.”

“
Thank you.
Yes, he mentioned it to me as well. The Spa, huh? I have not had
the pleasure of getting a massage there yet, but it is on my short
list. It certainly is in a beautiful building. Were you thinking of
taking it over anytime soon?”

“
I have
just
started to think about
that the other night. I haven’t mentioned my intentions to anyone
else except Thelma. Maybe I should take a platter of cookies when I
go there this morning.”

“
I have
chocolate chip and oatmeal raisin which have just come out of the
ovens within the last half hour. I would be happy to box some up
for you.” Catherine said. “I know this might sound odd coming from
me, but you are a very striking woman, Ophelia.”

“Thank you, I took
after my mother.”

Catherine and
Ophelia talked for a few minutes more before Catherine handed her a
box full of not only cookies, but also chocolate
candies
, to take with her to
The Spa and they said their goodbyes.

Ophelia walked in the
door of The Spa and was met by London. “Good morning, you certainly
are early today, you are our first customer.” She smiled.

“
Good morning.
Today I am here to look around and get a feel for the place. I was
in a euphoric state yesterday after that massage and
pool and as fantastic as that was, I
would like to know more about what goes on here. I brought goodies
with me.” Ophelia said, handing London the box of
treats.

“
Oh.” London
said, looking at the box and taking a moment or two before taking
the box from Ophelia
’s
outstretched hands.

After a pause
of several seconds, Ophelia said “As you must know by now, I am
Gertie’s daughter. I have decided to run The Spa myself since I
will be staying in Enchanted indefinitely.
”

London placed the box
on a nearby reception desk and stated “I will just get my things
and be out of your way then.”

“What do you mean?
You are not going to desert me are you, London? Does this job mean
so little to you that you would just up and leave with no
warning?”

“I just assumed that
you would be wanting to take full control.” London explained.

“
I am the
owner, but wouldn’t it be better if you waited to hear what my
plans for The Spa are? Of course, if you wish to leave your
employment here, that is up to you. However, I was hoping that you
could still stay on and help me run The Spa, as my
assistant.”

“
Of course,
whatever you need, Miss Enchanter.” London said, not very
convincingly.

Ophelia’s
first impulse
was to tell London that she could call her by her first name
instead of Miss Enchanter, but given London’s attitude, she let the
moment pass. “Is there an office I could use today? I do not want
to have you leave the one you are in just yet, but I would like to
take my time and look around. There is yourself and Ashton who work
here. Anyone else?”

London showed Ophelia
to a very nice large office and told her that she should consider
that her base of operations while she, London, could use the
smaller office across the hallway.

“
There is
Ashton who is our masseuse, myself, Cindy, who comes in about two
days a week to help out with the hair and makeup section,
she also helps out at the school. I
believe you have already met Janet. She is the lady who gave you
the manicure and pedicure the other day.”

“She did a great job.
Unfortunately, I was lost in my own little world of being pampered
so much that I did not actually have a conversation with her.”
Ophelia said. “You have a vast collection of face creams and
lotions I see, does Janet also give facials?”

“
She is trained
to, in fact, we have all been crossed-trained for all of The Spa
treatments here so we always have someone on hand who can work with
customers and their needs. Usually though, it is Ashton who gives
the facials and other body treatments.” London told her.

“
Thank you,
London. I think for today I will just wander around and try to stay
out of your way. You have been very helpful, and please, do not
worry about your employment here. You seem to have running The Spa
down very well. I don’t foresee any big changes in the near future.
Well, maybe one, the name.”

“
What name are
you thinking of renaming The Spa
to?” London asked.

Ophelia thought
of the way Thelma and Luna reacted when she had mentioned to them
that she would like to change the name of The Spa to Scarlett’s
Spa. She was sorry she mentioned it now and would like to find out
what caused the look of shock on her cousin’s faces before
she
told anyone else or
actually made the change. “I don’t have a specific name in mind at
the moment, just thinking things out. I would like to make this
place mine.”

“I know the pictures
are of your mother in here, but they could certainly be of you. It
is amazing how much the two of you look alike.” London said before
excusing herself to tend to a customer who had walked in.

Ophelia took
her time studying each picture that was hung in the hallways and
noticed many more than she had the day before. She saw pictures of
a forest with a veil of fog or mist covering the sky, and beautiful
thatched roofed houses that reminded her of Thelma’s house here.
She saw a picture of a little girl standing with a young lady who
might have been her mother. The little girl was smiling and holding
her mother’s hand.

Then she saw
it, a picture of her mother and her aunt Ophelia for whom she was
named. They were two little girls playing near a pond and in the
very
far distance there was
the King’s Palace. Ophelia thought about taking the picture to hang
in her bedroom, but when she lifted it up, she noticed how the
flocked red wallpaper looked so much brighter underneath it. She
placed the picture back into its place on the wall, smiled, and
moved on to the next.

Ophelia studied each
one, forming in her mind any questions she might have about them
that she would ask her cousins at dinner tonight. She was sitting
behind the desk looking over the list of cosmetics they offered
when she saw London walking by the office.

“London, could I
speak with you for a moment?” She called out.

“
Yes, Miss
Enchanter?”

“I noticed that the
wallpaper underneath the pictures is quite a different shade of red
than the rest. The pictures must have been hanging there for a very
long time. I am thinking about having the entire Spa either
painted, or redone with new wallpaper. Do you know if we have a
vendor’s file I could consult for prices?”

“After you decide
what you want to do in the way of renovations, we have a couple of
young men in the town who would be doing the work. Sebastian, who
was at one time Thelma’s grounds keeper, and a young man named Tom.
They actually work very well together and do a good job.” London
told her.

“
I wonder
what
lead time they would
require.” Ophelia said.

“
Excuse me?”
London asked.

“
I was just
wondering out loud how long it would take them to be able to get
the work started, once I decide. If there are only the two of them,
I wonder how many other customers they might have ahead of us.”
Ophelia said.

“
There is no,
what you called Lead Time, Miss Enchanter. Whatever you need done
would be done immediately. After all, this is the Village of
Enchanted.” London said.

Ophelia wasn’t
sure she liked the tone of London’s voice. It was snarky without
being at first obvious. She wasn’t sure she liked this lady,
although she did like not having to wait for any repairs she might
want to make. Ophelia said “Thank you, London, I will let you know
when to contact them.” She noticed that London had started walking
away from her after the thank you part of what Ophelia was
saying.

Ophelia was not
about to let London ruin her good mood. London had been the only
person she had encountered here in Enchanted who seemed to have a
chip on her shoulder. If London did not perform any of the services
for the customers herself, then Ophelia might rethink
the decision to keep her on. She did
not expect people to treat her like some sort of a queen or
anything, but she did not like the tinge of disrespect that London
seemed to be exhibiting towards her either.

Ophelia spent
the rest of her day there making notes on various color schemes and
she even picked out a couple of alternative names, although she
very much preferred Scarlett’s Spa. She could not think of a catchy
name that included her own.

When Ophelia
left The Spa, she decided to stop in at the department store at the
end of the street
. She wanted
to pick up samples of all the colors she could have The Spa redone
in. Not that she had made up her mind what colors to choose yet,
she still preferred the red, but thought perhaps the color stripes
would give her inspiration. Perhaps a mix of wallpaper and
paint.

At this early
stage, she did not know if she should
renovate in the same style, which was very beautiful,
or if she should give it a much more modern look and feel. She
wanted her own personality to shine through, but also wanted to
keep most of the old drawings and pictures of the old
country.

Ophelia was looking
through the various shades of reds and green paints when the sales
lady walked up to her. “Hello, can I help you find something?”

“
Oh, hi, I am
just looking at the different colors you have. I am thinking of
redoing a few rooms, but I haven’t made up my mind which shade to
choose yet.” Ophelia smiled at the young woman. “Do you also carry
wallpaper here?”

“
There is a
store in town that carries just wallpaper and other decorating
items, you might find what you want there. The name of the store is
Focal Point and it is only a few blocks west of here.” The young
woman looked as if she wanted to say something else, but wasn’t
sure if she should or not.

“Thank you, I might
stop in there tomorrow, for now it looks as if it might start
snowing again and it has been a long day as it is.” Ophelia
said.

“
We don’t
usually allow pets into the store.” The woman said and for an
instant, Ophelia panicked and looked behind her to see if she had a
tail or something showing although that seemed impossible. She had
spent too long as Snowball the cat with Mrs. Johnson to not
consider the possibility that she might have some kitten appendage
poking out somewhere.