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“Perfection,” Theodosia said. She glanced at Miss Dimple, did a double take, and couldn’t help but chuckle. “What did you do? Why do you look so different?”
Miss Dimple grinned from ear to ear. “Haley showed me how to put on a pair of those magnetic eyelashes. Do you like them?” She gazed at Theodosia and then at Drayton, batting her lashes.
“Madame,” Drayton said, “you’re a regular femme fatale.”
20
When the big hand and the little hand both converged on twelve, the floodgates opened. Theodosia stood at the front door, welcoming her guests, shooing them in to Miss Dimple, who led them to their various tables. And even though the guests arrived in a big rush, it was like herding cats to get them to finally sit down. Everyone (everyone!) wanted to either try on a wig, get a little nail art done, or experiment with a dab of makeup.
Theodosia, who was no slouch in the glam department, decided to join them. She grabbed a short blond wig, pulled it on over her mass of auburn hair (no easy feat!), and strolled to the center of the room.
Where she was greeted with oohs, ahs, and a spatter of applause.
“Love the blond hair!” Jill cried out.
“Got another one of those for me?” Kristen asked.
“You look like Sharon Stone,” Linda hooted.
Theodosia smiled, patted her new ’do and said, “Welcome, fellow glam girls, to the Indigo Tea Shop.”
Which elicited another round of applause.
“Today we’re going to be a tiny bit informal,” Theodosia said. “Since you’ll probably be moving around the tea room, enjoying makeovers and trying out lots of new things, we’re going to serve our tea luncheon on lovely three-tiered trays.”
That was the cue for Miss Dimple and Haley to emerge from the kitchen, each of them carrying one of the showy, goody-laden trays.
“Top tier here are scones,” Theodosia said, pointing. “Gingerbread scones and almond-orange scones along with bowls of Devonshire cream and honey butter. Your middle tier is where you’ll find your tea sandwiches. What did you fix for us today, Haley?”
Haley stepped forward and said, “Crab salad tea sandwiches on sourdough bread, turkey and Gouda tea sandwiches on potato bread, and cucumber and cream cheese on rye.”
“On the bottom tier,” Theodosia said, “you’ll find an assortment of sinfully rich deserts. There are brownie bites, lemon bars, and French macarons. Oh, and do you see those glistening pink and yellow flowers sprinkled among the various treats? Those are candied edible flowers. Pansies dipped in egg white and hand-painted with superfine castor sugar.”
“This is so much to take in,” one of the women sighed. “Those three-tiered trays practically groan with goodness.”
“Oh, but there’s more,” Theodosia said. “Besides complimentary makeovers at our three stations, you’ll find swag bags at each place setting that are filled with makeup and perfume samples.” She paused. “Then, of course, there’s tea. Because we are, after all, a tea shop.” She glanced in Drayton’s direction. “Drayton, if you will?”
Drayton strode to the center of the room, looking very proper in his starched white shirt, tweed jacket, and bright yellow bow tie.
“For your teatime enjoyment, we’ll be serving two distinct brews,” Drayton said. “The first is called Glam Girl Ginger and is a blend of Sencha green tea, ginger, lemon, and honey. The second is called Precious Plum and consists of black tea with hints of plum and citrus.” Drayton paused, gave a slight bow, and spun on his heels.
After that it was a delicious free-for-all. Some of the women dashed immediately to the makeover stations, while others quickly helped themselves to the delights of the tea trays.
Theodosia and Miss Dimple made the rounds, pouring tea, answering questions, and chatting with their guests.
“Where did the idea for a three-tiered tray come from?” one of the guests asked Theodosia.
“We know that cake stands date back to the early sixteen hundreds in Britain,” Theodosia said. “Then, as afternoon tea became more popular, the iconic three-tiered tray evolved.”
Another guest asked, “Which type of tea has the least amount of caffeine?”
“That would be a tisane,” Theodosia responded, “which is mostly a fruit infusion. White tea, which is minimally processed, offers a small amount of caffeine, green tea is a little higher, while black tea is the highest in caffeine.”
Drayton remained busy at the front counter brewing additional pots of tea. When Theodosia scampered to the counter to grab a refill, she said, “It’s going well, don’t you think?”
“Swimmingly well,” Drayton said. “You had a lovely idea. The glam idea sounded a trifle over the top when you first presented it to me, but now that I see how it’s unfolding, I’m impressed.”
“Thank you, sir, now if we could just...”
