“The day after tomorrow is when we leave,” Sabrina told her. “But, I'm meeting with his usual assistant to find out how everything is going to work tomorrow. She's going to teach me how to set up what he needs and exactly what my job requirements are. I think for the most part, I'll be the face on the accounts. I'm fairly sure he's some kind of famous, so they don't want his name on anything or for people to be able to discover he's there.”
“I'd say this calls for a celebration.” Faye reached for the counter beside her and pushed herself up from her chair. “I have just the thing.”
Sabrina had a few decent guesses for what could have meant, one of which was confirmed when her aunt returned from her bedroom. She carried a tray with an antique ornate tea set, which she placed gently onto the coffee table between them.
The porcelain tea cups were painted with delicate blue patterns that danced and twisted around each piece. The tea pot itself had a similar pattern, but not exact. It was clear that these designs were hand painted, not just applied in a factory somewhere. The set was beautiful work of art. Sabrina admired it, thinking that it should have been sitting in a museum somewhere instead of on the fiberboard table in front of her.
“I know you've shown me this before,” Sabrina said, as she gently lifted one of the cups to get a closer look. “It's been years since I've seen it, though.”
“Yes, I only bring it out for special occasions, which don't happen as nearly as often as I'd like,” Faye said.
“Tell me more about this tea set, Aunty,” Sabrina said. “I don't really know anything about it.”
“This set was once one of my favorite possessions,” she said. “It's still special to me, but in a different way. It's hard to explain. The one thing that you should know, though, is that it will get passed down to you one day.”
It wasn't exactly the explanation Sabrina was hoping for. It was vague and explained nothing about the actual set. Still, Faye was just too sweet to argue with.
“Aw, Aunt Faye,” Sabrina hummed, bowing her head to look closely at the intricate designs. “That’s really nice of you. I'll be sure to take care of it, just like you have.”
“Just give me one moment and then we can share a nice cup of tea,” said Faye, moving to light a burner in the kitchen.
“You drink out of this?” Sabrina asked. It felt wrong to use the beautiful cups for anything other than looking at.
“Only on special occasions, like I said. It’s not for the everyday.” Faye filled a kettle and placed it on the stove.
“Yeah, definitely not,” Sabrina said. “I’d be too scared to break it. Where'd you even get this thing?”
“Oh, long ago,” Faye said but trailed off. There was a pause that seemed oddly out of place for the current conversation. She returned to her chair in silence with a gaze that looked distant. “Long ago and far away. A life long before this one.”
“It's beautiful,” Sabrina told her. “I've never seen another tea set like it.”
“There was a time when I thought about donating the set,” Faye said. “Many times, actually. But there has always been something of me that told me to me keep it. And at this point I’d rather pass it on to my goddaughter.”
“I hope it's a long, long time before it gets passed onto me,” Sabrina said. “I don’t want to be going over your will anytime soon.”
“Oh Bean, stop that,” she said. “Your Aunty Faye is still kicking just fine. I’m sixty-five years old and haven't even had my mid-life crisis yet. It'll be decades before you'll be able to get rid of me.”
“Thanks for bringing it out, Aunty. It really is beautiful.”
Just then the kettle screamed and steam pooled into the air abov
e the stove.
“Oh.” Faye jumped and prepared to stand up.
“I got it,” Sabrina said and stood to retrieve the kettle. She poured the hot water into the tea pot and tossed a couple of tea bags in with it. After a few minutes of letting it steep, Sabrina distributed the tea into two of the cups and carefully handed one to her godmother.
“Thank you, Bean.” Faye nodded her head as she accepted the cup and saucer. “And congratulations about the job.”
She held her glass up, as if to “Cheers” the occasion. Sabrina did the same.
“Thank you, Faye,” Sabrina said. She blew carefully on her tea before taking a sip. “Without your support and advice, I wouldn't have gotten the position.”
“Nonsense,” Faye said, after taking a small sip of tea. “You did it on your own.”
Sabrina didn't say anything. There was no arguing with Faye about subjects like this.
“So I'll bet your parents were happy for you,” Faye said, after a few seconds of pause.