Geraldine Nurse had hired Alpaca as her assistant at the Loone County Public Library on a three-month trial basis. When Alpaca reported for work the next morning, she took one look at the little smirk on Geraldine’s face and knew that she had already heard about what happened at the hospital with Milton, Mr. Matthews. She had seen that smirk before on the faces of some of the ladies in Saints of the Lakes when they found out she was leaving town.
The fact that everyone in Chanceville probably knew what she was up to wasn’t going to make her mission any easier, but she would not be deterred. She ran once. Never again.
Alpaca worked five days a week with Thursday mornings off. She had specifically requested this schedule and Geraldine Nurse the County Librarian knew this wasn’t a random request. It appeared to Geraldine that Alpaca had a plan behind even the simplest of requests. Mrs. Nurse agreed to Thursdays off for Alpaca and couldn’t wait to find out why that special request had been made. And find out she would. The Chanceville Grapevine had never, ever let her down.
Of course, we can all guess where Alpaca would be on her Thursday mornings off. On her first morning off, at precisely 9:45 Alpaca strode into the White Jasmine Tea Room. She was wearing an understated gray suit with a tailored white blouse, matching gloves and a gray velvet bow headband perched in front of her tightly wound French twist. She wore three-inch heels; Alpaca enjoyed accentuating her height. Small pearl earrings and her watch were her only accessories. As soon as Mrs. Little saw Alpaca Finn make her entrance into the tearoom, she realized the day just got a good deal more interesting.
“Good morning, Miss Finn,” said Mrs. Little. “I’ll show you to a table.” Miss Little enjoyed giving her customers the personal touch.
“That won’t be necessary, my dear,” replied Alpaca as she scanned the room for the table that would best suit her purposes. She chose the angled window in the front where she could see out onto the street to her right and the rest of the tearoom to her left. That was fine with Mrs. Little. The tearoom wasn’t too busy yet and wouldn’t put too much of a burden on either of the two waitresses. Besides, Mrs. Little was more than a lot curious about why Miss Finn chose that particular table.
Mayrose Mayhern arrived promptly at ten o’clock, as was her custom. By the time she was inside and the door had barely swung shut, Alpaca Finn swooped down on the unsuspecting Miss Mayhern.
“Oh, good morning, my dear,” twittered Alpaca. “I’m Miss Alpaca Finn, as you probably know. It’s so lovely to see you. Please join me at my table. I’d love to have tea with you and get to know you a little better since I’m now a permanent resident of Chanceville. I would love to have you attend one of my afternoon teas.”
It was about this time that Mr. Milton Matthews arrived. After he quickly assessed the situation, he stood with Mrs. Little behind the counter to watch the unfurling of Alpaca’s plan and the resistance with which it would surely be met.
Miss Mayrose Mayhern, dressed in her pearl pink suit, took exactly two steps back and looked Miss Alpaca Finn all the way up and then all the way down at an excruciatingly slow pace.
“No thank you, Miss Finn,” said Miss Mayhern. “That won’t be necessary.” Her words like icy swords cutting Alpaca to the quick.
Alpaca stood there as if frozen, along with everyone else in the tearoom. Well, except for Mayrose Mayhern who stepped lively on the way to her usual table in the back. If you had been a keen observer of Miss Mayhern over the years, you might have detected a microscopic upturn of the corners of her mouth. She couldn’t abide pushy people and as far as she was concerned, the equally obnoxious Mr. Matthews & Miss Finn were a matched pair.
Still stunned, Mrs. Little recovered herself as best she could, gently moved Milton to the side and went back to take Miss Mayhern’s order.
In spite of his less than positive opinion of Miss Finn, Milton felt a little sorry for her. He knew well the sting of Miss Mayrose Mayhern’s chilling blue stare and how painful that could be. But he knew better than to get in the middle of whatever that embarrassing display was. He decided it might be better to enjoy his tea at home today.
As Milton walked home and the shock of that scene wore off, he reached the realization of exactly what that scene was about, which made it even more ridiculous. Miss Trout er Miss Finn, whatever her fishy name was, apparently saw Miss Mayhern as a rival. He had no interest in Miss Finn whatsoever, even if Miss Mayrose Mayhern didn’t exist. As for, Miss Mayhern, he had to admit that he was more than a little intrigued.
Meanwhile, Miss Alpaca Finn went back to her table and sat down regally. This wasn’t the first time she had been publicaly humiliated and probably wouldn’t be the last. If Miss Mayhern thought Alpaca Finn was going to turn tail and run, she had better think again. She would simply outshine Miss Mayhern; she had lots of sleeves and lots of tricks. Everyone in Chanceville might as well pull up their chairs and enjoy the show.
