China Rose
Black China tea with natural rose aroma - a lover's gift.
"It's gross!" She wrinkled her nose and sipped delicately from her cup, making a slight face at the amount of sugar she'd poured in.
"What, blokes my age aren't allowed to date now?" Ron asked, half jokingly. She waved her hand dismissively.
"No, I mean, they're allowed to date," she said impatiently, "but this is completely different! How am I supposed to face her on Monday? 'Oh, hi Professor, long time no see, except for the weekend when you were shoving your tongue down my father's throat'?"
Ron snorted with laughter. "He wanted to get you comfortable with them as a couple," he said, seriously as he can manage it. "So it wouldn't disturb you too much. Familiar setting, familiar people..."
"If he's trying to acclimatise me to his new girlfriend they should probably be here. They went to the bathroom twelve minutes ago. I mightn't be Mum, but I'm not stupid."
"He's excited too, you know. He had a crush on her in school, but it never really worked out."
"They went out in school?"
"Once. Bit of a disaster, to tell the truth. They came here, actually. 'Course, it was more of a couples place back then."
Mercy gagged dramatically. "Oh, puke. He's trying to be family man, best friend guy and Mr Romance all at the same time. This is so embarrassing!"