Late December 1945, Finchley:
"Sweet tea, please." The waitress scribbles it down and turns to Susan.
"I'll have coffee, black coffee. I don't want any milk or sugar."
The young girl nods and puts the notepad in her apron. "Coming right up!" She says ecstatically. Her blonde hair slaps her neck as she twirls around and walks behind the counter. "Beastly woman," I hear her mumble under her breath.
Susan leans back in her chair and I look around the nearly vacant cafe. "Guess who's not getting a tip," Susan whispers to me.
"Oh come on," I pout. "You know you could have at least said please."
"Yes, mum." I roll my eyes and tap my fingers on the wooden table. "Well, what did the headmaster tell you?"
"He said I don't have to redo my last year. He looked at my grades and decided that if I can complete at least 75% of the work I missed, I could graduate."
"That's awfully nice of him. He's usually an old bat."
"Yeah, well..."
"He probably just likes you because of your accent."
"Maybe, Susan. Maybe." She giggles and I start play with a packet of sugar.
"Here we are," the waitress says as she make her way back with our order. "Here's your sweet tea...and here's your coffee. No sugar, no coffee."
"Thank you very much," Susan says, playing her fake smile to the girl.
The girl looks taken aback by Su's sudden kindness and even grins a little. "You're very welcome. Now, can I get you ladies anything else?"
"No, but thank you though." She nods and walks away. "Way to handle that properly."
"Yes," Susan says, bringing her mug close to her lips. "I suppose so. Maybe I'm just a little too good of an actress for my own good."
I shake my head at her words. "You know, you can be so arrogant sometimes."
"That's why you love me." She sips her coffee and I eye her.
"Just keep telling yourself that," I mutter. Tinkle. The door swings open and I look to see the new customer. A tan woman holding her son's hand strolls through the door and I smile at the child. The mother pulls him along and I give him a little wave as he walks by. His wide, brown eyes seem to grow brighter and I can't help but notice how familiar they are.
The woman seats herself two tables over and the girl who served us goes to her. "Hello, my name's Abigail and I'll be your waitress today. Can I start you off with anything or do you need some time?"
"No, no." Susan suddenly goes still and her face becomes pale. "I'm fine. I'd like one coffee please with a dash of creamer."
Abigail writes it down and smiles at the little boy. "Anything for him?"
"Do you serve warm milk?"
"That can be done."
"Thank you, he'll have some warm milk then."
"It'll be right out." I nod to Abigail as she walks past me and I drink my tea.
"Alexander! Alexander, come back here!" The little boy runs over to our table and stops right beside me.
"Hi!" He greets in an adorably high voice.
"Hello there," I reply. "It's very nice to meet you! I'm Lynn, what's your name?" The woman gets up and quickly picks up the boy.
"I'm so sorry about that," she sighs. "My son's so..." She stops as she sees Susan gaping at her. "Queen Susan..."
"Huh," I say dumbfounded.
"You're Queen Susan. I'm so sorry, where are my manners?" She holds her hand out to Susan but she doesn't take it. Her hand falls and she turns to me. "You must not recognize me. I'm, or was, Queen Prunaprismia. You know...from before..."
I try hard to remember where but I know I've heard that name before. Oh, what was it? I think it was when Lilliandil read to me...Then it hits me: she's Caspian's aunt.
"I'm sorry," Susan says sweetly. "I don't recall ever meeting you."
I watch as Queen Prunaprismia raises her eyebrows and opens her mouth. Nothing comes out and I think on my feet. I knock over my glass and my tea splatters all over her shoes. "Oh my gosh! I'm so, so sorry!" I grab a napkin and put begin to dab at her feet.
Abigail comes over with their order and looks at the floor. "Are you alright, ma'am? Let me help clean you up!"
"No, allow me! This is all my fault after all." I put my hand on the woman's back and lead her and Alexander to the bathroom. "I'm really sorry about that but I didn't want anything to happen."
"Who are you?" She asks as we get into the restroom.
"I'm Evalynn, Susan's friend. I know this sounds really weird but could you please not bring up Narnia? Right now, Susan's going through this...phase where she's denying the existence of Narnia. It's a very touchy subject, about Caspian mostly, and I think it's best we don't mention it right now."
"You've completely lost me! How do you even-"
"Pretty!" Alexander exclaims as he points to me. Her eyes follow his finger and I can just feel her staring at the necklace.
"Where did you get that?" She demands.
My hands automatically fly over the necklace and I grip the ring and carved lion in them. "It was a gift."
"Where did you get that necklace?" She asks through gritted teeth.
"I told you, it was-"
"WHERE DID YOU GET IT?"
"In Narnia, okay? Yes, I've been to Narnia!"
"But how? Why do you even have it? That's Lord Christiano's!"
She puts down Alexander and steps toward me as I step back. "What are you talking about? Look, my...my fiance gave this to me before he died. I don't know who this 'Lord Christiano' is."
"HE WAS A GREAT MAN WHO DIED FIGHTING THE NARNIANS!" Before I can do anything, she lunges forward and tries to pry my hands away from the necklace. "YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE IT!"
From nowhere, Susan dives in between us and shoves Queen Prunaprismia off me. "What's going on? I heard screaming and then I find this woman strangling you?"
Alexander begins to cry and the horrid woman picks him up. "Stop, Susan. She...she wasn't strangling me. She was just helping me...because I was choking..."
"Yes," Prunaprismia says. "And shall I continue?" I shoot her a wicked glance and she looks away and soothes her son.
"Just who are you?" Susan asks.
She rocks Alexander on her hip and refuses to meet our eyes. "My name is Petunia Reyes, I'm here visiting my relatives for the New Year. And you are?"
Susan crosses her arms and puts on a serious face. "Susan Pevensie. That's my friend Evalynn Keynes. We live around here." Susan fixes her hair a little and I see 'Petunia' eying the ring on her finger.
"Well," she huffs with a furious complexion. "W have to go. You two...have a good day."
"You as well," Susan sighs. Petunia walks through the door and I take a deep breath.
"Wait!" I yell behind her. I run out of the restroom and push the front door open. "Wait!"
From halfway down the block, she turns on her heel and looks back at me. "What do you want?"
I jog over and rub my arms, realizing I forgot to take my coat. "Can we meet again? There's a lot we need to clear up."
"Like why your friend has my sister-in-law's ring? Like why you have Lord Christiano's ring?"
"Yes, like that...Listen, there's so much we need to take about. Could we please meet up again?"
She furrows her brow and gazes at Alexander. "Fine," She says without looking up. "Are you free tomorrow? Same time, same place."
"That's perfect," I agree. She nods and turns around.
"And don't say anything to your friend," she calls as she trails forward. I run back to the cafe and hastily grab my coat from the back of my chair. Susan looks up at me from her seat and raises an eyebrow.
"What was that all about?"
I sit myself down and wipe off the remaining tea on the table. "I asked her if she could come back here tomorrow...So I can give her a new pair of shoes."
She sips her coffee and lowers her eyes. "That's nice..." Susan puts the money on the table and before we leave, I make sure to leave a little more for Abigail. Poor girl had to deal with a lot today.
We walk through the front door and I accidentally bump into someone. "Hello girls." A strong hand pulls at the crook of my elbow and straightens me up.
"Peter," Susan greets with a nod. "What are you doing here?"
"Mum told me you two were in the town," Peter informs as he lets go of my arm. "So I thought I'd meet you here."
"You're a little late," Susan spits. "We were just heading home. Come on, Lynn." She takes my hand and I pull her back.
"Sorry Su, but I have to buy new shoes for Petunia."
"Alright then!" Peter says. "You can go home and I'll stay with Lynn." Susan gives her brother the death stare and she walks away without another word. I look at Peter and he shrugs. "Shall we?" He holds his arm out and I take it. He chuckles and guides us toward the shops.
"Thanks for doing this," I mention
He grins. "It's all good. So, how was your quality time with my sister? Anything happen?" I fix my scarf and debate with myself whether I should tell him or not.
"Nothing really," I lie. Maybe another day.
Hello, you lovely people:) Sorry for the terrible chapter last time but I'll try to make up for it later! I have some stuff planned out soon for 'Petunia' and if you want to see something, leave me a little something;D On a side note: I know 'best friend' is two words. For me, it's always looked...weird, but that's just my opinion. I want my readers to be happy so from now on, I'll change how I write it 'cause I owe you guys a ton! From that, thanks for continuing to read the story! I'll try my best to impress you! Leave a review to make my day please?
Much Appreciation xx