Jade sulked up to Earl Roast Coffee and Tea the next Saturday at 9:05 a.m. Her week had been entirely tiring. Five long days of arranging flowers and tending to the plants in her parent’s shop, Crystalline Nursery. She absolutely needed coffee and some time to herself away from rude costumers and her nagging parents.
When she entered the shop, the warm smell of coffee brought her shoulders up as well as a very slight smile. However, both quickly fell as she realized her favorite spot was once again occupied by none other than Dr. Smarty-Tail Vincent. Jade groaned with annoyance as she watched him flip a page in his large leather bound book. Her smile turned into a scowl when she realized there was absolutely no where else to sit.
Well what am I supposed to do? She thought with a huff and a cross of her arms as she got in line behind two highly tattooed elves. They also kept glancing at the shop with a look of distaste, and murmuring to each other. However, their annoyance only made Jade more perturbed as she was afraid they would get any free seat before her.
“Where are we supposed to sit?” The woman elf snapped at Earl when they got up to the counter.
“Well,” Earl said rubbing his neck, “You could share a table with one of our other guests?”
She looked offended, and Jade honestly didn’t blame her. The last thing Jade wanted to do was sit with someone she didn’t know. What if they didn’t stop talking to her the whole time? She shivered at the thought. Though maybe she could sit at a table with someone who ultimately will get annoyed with her presence at their table and leave. She hoped that would happen. It was the best possible solution. Jade stepped up to her place in line as the elfish couple walk out without ordering. She smirked as the stormed out the back door. One less person to take a seat away from her.
“Jade,” Earl said with a crocked smile, “What would you like to have today?”
“For Vincent to be removed.” Jade said coldly eyeing the griffin.
Earl laughed obviously oblivious to how serious she was. She narrowed her eyes at him, but that only caused his smile to fade slightly, “Oh come on, Jade. It doesn’t have your name on it.”
“Well….”
“Jade!” An elderly voice called from behind her. No, it couldn’t be. Jade slowly turned around and saw Vincent waving to her with a large smile, “I was hoping you would come back! Since it’s so packed today, would you like to sit with me?”
Jade was just about to say, “NO, THANK YOU!” when Earl pipped up behind her, “Of course she would! That’s her favorite spot in this whole shop!”
Jade stuttered. She felt like running out of the coffee shop as she was painfully aware of how many people were staring at her. Why do I even come to this place? “Of course.” Was all she could mutter as she turned back to Earl with fire in her eyes, “Mocha Latte Grande.” Digging through her purse she found the exact change and slammed it on the counter before walking over to the table.
Jade sat down avoiding his eye contact. Her whole insides were protesting this arrangement, and she kept casting not-so-subtle glares at Earl as he prepared her coffee with a look of extreme satisfaction.
“I’m so glad you came in today,” The griffin cooed before she could even pull out her phone to block him out, “I got the feeling you were a regular here.”
“Really?” Jade said coolly. She didn’t want to be rude to the old man, but she also didn’t want him to get the wrong idea that she intended to talk the whole time.
“Yes, yes. I’ve been a regular at this shop since Earl opened up ten years ago. Dragon roasted coffee is just better than any other coffee, at least that I’ve tried. Even the witches with all their fancy brewing methods can’t beat the natural roasting process the dragons use. Do you agree?”
“The witches try too hard,” Jade said quickly eyeing his large yellow eyes, “They just want to discover something new and exciting, instead of mastering the basics.” Why am I even having this conversation? I should have just gone home.
“My thoughts exactly,” He took a sip of his coffee and smacked his tongue against his beak, “Just divine.”
Jade smiled weakly and glanced back over to Earl. He did not seem to be in any hurry to get Jade her coffee. She narrowed her eyes at him hoping he would noticed her glaring.
“Are you and Earl close then?”
Jade paused turning back to him unsure of the intent of the question, “Um we know each other, but only because I come here regularly.”
“Ah!” He said looking at her intently, “You do not know then.”
Jade’s eyes went wide. What didn’t she know? Was he dying? Was he actually a nymph eating dragon?
The old griffin laughed, “Oh dear! Do not worry. It is nothing serious! Well… Unless you count the giant troll incident.” This only made Jade more horrified. “My that didn’t help did it. Let me speak more plainly.”
“Please!” Jade said quickly looking over at Earl to make sure he wasn’t doing anything nefarious with her coffee.
“Earl, likes to…”
“One Mocha Latte with a hint of mint,” Jade all but jumped out of her chair. Earl caught her with his free hand and steadied her. How did he get over here so fast? She had literally just looked over at him and he was prepping the drink, “Sorry! I know how much you love mint so I added a bit to it. Didn’t think it was scare you that much.”
Jade hesitantly took the coffee from him and placed it on the table. Mint my vines! It was probably poison of some sort that he added.
“It’s probably my fault.” Vincent sighed, “I have gone and made a mess of your reputation. This old mind doesn’t work the way it used to.”
“Nonsense!” Earl said placing his claws on Vincent’s shoulders, “You are brilliant! And I’m sure your students would say the same thing.”
Jade was sure the old man blushed beneath his feathers. He continued to insist that he wasn’t brilliant, just incredibly lucky. However, even though Jade wished to never see the man again, she could tell he was obviously very brilliant. She dared to take a glance at the books he was reading and found they were stacks of lore not even written in a language she recognized. All the intricate loops and lines were much more interesting than the Common Elfish used now.
“Are you interested in Old Faerie?” The old man said with a hint of excitement.
Jade stiffened and looked up at Vincent and Earl who were staring at her, “Oh no. Just looked pretty.”
“Does it not?” This only seemed to make the man more excited, “It was believed by the fairies during the late 13000s that the words written should be just as beautiful as the words they represented. This story is about the beauty of nature (one of their favorite topics not surprisingly).” He picked up the book to allow Jade a closer look and pointed to a word painted with long, thin strokes and little black tips on the ends, “This word is part of a sentence talking about a type of tree. They tried through the use of longer lines and those black tips to represent the beauty of the branches. Isn’t that beautiful?”
Jade nodded in spite of herself yet she began to wonder how this man got possession of such old books, “That is interesting. What did they use to paint the lettering?”
“They used a type of tree called granitwood to form different sized styluses as well as a few brushes made from unicorn hair and the same wood, and then often used Fool’s Berry for the ink.”
Jade’s eyebrows went up, “Fool’s berry? They used berry juice.”
Vincent laughed, “It’s called fool’s berry for a reason. You see it dyes anything, including your face, mouth, and teeth for weeks.”
Jade shivered in horror and hoped no one ever gave her one.
“Not to worry though! There were some sour trolls who ensured the plant went extinct.” Jade relaxed, “However, it was incredibly permanent on paper and an excellent way to scribe things people wanted to remain for a long time.”
Jade nodded and Earl clapped his hands together, “Fascinating, Vincent! You really should give a talk here about ancient texts. I’m sure people would love to hear about their ancestors.”
“Well, I’m no historian.” He said as he smacked his lips, “I’m simply a lorist.”
Jade wrinkled her nose at Earl, “Don’t you have coffee to be roasting?”
As if he had completely forgotten himself, he jumped and ran back to the counter where a frazzled red dragoness was trying desperately to prep and serve irritable costumers all at the same time. He apologized to us as he ran, and the red dragoness cast him a rather annoyed glance.
Vincent sighed, “Earl is such a good man. He’s been trying to get me to speak at the coffee shop for years about my work. I just don’t think anyone would be interested.”
“I don’t know about that.” Jade said hesitantly eyeing her coffee as she picked it. She took a small sip. The smooth warm blend of mint, chocolate, and coffee however lead her to take a larger one.
“Really?” He cooed.
“Yes.” Jade said relishing in her coffee, “It seems interesting enough I’m sure people would come.”
“Maybe.” His voice lowed as he paused deep in thought. Jade took another long sip of her coffee and looked out into the shop. That same minotaur was there again. It must be fate, she thought. She would have to write about him later, “Would you come?”
“Yes,” Jade froze realizing what she said, “I mean maybe. It would depend on the day.”
“Splendid! I’ll start planning it as soon as I go home tonight, and I will let Earl know to tell you.” He clicked his claws together before he sat back in his chair, deep in thought.
Why had she said that? She thought desperately as she stared blankly at the shop. The topic did interest her, especially the part about the manuscript and calligraphy. She practiced calligraphy and prided herself on how beautiful her notes always looked. Eyeing the manuscripts again, she desperately wished to copy them into her notebook so she could study them later and learn how to write the symbols herself.
“So tell me a bit about you?” The griffin said sitting back up in his chair, “Earl said you write.”
Jade shifted uncomfortably in her seat, “Yes,” she said as she took a sip of her coffee in an effort to give herself time to think, “Though I’m not keen on strangers reading my work.”
He chuckled, “Most aren’t I’ve learned. It’s not easy to have your work scrutinized, I should know. I’ve published many scholarly works, and sometimes I think certain people follow me around just to give me bad reviews.” He sighed ruffling his dark brown feathers.
Jade eyed him, “You’re published?”
“All professors are. It’s part of our job. Though scholarly works aren’t nearly as spectacular as publishing fiction. You really get some nasty reviews there.”
“Wait…” Jade put her coffee down on the table turning to face him, “You’ve published fiction?”
“Yes,” He laughed almost looking embarrassed, “Just a small little series based off my work in Lore.”
Jade gaped at him. He said it like it was nothing, yet being published was her dream. A thousand questions popped into her head that she wanted to ask him, but she couldn’t put them into a cohesive sentience.
All that was able to come out of her lips was, “How?”
“That’s quite a deep question.” He said picking up his half empty coffee to take a sip, “And I’m quiet done talking about myself. Tell me about your work.”
“Well,” Jade paused as she thought, “I guess I enjoy writing drama. I like to trying to figure people out, and writing their stories even when I haven’t met them.”
“Fascinating,” He seemed to actually mean it. That surprised Jade as her parents and siblings thought she was weird for spying on people all the time, “That is a great way to practice writing. Have you ever attended a university?”
Jade frowned. She knew this question would inevitably come from the griffin, “No, my family wasn’t able to afford it. Plus, I don’t need to go to school to learn to write.”
“True true. Many great authors didn’t. However, if you’re interested in lore and writing you might benefit from it. In fact, I’m working on developing a scholarship for potential students who are interested in concentrating in both lore and composition. I’ll let you know if it comes to anything.”
Jade grunted but said nothing. Those were the kind of promises that people make to make other people feel better.
“Just keep writing though no matter what. That alone will help you to improve.”
Jade nodded than took another sip of her coffee hoping to let the conversation die. The griffin seemed content to let it pass, and after a sigh, he mumbled something about needing to get back to work on prepping for the coming weeks classes. Jade at that felt it safe to take out her notebook and start writing.
She placed the pen on the paper, and once again set back to training her eyes on the minotaur. She let her imagination take her into his life. Why is my head so big? Carol thought as he looked in the mirror. People think I’m so scary, but I’m not. However, even he felt threatened as he looked into his own large yellow eyes, and shivered at how threatening his large twisting horns were. He put his hoves to his eyes, why can’t I just be soft like the unicorns? Don’t I deserve love?
What if I did go to the university? Maybe that’s what I’m looking for. I could finally get away from that horrible store. But how? I could never pay for it…
Jade signed than looked down at her paper. Her notes turned from the story of the minotaur to her own thoughts causing her to curse silently. She made the pin scribble over her own thoughts in hurried motions questioning why she even used this dumb pen when she loved to write herself.
She stared at the scribbles. Why was she even hoping to go to university? Her parents were determined she would take over the family business that had literally been passed down from eldest daughter to eldest daughter for thousands of years. It was a legacy, and she couldn’t turn that down. Could she?
She sighed again taking a very large gulp of her coffee. Looking out into the shop, she caught sight of a group of girls giggling. One of them was also a minotaur. Jade marveled at her because even though she was much larger than the fawn and unicorns that sat with her, she looked happy and confident in her horns. Not like the minotaur that sat alone at his table.
What am I doing with my life? She thought with annoyance. I’m not going anywhere. I literally follow the same routine every week, and I hate it. I’m not even anywhere close to being published.
She turned to eye the griffin. He was deep into his books murmuring to himself as he read. Could she ask him more about the University? About writing? Would it actually be possible?
She opened her mouth to speak then closed it. Gosh, your hopeless.
Than she packed her bags and left without a word at 10:14 a.m.
To be continued…
Dragon Tea Stories 