Paris Magic

     The day after her mom moved into her house, Spencer got up early to make tea and breakfast: black tea with lemon and scrambled eggs for her mom, citrus spice tea and toast for herself. She slowly made her way upstairs to the guest bedroom—well, it was mom’s room now, she had to keep reminding herself—trying to reach it without spilling anything. As she raised her hand to knock, one slice of toast slid off her tray and fell onto the hardwood, butter-side down.

         She sighed and decided to pick it up later, rather than bend down and risk spilling the rest of the tray and rapped softly on the door. When there was no response after a few louder taps, Spencer twisted the knob and risked a peek inside.

         The blinds were down, the curtains drawn, the room pitch-black. She could just barely tell that the shape under layers of blankets was her mother, Bobbi, fast asleep. As Spencer rapped on the side of the doorframe, the shape murmured something unintelligible and rolled over.

         “Hey, momma,” Spencer strode across the room to the window, stopping along the way to set the tray down on the desk. She pulled the curtains apart and the blinds up, eliciting a groan from her mother as she came back to the land of the living.

         “What time is it?” Bobbi mumbled, blinking and wiping the sleep from her eyes.

         “It’s just past eight.” She responded, bringing the tray over to the bed and sitting down on the edge as her mother sat up.

         “Why so early?” Bobbi groaned as she stretched her arms above her head.

         “I woke up and couldn’t get back to sleep. Besides, I know you’ve been sleeping all day, every day for the past few weeks.” Spencer handed her one of the steaming mugs. “I made you some tea.”

         “No coffee?”

         Spencer shook her head. “I need to get some more at the store today.”

         “Rats.” Bobbi took the mug and inhaled the scent before taking a sip. “At least you still remember how I like it.”

         Spencer watched her mother’s face change in the early morning light, from half-asleep and confused to a hardened sadness, as she remembered everything. She took another sip of tea as she gazed out the window at the sun rising over the quiet suburban street outside. It was a far cry from the cozy lakeside cabin she’d just moved out of, after being dumped by her now-ex fiancé.

         “I’m really sorry things didn’t work out with Reggie, mom.” Spencer reached out to put her hand on top of Bobbi’s, then changed her mind at the last moment, and picked up her plate instead, taking a bite of buttered bread.

         “Yeah, me too.” Bobbi ran a hand over her graying hair and sighed, offering her daughter a half-hearted smile.

         “You should eat something. Please?” Spencer gestured towards the eggs. “They’re going to get cold.”

         “All right, I will. Just give me a minute.” Bobbi took another sip of tea.

         “How are you feeling today?”

         “Jesus, Spence, I don’t know. Can you give me a few minutes to wake up?” Bobbi snapped, slumping back against the pile of pillows behind her. She exhaled and closed her eyes for a moment, rubbing her temple in slow circles.

         “I’m sorry. I can leave you alone for a bit, if you want.” Spencer stood up, careful not to upset the tray and send food and tea everywhere. Maybe this had all been a mistake—not just breakfast, but inviting her mom to come stay with her in the first place. Their relationship had been strained for years now, ever since Spencer had left for college. She’d never had a much of a rebellious phase as a teen, and she and Bobbi had been quite close back then—maybe even best friends. But college had opened up a rift between them, and it had been growing ever since. Spencer had seen this time as an opportunity to begin mending their bond, but it looked as though that would be a tougher task than she’d anticipated.

         “No, I’m sorry.” Bobbi said, muffled, since her face was in her hands. She sniffled, and Spencer brought her a tissue from the box on the dresser.

         “It’s okay, mom. I know you’re going through it right now.” Spencer said, hovering at the edge of the bed. She didn’t know whether her mother actually wanted her to stay, or if she was just trying not to hurt her feelings.   

         “Yeah. You could say that.” Bobbi cleared her throat, crumpling the tissue in her hands. Her signature plum nail polish was chipped in places, one of her thumb nails completely bare.

         “You remember when I was fifteen and I got dumped for the first time?” Spencer started slowly. Her mother nodded, meeting her eyes for a moment. “I had to call you to come pick me up from school because I couldn’t stop crying. And I cried for the whole car ride, until we got home, and you made me a mug of tea with lemon juice and a ton of sugar, and that calmed me down enough to stop crying for a while.”

         “I remember.” Bobbi nodded. “That tea was called Paris Magic, or something like that. I still remember, because I haven’t been able to find it anywhere since then. They must have discontinued it or something.”

         “Well, I remembered that, and I thought…I mean, maybe it’s stupid, but I thought maybe some tea would help you, like it helped me. You know?”

         Bobbi managed a smile. “You’ve always been such a sweetheart. Thank you, Spence.”

         Spencer nodded. She picked up her own mug and plate, leaving the tray on the bed, and moved towards the door. “I’m gonna go clean up downstairs. Maybe we can get lunch later, if you’re feeling up to it?”

         “Okay.” Bobbi nodded. Her eyes were misty and far-away, but she picked up her fork and had a bite of her eggs, so Spencer felt okay about leaving her alone. She shut the bedroom door behind her and nearly tripped over her cat, Wilson, who had discovered the piece of toast she’d dropped earlier and was nibbling at the edges.

         “Trying to decide if you like it or not?” Spencer asked him absently, picking the slice up between two fingers and dropping it in the trash once she got down to the kitchen. She fed Wilson and loaded the dishwasher before powering up her laptop. Instead of getting started on her work for the day, she found herself searching online for Paris Magic tea. It had been discontinued from all American stores, as far as she could see, so if she wanted to order some, it would have to be shipped overseas from France.

         “What the hell, her birthday’s coming up soon, anyways.” Spencer muttered to herself as she confirmed her purchase. It would probably take at least a month to ship, but if it would cheer Bobbi up, it would be worth it.

         She shut her laptop as she heard footsteps on the stairs and looked up to see her mother enter the kitchen a moment later. Bobbi was holding Wilson in her arms like a baby, tears streaming down her face. Wilson hated to be picked up and carried, but he was tolerating it for the moment. Bobbi stroked his soft orange fur and let out a sob.

         “Oh, momma.” Spencer stood and crossed to her mother, pulling her—and Wilson—into a hug. “Do you want to talk about what happened?”

         “Yeah.” Bobbi sniffled, barely above a whisper.

         “Okay.” Spencer pulled away and picked out two more mugs from her collection. “Sit down, I’ll make us some more tea.”