章節 10: Frenemies.
It was truly unbelievable, Collin couldn't believe that it was happening again and he could see Phoebe's thoughts.
Since he had walked in, he hadn't taken his eyes off her, not just because she was one of the most beautiful woman he had ever seen after his mother but also because he wanted to confirm that he wasn't running crazy and he had seen something on her last night.
But why was this happening? Where they connected in some way? He didn't know her until recently. Unintentionally he gasped and spoke out his thoughts.
"Unbelievable!" His hand moved to cover his open mouth.
Others didn't understand what he found so unbelievable so his sister frowned and so did Phoebe.
While Phoebe who was praying that the two siblings disappear stared back at the man. She wondered innocently why he was gazing at her but then again she was used to men hawking at her since she made a few changes after her rebirth.
[Please don't pick interest in me Goldie, I already have enough chaos in my life besides am sure that you will run away the moment you find out that i see ghosts.]
A soft chuckle escaped through Collins lips on reading her thoughts. At least he had been elevated from pervert to just Goldie. He lifted his head and began studying the Cafe. It was the first time he was visiting the place since buying the building.
"This is a unique place, I love the set up. It's amazing that you are using your unique talents to help people spiritually." His eyes moved to study her surprised face.
He didn't believe in ghosts and shamans, psychics, or supernatural things but seeing her thoughts was sure to turn him into a believer.
Phoebe's eyebrows shot up at his reference to her unique talents.
Very few people appreciated her business in fact if anything they called her weird. Still, a tiny smile formed on her lips after all she was getting a compliment from a good looking man.
"Thank you." she replied flatly.
"Take me to school, I don't want to be late besides I think that I have watched enough of you flirting with this lady." Cassie began to walk away.
The teenage girl's words caused Phoebe and Rosset to raise their eyebrows as they couldn't believe how discourteous the girl was.
On seeing the two women's reaction Collins apologized and ran out after his sister, his attention kept going back and forth causing him to hit his head on the door.
"God darn it!" He cursed because he felt embarrassed for the most part.
Rosset couldn't help but laugh at the man who was clearly smitten by her boss.
"Well at least this admirer doesn't find your job scary." She continued to chuckle repeatedly.
"They all run away eventually wait till he finds out I talk to ghosts." Phoebe who was standing on a short ladder began to place the herbal tonic bottles in the shelves in an orderly manner.
Rosset who was leaning over the counter staring out of the window suddenly wore an unpleasant face. "What the hell is she doing here? It's been a while since she came here." She went ahead to roll her eyes.
Following her employee's cold gaze to the window, Phoebe coldly watched Ruth Mayfair walk towards the entrance of the Cafe.
Until recently, Phoebe had learned to control her emotions around the the malicious woman.
Initially being around Ruth was hard, all Phoebe wanted to do was to wrap her hands around her throat and strangle her.
She could remember vividly how Ruth had killed her twin sons, taken her husband, destroyed her reputation and forced her to her untimely death.
If it wasn't for the help of the Saxon spirit which had played a major role in training her to put a leash on her fury, Ruth would have been a dead woman.
There was a lot Phoebe needed to find out before destroying Ruth's life like why the woman hated her so much. There had to be a reason other than just wanting to become a Saxon.
The door bell rattle chimed and in walked the blond haired tall woman dressed to the nines. She loved to flaunt her wealth because she knew that Phoebe came from a poor family.
"That bitch again, its been a while since she showed her face here." The Saxon spirit sneered, it was well aware that Ruth was an evil human because it knew what the cunning woman had done to Phoebe in her past life.
"I have missed you my friend, how is this tiny place doing. You know if you like, my offer still stands. You can move this thing you call a business to one of my father's buildings in Magic city and you don't have to worry about the rent." Ruth gagged the Cafe, her condescending look had become normal to the two women.
For some reason unknown to Phoebe, Ruth was determined to get Phoebe out of Citrus city. First she had offered her a job overseas which Phoebe turned down, then came this offer of transferring her cafe to another city with so many privileges.
Knowing Ruth, she wasn't doing this because of the goodness of her heart. There had to be a reason behind it.
"I don't need your help with anything Ruth, Am not poor like you like to believe. In fact Evelyn our friend is back in town and am hosting her at my parents house. You know the house I recently bought for them. If you want to help someone, go feed the homeless." Phoebe spoke in a cold sharp tone which left Ruth shocked.
The blond woman could still not understand her friend's sudden change in attitude and character in the past one year.
Before then Phoebe was someone that always answered 'how high' when Ruth said jump but now her best friend answered her rudely and barely hung out with her. Even her way of dressing had changed.
Old Phoebe used to dress conservatively and frumpily, like an older woman. Make-up was practically a foreign concept to her. But now, she dressed beautifully, applied some make-up.
Ruth had always loved hanging out with Phoebe because she considered her to be inferior. With her, she didn't have to compete for men's attention because she believed that she was prettier and wealthier.
Besides that Ruth was convinced that she was a good friend after all once in a while she threw Phoebe pieces of meat now and then like a dog and she had always picked them up willingly but not anymore.
Letting out a pronounced sigh, Ruth wrinkled her nose and looked at Phoebe.
"Who is the wealthy man you are sleeping with because there is no way you are making all that money from just selling this old junk and useless tonics."
She made her voice light and coquettish, as if she was making a joke. To sell it further, she even chuckled as if this was an old way of teasing her friend.
Phoebe knew it was all pretend and she chose to ignore Ruth's demeaning question.
"Okay answer this, have you been around the Saxon tower of late? I need you to answer that quick." Came Ruth's demanding question but before Phoebe could say anything the door bell rattle chimed.
章節 11: Grandma Saxon meets Phoebe
The chime always signified that a visitor had arrived and it drew the attention of Phoebe and Rosette to the door. Business came before pretentious fake friends like Ruth.
In walked an elderly woman, dressed in a nice black suit and short black pointy heels. She had a yellow floral scarf tied around her head and a pair of black sunglasses.
She was walking with the help of a fancy walking cane but she was steady and didn't seem to need it so much given that she was not leaning on it heavily.
As she walked in deeper, two men in black suits followed her at a respectful distance, not too close to make her uncomfortable but also not too far so as to be delayed in case she was in trouble.
Instantly, Phoebe recognized her. This was none other than grandma Saxon in the flesh and blood. It was quite weird to see her alive given that by the time Phoebe died, the old lady had already passed away.
The question however for her now was what the elderly woman was doing in her cafe.
Grandma Saxon's focus was almost entirely on the red headed Phoebe. This was because for an entire year, she had paid a lot of interest to all women with red hair since that was the color of the hair David's mysterious wife had.
However, her focus broke momentarily because she saw another familiar face, that of Ruth Mayfair.
"Ruth..." she called the other woman uncertainly. "What are you doing here?"
Ruth was unnerved and worried. She looked from grandma Saxon to Phoebe, worried about what the old woman was doing here.
Could it be that it was true what she had heard from one of her little spies in the Saxon tower about David finding his mystery woman? Could that woman actually be Phoebe?
Her very own friend, stupid easily led by the nose Phoebe!. Anger boiled inside of her at the thought that Phoebe could yet take away another thing that she desired.
No, never, Ruth thought. Even if Phoebe was the mystery red head, she would never allow her to be with David. There was only one woman in Fog country worthy of David and it was her.
Ruth clenched her fists, sinking her well filed pink nails into the flesh of her hands. The pain served as a means to ground her and make her clear headed. She drew in a long breath and smiled at the elderly woman.
Her lips moved upwards, curving into a smile and she suddenly grabbed the arm of the elderly woman.
In a coquettish voice she spoke to the elder. "Grandma Saxon, it has been so long since i last saw you. I believe that it was my own grandmother's birthday last month when we last met."
Grandma Saxon nodded. The timing was indeed correct. Old lady Mayfair and her were good friends that had been close for over fifty years. They met when they were both newly married and become members of a cooking club for the wealthy wives of Citrus city.
Over the years, their friendship had deepened so Ruth was always in and out of the Saxon house as she pleased.
Grandma Saxon smiled at the mention of her old friend. "Mmm, how is your grandmother dear, has she recovered from that cold yet? I want to go to Magic city next week for a holiday and i was hoping to take her with me."
Ruth shook her head and batted her eyes unnecessarily. "Grandma will be happy to hear that you are thinking about her. She has been complaining about being forced to stay indoors by my first brother while she is recovering. I am sure that she will say yes to your invitation the moment i inform her about this."
Cleverly, Ruth tried to turn grandma Saxon away from Phoebe and towards the door. She thought that if she could distract the old woman just enough, she could take her out of the cafe and then Phoebe would be forgotten.
Of course, she underestimated grandma Saxon's worry for her grandson David. She was not leaving without talking to the shaman about her grandson.
Putting a hand on one of the tables, she halted her body from moving forward. Ruth was not to be stopped and she applied a little more force.
"Grandma, why don't we go to a better cafe, one with a brighter environment. This kind of place is not good for your health."
Phoebe guffawed when she heard those words.
"We have passed all health standard checks and as you can see, we don't have a speck of dust in here. My cafe may be a little old in appearance but that's the way i like it. It's called artistic choice Ruth, maybe you should draw some inspiration from it."
Phoebe rolled her eyes, looking Ruth up and down. Ruth was a perfect magazine cover imitator. She chose her clothing according to what was trendiest, was most expensive and could be styled to match the model on a billboard or the magazine pages. She had no personal sense of style.
Ruth glared at Phoebe, not even bothering to hide her displeasure this time. In turn, Phoebe smiled and shrugged.
Grandma Saxon was unaware of the silent unannounced battle between the two women. However, Ruth's hold on her had loosened up and she got the opportunity to turn around.
"Phoebe, where do you want me to put this?"
Rosette was holding up brown envelopes, newly arrived from clients looking for auspicious dates for various reasons. Every morning, the envelopes would come in and every evening or the following morning, responses would be mailed out.
Without realizing what she had done, Rosette broke open a can of worms for two women. One was Phoebe with the red hair and right age as that of the woman grandma Saxon was looking for and two was Ruth who didn't want the old woman learning Phoebe's name.
"Phoebe!!" grandma Saxon exclaimed.
She pulled herself away from Ruth completely and walked towards Phoebe with focused eyes.
"Your name is Phoebe." she said___, more like questioned in fact.
"Yes." Rosette answered for her boss. "She is Phoebe, Citrus city's best ghost catcher, exorciser, matchmaker and shaman. If nobody can solve your problem, come to Phoebe."
Rosette was the type not to miss an opportunity to promote the cafe and it's business.
"Red hair, name Phoebe, looks like the right age." Grandma Saxon muttered.
In her muttering, she came to a realization that brought a frown to her face. All this while, she had been searching for someone like this and almost everyone in their circle was aware.
How was it possible then, that Ruth knew of a possible Phoebe matching the description of the woman David was searching for but she never said a word?
"Ruth, how...." she pointed from Phoebe to Ruth as her words slowly trailed off without being completed.
Ruth bit her bottom lip anxiously and her eyes darted around rapidly. She was searching for an explanation which would have her coming out as honest but also helpful and not deceitful at all.
Ancestor Saxon was standing beside Phoebe, highly amused by the drama. "Look, look, the white lotus has been trapped."
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