I decided to do something lighthearted this time around. Sadly, I think my dark stuff is better, but I had fun with this. It’s more than 1k, but not by too much. Hope you enjoy it.
A Trio’s Dream
Two American black women stretched and adjusted their hair as they exited their rental car. One donned a stylish afro with a tribal headband in front and the other had silky microbraids she pulled out of a ponytail. The two women looked around an empty courtyard with one old and abandoned storefront. The town was cute and the locals friendly, but the friends had their reservations.
Sheila, the older of the two, flipped some braids over her shoulder. “Fynn, how’s your French?”
Fynn hugged her chest, “I don’t have any.”
“Really? Didn’t you have to take a foreign language in school?”
Fynn shuffled towards the shop entrance and looked in before stepping away from the glass. “Sí, señorita, but it wasn’t French.”
A breeze blew a twig into Sheila’s hair and Fynn quickly covered her afro with her headband, which turned out to be a scarf. Sheila huffed, “Who’s idea was this anyway?”
“Oh, don’t be that way. It’s nice.” Fynn smiled and nudged Sheila with her elbow. “It’s quaint and peaceful.”
Sheila smirked, “Quaint and peaceful is just a nice way of saying small and deserted.”
Fynn giggled, “You’re not wrong. This place is on the verge of being creepy with this level of quiet, but I’m sure things will turn around when Gale gets here.”
“I hope so,” Sheila quipped, finally freeing the twig from her braids. “This is the first time I’ve ever regretted arriving early.”
The wind settled and Fynn replaced the scarf around her forehead. “It was your idea to get here early to scope out the place on our own.”
Another rental car pulled into the courtyard after waiting for some goats to cross. “Shoosh,” Sheila fluttered her hands. “Here she comes. Just be casual and supportive. Let’s hear her out.”
Fynn scoffed and whispered, “Don’t shoosh me. I’ve been nothing but supportive from the start.”
Gale rushed towards her friends, the youngest of the 30 years plus trio, with open arms, her hair pulled up into elaborate twists all over her head. “Hey ladies. I should have known you guys would beat me here. I hope you haven’t looked around too much without me.”
Fynn smiled wide. “Oh, Gale no. We only just arrived. We’ve been loving this lovely French countryside.”
“Yass, girl.” Sheila exaggerated. “I can’t wait to see all the tourist spots of Paris, but I can totally see why you brought us out to the country first. It’s so quaint here.”
Fynn tilted her head to the side. “Oh yeah, it’s quaint. You know quaint is her new favorite word.”
Sheila put her hands on her hips. “Fine Fynn, so I stole your word.”
Gale took in a deep breath. “Ok guys, seriously. Let’s get real. I know it doesn’t look like much now, but you have to imagine how it will look when I’m finished with it.”
Fynn hugged herself again. “You really think people will leave the convenience of the city to come out here to an American-owned café in the country?
Gale squared her shoulders. “Yes, I do. Besides this café is just one part of the dream and not just my dream. This is about all of us.”
Fynn dropped her arms and Sheila stepped closer to the storefront and turned. Sheila asked, “What does your dream of a French café have to do with us? I don’t even drink coffee.”
Fynn snapped, “Oh get off it Sheila, you drink tea. Will you just let her speak? I want to know where I fit into this as well and I’m making an effort to be open-minded.”
“Right, cause I’m always the close-minded bad guy.” Sheila tapped her foot with her arms across her chest.
Gale reached out and placed a hand on each woman’s shoulder. “Sheila, you’re not the bad guy, but I did bring you here for your skepticism and I brought Fynn for her optimism. I care what both of you think.”
Sheila huffed. “Ok, fine. How do we fit into this dream of yours?”
Gale smiled and turned to Fynn. “You design houses as a hobby. You have no formal training, yet you have files and files of homes and shops you’ve designed sitting in storage. We know that those long weekends you disappear off to are Habitat for Humanity builds. Whenever you get fed up with the complications of your life, you go off to help build a home for someone else. I want you to design and help build my dream café.”
Fynn’s eyes began to bulge. “Whoa, Gale you’re asking a lot. Those plans are in file cabinets for a reason. I don’t have the skill to do this. Plus, taking a weekend to put up a Habitat house is not the same as building a café. I still have to work my day job and pay my bills.”
“No kidding, Gale,” Sheila chimed in. “That’s a lot. I can only imagine that you expect me to bake for your little café.”
Gale replied without hesitation. “Of course, I do. I want you to do what you do best. And since this is France and not the US, we don’t have to stick to a set menu. We’ll literally serve whatever you feel like making from day-to-day.”
Sheila’s eyes too began to bulge. “From day-to-day. Do you expect us to move to France?”
Gale blinked and replied, “Yes, yes I do; divorcè 1 and 2 with no kids. I expect you to leave behind your mundane lives in the US and join me on an adventure in France.” Gale lifted her hand and pointed her palm towards her friends. “And before you bombard me with a list of reason’s why this won’t work, I just want to say that I won the lottery. I’m currently a millionaire.”
Fynn stopped breathing and Sheila wrapped her hand around Gale’s shoulders. “Gale, have you gone coo-coo for Cocoa Puffs? Did you just say you won the lottery?”
“Yes, I did.”
The two friends looked at each other and then back at Gale with tears forming in their eyes. They asked, “You’re rich?”
Gale answered, “Yes I am.”
Both women began to shake their heads and toss out questions. “When? How? What?”
Gale stroked each woman’s cheek and helped them breathe in and out as she explained. “Sixty days ago I had some change in my pocket and decided to buy a ticket for the first time. I was the only person in line who wasn’t there for a ticket. When I realized I won, I kept everything quiet and started making plans. I didn’t want to draw any attention to myself and asked to be kept out of the news.”
All three women embraced, cried, and jumped up and down. Sheila was the first to speak. “WTF! Gale, are you really a freak’n millionaire? I’m so happy for you!”
“Yes, I am but this isn’t just about me. I want to share my blessing with my two best friends- my sisters. I want to make all our dreams come true.”
After a few more minutes of crying and hugging, Gale showed her friends around the space of the storefront and explained what she hoped to do with it. Fynn meekly interjected, “Gale, what’s the theme for this place? It doesn’t look much like a café right now.”
Gale smiled, a twinkle in her eyes. “I was thinking Rhapsody in Blue meets Van Goh- Caffe Terrace.”
The ladies squealed and jumped up and down pleased with Gale’s vision. As they caught their breath Fynn began to have a pained expression on her face. When she realized her friends stared at her with concern, she stated her dilemma.
“I’m just worried about who’s gonna do our hair? I like to keep my afro tight.”
~
FCA- 1307 words- A Trio’s Dream 2020 Copyright © Toinette J. Thomas
(Updated 2-21 to fix typos. If you still see some, let me know. Thanks, bunches.)
Please visit other entries in this hop and enjoy some funny, scary, touching, and thought-provoking stories. You’ll be so glad you did.
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